Lee Leonard
Encyclopedia
Lee Leonard is an American television
personality who was involved in the launch of cable television networks ESPN
and CNN
.
(660), shortly after it launched its "Conversation Station," a talk format, in 1964. He was part of a weekday talk-variety lineup that included "Big" Wilson, Robert Alda
, Mimi Benzell
, Sterling Yates, Bill Mazer
, Brad Crandall and Long John Nebel
and hosted a competition/quiz show for listeners called Fortune Phone.
with Jack Whitaker
on The NFL on CBS, a studio-based show wrapping around the network's coverage of the National Football League
with pregame features and halftime and postgame highlights from around the league. As producers changed, Leonard and Whitaker were eventually succeeded by The NFL Today
with Brent Musburger
, Phyllis George
, Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder and Irv Cross
on one of network TV sports' longest-running studio-based programs. The core of the team would stay until the mid-1980s, while the show itself has aired continuously ever since, except for several years in the 1990s when CBS did not have NFL television rights.
As for Leonard, he would move to NBC and be teamed with Bryant Gumbel
on its GrandStand show, where he would stay until just before ESPN launched. Also during the mid-1970s, Leonard hosted Midday Live, the daily talk show on WNEW-TV (now WNYW
) in New York City (he was replaced by Bill Boggs
). While at WNEW, Leonard was one of the original co-hosts with Bill Mazer of Sports Extra - considered a pioneering show for the Sunday Evening Sports Wrap-Up show format.
. He gave a brief introduction before the network showed a slow-pitch softball
game. Leonard also made occasional appearances on SportsCenter
.
A year later (1980), Leonard moved to CNN
, where he hosted People Tonight, the network's first Los Angeles-based live entertainment
news talk show. Many of today's major name celebrities made their first national talk show appearances on People Tonight. including Tom Cruise
, Tom Hanks
and Pee Wee Herman. The show was ground-breaking in its coverage of Hollywood red carpet
premieres and many breaking stories including the death of John Lennon
and Natalie Wood
. Robin Leach
cut his teeth as a New York based correspondent before signing on to do Entertainment Tonight
and later launching the pop culture hit series, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous
. Leonard stayed at CNN until 1982, when CNN hired veteran talk show host Mike Douglas.
on News 12 New Jersey.
As of 2004, Leonard hosts a public affairs program on the New Jersey-based cable network CN8.
, who played Emily Gilmore on the CW
show Gilmore Girls
as well as Marjorie Houseman in Dirty Dancing
. He has been married twice before, including once to Salome Jens
, the actress. He has one daughter, Named Norma Sheryl Leonard. He also has a grandson named Jacob Lee Taylor.
Television in the United States
Television is one of the major mass media of the United States. Ninety-nine percent of American households have at least one television and the majority of households have more than one...
personality who was involved in the launch of cable television networks ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
and CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
.
Early life
Leonard was a midday radio personality on New York's WNBC-AMWFAN
WFAN , also known as "Sports Radio 66" or "The FAN", is a radio station in New York City. The station broadcasts on a clear channel and is owned by CBS Radio...
(660), shortly after it launched its "Conversation Station," a talk format, in 1964. He was part of a weekday talk-variety lineup that included "Big" Wilson, Robert Alda
Robert Alda
Robert Alda was an American actor. He was the father of actors Alan Alda and Antony Alda.-Life and career:...
, Mimi Benzell
Mimi Benzell
Mimi Benzell was an American soprano who performed with the Metropolitan Opera before establishing herself as a Broadway musical theatre, television, and nightclub performer....
, Sterling Yates, Bill Mazer
Bill Mazer
Bill Mazer is an Jewish American television and radio personality.Winning numerous awards and citations, including three Sportscaster of the Year awards for New York from 1964–66....
, Brad Crandall and Long John Nebel
Long John Nebel
Long John Nebel was an influential New York City talk radio show host.From the mid 1950s until his death in 1978, Nebel was a hugely popular all-night radio host, with millions of regular listeners and what Donald Bain described as "a fanatically loyal following" to his syndicated program, which...
and hosted a competition/quiz show for listeners called Fortune Phone.
At CBS and NBC
In the early 1970s, Leonard was part of an even earlier network TV innovation, partnering on CBS-TVCBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
with Jack Whitaker
Jack Whitaker (sportscaster)
Jack Whitaker in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is an American sportscaster who worked for both CBS and ABC.-Early life and career:...
on The NFL on CBS, a studio-based show wrapping around the network's coverage of the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
with pregame features and halftime and postgame highlights from around the league. As producers changed, Leonard and Whitaker were eventually succeeded by The NFL Today
The NFL Today
The NFL Today is an American sports series that precedes the American football program The NFL on CBS on CBS Sports. The program usually airs at noon on Sundays of the National Football League regular season...
with Brent Musburger
Brent Musburger
Brent Woody Musburger is an American sportscaster for the ESPN and ABC television networks. Formerly with CBS Sports and one of the original members of their legendary program The NFL Today, Musburger has covered NASCAR, NBA, MLB, NCAA football and basketball games. Musburger has also served as a...
, Phyllis George
Phyllis George
Phyllis Ann George Brown is an American businesswoman, actress and a former sportscaster. She is a former Miss Texas and Miss America of 1971.- Early life :...
, Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder and Irv Cross
Irv Cross
Irvin Acie "Irv" Cross is a former professional American football cornerback and sportscaster.-Playing career:Cross was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the seventh round of the 1961 NFL Draft. In 1966 he was traded to the Los Angeles Rams. Then in 1969, he returned to the Eagles and became...
on one of network TV sports' longest-running studio-based programs. The core of the team would stay until the mid-1980s, while the show itself has aired continuously ever since, except for several years in the 1990s when CBS did not have NFL television rights.
As for Leonard, he would move to NBC and be teamed with Bryant Gumbel
Bryant Gumbel
Bryant Charles Gumbel is an American television journalist and sportscaster. He is best known for his 15 years as co-host of NBC's The Today Show. He is the younger brother of sportscaster Greg Gumbel.-Early life:...
on its GrandStand show, where he would stay until just before ESPN launched. Also during the mid-1970s, Leonard hosted Midday Live, the daily talk show on WNEW-TV (now WNYW
WNYW
WNYW, virtual channel 5 , is the flagship television station of the News Corporation-owned Fox Broadcasting Company, located in New York City. The station's transmitter is atop the Empire State Building and its studio facilities are located in the Yorkville section of Manhattan...
) in New York City (he was replaced by Bill Boggs
Bill Boggs
William "Bill" Boggs III is an Emmy Award–winning American television presenter and journalist.Boggs was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania...
). While at WNEW, Leonard was one of the original co-hosts with Bill Mazer of Sports Extra - considered a pioneering show for the Sunday Evening Sports Wrap-Up show format.
At ESPN and CNN
On September 7, 1979, he was the first person to speak on ESPNESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
. He gave a brief introduction before the network showed a slow-pitch softball
Softball
Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
game. Leonard also made occasional appearances on SportsCenter
SportsCenter
SportsCenter is a daily sports news television show, and the flagship program of American cable network ESPN since the network launched on September 7, 1979. Originally broadcast only daily, SportsCenter is now shown up to twelve times a day, replaying the day's scores and highlights from major...
.
A year later (1980), Leonard moved to CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, where he hosted People Tonight, the network's first Los Angeles-based live entertainment
Entertainment
Entertainment consists of any activity which provides a diversion or permits people to amuse themselves in their leisure time. Entertainment is generally passive, such as watching opera or a movie. Active forms of amusement, such as sports, are more often considered to be recreation...
news talk show. Many of today's major name celebrities made their first national talk show appearances on People Tonight. including Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....
, Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks
Thomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks is an American actor, producer, writer, and director. Hanks worked in television and family-friendly comedies, gaining wide notice in 1988's Big, before achieving success as a dramatic actor in several notable roles, including Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia, the title...
and Pee Wee Herman. The show was ground-breaking in its coverage of Hollywood red carpet
Red carpet
A red carpet is traditionally used to mark the route taken by heads of state on ceremonial and formal occasions, and has in recent decades been extended to use by VIPs and celebrities at formal events.- History :...
premieres and many breaking stories including the death of John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
and Natalie Wood
Natalie Wood
Natalie Wood, born Natalia Nikolaevna Zacharenko was an American film and television actress. After first working in films as a child, Wood became a successful Hollywood star as a young adult, receiving three Academy Award nominations before she was 25 years old.Wood began acting in movies at the...
. Robin Leach
Robin Leach
Robin Douglas Leach is an English celebrity writer famous for hosting his first show, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, in the mid-1980s and into the mid-1990s, which focused on profiling well-known celebrities and their lavish homes, cars and other materialistic endeavors...
cut his teeth as a New York based correspondent before signing on to do Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight is a daily tabloid television entertainment television news show that is syndicated by CBS Television Distribution throughout the United States, Canada and in many countries around the world. Linda Bell Blue is currently the program's executive producer...
and later launching the pop culture hit series, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous
Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous
Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous is a television series that aired in syndication from 1984 to 1995. The show featured the extravagant lifestyles of wealthy entertainers, athletes and business moguls....
. Leonard stayed at CNN until 1982, when CNN hired veteran talk show host Mike Douglas.
Recent activities
From 1996 to approximately 2002, Lee Leonard hosted "Jersey's Talking" Jersey's TalkingJersey's Talking
Jersey's Talking was a New Jersey prime-time television talk show that ran from 1996-2002. It was seen in more than two million cable households throughout the state on News 12 New Jersey. Hosted by Lee Leonard, the live, one-hour, interview program featured celebrities, authors, actors, musicians,...
on News 12 New Jersey.
As of 2004, Leonard hosts a public affairs program on the New Jersey-based cable network CN8.
Personal
Leonard is married to actress Kelly BishopKelly Bishop
Carole "Kelly" Bishop is an American actress and dancer, best-known for her roles as matriarch Emily Gilmore on the series Gilmore Girls, and as the mother of Jennifer Grey's character in the film Dirty Dancing...
, who played Emily Gilmore on the CW
The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
show Gilmore Girls
Gilmore Girls
Gilmore Girls is an American family comedy-drama series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. On October 5, 2000, the series debuted on The WB and was cancelled in its seventh season, ending on May 15, 2007 on The CW...
as well as Marjorie Houseman in Dirty Dancing
Dirty Dancing
Dirty Dancing is a 1987 American romantic film. Written by Eleanor Bergstein and directed by Emile Ardolino, the film features Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey in the lead roles, as well as Cynthia Rhodes and Jerry Orbach...
. He has been married twice before, including once to Salome Jens
Salome Jens
Salome Jens is an American stage, film and television actress. She is perhaps best-known for portraying the Female Changeling on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.-Life and career:...
, the actress. He has one daughter, Named Norma Sheryl Leonard. He also has a grandson named Jacob Lee Taylor.