Justine Shapiro (born March 20, 1963) is a South African-born American actress, filmmaker, writer, hostess and producer, who was one of several main hosts of the Pilot Productions travel/adventure series ''

Globe Trekker ''Globe Trekker'' (sometimes called ''Pilot Guides'' in Australia, Spain and Thailand, and originally broadcast as ''Lonely Planet'') is a British adventure tourism television series produced by Pilot Productions. The British series was ins ...

'' (also called ''Pilot Guides'' in Canada and originally broadcast as ''

Lonely Planet Lonely Planet is a travel guide book publisher. Founded in Australia in 1973, the company has printed over 150 million books. History 20th century Lonely Planet was founded by married couple Maureen Wheeler, Maureen and Tony Wheeler. In 19 ...

'').

Television and film career

Before hosting ''

'' (''Pilot Guides''), Shapiro appeared in various roles in film and television. Eventually, she was involved in several

documentaries A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". The American author and media analyst Bill ...

including co-production/

direction Direction may refer to: *Body relative direction, for instance left, right, forward, backwards, up, and down ** Anatomical terms of location for those used in anatomy ** List of ship directions *Cardinal direction *Bearing (navigation) Mathemat ...

duties on 2001's ''

Promises A promise is a transaction whereby a person makes a vow or the suggestion of a guarantee. Promise(s) may also refer to: Places *Promise, Oregon *Promise, South Dakota *Promise City, Iowa *Promise Land, Tennessee or Promise Film and TV * Promise ...

'', which won two 2002

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

s, for Best Documentary and Outstanding Background Analysis, and was nominated for best Documentary Feature at the

74th Academy Awards The 74th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 24, 2002, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During the ceremony, AMPAS presented Academy Awards (commonly ...

. ''Promises'' attempts to humanize the

Arab–Israeli conflict The Arab–Israeli conflict is a geopolitical phenomenon involving military conflicts and a variety of disputes between Israel and many Arab world, Arab countries. It is largely rooted in the historically supportive stance of the Arab League ...

by examining it in microcosm, through the eyes of seven

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

and Israeli children living in or near the divided city of

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. She produced and directed a feature-length documentary entitled ''Our Summer in Tehran''. In 2013 she became host of ''Time Team America'', shown on PBS.

Personal life

Shapiro was born in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and grew up in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

. She is

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

. Shapiro is a survivor of the

World Airways Flight 30H World Airways Flight 30 was a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30CF airliner which suffered a fatal accident upon landing at Logan International Airport in Boston after departing Newark International Airport in Newark, New Jersey on January 23, 1982. T ...

airplane crash at

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Logan Airport General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport — also known as Boston Logan International Airport — is an international airport located mostly in East Boston and partially in Winthrop, Massachusetts, United States. Covering , it has ...

on January 23, 1982. During an October 2006 broadcast of the ''

'' Venice City Guide episode, Shapiro revealed that she went to

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, as well as Talloires, France. Tufts also has several Doctor of Physical Therapy p ...

(majoring in history and theater) with

Oliver Platt Oliver Platt (born January 12, 1960) is an American actor known for his work on stage and screen. He has been nominated for five Primetime Emmys, a Golden Globe Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards and one Tony Award. Following his acting deb ...

, who recognized her in the crowd while she was covering the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...

, where Platt was promoting '' Casanova''. In her lead-up to a ''Globe Trekker'' visit to the

Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...

concentration camp she stated "Like many Jewish Americans, I have Polish roots. And the Auschwitz concentration camp was where many of my relatives died during World War II." In ''Globe Trekkers "South Africa 2", Shapiro and co-host Sami Sabiti traveled to

. While in

Soweto Soweto () is a Township (South Africa), township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western T ...

, Shapiro visited the nanny she had as a child.Globe Trekker TV Shows: South Africa 2
''Pilot TV Shows'', 2007.

References

External links

fficial Website justineshapiro.com
Official biography

a

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

chat transcript *
Time Team America Host
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shapiro, Justine 1963 births Living people American film actresses South African people of Polish-Jewish descent American television actresses CableACE Award winners News & Documentary Emmy Award winners Survivors of aviation accidents or incidents Travel broadcasters Tufts University School of Arts and Sciences alumni American people of Polish-Jewish descent American people of South African-Jewish descent South African emigrants to the United States 21st-century American women