Geraldo Rivera

Gerald Miguel Riviera (born July 4, 1943 in New York City), known to TV audiences as Geraldo Rivera or simply Geraldo, is an American television journalist with an affinity for ramatic high-profile stories and a style that has often been described as sensationalistic. Listed on his birth certificate as Gerald Michael Riviera, born to Allen and Lillian (Friedman) Riviera. In his autobiography "Exposing Myself," Rivera said that he believed his mother was attempting to deflect future discrimination from her children by misspelling their surname on their birth certificates, as they were the products of a mixed marriage.

Marriages

Erica Levy (10 August 2002 - 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)

Early history

Geraldo Rivera was born to a Puerto Rican father and an American Jewish mother and was raised in the Long Island, NY town of Babylon. He is an alumnus of the University of Arizona 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.

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.

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 hosted the television special The Mystery of Al Capone's Vault in 1986.

Rivera's longtime friend, 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.

Prime-time television career

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."Mystery of Capone Vault Ends _ Temporarily", Associated Press, April 21, 1986 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."'Scarface Al' vaults to high Nielsen ratings", Advertising Age, April 28, 1986 A disappointed Geraldo anticipated finding bones, but was never able to use "some lines from 'Hamlet'" he rehearsed."Geraldo Arrives and Chicago Gets Windier", Newsweek, May 5, 1986

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.

In 1993 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 series finale episode of Seinfeld, with Rivera as himself reporting a fictional court event. 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.

During the U.S. war in Afghanistan in 2001, he was derided for falsely claiming to be reporting from the scene of a friendly fire incident, which in actuality had occurred 300 miles away. He claims the discrepancy resulted from a minor misunderstanding.

Rivera hosted At Large with Geraldo Rivera, which was shown on Saturday and Sunday nights on Fox News. He left the show October 9, 2005 in order to host a new weekday syndicated show, Geraldo at Large.

Recent career

During the 2003 Iraq War, as an "embedded journalist" with U.S. forces in Iraq, he drew a map in the sand during a live broadcast on the Fox News Channel, which the Pentagon felt revealed potentially damaging strategic information. The Pentagon announced that they were forcing him out of Iraq; two days later Rivera announced that henceforth and voluntarily he would be reporting on the Iraq conflict from Kuwait.

During 2005 trial of Michael Jackson, Geraldo Rivera vowed to promptly shave his distinctive moustache in the event of a guilty verdict. After a full acquittal on all child molestation charges, Geraldo rejoiced on Access Hollywood, gloating his acquittal prediction had come true and his moustache had been accordingly spared. It was the subject of ridicule for many late-night talk-show hosts.

Rivera also hosts a daily syndicated newsmagazine, called Geraldo at Large. The show features Fox News Channel correspondents, including Laurie Dhue and Phil Keating.

Notes

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