Gayle King has been in the limelight for many years as a TV personality, author and journalist. Currently, King co-hosts the Emmy Award-winning CBS Mornings, is editor-at-large at Oprah Daily and hosts Gayle King in the House on XM Radio.
King, 67, was inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame and in 2019 was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People. Last year, she became a grandmother for the first time.
Did you know that King lived in Chevy Chase, MD during her early years? She was born in Chattanooga in 1954 but her family moved to Montgomery County shortly thereafter where they spent the next six years.
King’s family then moved to Ankara, Turkey where she attended first through sixth grades.
Later she was back in the area studying Psychology — not Journalism — at the University of Maryland and working briefly at WUSA9. She met Oprah Winfrey in 1976. They worked together at WJZ-TV in Baltimore in the early 80s where they started a lifelong friendship that has lasted almost 50 years. On her four decades plus friendship with Winfrey, King said, “we teach other.”
King made headlines in 2019 for her interview with singer R. Kelly, who allegedly abused several women. Kelly became unhinged during the interview, standing up , flailing his arms and yelling. King stayed seated and very still during the tirade never flinching. She later said, “I was never afraid.”
Wednesday night, she talked to a journalism class at the University of Maryland about her career telling the students that is has been, “an honor and privilege to get a front row to history.’ In the past few weeks, King interviewed Serena Williams about her farewell at the U.S. Open, singer Harry Styles, Amal and George Clooney and covered the Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral. On Thursday, CBS Mornings aired King’s exclusive interview with WNBA player Britney Griner’s wife about the athlete’s imprisonment in Russia.
Despite her uber successful career, King says, “I’m a work in progress trying to be better.”
Photo courtesy CBS Mornings
