Sue Simmons

Last updated

Sue Simmons
Born (1942-05-27) May 27, 1942 (age 82)
New York City, U.S.
Occupation(s) Television news anchor, actress
Years active1970s–present
Known for WNBC-TV New York news anchor

Sue Simmons (born May 27, 1942) [1] is an American retired news anchor who was best known for being the lead female anchor at WNBC in New York City from 1980 to 2012. Her contract with WNBC expired in June 2012 and WNBC announced that it would not renew it. Her final broadcast was on June 15, 2012, shortly after her 70th birthday. [2]

Contents

Early life and education

Simmons grew up in the Manhattan neighborhood of Greenwich Village; her father was John Simmons, a jazz bassist whose contemporaries included Louis Armstrong, Art Tatum, John Coltrane, Billie Holiday, Benny Goodman, Lena Horne and Nat King Cole. [3]

She graduated from Julia Richman High School in 1961 and decided to work instead of going on to college.[ citation needed ]

Career

WNBC

She began her career as a consumer action reporter at WTNH-TV in New Haven, Connecticut. She was with WBAL-TV in Baltimore from 1974 to 1976 where she was an anchor for the station's Action News and Baltimore At One broadcasts. From 1976 to 1980 she was a reporter and anchor at WRC-TV in Washington, DC, an NBC owned-and-operated station. [4]

From 1980 to 2007, she was a co-anchor for WNBC's Live at Five news broadcast. She worked with several co-anchors, including Jack Cafferty, Tony Guida, Matt Lauer, Dean Shepherd, Jim Rosenfield, Perri Peltz, and David Ushery. In 2007, Live at Five broadcast for the final time. [5] Weeknights at 11 p.m., [6] she co-anchored with Chuck Scarborough. On March 7, 2012, WNBC announced that it would not renew its contract with Simmons; the contract expired in June. [7] [8] Simmons' final broadcast was on June 15, 2012; she received farewells from long time co-workers, as well as numerous sports figures and celebrities. [2] Simmons was replaced on the 11 p.m. newscast by Shiba Russell. [9]

Chuck and Sue (as they were known in New York) were together since Simmons' arrival at WNBC—the longest run for an anchor team in New York City television history. [10] She was one of the highest paid local anchors in New York, making $5 million a year. [11]

Simmons was referenced in the song Traffic and Weather by the power pop band Fountains of Wayne.[ citation needed ]

On June 23, 2017, Simmons returned to WNBC for a tribute to Gabe Pressman, longtime reporter for the station who died earlier in the day at age 93. [12]

On-air profanity

On May 12, 2008, as a live news teaser was played, Simmons was heard loudly exclaiming, "The fuck are you doing?" It was later revealed that her remark was directed at distracted co-anchor Chuck Scarborough. [13] She later apologized on-air for her inappropriate language. [14] [15] The incident has been mocked in several sketches on CBS's Late Show with David Letterman . [16] The clip was later featured in a 2021 episode of HBO's Last Week Tonight with John Oliver . [17] Simmons has stated that she was normally notified proactively when the show was broadcasting live, because she had a reputation for being caught on the air during candid moments. On that particular occasion, she had not been notified, and she uttered the profanity while attempting to get the attention of Scarborough, who was preoccupied with his computer. [18] [19]

Back surgery

In November and December 2010, Simmons was away from her job while she underwent back surgery. [20] On January 3, 2011, she returned to work. However, when she returned from surgery she was no longer a part of the 6 p.m. newscast and only co-anchored the 11 p.m. newscast. [21]

Acting

Sue Simmons made her acting debut as herself in the fourteenth season premiere episode of the NBC legal drama, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit .[ citation needed ] Simmons went on to guest star as herself on NBC comedy series 30 Rock . She has also appeared in other television series and films in the role of a newscaster, including: The First Wives Club (1996), Exiled: A Law & Order Movie (1998) and Elementary (2012).

YearTitleRoleNotes
1996 The First Wives Club Newscaster
1997Destination AnywhereNewscaster
1998 Exiled: A Law & Order Movie Newscaster Television film
1999 Light It Up Newscaster
2012–13 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Newscaster (herself)Recurring role; Episodes: "Lost Reputation", "Above Suspicion" and "Funny Valentine"
2012 30 Rock Newscaster (herself)Episode: "My Whole Life Is Thunder"
2012 Elementary NewscasterEpisode: "The Leviathan"

Related Research Articles

The CBS Evening News is the flagship evening television news program of CBS News, the news division of the CBS television network in the United States. The CBS Evening News is a daily evening broadcast featuring news reports, feature stories and interviews by CBS News correspondents and reporters covering events around the world. The program has been broadcast since July 1, 1941, under the original title CBS Television News, eventually adopting its current title in 1963.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WNBC</span> NBC flagship station in New York City

WNBC is a television station in New York City that serves as the flagship of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Linden, New Jersey–licensed Telemundo station WNJU. WNBC's studios and offices are co-located with NBC's corporate headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan; WNJU's facilities in Fort Lee, New Jersey, also serve as WNBC's New Jersey news bureau. Through a channel sharing agreement with WNJU, the two stations transmit using WNJU's spectrum from an antenna atop One World Trade Center.

WCBS-TV, branded CBS New York, is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside Riverhead, New York–licensed independent station WLNY-TV. The two stations share studios within the CBS Broadcast Center on West 57th Street in Midtown Manhattan; WCBS-TV's transmitter is located at One World Trade Center.

KYW-TV, branded CBS Philadelphia, is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, serving as the market's CBS outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside independent station WPSG. The two stations share studios on Hamilton Street north of Center City, Philadelphia; KYW-TV's transmitter is located in the city's Roxborough section.

Live at Five was a local afternoon television news program that aired on WNBC, the NBC flagship television station in New York City. The hour-long program was broadcast from Studio 6B at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan. Featuring a mix of news, features and interviews, the Live at Five concept was first introduced in 1979 by WNBC news director Ron Kershaw and Bob Davis; its final broadcast aired on September 7, 2007.

Charles Bishop Scarborough III is an American television journalist and author. Since 1974, he has been the lead news anchor at WNBC, the New York City flagship station of the NBC Television Network, and has also appeared on NBC News. He currently anchors News 4 New York at 6 p.m. every weeknight.

Julio Rafael Pineda is a retired Cuban-American television news reporter who spent four decades as anchor for the Spanish language station WXTV, the Univision affiliate in New York City.

Janice Huff is the chief meteorologist for WNBC in New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liz Cho</span> American news anchor

Liz Cho is a news anchor at WABC-TV in New York City. She has co-anchored the weekday 4 and 6 p.m. editions of Eyewitness News.

Jim Rosenfield is an American local television news anchor who worked for WCAU-TV, the NBC-owned television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WBAL-TV</span> TV station in Baltimore, Maryland

WBAL-TV is a television station in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is the flagship property of Hearst Television, which has owned the station since its inception, and is sister to the company's sole radio properties, WBAL and WIYY. The three outlets share studios and offices on Television Hill in the Woodberry section of Baltimore, near the transmission tower that WBAL-TV also shares with WIYY and several other Baltimore television and radio stations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lester Holt</span> American journalist and news anchor (born 1959)

Lester Don Holt Jr. is an American news anchor for the weekday edition of NBC Nightly News, NBC Nightly News Kids Edition, and Dateline NBC. On June 18, 2015, Holt was made the permanent anchor of NBC Nightly News following the demotion of Brian Williams. Holt followed in the career footsteps of Max Robinson, an ABC News evening co-anchor, and became the first Black male solo anchor for a major network newscast.

David Ushery is an African-American television news anchor at WNBC News 4 New York, NBC's flagship owned and operated station.

<i>Fox Report</i> 1999 American TV series or program

The Fox Report is an American evening television news program on Fox News, which debuted on September 13, 1999 as a seven-night-a-week broadcast with Shepard Smith as main anchor of the program until it was relegated to weekends only after the October 4, 2013 broadcast. Since June 16, 2018, the Fox Report has been anchored by Jon Scott.

<i>Good Day New York</i> Weekday morning TV show

Good Day New York is a morning show airing on WNYW Fox 5, hosted by Rosanna Scotto and Curt Menefee. It is a Fox owned-and-operated television station in New York City, owned by the Fox Television Stations subsidiary of Fox Corporation. It was the first morning newscast to air on a Fox-owned station, having launched on August 1, 1988. The program broadcasts each weekday morning from 4:30 to 10 a.m. Eastern Time. The 4:30–7 a.m. portion is a general news/traffic/weather format. The 7–9 a.m. portion still features news, traffic and weather, but also incorporates entertainment news. The 9–10 a.m. hour addition is entertainment segments including celebrity interviews, politicians etc., as well as feature segments, food, fashion and more.

Carol Anne Riddell is an American reporter and journalist specialising in news on children and education. She was the education reporter and co-anchor of the News 4 New York newscast on Sundays for WNBC-TV in New York City until 2009.

Katherine Creag Gafner was a Filipino-American television journalist. She worked for WNBC for a decade prior to her death. Before that, she worked for NY1, WTVH, and WNYW. She won several awards for her journalism.

Michele Marie Marsh was an American broadcast journalist, best known for her work at two network-owned television stations in New York City from 1979 to 2003.

Michael Louis Gargiulo is an American television news anchor at WNBC, NBC’s flagship station. He has anchored Today in New York with Darlene Rodriguez since 2008, and has been embedded with United States military units in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, and the Persian Gulf.

Stefan Holt is an American journalist and television news anchor for WMAQ-TV—the Chicago owned-and-operated station of NBC. He anchors alongside Marion Brooks and Allison Rosati for the 4 p.m. and 10 p.m. news programs for the station.

References

  1. ↑ "Sue Simmons tells 'Joy Behar: Say Anything!' she cried in the final days: 'I didn't think it was going to end, but it did.'". Daily News. New York.
  2. 1 2 "Sue Simmons Signs off at New York's WNBC After 32 Years". The Hollywood Reporter . June 15, 2012.
  3. ↑ "Sue Simmons". NBC New York. Archived from the original on November 17, 2008. Retrieved October 27, 2011.
  4. ↑ Krystal Knows!!! - Sue Simmons news anchor for nearly thirty years
  5. ↑ Lee, Felicia R. (July 28, 2007). "WNBC-TV in New York to End 5 P.M. Newscast, New York Times, July 28, 2007". The New York Times . Retrieved October 27, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Sue Simmons - Anchor". December 14, 2011. Archived from the original on May 3, 2012. Retrieved January 7, 2012.
  7. ↑ "WNBC: 'We Have Tremendous Respect and Admiration for Sue Simmons'". Mediabistro.com. Retrieved March 8, 2012.
  8. ↑ Barron, James; Stelter, Brian (March 7, 2012). "Veteran TV Anchor Sue Simmons Is Losing Her Job". The New York Times .
  9. ↑ Barmash, Jerry (June 18, 2012). "WNBC Names Shiba Russell as Sue Simmons' Replacement at 11 p.m." Mediabistro.com . Retrieved June 19, 2012.
  10. ↑ Jen Chung (January 7, 2005). "2005 article on the 25th Anniversary of their pairing". Gothamist.com. Archived from the original on April 6, 2012. Retrieved October 27, 2011.
  11. ↑ "New York's Salary Guide 2005". Nymag.com. September 26, 2005. Retrieved October 27, 2011.
  12. ↑ "New York Legend Gabe Pressman Dead at 93". WNBC. June 23, 2017. Retrieved June 23, 2017.
  13. ↑ Thielman, Sam (May 22, 2008). "WNBC shuffles news anchors". Variety. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
  14. ↑ "Sue Simmons tells 'Joy Behar: Say Anything!' she cried in the final days: 'I didn't think it was going to end, but it did'". Daily News. New York.
  15. ↑ "Sue Simmons Wants to Know What the F**k You Are Doing". New York Magazine. May 13, 2008. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
  16. ↑ Shea, Danny (May 22, 2008). "David Letterman's Views on Sue's Slip!". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved October 27, 2011.
  17. ↑ Eck, Kevin. "HBO Host John Oliver Targets Local Stations' Sponsored Content Practices". Ad Week. No. May 24, 2021. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  18. ↑ Sue Simmons explains why she dropped the f-bomb. YouTube. October 17, 2012. Archived from the original on May 22, 2014. Retrieved October 18, 2012.
  19. ↑ "Sue Simmons reveals the story behind her on-air obscenity". Daily News. New York.
  20. ↑ Barmash, Jerry (November 8, 2010). "Veteran WNBC anchor recovering from back surgery". Mediabistro.com. Retrieved October 27, 2011.
  21. ↑ "4 NY News at 11 - Sue Simmons recovering from back surgery (12-22-10)". Youtube.com. December 23, 2010. Retrieved October 27, 2011.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.