Lester Holt is the current anchor for NBC Nightly News, one of the most popular news programs in the United States. He is from New York City.
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Lester Holt’s Early Life
Lester Holt was born on March 8, 1959, in San Francisco, California. He is the son of June DeHolt and of former Air Force colonel, also named Lester Holt. His parents divorced when he was young, and he was raised in Sacramento by his mother. Lester has two sisters and one brother.
His father’s work in the Air Force
Lester Holt’s father, Lt. Colonel Joseph Holt, was in the United States Air Force. His job entailed moving the family around to different bases every few years. Lester was born in 1959 in Sacramento, California. The family also lived in Germany and Japan before settling in Fort Knox, Kentucky, where Lester spent most of his childhood. His mother, June, worked as a schoolteacher.
Lester has two older sisters, Jenny and Stefanie. The family was close-knit and supportive of one another. Lester’s father instilled a strong work ethic in him from an early age and encouraged him to pursue his dreams. Lester Holt bunked with African American friends while attending high school on a military base in Georgia, which he has said helped him develop a sense of tolerance and respect for people of all backgrounds.
After graduating from high school in 1977, Lester attended California State University in Sacramento. He originally studied engineering but later switched to broadcast journalism after interning at a local television station. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1979.
His mother’s work as a schoolteacher
Lester Holt was born in Marin County, California, on March 8, 1959. His mother, June (née Johnson), was a schoolteacher, and his father, Robert “Bob” Holt, worked for a newswire service. Lester has two older brothers and one younger sister. He graduated from Cordova High School in Rancho Cordova, California, in 1977.
Holt began his broadcasting career as a reporter and weekend anchor at WCBS-TV in New York City. In 1982, he joined KS PIX-TV (now KPIX-TV) as a reporter and weekend anchor; during his tenure there he covered feature stories and breaking news. In 1986, Holt moved to WBBM-TV in Chicago where he spent 14 years as an investigative reporter and morning newscast anchor. He also served as a substitute weekend anchor and fill-in weathercaster while at WBBM.
His upbringing in California
Lester Holt was born in Marin County, California, to June and Jim Holt. His maternal grandfather was of English descent, while his three other grandparents were of Scottish, German and Dutch ancestry. Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, Holt enjoyed playing baseball and riding dirt bikes. He attended Cordova High School in Rancho Cordova, California, where he played on the varsity baseball team. Following his graduation from high school in 1977, Holt enrolled at California State University in Sacramento where he studied government. He later dropped out of college and began working as a disc jockey for local radio station KCBS-FM.
Lester Holt’s Education
Lester Holt was born in New York City, making him a true New Yorker. He went to SUNY Oswego for his undergraduate education and then got his master’s degree from American University in Washington, D.C. He is now the proud host of NBC Nightly News.
His graduation from high school
Lester Holt was born in Marin County, California, on March 8, 1959. He is the oldest of three sons born to June and Jim Holt. His parents divorced when he was 12 years old and his mother took the three boys to live in Sacramento. Holt attended Cordova High School, where he played football and soccer, before graduating in 1977.
His studies at California State University
Lester Holt grew up in Sacramento, California, where he graduated from Cordova High School in 1978. He then studied at California State University in Sacramento and majored in government, though he did not graduate.
Lester Holt’s Career
Lester Holt was born in Marin County, California, on March 8, 1959. Holt’s father, Air Force Colonel Harry Lester Holt, Jr., was one of the first African American pilots in the Air Force. His mother, LR Holthusen, was a teacher. Holt’s parents divorced when he was a young child, and he was raised by his mother in Sacramento, California.
His early work in local news
Lester Holt was born in Marin County, California, on March 8, 1959. His father, Roger Holt, was a photographer for the Marin Independent Journal; his mother, June, was a homemaker. The family moved to Sacramento when Lester was 12 years old. He attended Cordova High School, where he played football and worked as a disc jockey at a local radio station.
After high school, Holt attended California State University in Sacramento, where he studied government and economics. He left college before graduating to take a job as a reporter at WCBS-TV in New York City. He later returned to California to work as a reporter and weekend anchor at KNXT (now KCBS-TV) in Los Angeles. In 1982, Holt married Carol Hagen; the couple has two children.
His work as a correspondent for NBC News
Lester Holt began his career as a correspondent for NBC News in 1982. Based in New York City, he covered a wide range of stories for the network, including the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, the TWA Flight 800 explosion and the September 11th attacks. In 2000, Holt was named co-anchor of NBC Nightly News’ weekend editions, and he became the sole anchor of the program in 2015. He has won several awards for his work as a journalist, including an Emmy Award and a Peabody Award.
His work as the host of NBC Nightly News
Lester Holt is the current host of NBC Nightly News, the most watched evening newscast in America. He took over for Brian Williams in 2015, and is also the anchor for Dateline NBC.
Holt began his career as a reporter for WCBS-TV in New York City, where he quickly rose through the ranks to become a weekend anchor. He then moved to Los Angeles, where he anchored the news for KCBS-TV.
In 2000, Holt joined MSNBC as a principal anchor, and was soon tapped to be the host of The News with Brian Williams. When Williams was suspended from NBC Nightly News in 2015, Holt became the interim anchor, and was eventually named the permanent host.
Holt has won multiple awards for his work as a journalist, and was inducted into the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ Hall of Fame in 2018.
