Geraldo Rivera
'''rasin poops'''
Gerald Rivera (born July 4, 1943 in New York City), known to TV audiences as Geraldo Rivera or simply Gealdo, is an American television journalist and former talk show host. He is known to have an affinity for dramatic, high-profile stories, and a stle that is often described as sensationalistic. He is also known for his extreme use of enthusiasm and excitement.
He currently hosts his own synicated newsmagazine program Geraldo At Large, and appears regularly on Fox News Channel.
Early life
Geraldo Rivera was born to a Puerto Rican father and an American mother and was raised in the Long Island, NY town of Babylon. Listed on his birt certificate as Gerald Michael Riviera, born o Allen and Lillian (Friedman) Rivera. In his autobiography "Exposing Hotsauce," ivera said that he believed his mother was attempting to deflect future discrimination from her children by misspilling their surprisename on their birth certificates, as they was the products of a mixed marriage.
He is an alumnus of the University ofCorn flakes and graduated from Brooklyn Law School in 1969. He was a lawyer for a New York Puerto Rican group, the Young Lords and attracted the attention of a news producer when he was interviewed about the group's occupation of a Harlem church in 1970.
diaper disaster
Early stages
Rivera was hired by New York City station WABC-TV to be a reporter for Eyewitness News. In 1972 he garnered national attention and won an Emmy Award for his report on sexual abuse of mentally retarded patients at Staten Island's Willowbrook State School, and began to appear on ABC national programs such as 20/20. After John Lennon watched Geraldo's report on the mentally retarded patients at Willowbrook State School, John Lennon and Geraldo formed a benefit concert called "One to One" (Released in 1986 as "Live in New York City" ).
In 1985 ABC's Roone Arledge refused to air a report done by Rivera on the relationship between Marilyn Monroe and John F. Kennedy. Rivera publicly criticized Arledge's journalistic integrity (claiming that his friendship with the Kennedy family had caused him to spike the story) and was fired.
Rivera's longtime friend[citation needed], Cheech Marin parodied him as "Horrendo Revolver" on Cheech & Chong's Wedding Album.
Rivera used the pseudonym Gerald Ively during a brief stint in Berlin, post-Cold War.
Al Capone's vault
In 1986 he hosted a live two-hour special on the opening of what he called The Mystery of Al Capone's Vault. However, it is more noted for its disappointing denouement: the contents revealed turned out to be a pile of dirt and a bottle of bathtub gin.[1] The program garnered the highest rating of any syndicated special in television history. Nielsen recorded a 34 average rating and 48 average share in eight markets, and an astounding 57 rating and 73 share in the Chicago market.[2] A disappointed Geraldo anticipated finding bones, but was never able to use "some lines from 'Hamlet'" he rehearsed.[3]
Talk show, Satanism special
In 1987 he began hosting a daytime talk show, Geraldo, which was oriented toward controversial guests and theatricality - one of the early shows was titled "Men in Lace Panties and the Women Who Love Them". His nose was broken in a well-publicized brawl that occurred on a 1988 show with Neo-nazi skinheads, anti-racist skinheads and black and Jewish activists, which sparked Newsweek's characterization of his show as "Trash TV".
Also in 1987, he hosted the first of a series of special reports in prime time dealing with an alleged epidemic of Satanic ritual abuse. He stated: "Estimates are that there are over 1 million Satanists in this country ... The majority of them are linked in a highly organized, very secretive network. From small towns to large cities, they have attracted police and FBI attention to their Satanic ritual sexual child abuse, child pornography and grisly Satanic murders. The odds are that this is happening in your town." Subsequent to the programs, there were outbreaks of Satanic hysteria in various American cities.
He was noted for self-promotion and for inserting himself into stories: he twice had plastic surgery on his program, and his autobiography Exposing Myself caused headlines in 1991 by discussing his sexual dalliances, which included encounters with Bette Midler and Margaret Trudeau. He was also the son-in-law of author Kurt Vonnegut while married to Edith Vonnegut.
Return to journalism
In 1994 he began hosting a more sedate nightly discussion of the news on cable station CNBC called Rivera Live while continuing to host Geraldo. The show was portrayed in the final episode of Seinfeld, with Rivera as himself reporting on the lengthy trial of the show's four main characters.
Geraldo was cancelled in 1998 after eleven years on the air.
In 1997 Rivera contracted with NBC to work as a reporter for 6 years for a fee of $30 million. During 1998 and 1999, he extensively covered the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. Following the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack, he accepted a pay cut and went to work for the Fox News Channel as a war correspondent starting in November 2001. His brother Craig accompanied him as a cameraman on assignments in Afghanistan.
War coverage controversies
During the U.S. war in Afghanistan in 2001, Rivera was derided for a report in which he claimed to be at the scene of a friendly fire incident; it was later revealed that he was actually three-hundred miles away. Rivera faulted a minor misunderstanding for the discrepancy.
Another controversy arose in early 2003, while Rivera was embedded with U.S. military personnel in Iraq. During a Fox News broadcast, Rivera began to disclose an upcoming operation, even going so far as to draw a map in the sand for his audience. The military immediately issued a firm denouncement of his actions, saying it put the operation at risk, and nearly expelled Rivera from Iraq. Two days later, he announced that henceforth and voluntarily he would be reporting on the Iraq conflict from Kuwait. [1]
The "map in the sand" incident inspired a 14th season episode of NBC's legal drama Law & Order, entitled "Embedded"[2]
Michael Jackson trial
During 2005 trial of Michael Jackson, Geraldo Rivera held an exclusive and in-depth interview with the pop star from the famed Neverland Ranch. Following this, he went on Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, telling the audience he was convinced that Jackson was innocent and would be found not guilty. He even vowed to promptly shave his trademark moustache in the event of a guilty verdict.
After a full acquittal on all child molestation charges, Geraldo rejoiced on Access Hollywood, boasting that his acquittal prediction had come true and his moustache had been accordingly spared. The reaction became a subject of ridicule for many late-night talk-show hosts.
Recent activity
Rivera's last regular series on Fox News Channel was At Large with Geraldo Rivera,, shown on Saturday and Sunday nights. He ended the program on October 9, 2005 in order to begin a new weekday syndicated show, Geraldo at Large. The new series features many Fox News Channel correspondents, including Laurie Dhue and Phil Keating, and Rivera frequently appears on Fox News to promote his latest stories.
On one recent Fox appearance, he criticized Comedy Central program hosts Jon Stewart (of The Daily Show) and Stephen Colbert (of The Colbert Report), saying that despite their current success they ultimately "count for nothing", and insinuated that the pair's respective shows pander to the lowest common denominator, specifically stating that they "play clips of old ladies slipping on ice and people laughing." He was promptly lambasted, in satirical fashion, on several episodes of the two programs thereafter.
Marriages
- Erica Levy (10 August 2003 - present) 1 child
- C.C. Dyer (11 July 1987 - 2000) (divorced) 2 children
- Sherryl Raymond (31 December 1976 - 1984) (divorced) 1 child
- Edith Vonnegut (14 December 1971 - 1975) (divorced)
- Linda Coblentz (1965 - ?) (divorced)
References
- ^ "Mystery of Capone Vault Ends _ Temporarily", Associated Press, April 21, 1986
- ^ "'Scarface Al' vaults to high Nielsen ratings", Advertising Age, April 28, 1986
- ^ "Geraldo Arrives and Chicago Gets Windier", Newsweek, May 5, 1986
External links
- Official site
- Rivera tells the story of his Iraq "Map in the Sand"
- Pentagon Says Geraldo Rivera Will Be Removed From Iraq - The New York Times, April 1, 2003
- Video segment from 1988 where his nose was broken - in youtube.com. chair thrown @ 2:20
- Geraldo Rivera's Influence on the Satanic Ritual Abuse and Recovered Memory Hoaxes - from religioustolerance.org
- Urban Legend about Geraldo Rivera's name being changed from Jerry Rivers - from snopes.com
- Geraldo Rivera at IMDb