TED KOPPEL

'Edward James "Ted" Koppel' (born February 8, 1940) is an American journalist, best known as the former anchorman for ABC's ''Nightline''.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Career

Departure from ''Nightline''

Trivia

See also

External links

Biography

Early life

Koppel, an only child, was born in Lancashire, England, after his German-Jewish parents fled Germany due to the rise of Hitler and the Nazis. His family came to the United States in 1953. He graduated from Syracuse University with a Bachelor of Science degree and from Stanford University with a Master of Arts degree in mass communications research and political science. He is a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity. In 1963, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States.

Career

Koppel began his broadcasting career at WMCA Radio, New York. In June 1963, he joined ABC Radio News as a correspondent for its daily Flair Reports program. He moved to television in 1966 when reporting on the Vietnam War. In time, he distinguished himself as a foreign correspondent for ABC. Eventually, he became more widely known as the long-time lead anchorman for ''Nightline'', a position he held when the program began in 1980. Koppel gave up that position on November 22, 2005.
Following ''Nightline'' Koppel has taken on a number of roles which span various formats of news media:

★ He was named managing editor of the Discovery Channel, where he will host and produce news programs covering major global topics and events;

★ He signed up as an Op-Ed contributing columnist, effective Jan. 29, for ''The New York Times'' [1];

★ Starting in June 2006, he has provided commentary to ''Morning Edition'', ''All Things Considered'', and ''Day to Day'' on National Public Radio, joining NPR's other two Senior News Analysts, Cokie Roberts and Daniel Schorr [2]; as such, he participated in the annual NPR Fourth of July reading of the Declaration of Independence in 2007.

Departure from ''Nightline''

On November 22, 2005, Koppel stepped down from ''Nightline'' after 25 years with the program and left ABC after 42 years with the network. His final ''Nightline'' broadcast did not feature clips highlighting memorable interviews and famous moments from his tenure as host, as is typical when an anchor retires. Instead, the show recalled Koppel's 1995 interviews with retired Brandeis University sociology professor Morrie Schwartz, who was dying of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease). For this broadcast, Koppel interviewed sports journalist Mitch Albom, who had been a student of Schwartz. Albom talked about how the ''Nightline'' interviews led to him contacting Schwartz personally, visiting him weekly and eventually publishing the book ''Tuesdays with Morrie'', chronicling lessons about life learned from Schwartz.
After the show's last commercial break, Koppel made his final remarks prior to signing off:

Trivia

★ Koppel is multi-lingual, speaking German, Russian, and French, in addition to his native English.

★ Koppel is also an excellent mimic, doing skilled impressions of William F. Buckley, and others, though he rarely does impressions in public or on television.

★ Koppel is an old friend of Henry Kissinger. Both Kissinger and Koppel come from European Jewish families; both moved to the United States as children. As Secretary of State, Kissinger once offered Koppel a job as his spokesman, but Koppel declined.

★ In an episode of South Park, Free Hat, it is implied that Koppel murders babies.

★ Koppel's daughter Andrea Koppel is a Congressional correspondent for CNN.

★ Koppel has received the George Polk Award for Television Reporting twice: in 1981 and in 1985 with Richard N. Kaplan.

★ In 2003, Koppel was embedded with the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division as it marched toward Baghdad during the 2003 Iraq War. At the onset of the war, Koppel made a rare on-air mistake, misquoting and misattributing Shakespeare in a report where he said "Wreak havoc and unleash the dogs of war! [sic]"; the actual quote, "Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war!" is from ''Julius Caesar'', not from ''Henry V'' as Koppel claimed.

★ Koppel was mentioned in the play and movie ''Rent'' by Jonathan Larson, in which two cops were hassling a homeless lady, and Mark says, "Smile for Ted Koppel, officers" while filming them.

★ Koppel is mentioned in the Song "Redefine" by Incubus.

★ Koppel is mentioned briefly in the Simpsons episode "Homer Loves Flanders". Homer wakes in a sweat and utters "I think I hate Ted Koppel". He then thinks for a moment and instead says "No wait, I find him informative and witty". In another episode, entitled "Homer Badman", Koppel is mentioned on a TV show, entitled "Rock Bottom", as being a robot.

★ Koppel guest appears from time to time on "The Daily Show" appearing in extreme close-up and disembodied, usually acting as Jon Stewart's journalistic conscience, sometimes as the replacement for the so-called "Giant Head of Brian Williams" projected on the screen behind Stewart (although, unlike Williams, Koppel has insisted that "this is the actual size of [his] head"). A blooper of Koppel recording his lines in the "Daily Show" green-room was featured as one episode's concluding "Moment of Zen" video clip; in the same episode, the giant head of Ted Koppel made a cameo appearance during Stewart's interview with guest Brian Williams to remark, completely deadpan, "Koppel hungry."

★ Koppel is mentioned in a Conan O'Brien interview, in which Mr. O'Brien explains humorously how various sixty-year-old women have mistaken him for Mr. Koppel. As he describes it, the women "have glaucoma."

See also

★ Koppel on Discovery: Iran, The most Dangerous Nation? (2006)

External links

★ Biography from ABC

★ Ted Koppel to Join 'NY Times' Editorial Page, Contribute to NPR, a January 2006 article from ''Editor & Publisher''

★ ''Global National'' anchor Kevin Newman recalls Ted Koppel on his blog