Gumbel, Bryant

Source:

 African American National Biography

Gumbel, Bryant

(29 Sept. 1948– ),

broadcaster, was born Bryant Charles Gumbel in New Orleans, Louisiana, the second of four children to Richard Dunbar Gumbel, a World War II veteran, and Rhea LeCesne Gumbel. During his infancy Gumbel's parents moved the family from New Orleans to Chicago. Though it would ultimately benefit the entire family, the major motivation for the move was Gumbel's father's personal ambition. Richard Gumbel, a graduate of Xavier University in Louisiana, had his sights on law school. Unfortunately he was denied admission to law schools in his home state, something he ascribed to the racist climate of the South at that time. The more liberal North seemed a logical move, and he eventually pursued a law degree at Georgetown Law School in Washington, D.C., while continuing to support his family full time. Eventually becoming a Cook County Probate judge, Richard raised his family in Chicago. Both of Gumbel's parents were activists in the city's Democratic Party.

Raised in the middle-class Chicago suburb of Hyde Park, Bryant attended Catholic elementary schools. His father demanded good grades but also emphasized the pleasure of sports by frequently taking his children to Chicago Cubs and White Sox baseball games. Gumbel struggled academically but excelled at sports. This affinity would lead him to sports broadcasting as an adult.

Though his parents emphasized sports in their children's lives, they had hopes that Gumbel would pursue a career in law, following in his father's footsteps. After graduating from Bates College he worked in sales at Westvaco Corporation, a paper manufacturer in New York. Uninterested in pursuing law, Gumbel set his sights on sports writing. An article in Black Sports magazine became the catalyst to a promising career. Gumbel, talented and ambitious, worked his way up to the position of editor in chief of the magazine within a year of joining the staff. As a reporter and writer he spent time interviewing prominent sports personalities and gained industry respect. Unfortunately Gumbel's father died before seeing his son realize his dream. In 1972 Gumbel was hired by KNBC-TV, an NBC affiliate in Los Angeles, as an on-air sportscaster. Devastated by the loss of his father, Gumbel poured himself into his work and garnered new assignments with greater responsibility. At KNBC-TV he held the positions of weekly sportscaster, weeknight sportscaster, and sports director.

On 1 December 1973 Gumbel married his college sweetheart, June Carlyn Baranco, an artist and Baton Rouge native. The couple had two children. In 1975, while he was working in Los Angeles, NBC Sports hired Gumbel as co-host of Grandstand, the network's National Football League pregame show. Grandstand was broadcast from New York, so Gumbel commuted between Los Angeles and New York City. He spent the next several years covering sporting events for NBC, including the Rose Bowl and a 1976 Olympic program for which he won an Emmy Award. He earned another Emmy the next year as anchor of the CBS News magazine Public Eye with Bryant Gumbel, followed by a Golden Mike Award sponsored by the Los Angeles Press Club.

In 1980 Gumbel was offered a minor sports reporting position with NBC's Today Show. He began branching out of sports and ventured into news reporting to showcase his versatility. The strategy paid off when Gumbel was asked to fill in for Jane Pauley, Today's co-host, who was out on medical leave. Successful as a substitute co-host, Gumbel was tapped to fill in for Today's other co-host, Tom Brokaw. By January 1982 Gumbel had replaced Brokaw, who became the NBC Nightly News anchor. Gumbel would be the first African American to host a nationally televised morning program. It did not take him long to earn the respect of colleagues and his viewing audience. In 1986 one thousand journalists voted him “Best Morning TV News Interviewer” in an annual Washington Journalism Review readers poll.

In 1989 Bryant suffered a bruise to his reputation when an internal Today memo he wrote was leaked to the press. In it, Bryant strongly criticized some of his colleagues on the show, including the weatherman Willard Scott and the film critic Gene Shalit. Written as a response to the executive producer's request for critiques of the show, Gumbel was horrified when his honest but harsh comments became public. The press was unforgiving, and although Gumbel and his colleagues remained professional throughout the ordeal, his reputation suffered. Nevertheless, Gumbel reestablished himself as a solid reporter and interviewer. In 1992 he took Today to Africa for a week of unprecedented broadcasts, one of the career accomplishments of which he remained most proud. While on location he shed light on issues largely ignored by other mainstream media outlets. For his Africa programming Gumbel received the 1993 International Journalism Award from the group TransAfrica, the U.S. Committee for UNICEf's Africa's Future Award, and Journalist of the Year Award sponsored by the National Association of Black Journalists.

In January 1997, after fifteen years on NBC's Today Show, Gumbel resigned to pursue other interests. Shortly after leaving he was hired at CBS to host Public Eye with Bryant Gumbel, a news magazine program. Because of poor ratings, the show was canceled in less than a year. In 1999, however, Gumbel was again hired by CBS to host its morning news program, The Early Show, where he remained until 2002. After an acrimonious divorce from his first wife, Gumbel married the model Hilary Quinlan in August 2002.

A widely respected broadcaster, Gumbel traveled the world covering historic events. In Saudi Arabia he reported on the start of the first Persian Gulf War. He also covered the tenth anniversary of the fall of Saigon from Ho Chi Minh City. Gumbel was honored with the United Negro College Fund Frederick D. Patterson Award and the Congress of Racial Equality Martin Luther King Award. Additionally he won four Emmy Awards and three NAACP Image Awards. Gumbel received honorary doctorate degrees from a number of colleges and universities, including Bates, Xavier, Holy Cross, Providence, and Clark Atlanta.

Following his semiretirement in 1995 Gumbel hosted Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, an HBO investigative series. The show received various awards, including numerous Sports Emmy Awards.

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