Karyn Bryant
| Karyn Bryant | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
Karyn Elaine Bryant December 23, 1968 Boston, Massachusetts, United States |
| Ethnicity | Jamaican/White/African-American |
| Occupation | Actress, writer, television personality |
| Notable credit(s) | CNN anchor, MTV VJ, Showtime Championship Boxing Commentator |
| Height | 5'8" (1.7m) |
| Spouse(s) |
Wade Eck (m. 2001–present; 1 child) |
| Children | Aurora Eck |
| Website | http://www.KarynBryant.com/ |
Karyn Elaine Bryant (born December 23, 1968) is an American actress, writer, and television personality.
Early life
Bryant was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, completed secondary school at Lawrence Academy at Groton, and received bachelor's degrees[1] from Brown University in political science and sociology.
Career
Bryant's love of music led to her first television job[1] in 1990, as an MTV VJ. She later hosted a live, daily music program on FX called Sound fX alongside Matt Ostrom and Orlando Jones. Jeff Probst replaced Jones toward the end of the show's run.
Bryant was chosen by TNT to host a series of entertainment vignettes called Rough Cut. The success of the vignettes prompted TNT to turn Rough Cut into a weekly television series hosted and written by Bryant. This marked the beginning of Bryant's professional relationship with Turner Broadcasting. TBS soon launched the wraparound series Movies, For Guys Who Like Movies, allowing Bryant to drive a U.S. Naval LCAC hovercraft, train with Marine snipers and engage in other activities. Lorne Michaels later picked Bryant to host his new daily VH1 game show, Name That Video in 2001; Bryant filmed 50 episodes.
After a brief stint hosting CNN's Talk Back Live, Bryant was chosen to co-anchor CNN's revamped Showbiz Tonight in 2004.[2]
Bryant, a Patriots and Red Sox fan, joined ESPN for their first live New Years Eve show as the countdown to 2006 began. That year, Bryant joined the Showtime Championship Boxing announcer team with Steve Albert, Al Bernstein and Jim Gray. In May 2008, Bryant was invited by CBS to join their Elite Xtreme Combat announcer team[3] for their new primetime mixed martial arts programming, debuting mixed martial arts for the first time on primetime network television May 31, 2008.[4] Bryant also co-owns MMAheat.com which covers most mixed martial arts sporting events. MMA H.E.A.T. (the show)[5] is a half-hour sports and entertainment program that Bryant writes and anchors ("H.E.A.T." stands for "Heart. Endurance. Aggression. Technique."). She currently co-hosts UFC Tonight on Fox Sports 1.[6]
TV appearances
Hosting
- Awake on the Wild Side – MTV
- Weekend Blastoff – MTV
- Buzzcut
- Like We Care – MTV
- Sound FX – FX
- Rough Cut – TNT
- Movies, For Guys Who Like Movies – TBS
- Name That Video – VH1
- Junkyard Wars – TLC (TV channel)
- For Love or Money – Reunion Special – NBC
- Showbiz Tonight (2005) – CNN
- ESPN's New Year's Eve Special, Live From Times Square, NYC (2005) – ESPN
- Showtime Championship Boxing (2006–2009) – Showtime
- Elite Xtreme Combat (2008) – CBS
- Cindy Crawford Meaningful Beauty skin care – infomercial
- MMA H.E.A.T. (2009–present)
Recurring roles
References
- 1 2 "The View from Ringside". Brown Alumni Magazine. Retrieved 2012-06-24.
- ↑ "Press Releases- Newsroom". Time Warner. Retrieved 2012-06-24.
- ↑ "Announcers Named for CBS EliteXC Saturday Night Fights – 2008-05-19 08:42:00 | Broadcasting & Cable". Broadcastingcable.com. Retrieved 2012-06-24.
- ↑ "Frank Shamrock to head CBS MMA broadcast crew – Mixed Martial Arts- NBC Sports". Nbcsports.msnbc.com. May 20, 2008. Retrieved 2012-06-24.
- ↑ "MMA H.E.A.T.". Imdb.
- ↑ "Fox Sports 1 Features Rematch of one of UFC's Greatest Bouts at UFC® Fight Night: Shogun VS. Henderson 2" (PDF). FOX Sports. March 18, 2014.