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Every time Hollywood thinks they've figured her out, she cleverly moves another step up the ladder and successfully places another title among her many achievements. It's Leeza Gibbons' passion and drive combined with her warmth and wisdom that has enabled her to become one of the most respected and recognized professionals in the broadcast industry.
From television news journalist and host, to radio personality,
producer, businesswoman, Gibbons has been entering America's
living rooms for over 20 years. On November 8, 2004, Leeza
and Westwood One launched “Leeza at Night”, a
nightly 5-hour music program airing on Hot AC and AC stations
across the country. “Leeza at Night” airs weekdays
from 7pm to midnight and features Gibbons sharing her unique
take on entertainment news and the trends shaping American
culture today, as well as taking call-ins from listeners nationwide,
exploring what’s on their minds and in their hearts.
Gibbons currently hosts LIFETIME’S successful primetime
magazine, WHAT SHOULD YOU DO? - a dramatic reality series
offering empowering, life-saving information about moments
of crisis. This is a just another outlet for Gibbons’
brand of offering programs and products that enhance the lives
of women and their families.
It was a need to serve her own family that prompted Gibbons
to leave her daily post as managing editor and host of the
newsmagazine EXTRA in order to form the Leeza Gibbons Memory
Foundation (a 501c3, non-profit) - her most personal endeavor
to date. “I promised my mother I would take her diagnosis
of Alzheimer’s disease and use it to educate and inspire.
We’re doing that through Leeza’s Place, intimate
settings in cities across the country where the newly diagnosed
with any memory disorder and their caregivers can get education,
empowerment and energy as they prepare for the journey ahead.”
As she watched the fog roll in on her mother’s life,
Gibbons saw memories being stolen by the “thief known
as Alzheimer’s” and she became consumed with preserving
the moments that matter and capturing traditions in her family.
Her scrapbooking line: Leeza Gibbons LEGACIES provides a system
for preserving memories and encourages women to tell the stories
of their lives.
Complementing Gibbon’s philosophy of capturing and
preserving family memories and LEGACIES line, Gibbons’
book, Scrapbooking Traditions from Meredith Publishing, will
be released in May 2005. Scrapbooking Traditions features
heartwarming, personal stories to encourage others to celebrate
memories, create new ones and tell the story of their lives.
Believing that woman should “know where they’re
going and look good when they get there”, Gibbons has
offered Sheer Cover to the marketplace, a mineral based powder
that covers everything from rosacia and acne to scarring and
pregnancy mask. “It allows women to really show up for
their lives and helps them get perfect skin in an instant”
Gibbons said of the Guthy Renker product. “I love that
through Sheer Cover, I’m hearing powerful stories of
sheer courage and sheer determination – that transformative
energy is powerful.”
Gibbons is committed to informing viewers on everything from
entertainment news to the trends shaping American culture
today. Her hosting duties on two installments of the live
Fox TV show TEST THE NATION: THE NATIONAL I.Q TEST and the
pop culture hit, THE SIMPLE LIFE REUNION (Fox), reminded viewers
of Leeza’s easy going professionalism in front of the
camera, skillfully providing an entertaining environment with
disarming interviews.
While she would nationally burst on the scene as an anchor/reporter on "Entertainment Tonight," it wouldn't be until hosting her own daytime talker, "Leeza," that audiences would see Gibbons' determination to get outside of the box and become a household name while highlighting her intelligence, sensitivity and compassion. Gibbons served as Executive Producer of "Leeza," which debuted on NBC in 1994 and continued nationally through 2000. Receiving nominations for both Outstanding Talk Show and Outstanding Talk Show Host every year it was eligible, "Leeza" would garner 27 Daytime Emmy Nominations, winning three. It was during the series run that Gibbons' impact on television would be awarded with one of Hollywood's highest honors: a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
With her never-ending entrepreneurial creativity and a mind
for business-building, Gibbons formed Leeza Gibbons Enterprises
(LGE) in 1994, to develop and produce the kind of projects
that reflect her interests and concerns. This endeavor would
have LGE form groundbreaking relationships co-producing and
developing TV programs with several outlets. Televised projects
produced by or in association with LGE include a CBS special
with IWON.com, E!'s "Assignment E! with Leeza Gibbons," the
highest rated non-news series in the channel's history, and
the Emmy-winning "Teen Files," (UPN) focusing on tough teen
issues and later being used in school curriculums. It was
her desire to mentor young people that led LGE to it's latest
project ¨ "The Michael Essany Show" on E! Gibbons met Michael
when he was 14... five years later she was executing producing
his show.
Taking her show-biz insight to the radio airwaves, Gibbons
hosts the nationally syndicated radio program, "Hollywood
Confidential," which is featured on over 125 radio stations
across the country. The three-hour show features today's chart
topping hits, and takes an inside look at TV, film, fashion
and trends in Hollywood. The show has been produced for over
a decade, and has been nominated for the Billboard/Airplay
Monitor for Network/Syndicated Program of the Year. In order
to record her radio programs and meet the demands of motherhood,
Gibbons had her own home-studio built and broadcasts every
week "direct" from Hollywood, or at least direct from her
basement in Hollywood.
Gibbons has always been dedicated to lending her emotional
and financial resources to various charities, which focus
on her commitment to youth through strengthening the family
bond, as well as health issues facing America today. She is
proud to be the national Spokesperson for Kids Peace, a celebrity
ambassador for ChildHelp USA and board member of Marc Klass'
Beyond Missing. No stranger to Capitol Hill, Gibbons has testified
before Congress and is most proud to have received the Congressional
Horizon Award for her crusade on children's issues. Additionally,
Gibbons has been recognized for her humanitarianism by various
foundations focusing on AIDS and Alzheimer's research, racial
harmony and children's illnesses.
A South Carolina native, Gibbons found herself in the national spotlight on "Entertainment Tonight," following a co-hosting gig on WCBS-TV's "Two On The Town," in New York. Earlier she hosted "PM Magazine" programs in Dallas and Beaumont, Texas and served as reporter/anchor in Spartanburg, South Carolina and NPR in Columbia, South Carolina.
In addition to being a member of the Women in Film, Gibbons is also a member of Sigma Delta Chi and American Woman in Radio and Television. She is also an active participate in The Leading Women Entrepreneurs of the World as well as a member of the prestigious LA Forum.
Gibbons leads a life of gratitude and while thrilled with
all of her many professional accomplishments, she is most
proud of her own family life. Married to architect/actor Stephen
Meadows, they have three children: daughter Lexi, and sons
Troy and Nathan. |