Diane Sawyer

Vocation

Notable

Family

American journalist and news anchor, co-host with Charles Gibson of both "Good Morning America" (from January 1999) and "Primetime." As well as covering ground-breaking stories, national and international news, Sawyer has interviewed world figures, with poise and penetrating insight. With a cool detachment and top professional capacity, Sawyer is one of the most successful anchors and news reporters of her generation. In 1984, she became the first female investigative correspondent for TV's preeminent journalism program "60 Minutes". Diane is the second daughter of a county judge and a teacher. She and her sister Linda both entered beauty pageants and in 1962, Diane won the contest of America Junior Miss with a prize of $11,000. With the money, she attended Wellesley College, earning her B.A. in 1967. Her interest turned to journalism and she broke into a male-dominated field by landing a job as a weathercaster and part-time reporter on WLKY-TV in Louisville, KY. From there she segued into reporting the news. In 1970, Sawyer went to work for Ron Ziegler, President Nixon's press secretary, gaining first-hand experience in the political arena. After Watergate and Nixon's resignation, she assisted the former President with his memoirs, beginning in 1974. Her exhaustive research brought clarity to a subject that, even for Nixon himself, had developed into a complex and tangled web of national events. In 1978, Sawyer joined CBS News as a Washington-based reported, leading to a co-anchor spot on "This Morning" with Charles Kuralt, 1981. In 1988, she covered the presidential campaigns for CBS. The following year she made a lateral move to ABC News to co-anchor "Primetime Live", a television newsmagazine with Sam Donaldson. In 1989-90, Sawyer earned an Emmy for the bombing of Pan-Am Flight 103 and another Emmy in 1990-91 for her coverage of the Menendez brothers scandal, "Murder in Beverly Hills." She was inducted to the Television Hall of Fame in 1997. Sawyer has been romantically linked to several high-profile men, including politician Bill Bradley (whom she met and dated when both were still in college) and actor/director Warren Beatty. In 1986, she met director Mike Nichols, whom she married in 1988. After many years co-hosting "Good Morning America" she took over as anchor for the evening news beginning on December 21, 2009. She replaces Charlie Gibson. Link to Wikipedia biography