Biography

Early life

Gibbons was born in Hartsville, South Carolina, the daughter of Jean and Carlos Gibbons, a former state superintendent of education and antique shop owner. Gibbons has two siblings - a brother, Carlos Jr., and a sister, Cammy. Gibbons grew up in Irmo, South Carolina, a suburb of Columbia, and graduated from Irmo High School. After completing high school, Gibbons graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of South Carolina's school of journalism and mass communication, where she was a member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority.

Career

Her television career started at the CBS affiliate (WSPA) in Greenville-Spartanburg, SC. Her next stop was as the co host of PM Magazine in Beaumont, TX before moving to WFAA-TV Channel 8 in Dallas-Fort Worth. In 1983, she landed the co hosting job on 'Two on the Town' in New York for WCBS. The following year, she joined the on air team as a reporter and weekend anchor on Entertainment Tonight and concurrently Hosted Leeza, her own NBC/syndicated talk show, which ran from June 1993 to September 2000. The show originated as John & Leeza from Hollywood, a talk show with former co-host of Entertainment Tonight, John Tesh. Tesh was dropped from the show after seven months, and Gibbons hosted solo for the remainder of the series. From 2001-2003, Gibbons was the host and managing editor of the television show 'Extra'. In 2011, she pulled down double duty (again) as the host of the PBS show 'My Generation' (2011-2014) and she was the co host and executive producer of the syndicated newsmagazine show 'America Now' (2011-2015)

In addition to her television and radio career, Gibbons has received the Congressional Horizon Award for her work on children's issues.

In the 1990s Gibbons hosted the radio countdown show Blockbuster Top 25 Countdown with Leeza Gibbons. The show was created for Adult Contemporary and Hot Adult Contemporary formats. Gibbons counted down the hits in the respective formats and included entertainment news and pre-recorded interviews. When Blockbuster Video stopped sponsoring the program in 1999, the show's name was changed to Leeza Gibbons' Top 25 Countdown. The Adult Contemporary version was cut to a top 20. In January 2001 the countdown aspect of the show was dropped and was renamed Leeza Gibbons' Hollywood Confidential, which focused more on entertainment news. The change in format brought new life to the show as the show continued on for another 12 years (ending in 2013).

In the early - mid 1990's Gibbons partnered with Guthy Renker and became a trailblazer in the world of direct response. She was the first television star on a daily show to be featured in an infomercial as she starred in back to back blockbusters (Personal Power 2 and Get the Edge) with a young Tony Robbins.

In early 2000s Gibbons launched her mineral makeup line, Sheer Cover Studio with Guthy-Renker. Gibbons says, "Sheer Cover is not just a makeup product, it's a transformative experience for women who have serious skin issues like sun damage, birth marks, scars and acne or just for any woman who wants natural looking skin that glows with a healthy radiance." Presently, Sheer Cover continues to be sold around the world.

In 2015, Gibbons received the Icon award from the Electronic Retailing Association where it was announced that Leeza had crossed the 1 billion dollar mark in sales. Her partnership with Guthy-Renker is the longest studio/talent relationship in infomercial history.

In 2016, Gibbons and Guthy-Renker launch their latest infomercial together, 'Dr Denese Skinscience'

On November 14, 2007, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced the appointment of Gibbons to the board that oversees California's stem cell research agency. Gibbons fills a slot designated for a patient advocate for Alzheimer's as the result of her nonprofit group, Leeza's Place, which is aimed at caregivers for persons with memory disorders. Gibbons' efforts with memory disorders grew out of her own family's experience with her mother who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and died in May 2008.

Gibbons replaced Meredith Vieira for a week of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire shows on June 23-27, 2008.

In May 2009 Gibbons' new book, "Take Your Oxygen First: Protecting Your Health and Happiness While Caring for a Loved One with Memory Loss", tells the story of Leeza's family's personal struggle with Alzheimer's disease after her mother's diagnosis. She provides practical advice on how caregivers and their families can (and must) take care of their own physical, emotional and spiritual needs in order to give better care to their loved ones who may be suffering with a memory loss disorder.

In 2013, Gibbons won her first Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lifestyle/Travel Host for the PBS series My Generation.

In 2015, she won the NBC reality game-show series Celebrity Apprentice, beating out TV news personality Geraldo Rivera. She became the second female winner of the show, after Joan Rivers.

Personal life

Gibbons has been married four times. Her first was to John Hicks from 1980 to 1982. From 1989 to 1991 she was married to British actor Christopher Quinten, with whom she has a daughter, Jordan Alexandra (Lexi) Gibbons. Her third marriage began to Stephen Meadows from 1991-2005 and produced two sons, Troy and Nathan Daniel. Her fourth marriage was in 2011, when she married New York Times Best Selling Author, Steven Fenton in Beverly Hills. Fenton is the son of the former Mayor of Beverly Hills (Hon. Frank M. Fenton)

Charities

Leeza Gibbons supports the following charitable causes: Animals, Red Cross, Alzheimer's.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]