| Larry Mendte | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 19, 1957 Lansdowne, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | American television commentator and news anchor |
Larry Mendte (born January 16, 1957) is an American commentator and American news anchor working at WPIX in New York City. Mendte was the first male host of the American syndicated television show Access Hollywood. His nightly commentaries are aired on TV stations across the country. From 2003 to mid-2008, he was the lead anchor of the 6pm and 11pm newscasts for KYW-TV (Channel 3), the CBS O&O in Philadelphia. After nearly two decades in last place, Mendte led the station to compete with first place WPVI-TV (Channel 6).[1] KYW lured Mendte away from WCAU-TV (Channel 10), where he had anchored the 4, 6 and 11 pm newscasts and led the station to win the news ratings for the first time in 30 years.[2]
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Born and raised in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia, he attended St. Philomena Catholic School. During this time he began delivering the Philadelphia Bulletin. Mendte graduated from Monsignor Bonner High School in nearby Drexel Hill. In 2003, Mendte was inducted into the high school's Hall of Fame. He earned a B.A. in Communications from West Chester University and was named a distinguished alumnus. After giving a commencement address in 2006, Mendte was awarded to President's Medal for Service in recognition of his community work.[3]
From 1984 to 1988 he was a weekend anchor on WABC, as well as fill-in sports anchor. He anchored the news and was an investigative reporter at WBBM in Chicago from 1991 to 1995. While at WBBM, Mendte's series of reports on school bus safety resulted in a new state law. Mendte won a record 27 Emmy Awards in Chicago and was twice named Best reporter by the Illinois Associated Press. He anchored the news at WCMH in Columbus, Ohio, WLYH in Lebanon, Pennsylvania (where he did the sportscast), WTAJ in Altoona and KIEM in Eureka, California.
Mendte was a weather personality at San Diego's KFMB and also did stand-up comedy in comedy clubs. Mendte did a humor commentary feature called "How Come?" for the Paramount Studios syndicated program Hard Copy. Mendte was the first male host of Access Hollywood when the show debuted in 1996. He co-hosted Monday through Friday with Giselle Fernández and also co-hosted the weekend edition with future weekday host Nancy O'Dell. Mendte started "Access Hollywood" on September 9, 1996 with the words "Hello everyone, I'm Larry Mendte and this is Access Hollywood." [4]
Mendte left Access Hollywood in 1997 to return to Philadelphia and become the main anchor of WCAU (Channel 10)'s newscasts, including the 4pm, 6pm and 11pm programs, with the 4pm show being the first on at that time in the market. He also created and hosted the Sunday morning news talk program Live at Issue. During his time at WCAU the 11pm newscast outrated market leader WPVI (Channel 6) for the first time since the 1970s.
Mendte joined KYW in 2003 after being wooed from WCAU. KYW launched a massive "Make the Switch" promotional campaign when Mendte arrived. The idea for the campaign was Mendte's. He also helped reformat the newscast and introduced the "walking anchor" to KYW that he was famous for at WCAU. KYW's ratings immediately jumped with Mendte in the main seat and fellow station newcomer Alycia Lane co-anchoring, and within a year the station would overtake WCAU at 11pm and 6pm for second place. Lane was later fired in December 2007 after being charged with a felony for assaulting a female police officer in New York (these charges were later dropped).[5] Mendte then anchored solo for a short time before being teamed with Susan Barnett, but Mendte was fired in June 2008 after an investigation revealed he had accessed Lane's email accounts.
In February 2010 Mendte returned to television with a nightly commentary on current events, originating from Tribune Broadcasting's WPIX in New York. The position was made available with the assistance of Bill Carey, a WPIX executive and friend of Mendte's.[6] This segment is also seen on WPHL-TV's 10pm newscast (which is produced by NBC's WCAU, a former employer of Mendte), WGN-TV in Chicago and several other Tribune and Local TV-owned stations across the country.[7]
In June 2010, Mendte aired the first of several commentaries urging Congress to pass the 9/11 First Responders Health and Compensation Bill. Six months later when the bill was passed, Mendte was given several award from 9/11 First Responders organizations, including 2011 Humanitarian Award from the New York Fire Department's Colmbia Association.[8]
In April 2011 Mendte was the only journalist to travel with former Congressman Curt Weldon on a peace mission to end the conflict in Libya.[9] It was promoted that Weldon would meet with Muammar Gaddafi and that Mendte may get an interview. But Gaddafi reportedly cancelled a face to face meeting after Weldon's Op-Ed piece in the New York Times ran on the same day as the scheduled meeting. But Weldon did return with direct communication between the Iraqi Prime Minister to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the promise that four detained journalists would be freed.[10]
Mendte is an online columnist for The Phille Post, the online version of Philadelphia Magazine.[11] Mendte's column on the drowning death of his neice stands as the most read column on the site.[12] Mendte occasionaly write for the print version of the magazine including a feature article on his life after he was let go by KYW.[13]
On August 22, 2008, Mendte pled guilty to the charge of intentionally accessing his co-anchor's email account without authorization.[14] Mendte was accused of viewing Alycia Lane's e-mails from January 2008 to May 2008. Mendte read a statement and acknowledged having had an "improper relationship" with Lane. He said that he ended the relationship and it "quickly turned into a personal feud" and that Lane was attempting to get him fired.[15] The Philadelphia press was in a tabloid feeding frenzy over the Mendte case, and on November 24, 2008, Mendte received a sentence of 3 years probation (later reduced), including 6 months home confinement and 150 hours of community service.[16] After Mendte's work in getting the 9/11 First Responders Health and Compensation Bill through Congress, Federal Judge Mary McLaughlin ended Mendte's probation and all other sentencing requirements.
Mendte has continued to fight the felony conviction on several grounds. In a court filing, Mendte claims that the U.S. Attorney promised a misdemeanor charge in return for his cooperation. Mendte and his attorney agreed to a proffer wherein Mendte told investigators the entire story. The US Attorney informed him weeks later that they were going back on the deal and charging him with a felony. In his post-sentence motion, Mendte's lawyer claimed his client's civil rights had been violated. The filing accuses then U.S. Attorney Pat Meehan of changing the deal so he could hold a news conference to launch his political career. The filing details a purported early morning phone call wherein Meehan "begs" Mendte's attorney for a guilty plea before Meehan leaves office so that Meehan could make a "policy statement". The case is now before the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.[17]
Mendte received acclaim for a series of reports he did on the Eternal Flame, a tribute to American veterans, in Philadelphia's historic Washington Square. Mendte highlighted the flame's failing infrastructure, forcing the city to take action to repair the natural gas line which provided the flame's fuel and relight it. His efforts were read into the Congressional record.[18] by U.S. Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA). Mendte was honored with a regional Edward R. Murrow Award in the writing category for his reports on the Eternal Flame and a report on the Iraq War. He received a national Edward R. Murrow Award in 2008 for a report he wrote and produced regarding a soldier from Delaware, Stephen McGowan, who died in Iraq.[19]
In 2006, Mendte was inducted into the Philadelphia Broadcast Pioneers Hall of Fame. Mendte has over 80 Regional Emmy Awards from the New York, San Diego, Chicago and Philadelphia markets, and holds the record in several categories in Philadelphia and Chicago. In Philadelphia, he has won a record 4 Emmy Awards in the Outstanding Anchor category and seven in various writing categories. In 2007, Mendte was named as one of the 75 Greatest Living Philadelphians by the Philadelphia Daily News in honor of the Philadelphia Eagles 75th anniversary.[20]
Mendte is married to Dawn Stensland,[21] the former 10pm news co-anchor at Fox's WTXF (Channel 29), since 2001. She came to Philadelphia in 1997 as an anchor for KYW, then anchored CBS News Saturday Morning for a year and a half. In the 1990s, she was an anchor and reporter at WBBM in Chicago, Illinois, and WKYC in Cleveland, Ohio. Together, they have two children, both sons; Michael was born in 2004, and David was born in 2006. In addition, Mendte has two adult children, Stacia and Jonathan, from a previous marriage.
Mendte appeared in three movies in cameo roles: Primary Colors, Shadow of Doubt, and Snipes. He wrote and directed four short documentaries. Ben Franklin: Stealing Lightning from the Sky aired across the country on Benjamin Franklin's birthday in 2006. The documentary questioned whether Franklin really did conduct his famous kite experiment. Later that year Mendte wrote and directed Alex Scott: A Stand for Hope, a short documentary about Alex Scott, founder of Alex's Lemonade Stand. Alex Scott: A Stand for Hope won the award for Best Documentary at the Reno, Oxford, Danville, West Chester, Lake Arrowhead and Reel Award film Festivals. Mendte was named best Pennsylvania Filmmaker for 2006 at the West Chester Film Festival.[22]
| Media offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by none |
Host of Access Hollywood with Giselle Fernández 1996–1997 |
Succeeded by Pat O'Brien with Giselle Fernández |
| Preceded by Ken Matz & Renee Chenault-Fattah |
NBC10 4pm,6pm & 11pm NBC 10 anchor 1997 – 2003 with Renee Chenault-Fattah |
Succeeded by Tim Lake & Renee Chenault-Fattah |
| Preceded by Marc Howard |
CBS 3 6pm & 11pm Eyewitness news anchor 2003 – 2008 (with Alycia Lane) 12/2008 – 1/2008 (solo anchor) 2/2008 – 6/2008 (with Susan Barnett) |
Succeeded by Chris May & Susan Barnett |