Bryant Gumbel was the first African American co-host of the National Broadcasting Company’s (NBC) The Today Show and is well-known as a broadcast journalist and sportscaster. Gumbel was born in 1948 in New Orleans, Louisiana, to Rhea Alice and Richard Dunbar Gumbel, a city clerk and a judge, respectively. He grew up with two younger sisters and a younger brother in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago.
Gumbel graduated from Maine’s Bates College in 1970 with a Bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts. He first worked as a salesman for Westvaco Corporation, an industrial paper company in New York City. He left the job after six months and, in 1971, became a sports writer for Black Sports magazine. The following year, Gumbel became a sportscaster for KNBC-TV in Los Angeles, California. In the fall of 1975, he became a co-host for NBC Sports National Football League’s pre-game show, Grandstand.
In 1982, Gumbel replaced Tom Brokaw and became the first African-American lead anchor for The Today Show. Although The Today Show initially trailed the more popular Good Morning America, Gumbel and his co-host Jane Pauley eventually worked effectively as a team and saw the ratings improve. In 1984, Gumbel led The Today Show on the road to broadcast from various locations worldwide. The first significant stop was Moscow, where Gumbel interviewed Soviet leaders. That successful trip was followed by others to Vietnam, Vatican City, Europe, and South America. By 1986, The Today Show was once again the most popular morning show for American viewers.
During his 15 years at The Today Show
, Gumbel served as anchor and host for various other programs such as Major League Baseball, college basketball, the 1988 NBC Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, and, in 1990, the Professional Golf Association’s tour. Gumbel departed from The Today Show in 1997 yet remains the second longest-serving co-host. Katie Couric is the only host who has exceeded his time in that position.
In 1995, Gumbel became the host of Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel
, a sports news magazine that aired on HBO. The critically acclaimed program, which examined issues in sports beyond scores and highlights, won 32 Sports Emmy Awards and two Peabody Awards (2012 and 2016). The show ended after 29 seasons, with the final episode airing on December 19, 2023.
Gumbel began working for the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) in 1997, where he hosted various shows until he became co-host of The Early Show in 1999. Gumbel left CBS in 2002, and in 2006, he was hired as a sportscaster for NFL Network.
Bryant Gumbel has received numerous awards, some of the most important being the Frederick D. Patterson Award, the Martin Luther King Award, four Emmy Awards, and the Peabody Award. He is also a board member of the United Negro College Fund.
Gumbel married June Carolyn Baranco, a flight attendant, in 1973. Gumbel and June divorced in 2001. They had two children together, Bradley and Jillian. In 2002, Gumbel married Hilary Quinland, an analyst for Goldman Sachs. In 2009, Gumbel was diagnosed with lung cancer. After undergoing a series of surgeries and treatments, he has been reportedly cancer-free since then.