Julie Chen
Encyclopedia
Julie Suzanne Chen is an American
television personality, news anchor, and producer
for CBS
. She has 16 years of newscasting experience. She is best known for co-anchoring CBS
's The Early Show
, alongside Harry Smith
and Maggie Rodriguez
. She has been the host of the U.S. version of Big Brother since its debut in July 2000. She is currently a co-host and the moderator of the CBS daytime series, The Talk, which features a panel of five hosts, discussing controversial maternal topics and contemporary issues. The Talk premiered on October 18, 2010.
and was one of the top leaders in the Kuomintang
government of Chiang Kai-shek
. Consequently, her family moved everywhere in China
, eventually fleeing to Taiwan
.
Her two older sisters are Gladys and Victoria.
Chen attended Junior High School 194 in the Whitestone
area of Queens, New York, where she was voted "Most Intelligent" and "Most Likely to Succeed." She graduated from high school in 1987 from St. Francis Prep after having missed the cutoff scores for specialized high school entrance exams for schools like the Bronx High School of Science
, the school her older sisters attended. She attended the University of Southern California
and graduated in 1991 with a major in broadcast journalism
and in English
.
—the series which she would anchor a decade later—where she answered phones and copied faxes for distribution. The following year, while still in school, she worked for ABC
NewsOne for one season as a desk assistant. She was subsequently promoted to work as a producer for the next three years. The following year, she traveled to Dayton, Ohio
, to work as a newsanchor for WDTN-TV, from 1995 to 1997.
From 1999 to 2002, Chen was the anchor of both early-morning shows, CBS Morning News
& The Early Show
, alongside Bryant Gumbel
and Jane Clayson
. From 2002-2010, she was a co-host for The Early Show
on CBS, before leaving the daily position but remaining as a Special Contributing Anchor for the program. Before CBS News
she was a reporter and weekend anchor at WCBS-TV
in New York City
.
Since 2000, she has also been the host of the American version of Big Brother
. During the first season (2000), Chen was widely criticized in the media for her heavily scripted, wooden delivery in her interaction with the studio audience and in the interviews on the live programs, earning her the nickname "Chenbot." She has indicated in two separate interviews, that she takes no personal offense to the term, adding that it may derive from her "precise on-air style" which comes from "a desire to be objective." She again acknowledged the nickname while discussing mugs made in her likeness when she proudly proclaimed, "I am the Chenbot!" in a segment on the CBS Early Show.
Chen is the moderator of the CBS talk show titled The Talk, along with a panel of four other moms. Until late August 2011, along with Chen, the panel included Sharon Osbourne
, Sara Gilbert
, Holly Robinson Peete, and Leah Remini
. Leah Remini and Holly Robinson Peete have since been terminated, and the show now has only 4 hosts (Sheryl Underwood
was added in September 2011), and 1 guest co-host. The show is similar to The View although not as politicized. It premiered on October 18, 2010.
Leslie Moonves
; despite Moonves being married. On December 10, 2005, Moonves got a court to grant an early divorce leaving spousal support and child support to be determined at a later date. Just thirteen days later in Mexico
, Chen and Moonves married. Chen is the stepmother of Adam, Michael and Sara, Moonves's children from his 26-year marriage to Nancy Wiesenfeld Moonves. Chen announced in April 2009 that she was pregnant with her first child on The Early Show
with her due date in October 2009. She revealed she wouldn't be taking medical leave and would continue to present Big Brother
during her pregnancy. On September 24, 2009, she gave birth to a boy named Charlie.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television personality, news anchor, and producer
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
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...
. She has 16 years of newscasting experience. She is best known for co-anchoring 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...
's The Early Show
The Early Show
The Early Show is an American television morning news talk show broadcast by CBS from New York City. The program airs live from 7 to 9 a.m. Eastern Time Monday through Friday; most affiliates in the Central, Mountain, and Pacific time zones air the show on tape-delay from 7 to 9 a.m. local time. ...
, alongside Harry Smith
Harry Smith (television)
Harry Smith is an American television journalist. He hosted the CBS News morning programs, The Early Show and its predecessor, CBS This Morning, for 17 years...
and Maggie Rodriguez
Maggie Rodriguez
Margarita Dania Rodriguez is a former co-anchor of the CBS television program, The Early Show, from December 2007 through December 2010. Rodriguez was also a substitute anchor for Katie Couric on The CBS Evening News. Rodriguez was formerly co-anchor of the Saturday edition of The Early Show in 2007...
. She has been the host of the U.S. version of Big Brother since its debut in July 2000. She is currently a co-host and the moderator of the CBS daytime series, The Talk, which features a panel of five hosts, discussing controversial maternal topics and contemporary issues. The Talk premiered on October 18, 2010.
Early life
Julie Chen was born in Queens, New York. Chen's mother Wan Ling Chen grew up in Rangoon, Burma, where Chen's grandfather was a leading industrialist. Her father was born in ChinaChina
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and was one of the top leaders in the Kuomintang
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
government of Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....
. Consequently, her family moved everywhere in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, eventually fleeing to Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
.
Her two older sisters are Gladys and Victoria.
Chen attended Junior High School 194 in the Whitestone
Whitestone, Queens
Whitestone is a residential neighborhood in the northernmost part of the City of New York borough of Queens. Located between the East River to the north and 25th Avenue to the south. Whitestone is surrounded by College Point, Flushing, Bayside, Auburndale, Linden Hill, and Murray Hill...
area of Queens, New York, where she was voted "Most Intelligent" and "Most Likely to Succeed." She graduated from high school in 1987 from St. Francis Prep after having missed the cutoff scores for specialized high school entrance exams for schools like the Bronx High School of Science
Bronx High School of Science
The Bronx High School of Science is a specialized New York City public high school often considered the premier science magnet school in the United States. Founded in 1938, it is now located in the Bedford Park section of the Bronx...
, the school her older sisters attended. She attended the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
and graduated in 1991 with a major in broadcast journalism
Broadcast journalism
Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are "broadcast", that is, published by electrical methods, instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. Broadcast methods include radio , television , and, especially recently, the Internet generally...
and in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
.
Career
One of her earlier jobs came in June 1990, interning at CBS Morning NewsCBS Morning News
For CBS's main morning news program, formerly known as CBS Morning News, see The Early Show.CBS Morning News is the half-hour daily television broadcast from CBS News that airs following Up to the Minute and features late-breaking news stories, weather forecasts, and sports scores...
—the series which she would anchor a decade later—where she answered phones and copied faxes for distribution. The following year, while still in school, she worked for 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...
NewsOne for one season as a desk assistant. She was subsequently promoted to work as a producer for the next three years. The following year, she traveled to Dayton, Ohio
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
, to work as a newsanchor for WDTN-TV, from 1995 to 1997.
From 1999 to 2002, Chen was the anchor of both early-morning shows, CBS Morning News
CBS Morning News
For CBS's main morning news program, formerly known as CBS Morning News, see The Early Show.CBS Morning News is the half-hour daily television broadcast from CBS News that airs following Up to the Minute and features late-breaking news stories, weather forecasts, and sports scores...
& The Early Show
The Early Show
The Early Show is an American television morning news talk show broadcast by CBS from New York City. The program airs live from 7 to 9 a.m. Eastern Time Monday through Friday; most affiliates in the Central, Mountain, and Pacific time zones air the show on tape-delay from 7 to 9 a.m. local time. ...
, alongside Bryant Gumbel
Bryant Gumbel
Bryant Charles Gumbel is an American television journalist and sportscaster. He is best known for his 15 years as co-host of NBC's The Today Show. He is the younger brother of sportscaster Greg Gumbel.-Early life:...
and Jane Clayson
Jane Clayson
- Early life and career :Clayson was born April 25, 1967, and spent most of her childhood in Sacramento, California. She played with the Sacramento Youth Symphony and is an accomplished violinist....
. From 2002-2010, she was a co-host for The Early Show
The Early Show
The Early Show is an American television morning news talk show broadcast by CBS from New York City. The program airs live from 7 to 9 a.m. Eastern Time Monday through Friday; most affiliates in the Central, Mountain, and Pacific time zones air the show on tape-delay from 7 to 9 a.m. local time. ...
on CBS, before leaving the daily position but remaining as a Special Contributing Anchor for the program. Before CBS News
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of American television and radio network CBS. The current chairman is Jeff Fager who is also the executive producer of 60 Minutes, while the current president of CBS News is David Rhodes. CBS News' flagship program is the CBS Evening News, hosted by the network's main...
she was a reporter and weekend anchor at WCBS-TV
WCBS-TV
WCBS-TV, channel 2, is the flagship station of the CBS television network, located in New York City. The station's studios are located within the CBS Broadcast Center and its transmitter is atop the Empire State Building, both in Midtown Manhattan....
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Since 2000, she has also been the host of the American version of Big Brother
Big Brother (US TV series)
Big Brother is the American version of the Big Brother reality television show based on the Dutch television series of the same name originally created by John de Mol in 1997. The show follows a group of House Guests living together twenty-four hours a day in the "Big Brother" house, isolated from...
. During the first season (2000), Chen was widely criticized in the media for her heavily scripted, wooden delivery in her interaction with the studio audience and in the interviews on the live programs, earning her the nickname "Chenbot." She has indicated in two separate interviews, that she takes no personal offense to the term, adding that it may derive from her "precise on-air style" which comes from "a desire to be objective." She again acknowledged the nickname while discussing mugs made in her likeness when she proudly proclaimed, "I am the Chenbot!" in a segment on the CBS Early Show.
Chen is the moderator of the CBS talk show titled The Talk, along with a panel of four other moms. Until late August 2011, along with Chen, the panel included Sharon Osbourne
Sharon Osbourne
Sharon Rachel Osbourne is an English television host, author, music manager, businesswoman and promoter as well as the wife of heavy metal singer-songwriter Ozzy Osbourne....
, Sara Gilbert
Sara Gilbert
Sara Gilbert is an American actress best known for her role as Darlene Conner from 1988–1997 in the U.S. sitcom Roseanne.-Early life:Gilbert was born Sara Rebecca Abeles in Santa Monica, California. Her parents are Barbara Crane and Harold Abeles. Her two older siblings, Melissa Gilbert and...
, Holly Robinson Peete, and Leah Remini
Leah Remini
Leah Marie Remini is an American actress and model. She is best known for her role as Carrie Heffernan on the CBS sitcom The King of Queens and as Stacey Carosi on the NBC sitcom Saved by the Bell...
. Leah Remini and Holly Robinson Peete have since been terminated, and the show now has only 4 hosts (Sheryl Underwood
Sheryl Underwood
-Professional career:Underwood first gained notoriety as the first female finalist in the Miller Lite Comedy Search in 1989. She won the BET "Funniest Female Comedian on Comic View" award in 1994 and the BET Comedy Awards' Platinum Mic Viewers Choice Award in 2005....
was added in September 2011), and 1 guest co-host. The show is similar to The View although not as politicized. It premiered on October 18, 2010.
Personal life
In 2004, Chen began dating president and CEO of CBS TelevisionCBS
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...
Leslie Moonves
Leslie Moonves
Leslie Moonves is President and Chief Executive Officer of CBS Corporation.Moonves served as co-president and co-chief operating officer of Viacom, Inc., the predecessor to CBS Corporation, from 2004 until the company split on December 31, 2005...
; despite Moonves being married. On December 10, 2005, Moonves got a court to grant an early divorce leaving spousal support and child support to be determined at a later date. Just thirteen days later in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, Chen and Moonves married. Chen is the stepmother of Adam, Michael and Sara, Moonves's children from his 26-year marriage to Nancy Wiesenfeld Moonves. Chen announced in April 2009 that she was pregnant with her first child on The Early Show
The Early Show
The Early Show is an American television morning news talk show broadcast by CBS from New York City. The program airs live from 7 to 9 a.m. Eastern Time Monday through Friday; most affiliates in the Central, Mountain, and Pacific time zones air the show on tape-delay from 7 to 9 a.m. local time. ...
with her due date in October 2009. She revealed she wouldn't be taking medical leave and would continue to present Big Brother
Big Brother 11 (U.S.)
Big Brother 11 is the 11th season of the American reality television series Big Brother. It began on July 9, 2009 and aired on CBS and Showtime 2 for 73 days, concluding on September 15, 2009 when Jordan Lloyd was crowned the winner with four votes from the jury and one vote from the viewing public...
during her pregnancy. On September 24, 2009, she gave birth to a boy named Charlie.
External links
- Julie Chen at NNDBNNDBThe Notable Names Database , produced by Soylent Communications, the same entity that produces Rotten, Daily Rotten, Dr. Sputnik's Society Pages and Penny Postcards, is an online database of biographical details of over 36,000 people of note...
- Archived biography of Chen from one of her first reporting jobs. - WDTNWDTNWDTN, virtual channel 2, is the NBC-affiliated television station for Ohio's Miami Valley. Licensed to Dayton, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 50 from a transmitter in the Frytown section of the city. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable channel 2 and in...
-TV, Channel 2, Dayton, OhioDayton, OhioDayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
. - Interview with Entertainment Weekly discussing Chen, including her opinion on her nickname "The Chenbot."