Al Roker
Encyclopedia
Albert Lincoln "Al" Roker, Jr. (born August 20, 1954) is an American television meteorologist as well as an actor and book author. He is best known as being the weather anchor on NBC's Today. On Monday, July 20, 2009, he began co-hosting his new morning show, Wake Up with Al
Wake Up With Al
Wake Up With Al is a morning weather program on The Weather Channel. It premiered on Monday, July 20, 2009. It is also currently the newest live show on The Weather Channel.-Program history:...

, on The Weather Channel
The Weather Channel
The Weather Channel is a US cable and satellite television network since May 2, 1982, that broadcasts weather forecasts and weather-related news, along with entertainment programming related to weather 24 hours a day...

, which airs weekdays from 6am to 7am ET, one hour earlier than Today. He holds an expired American Meteorological Society
American Meteorological Society
The American Meteorological Society promotes the development and dissemination of information and education on the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences and the advancement of their professional applications. Founded in 1919, the American Meteorological Society has a membership...

 Television Seal, #238. He is the author of a murder mystery, entitled The Morning Show Murders, about a celebrity chef and morning television show host drawn into international intrigue and mayhem.

Early life

Roker was born in Queens, New York, the son of Isabel, of Jamaican descent, and Albert Lincoln Roker, Sr., a labor relations negotiator, bus driver and dispatcher of Bahamian descent. Roker initially wanted to be a cartoonist. He was raised Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

 (in the faith of his mother) and graduated from Xavier High School
Xavier High School (New York City)
Xavier High School is a independent Jesuit university-preparatory high school for young men located at 30 West 16th Street, in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It was founded in 1847, as the College of St. Francis Xavier by Father John Larkin, S.J...

 in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

. He worked on several projects as a member of the school's Cartooning & Illustration Club. He attended the State University of New York at Oswego
State University of New York at Oswego
State University of New York at Oswego, also known as SUNY Oswego and Oswego State, is a public university in the City of Oswego and Town of Oswego, New York, on the shore of Lake Ontario...

 where he double-majored in graphic design and broadcasting/journalism. Roker is a cousin of actress Roxie Roker
Roxie Roker
Roxie Albertha Roker was an American actress, best known for her groundbreaking role as Helen Willis on the sitcom The Jeffersons, half of the first interracial couple to be shown on regular prime time television...

, who is most notable for her role on the sitcom The Jeffersons
The Jeffersons
The Jeffersons is an American sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from January 18, 1975, through June 25, 1985, lasting 11 seasons and a total of 253 episodes. The show was produced by the T.A.T. Communications Company from 1975–1982 and by Embassy Television from 1982-1985...

and the mother of popular rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....

 Lenny Kravitz
Lenny Kravitz
Leonard Albert "Lenny" Kravitz is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and arranger, whose "retro" style incorporates elements of rock, soul, R&B, funk, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, folk and ballads...

.

Career

Before the national recognition, Roker worked as a weather anchor for CBS
CBS
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...

 affiliate WHEN-TV (now WTVH
WTVH
WTVH is the CBS-affiliated television station for Central New York State licensed to Syracuse. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 47 from a transmitter in LaFayette. The station can also be seen on Time Warner and Verizon FiOS channel 5. There is a high definition feed...

) in Syracuse, New York
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...

 from 1974 until 1976, while he was still enrolled at SUNY Oswego. Following the completion of his collegiate studies, Roker moved to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 and took a weathercasting position at independent station WTTG
WTTG
WTTG, channel 5, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Fox Broadcasting Company, located in the American capital city of Washington, D.C...

, then owned by Metromedia
Metromedia
Metromedia was a media company that owned radio and television stations in the United States from 1956 to 1986 and owned Orion Pictures from 1986-1997.- Overview :...

, remaining there for much of the next two years.

Roker's career with NBC began in 1978 when he was hired at WKYC-TV
WKYC-TV
WKYC, virtual channel 3 , is an NBC-affiliated television station located in Cleveland, Ohio, owned by the Gannett Company. Its studio is located on the shores of Lake Erie, while its transmitter is located in Parma, Ohio....

 in Cleveland
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...

, then an NBC owned-and-operated station
Owned-and-operated station
In the broadcasting industry , an owned-and-operated station usually refers to a television station or radio station that is owned by the network with which it is associated...

. After five successful years in Cleveland, Roker was promoted to the network's flagship outlet, WNBC-TV in his hometown. Roker returned to New York City in late 1983 as a weekend meteorologist, and within eight months became the station's regular weeknight weathercaster. Roker replaced 27-year WNBC-TV veteran Dr. Frank Field
Frank Field (meteorologist)
Franklyn Field , best known as Dr. Frank Field, is a television personality and meteorologist who was on TV in New York City for five decades, reporting not only on the weather but also on science and health topics. He was instrumental in publicizing the Heimlich Maneuver to aid food choking victims...

, who left the network after a contract dispute. From 1983 to 1996, Roker was the regular substitute for forecaster Joe Witte
Joe Witte
Joe Witte is the morning and midday weathercaster for TBD TV, a local cable news network owned by Albritton Communication headquartered in Rosslyn, VA and serving the Washington, D.C area. He previously worked at Washington's ABC affiliate, WJLA, which is also owned by Albritton and headquartered...

 on the NBC News program NBC News at Sunrise
NBC News at Sunrise
NBC News at Sunrise was an early morning news program produced by NBC News from 1983 to 1999. The program featured the top news headlines of the morning, sports and weather reports, and business segments. Many of the program's anchors also appeared on The Today Show...

, and from 1990 to 1995 filled-in for Willard Scott
Willard Scott
Willard Herman Scott, Jr. is an American media personality and author best known for his television work on NBC's The Today Show and as the creator of the Ronald McDonald character.-Early years:...

 on the Today Show. In 1995, he became the host of The Al Roker Show, a weekend talk show on CNBC
CNBC
CNBC is a satellite and cable television business news channel in the U.S., owned and operated by NBCUniversal. The network and its international spinoffs cover business headlines and provide live coverage of financial markets. The combined reach of CNBC and its siblings is 390 million viewers...

. In 1996–1997, he hosted a game show on MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...

 called Remember This?
Remember This?
Remember This? was a game show that tested contestants' knowledge of facts behind NBC News headlines. The series aired on MSNBC on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from October 25, 1996 to October 5, 1997....

.

Roker started getting more exposure, especially when David Letterman
David Letterman
David Michael Letterman is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman, broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC...

 asked him to do an elevator race with him in one episode of his talk show
Talk show
A talk show or chat show is a television program or radio program where one person discuss various topics put forth by a talk show host....

 Late Night with David Letterman
Late Night with David Letterman
Late Night with David Letterman is a nightly hour-long comedy talk show on NBC that was created and hosted by David Letterman. It premiered in 1982 as the first incarnation of the Late Night franchise and went off the air in 1993, after Letterman left NBC and moved to Late Show on CBS. Late Night...

, which taped across the hall from WNBC's news studio in the GE Building
GE Building
The GE Building is an Art Deco skyscraper that forms the centerpiece of Rockefeller Center in the midtown Manhattan section of New York City. Known as the RCA Building until 1988, it is most famous for housing the headquarters of the television network NBC...

. That led Roker to getting a job as the forecaster for Weekend Today
Weekend Today
Weekend Today is the unofficial title of the weekend editions of Today, an American morning news and talk show which airs daily on NBC.-History:...

, where he did the weather for nine years. He also substituted on the weekday edition of Today when Willard Scott
Willard Scott
Willard Herman Scott, Jr. is an American media personality and author best known for his television work on NBC's The Today Show and as the creator of the Ronald McDonald character.-Early years:...

 was ill or away. In 1996, Scott announced his semi-retirement from the show, and Roker received the weekday weather position on Today, where he has been since. He officially joined Today on January 26, 1996. Roker became popular for doing his forecasts outside of the studio, interviewing audience members and giving some of them camera time. Roker also began doing more interviews and segments on the show as time progressed.

In 2005, Roker reported from inside Hurricane Wilma
Hurricane Wilma
Hurricane Wilma was the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded in the Atlantic basin. Wilma was the twenty-second storm , thirteenth hurricane, sixth major hurricane, and fourth Category 5 hurricane of the record-breaking 2005 season...

. A popular viral video
Viral video
A viral video is one that becomes popular through the process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites, social media and email...

 exists on the internet of Roker being swept off his feet by the force of the hurricane and holding on to his cameraman.

Roker is a game show fan, and hosted a week-long segment on Today in honor of five game shows and their hosts. He also appeared as a celebrity player on both Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!
Jeopardy!
Griffin's first conception of the game used a board comprising ten categories with ten clues each, but after finding that this board could not be shown on camera easily, he reduced it to two rounds of thirty clues each, with five clues in each of six categories...

. In 2008, Roker hosted NBC's Celebrity Family Feud
Celebrity Family Feud
Celebrity Family Feud is a spin-off game show created by NBC, and hosted by television weather anchor Al Roker. The announcer was Burton Richardson. Celebrity Family Feud pitted two families against each other in a contest to name the most popular responses to a survey-type question posed to 100...

.
Roker also substituted Meredith Vieira
Meredith Vieira
Meredith Louise Vieira is an American journalist, television personality, and game show host. She is best known for her roles as the original moderator of the ABC talk program The View and co-host of the long-running NBC News morning news program, Today...

 for a week of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (US game show)
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire is an American television quiz show which offers a maximum prize of $1,000,000 for correctly answering 14 consecutive multiple-choice questions of random difficulty. Until 2010, the format required contestants to correctly answer 15 consecutive questions of increasing...

shows on March 5–9, 2007.

Roker also hosts various programs on The Food Network, namely, Roker on the Road, and, Tricked-Out Tailgating. He is also the author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

 of several non-fiction
Non-fiction
Non-fiction is the form of any narrative, account, or other communicative work whose assertions and descriptions are understood to be fact...

 books, and an avid barbecue
Barbecue
Barbecue or barbeque , used chiefly in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia is a method and apparatus for cooking meat, poultry and occasionally fish with the heat and hot smoke of a fire, smoking wood, or hot coals of...

 enthusiast.

Roker was also the forecaster for several radio stations, including the New York smooth jazz
Smooth jazz
Smooth jazz is a genre of music that grew out of jazz fusion and is influenced by R&B, funk, rock, and pop music styles ....

 radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...

 WQCD
WQCD
WEMP , known on-air as FM News 101.9, is an all-news radio station located in New York City. WEMP is owned by Merlin Media LLC, and has studios located in New York's West Village neighborhood. WEMP's transmitter is located at the Empire State Building...

 (101.9 FM) and for Cleveland smooth jazz station WNWV
WNWV
WNWV — branded V107.3 Cleveland — is a commercial radio station licensed to Elyria, Ohio broadcasting an adult album alternative format. The station serves the Cleveland radio market and much of surrounding Northeast Ohio, and is one of the few remaining locally-owned stations in the entire...

 (107.3 FM). The service was called the "Al Roker Radio Weather Network," it was provided by United Stations Radio Networks
United Stations Radio Networks
United Stations Radio Networks is a radio network providing a wide range of programs and programming services for radio stations across the US and elsewhere...

. He has since been replaced on those networks by Accuweather
AccuWeather
AccuWeather is an American media company that provides for-profit weather forecasting services worldwide.AccuWeather was founded in 1962 by Joel N. Myers, then a Penn State graduate student working on degrees in meteorology. His first customer was a gas company in Pennsylvania. While running the...

.
Roker currently (2010) has a 5-hour weekday morning stint 6-11 a.m. on the Weather Channel, TWC.

Personal life

Roker's wife, his third, is fellow journalist Deborah Roberts, who has reported for both ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

 and NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

, meeting Roker when she joined the latter in 1990 as a reporter. Roker has three children.

On November 7, 2010 he ran in the ING New York City Marathon.

In the July 2011 issue of Us Weekly
Us Weekly
Us Weekly is a celebrity gossip magazine, founded in 1977 by The New York Times Company, who sold it in 1980. It was acquired by Wenner Media in 1986. The publication covers topics ranging from celebrity relationships to the latest trends in fashion, beauty, and entertainment...

 in 25 Things You Did not Know About Me, Roker is a second cousin of rocker Lenny Kravitz
Lenny Kravitz
Leonard Albert "Lenny" Kravitz is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and arranger, whose "retro" style incorporates elements of rock, soul, R&B, funk, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, folk and ballads...

.

Health problems

In 2002, Roker underwent gastric bypass surgery to lose weight, which he said he did after failing at numerous diets
Dieting
Dieting is the practice of eating food in a regulated fashion to achieve or maintain a controlled weight. In most cases dieting is used in combination with physical exercise to lose weight in those who are overweight or obese. Some athletes, however, follow a diet to gain weight...

. Eight months after that surgery, the New York Daily News
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....

reported he dropped 100 pounds (45 kg) off his 320-pound figure. On Thursday, June 7th, Roker underwent a "TKR" Total Knee arthoplasty (Replacement) on his left knee. In 2005, Roker had a back operation.

Charity work

In 2007, Roker became an official supporter of Ronald McDonald House Charities
Ronald McDonald House Charities
Ronald McDonald House Charities is an independent 501c3 organization whose mission is to create, find and support programs that directly improve the health and well being of children across the world...

 and is a member of their celebrity board, called the Friends of RMHC. He also served as the official spokesperson for Amtrak's National Train Day
National Train Day
National Train Day is a holiday started by Amtrak in 2008 as a method to spread information to the general public about the advantages of rail travel and the history of trains in the United States...

, which took place on May 10, 2008.

Controversy

On June 7, 2007, Roker referenced the logo for 2012 Summer Olympics
2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the "London 2012 Olympic Games", are scheduled to take place in London, England, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012...

:

Remember that controversial Olympic logo for the 2012 Olympics in London? Some folks have complained that the campaign actually sent them into epileptic seizures. Well, we asked you to weigh in on our website in an informal poll; those of you who could get up off the floor after shaking around were able to actually log in.
The following day Roker stated, "I started joking about [the logo]. I want to make this clear — I was not joking about epilepsy or anyone who suffers from epilepsy. We understand and know that this is a serious affliction and would never joke about that. We were joking about the logo — not about epilepsy. If anybody was offended, I heartily and really humbly apologize." He was called a "kook" by a local weather lady when she thought that she was off air.

Signature phrases

  • On many occasions on Today he has used the phrase "man candy" to describe attractive males.

  • At the end of his weather segments when they cut to local broadcasters for regional updates he says "That's what's going on around the country, here's what's happening in your neck of the woods". (Willard Scott's outcue phrase was "Here's what's happening in your world, even as we speak.")

Other appearances and activities

  • On the May 9, 1998 episode of Saturday Night Live
    Saturday Night Live
    Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...

    (hosted by David Duchovny
    David Duchovny
    David William Duchovny is an American actor, writer and director. He has won Golden Globe awards for his work as FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder on The X-Files and as Hank Moody on Californication.-Early life:...

    ), Roker appeared in a "Mango
    Mango (Saturday Night Live)
    Mango was a character performed by Chris Kattan on the American sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live. The character was co-created and developed by Kattan and SNL writer Scott Wainio along with initial creative contributions by Roy Jenkins. Mango is a male exotic dancer who performed in a strip...

    " sketch with Matt Lauer
    Matt Lauer
    Matthew Todd "Matt" Lauer . is an American television journalist best known as the host of NBC's The Today Show since 1997. He was previously a news anchor in New York and a local talk-show host in Boston, Philadelphia, Providence and Richmond...

    . Usually, the sketch follows the fruitless pursuit of Mango by a character (portrayed by the host). In the middle of this particular sketch, Roker appeared as the object of Lauer's affection. Instead of the famous catch-phrase "Mango, Mango!" Lauer says, "Roker, ROKER!!"
  • During the inaugural parade of President Barack Obama
    Barack Obama
    Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

    , Al Roker was able to get the "first interview" with the President by removing his Fedora hat and yelling to the walking President to come over. Acknowledging Roker, Obama continued walking along the parade route, telling him "it's warm!"
  • Roker holds the record for most appearances on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien
    Late Night with Conan O'Brien
    Late Night with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien that aired 2,725 episodes on NBC between 1993 and 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and musical and comedy performances. Late Night aired weeknights at 12:37 am...

    ", with over 30. He would often appear on the show as a last minute replacement if a previously scheduled guest canceled their appearance.
  • Roker became an honorary member of Phi Beta Sigma
    Phi Beta Sigma
    Phi Beta Sigma is a predominantly African-American fraternity which was founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C. on January 9, 1914, by three young African-American male students. The founders A. Langston Taylor, Leonard F. Morse, and Charles I...

     fraternity on August 19, 2009.
  • Roker appeared in some commercials for PBS Kids
    PBS Kids
    PBS Kids is the brand for children's programming aired by the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States founded in 1993. As with all PBS programming, PBS Kids programming is non-commercial. It is aimed at children ages 2 to 10...

     and one of its shows, Between the Lions
    Between the Lions
    Between the Lions is a PBS Kids' puppet show designed to promote reading. The show is a co-production between WGBH in Boston and Sirius Thinking, Ltd., in New York City, in association with Mississippi Public Broadcasting, in Mississippi. The show has won seven Daytime Emmy awards between 2001 and...

    .
  • Roker appeared as a guest singer for The Wiggles
    The Wiggles
    The Wiggles are a children's group formed in Sydney, Australia in 1991. Their original members were Anthony Field, Phillip Wilcher, Murray Cook, Greg Page, and Jeff Fatt. Wilcher left the group after their first album...

     song and video ""Thank you Mr Weatherman"" where he sported an orange Wiggles outfit.

Filmography

  • 2011-The Wiggles
    The Wiggles
    The Wiggles are a children's group formed in Sydney, Australia in 1991. Their original members were Anthony Field, Phillip Wilcher, Murray Cook, Greg Page, and Jeff Fatt. Wilcher left the group after their first album...

     Ukulele Baby!
  • 2009-Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
    Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (film)
    Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is a 2009 American computer-animated family comedy film, produced by Sony Pictures Animation, distributed by Columbia Pictures, and released on September 18, 2009. The film is loosely based on the children's book of the same name by Judi and Ron Barrett.The film...

     (voice)
  • 2008-Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (voice)
  • 2005-Robots
    Robots (film)
    Robots is a 2005 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Blue Sky Studios for 20th Century Fox, and was released theatrically on March 11, 2005. The story was created by Chris Wedge and William Joyce, a children's book author/illustrator. The two were trying to create a film version of...

     (voice)
  • 2003-Cyberchase
    Cyberchase
    Cyberchase is an American educational television series for children age 6-12, that teaches children discrete mathematics. The show airs on Public Broadcasting Service and PBS Kids GO! in the United States. Seasons one through five were produced by Thirteen/WNET New York and Nelvana...

     (voice, 3 episodes)
  • 2003-Wholey Moses (short film, voice)
  • 2003-Freedom: A History of Us (History Channel special)
  • 1997-The Single Guy
    The Single Guy
    The Single Guy is an American television sitcom that ran for two seasons on NBC, from September 1995 to April 1997. It starred Jonathan Silverman as struggling New York City writer Jonathan Eliot, and followed several of his close friends The series also starred Joey Slotnick as Eliot's best...

     (1 episode)
  • 1996-NewsRadio
    NewsRadio
    NewsRadio is an American television situation comedy that aired on NBC from 1995 to 1999. The series was created by executive producer Paul Simms, and was filmed in front of a studio audience at CBS Studio Center and Sunset Gower Studios...

     (1 episode)
  • 1993-Seinfeld
    Seinfeld
    Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...

     (The Cigar Store Indian - 1 episode)

External links

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