Leeza Gibbons

Leeza Kim Gibbons (born March 26, 1957) is an American talk show host. Gibbons is the host of her own radio show, Leeza Live, part of the Westwood One radio syndication company.

Biography

Early life

Gibbons was born in Hartsville, South Carolina, to Jean and Carlos Gibbons, a former state superintendent of education as well as antique shop owner. She has a brother, Carlos, Jr., and a sister, Cammy. Gibbons graduated from the University of South Carolina's school of journalism and mass communication.

Career

Her past television credits include co-hosting Entertainment Tonight and hosting Extra, as well as Leeza, her own NBC/syndicated talk show, which ran from January 1994 to September 2000. In the 1990s she was the co-host of John and Leeza, a talk show with former co-host of Entertainment Tonight, John Tesh. She has also guest starred on several shows, including The Geena Davis Show, The Simple Life, and The Simpsons. She played a television reporter in the Robocop films.

In 1988, she was also the host of the”Telethon” show on New Zealand's TVNZ network, which she hosted alongside Christopher Quinten, who she later married (see below). In addition to her television and radio career, Gibbons has received the Congressional Horizon Award for her work on children's issues.

On February 20, 2007, the ABC television network announced that Gibbons would be a participant in its Spring 2007 Dancing with the Stars reality show. She was eliminated from the competition on April 10th, 2007. She was the third celebrity eliminated.

Personal life

Gibbons has been married three times, first to John Hicks (1980 - 1982), then to British actor Christopher Quinten (1989 - 1991), who fathered her daughter Jordan Alexandra (Lexi) Gibbons. She married her third husband, actor Stephen Meadows, in 1991, and they have two sons together. Meadows filed for divorce in February 2005, after 14 years of marriage to Gibbons.

Gibbons is active in her non-profit organization, “Leeza's Place,” an organization that educates and empowers caregivers of loved ones affected by memory disorders. Gibbons also has a star on The Hollywood walk of Fame for television.

References