Sandi Freeman-Geller is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

and cable television pioneer. She hosted ''Freeman Reports'' on

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

for five years. Previously, she won an Emmy for her work at

WLS-TV WLS-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, airing programming from the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station maintains studios on North Stat ...

. At the height of her career at CNN, she was often referred to in the press as the "best interviewer" on television at a time when there were few female hosts.

Early life

Raised in St. Louis, Freeman attended Webster College. She worked for the

, the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

owned-and-operated television station from 1973 to 1980. Freeman co-hosted ''AM Chicago'' for WLS-TV alongside (at various points) Steve Edwards,

John Barbour John Barbour may refer to: * John Barbour (poet) (1316–1395), Scottish poet * John Barbour (MP for New Shoreham), MP for New Shoreham 1368-1382 * John Barbour (footballer) (1890–1916), Scottish footballer * John S. Barbour (1790–1855), U. ...

and

Robb Weller Robb Weller (born September 27, 1949) is an American game show host and television personality and producer (Weller/Grossman Productions). He hosted ''Entertainment Tonight'' from 1984 to 1986, and ''Entertainment This Week'' from 1984 to 1989, ...

Career

Ted Turner hired her for a daily evening program that reached large audiences as one of the pioneers of the then nascent

. Her program, ''The Freeman Report'', aired on CNN from 1980 to 1985. During that time, she interviewed many famous personalities, including Frank Zappa, Shimon Peres,

Hosni Mubarak Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak, (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011. Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in ...

Yitzhak Shamir Yitzhak Shamir ( he, יצחק שמיר, ; born Yitzhak Yezernitsky; October 22, 1915 – June 30, 2012) was an Israeli politician and the seventh Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms, 1983–1984 and 1986–1992. Before the establishment ...

and others.Witbeck, Charles. (January 2, 1985)
Sandi Freeman calls the shots on her show
''

Times-News ''Times-News'' may refer to: * ''Times-News'' (Idaho), a newspaper published in Twin Falls, Idaho * ''Times-News'' (Burlington, North Carolina), a newspaper published in Burlington, North Carolina * ''Times-News'' (Hendersonville, North Carolina ...

''. Retrieved January 28, 2014. In 1985, the show was replaced by ''

Larry King Live ''Larry King Live'' was an American television talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was the channel's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly. Mainly aired from CNN's Los Angeles ...

''.

Awards

Freeman won the ''On Cable'' magazine Outstanding Talk Show Personality Award three times from 1982 to 1984.

Personal life

Freeman married Alfred Geller (1932–2011) in 1983 and later retired from journalism.

Early life

Career

Awards

Personal life

References

Further reading