William Russell Geist (born May 3, 1975) is an American television personality and journalist. He is co-anchor of

MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...

's ''

Morning Joe ''Morning Joe'' is an American morning news and liberal talk show, airing weekdays from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time on the cable news channel MSNBC. It features former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough reporting and discu ...

'' and anchor of ''Sunday Today with Willie Geist''. Geist also frequently serves as a fill-in anchor on both the weekday edition and the saturday edition of ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 ...

''. Geist is a correspondent for

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's v ...

and

NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division of the broadcast network NBC, owned and operated by NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and subsidiary of Comcast. The division is responsible for sports broadcasts on the network, and its ...

, hosting and contributing to NBC's Olympic coverage. Geist has hosted the Macy's

Fourth of July Independence Day (colloquially the Fourth of July) is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the Declaration of Independence, which was ratified by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing the United States ...

Fireworks and Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting on NBC. Geist is the author or co-author of two books that have appeared on ''The New York Times'' bestseller list: ''Good Talk, Dad'' – written in 2014 with his father

Bill Geist William Geist is an American retired author, columnist, and television journalist. Early life Geist was born on May 10, 1945 in Champaign, Illinois. He served in the United States Army as a combat photographer with the 1st Infantry Division ...

– and ''American Freak Show: The Completely Fabricated Stories of Our New National Treasures'', released in 2010. His third book, the self-help satire ''Loaded! Become a Millionaire Overnight and Lose 20 Pounds in 2 Weeks or Your Money Back!'' released on in 2011.

Early life

Geist was born in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, ...

, the son of newspaper columnist and broadcast journalist

and social worker Jody Geist. Geist is the older brother of Libby Geist Wildes, the Academy Award-winning documentary film producer of '' O.J.: Made in America'' and ''The Last Dance''. He is the great-grandson of former

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference, and are ...

star and

Hockey Hall of Fame The Hockey Hall of Fame (french: Temple de la renommée du hockey) is a museum and hall of fame located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League (NHL) rec ...

player Herbie Lewis. Geist attended George Washington Middle School in

Ridgewood, New Jersey Ridgewood is a village in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 24,958,Ridgewood High School, where he was captain of both the basketball and football teams, winning the 1991 state football title. He was elected to New Jersey Boys State and the

National Honor Society The National Honor Society (NHS) is a nationwide organization for high school students in the United States and outlying territories, which consists of many chapters in high schools. Selection is based on four criteria: scholarship (academic achi ...

. Geist graduated ''

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

'' from

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

in 1997 with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...

and French, where he was an editor of the school's newspaper, '' The Vanderbilt Hustler''.

Career

Geist began his career as an editor and producer for

CNN Sports Illustrated CNN/Sports Illustrated (CNN/SI) was a 24-hour sports news network. It was created by Time Warner, merging together its CNN and ''Sports Illustrated'' brands and related resources. It was launched on December 12, 1996. Other news networks like ...

and subsequently a field producer and reporter for CNN Sports, where he covered the

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the gam ...

, the NCAA Final Four, and

The Masters The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply The Masters, or the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, the Masters is the first ma ...

. Geist began substituting as a co-host on

's 6–9 a.m. morning time slot almost immediately after

Don Imus John Donald Imus Jr. (July 23, 1940 – December 27, 2019), also known mononymously as Imus, was an American radio personality, television show host, recording artist, and author. His radio show, '' Imus in the Morning'', was aired on various sta ...

was fired in late April 2007. Geist was named permanent co-host of ''

'', along with

Joe Scarborough Charles Joseph Scarborough (; born April 9, 1963) is an American television host, attorney, political commentator, and former politician who is the co-host of ''Morning Joe'' on MSNBC with his wife Mika Brzezinski. He previously hosted ''Scarbo ...

and

Mika Brzezinski Mika Emilie Leonia Brzezinski Scarborough (; pl, Brzezińska; born May 2, 1967) is an American talk show host, liberal political commentator, and author who currently co-hosts MSNBC's weekday morning broadcast show ''Morning Joe''. She was forme ...

in September 2007. In late July 2009, Geist began hosting his own 30-minute program '' Way Too Early with Willie Geist'', which aired at 5:30 a.m. immediately before ''

'' on MSNBC. In 2010, Geist began substituting for

Matt Lauer Matthew Todd Lauer (; born December 30, 1957) is an American former television news personality, best known for his work with NBC News. After serving as a local news personality in New York City on WNBC, his first national exposure was as the ne ...

as host of the ''Today Show'' and as the show's newsreader. In November 2012, Geist became an official co-host of ''Today'' and left ''Way Too Early''. In 2016, Geist was made solo-host of the new '' Sunday Today'' that launched in April. Additionally Geist has contributed to

and

's coverage of every Olympic Games since 2010. Geist solo anchored NBC's hours-long coverage of the

Orlando nightclub shooting On , 2016, Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old man, killed 49 people and wounded 53 more in a mass shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, United States. Orlando Police officers shot and killed him after a three-hour standoff. In a ...

on the morning of June 12, 2016. Geist was on the air for seven successive hours in an NBC News Special Report that aired across the United States. Geist and Sunday TODAY earned the prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award for similar coverage on August 4, 2019, the morning after mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio. In addition to his political interviews on

during the week, Geist has earned a reputation on Sunday TODAY as a well-regarded long-form profile interviewer of the biggest celebrities in the world. Geist hosts the popular ''Sunday Sitdown'' podcast, which features the full-length, unedited versions of his Sunday TODAY television profile interviews. Willie Geist later did voice work in ''

Kung Fu Panda 3 ''Kung Fu Panda 3'' is a 2016 computer-animated martial arts comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It is the third installment in the ''Kung Fu Panda'' franchise and the sequel to ''Kung Fu Panda 2 ...

'' where he voiced Sum opposite of

Al Roker Albert Lincoln Roker Jr. (born August 20, 1954) is an American weather presenter, journalist, television personality, and author. He is the current weather anchor on NBC's '' Today'', and occasionally co-hosts '' 3rd Hour Today''. He has an in ...

's Dim where their characters are twin panda brothers who are related to Po, and has made cameos in several other movies and television shows. He is a frequent guest on

Andy Cohen Andrew Joseph Cohen (born June 2, 1968) is an American radio and television talk show host, producer, and writer. Cohen is the host and executive producer of Bravo's late night talk show, '' Watch What Happens Live!'' He also has a pop culture ...

's late night Bravo show "

Watch What Happens Live ''Watch What Happens Live! with Andy Cohen'' (abbreviated ''WWHL'', previously named ''Watch What Happens Live!'') is an American pop culture-based late-night talk show hosted by Andy Cohen, that premiered on Bravo on July 16, 2009. The show fea ...

", where he often is paired with a Real Housewife. Geist has appeared twice in

People A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...

magazine's "Sexiest Men Alive" issue, in 2012 and 2017. ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves ...

'' cast member

Mikey Day Michael William Day (born March 20, 1980) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is the host of the Netflix show '' Is It Cake?'' He joined '' Saturday Night Live'' as a writer in its 39th season, became a featured player in ...

impersonates Geist during SNL's sketches about Morning Joe. In 2019, Geist participated with

Jenna Bush Hager Jenna Welch Bush Hager (born November 25, 1981) is an American news personality, author, and journalist. She is the co-host of '' Today with Hoda & Jenna'', the fourth hour of NBC's morning news program ''Today.'' Hager and her fraternal twin sis ...

in a special episode of '' How Low Will You Go'', that aired on the ''Today Show''.

Personal life

On May 24, 2003, Geist married his high school sweetheart Christina Sharkey, in

Humacao, Puerto Rico Humacao () is a city and municipality in Puerto Rico located in the eastern coast of the island, north of Yabucoa; south of Naguabo; east of Las Piedras; and west of Vieques Passage. Humacao is spread over 12 barrios and Humacao Pueblo (the ...

. The couple has a daughter, Lucie Joy, and a son, George William. He is an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

. Geist sits on the board of the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. His father, former New York Times columnist and

CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the '' CBS Evening News'', '' CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 4 ...

journalist

, has

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms beco ...

. Geist also is a board member at

Operation Mend UCLA Operation Mend is a medical partnership established in October 2007 between Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, and the V.A.-Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System that provides reconstructive su ...

, an organization at

UCLA Medical Center Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center (also commonly referred to as ''UCLA Medical Center'', "RRMC" or "Ronald Reagan") is a hospital located on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles, in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, United ...

that provides free surgery and care to America's most severely injured military veterans. On November 7, 2021, Geist ran the 50th annual

New York City Marathon The New York City Marathon (currently branded TCS New York City Marathon after its headline sponsor (commercial), sponsor) is an annual Marathon (sport), marathon () that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest mar ...

to raise money for the Michael J. Fox Foundation. He finished his first marathon in 3:58:23 (the average time for a man his age is 4:11:45) and raised more than $500,000 for Parkinson's Disease research, entirely in small donations. Geist ran part of the race carrying a friend's engagement ring and handed it to him along the course in Central Park where his friend then proposed.

Career timeline

* (2004–2005): '' I, Max'', Writer/Producer * (2005–present)

** (2005–2008): '' Tucker'' (formerly ''The Situation with Tucker Carlson'') ** (2006–present): ''Zeitgeist'' Host ** (2006–2007): ''

Scarborough Country ''Scarborough Country'' is an opinion/analysis show broadcast on MSNBC Monday to Thursday at 9 P.M. ET. It was hosted by former congressman Joe Scarborough. ''Scarborough Country'' made its debut in April 2003. On average, ''Scarborough Countr ...

'' ** (2007–present): ''

'' Co-Anchor ** (2009–2012): ''

Way Too Early ''Way Too Early with Jonathan Lemire'' is an American morning news show that airs weekday mornings on MSNBC. The network has had shows with the title ''Way Too Early'', both with and without the name of the host at the time, during two differen ...

'' Host ** (2011–present): NBC News correspondent ** (2012–present): NBC Sports contributor ** (2012–2016): ''

Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It w ...

'' Third Hour Co-Anchor ** (2012–present): ''

'' 7–9 am contributor and fill-in news, Orange Room and co-anchor ** (April 17, 2016–present): '' Sunday Today with Willie Geist'' Anchor

References

External links

* * *
2009 Miss USA judge
official biography {{DEFAULTSORT:Geist, Willie Living people American humorists American television personalities MSNBC people People from Ridgewood, New Jersey Ridgewood High School (New Jersey) alumni Vanderbilt University alumni Writers from Evanston, Illinois Writers from New Jersey Writers from Tennessee 1975 births