Maria Shriver

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Maria Shriver
Maria Shriver
Born	November 6, 1955 (age 51) Chicago, Illinois
Occupation	TV news journalist, author
Spouse	Arnold Schwarzenegger (26 April 1986 - present) 4 children
Parents	Sargent Shriver and Eunice Kennedy Shriver
Children	Katherine Eunice (b. 1989), Christina Maria Aurelia (b. 1991), Patrick Arnold (b. 1993) and Christopher Sargent (b. 1997)

Maria Owings Shriver-Schwarzenegger (pronounced: /ʃɹaɪ'vɚ/) (born November 6, 1955^[1] in Chicago, Illinois at 5:12pm-CST) is an American journalist and the wife of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the niece of the late President John F. Kennedy. She is currently the First Lady of California.

1 Biography
2 Career
3 Political Spouse
4 Guest Starred
5 Return to Television News
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Biography

Shriver, a Roman Catholic of Irish descent, was the second child and only daughter of the politician Sargent Shriver and his wife Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the sister of President Kennedy. She attended Westland Middle School in Bethesda, Maryland, a close area of Washington, DC. Maria also attended Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in Bethesda, Maryland being in the class of 1973. Shriver received a B.A. degree in American Studies from Georgetown University in June 1977. Later that year, Tom Brokaw introduced Maria to Austrian bodybuilder, actor and current Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, at a charity tennis tournament being held at Eunice Kennedy Shriver's home. Impressed by his passion for life, she married Schwarzenegger April 26, 1986.

They have four children:

Name	Birth	Notes
Katherine Eunice Schwarzenegger	December 13, 1989	Her middle name, Eunice, is the first name of her maternal grandmother.
Christina Maria Aurelia Schwarzenegger	July 23, 1991	Her first middle name, Maria, is the first name of her mother. Her second middle name, Aurelia, was the first name of her paternal grandmother.
Patrick Arnold Schwarzenegger	September 18, 1993 Los Angeles, California	His middle name, Arnold, is the first name of his father. His first name, Patrick, is named after his great-grandfather Joseph Patrick Kennedy. ^[2]
Christopher Sargent Schwarzenegger	September 27, 1997	His middle name, Sargent, is the first name of his maternal grandfather.

[edit] Career

In her book Ten Things I Wish I'd Known Before I Went Out Into The Real World, Shriver says that she became passionate about broadcast journalism after being sent to the back of the campaign plane with the press corps when volunteering for her father's vice presidential race, calling these orders "the best thing that ever happened to me." After her journalism career began with KYW-TV in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she co-anchored the CBS Morning News with Forrest Sawyer from 1985 until 1987, co-anchored Sunday Today and weekend editions of NBC Nightly News from 1987 until 1989, and was a contributing anchor on Dateline NBC from 1989 until 2004. In August of 2003, Shriver took an unpaid leave of absence from NBC News when her husband became a candidate in the 2003 California recall.

Upon her husband's inauguration as the 38th Governor of California, she became the First Lady of California on November 17, 2003. She then returned to reporting, making two more appearances for Dateline NBC.

On February 3, 2004, Shriver told NBC she wished to be "relieved of [her] duties at NBC News," citing the conflict of interest between her role as a journalist and her status as the First Lady of California and her increasing role as an advocate of her husband's administration. NBC News president Neal Shapiro did not refer to Shriver's decision as a resignation, however, and issued a statement calling Shriver's departure "an extended leave of absence."

[edit] Political Spouse

Candid shot of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and wife, Maria Shriver at Log Cabin Republican's "Courage To Lead" dinner in June of 2006.

During her husband's tenure as the Governor of California, Shriver was initially tentative in her role as the Governor's wife. Some speculated that she felt that her husband would not attempt to gain the Governor's seat in the recall election that drove Gray Davis from office. When Arnold announced his candidacy abruptly on the Jay Leno show, she played the part of the loyal political spouse. Since Governor Schwarzenegger took office, Maria has visibly supported her husband and has taken on several key initiatives as first lady - raising awareness of the contributions of women to the state, working on practical solutions to end cycles of poverty and encouraging all Californians to engage in acts of service to their communities. As her husband proposed a series of California ballot initiatives in November 2005, she decided to forego any public support of her husband's proposals.

Prior to her work at NBC, Shriver had co-anchored the CBS Morning News. She has won Peabody and Emmy awards and is the author of five best-selling books: What's Heaven, Ten Things I Wish I'd Known Before I Went Out Into The Real World, What's Wrong with Timmy?, What's Happening to Grandpa? and And One More Thing Before You Go.

[edit] Guest Starred

She has since played a minor role in an episode of the television series That's So Raven as herself promoting a "Preparedness Plan". She also appeared as herself in Last Action Hero.

[edit] Return to Television News

On March 23, 2007, Shriver returned to television news as substitute host of panel-discussion talk show Larry King Live on CNN. Shriver moderated discussion of breast cancer and its effects with cancer specialist Dr. Susan Love, musician Sheryl Crow, and other guests.