Keith Morrison (born July 2, 1947) is a Canadian broadcast journalist. Since 1995, he has been a correspondent for ''

Dateline NBC ''Dateline NBC'' (also known simply as ''Dateline'') is a weekly American television news magazine reality legal show that is broadcast on NBC. It was previously the network's flagship general interest news magazine, but now focuses mainly on ...

''.

Career

Beginning his career in the 1960s, Morrison was a reporter and anchor at local stations in

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

and

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. He joined CTV's ''

Canada AM ''Canada AM'' is a Canadian morning television news show that aired on CTV from 1972 to 2016. Its final hosts were Beverly Thomson and Marci Ien, with Jeff Hutcheson presenting the weather forecast and sports. The program aired on weekdays, an ...

'' in 1973 as a newsreader and also worked as a reporter and weekend anchor as well as a producer. As a reporter at CTV, he won awards for his coverage of the

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was fought from 6 to 25 October 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states led by Egypt and S ...

. From 1975 to 1976, he was a reporter on ''

CTV National News ''CTV National News'' is the flagship newscast of CTV News, the news division of the CTV Television Network, which airs at 11:00 pm local time on the CTV stations across Canada, and is produced from CTV's facilities at 9 Channel Nine Court in Sc ...

'' and served as National Affairs Correspondent and substitute anchor on the show from 1976 to 1979. Morrison joined the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

in 1982 as substitute anchor and Chief Political Correspondent for '' The Journal'', the network's nightly public affairs program, remaining until 1986. He also co-hosted ''

Midday Noon (also known as noontime or midday) is 12 o'clock in the daytime. It is written as 12 noon, 12:00 m. (for '' meridiem'', literally 12:00 midday), 12 p.m. (for ''post meridiem'', literally "after midday"), 12 pm, or 12:00 (using a 24-hour cloc ...

'', the network's noon-hour newsmagazine that he helped to create, from 1984 to 1985. He moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

in 1986 as the 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. news anchor for

KNBC-TV KNBC (channel 4) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship station of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Co ...

. In 1988 he joined

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...

as a west coast correspondent for the ''

NBC Nightly News ''NBC Nightly News'' (titled as ''NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas'' for its weeknight broadcasts ) is the flagship daily evening News broadcasting#Television, television news program for NBC News, the news division of the NBC television network ...

'' and ''

Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'') is an American 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 was the first of its genre on American television ...

''. Morrison covered the

Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 The Tiananmen Square protests, known within China as the June Fourth Incident, were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, lasting from 15 April to 4 June 1989. After weeks of unsuccessful attempts between t ...

and later contributed highly acclaimed hour-long documentaries and magazine segments to various NBC programs while concurrently continuing as KNBC's anchor. Morrison returned to Canada in 1992 to become co-anchor of the leading national morning news program, ''Canada AM'' on CTV. He also hosted '' The Editors'' on PBS. He was the substitute anchor for ''

'' and the heir apparent to anchor

Lloyd Robertson Lloyd Robertson (born January 19, 1934) is a Canadian journalist and former news anchor who is special correspondent on CTV's weekly magazine series, '' W5''. Robertson served as the chief anchor and senior editor of CTV's national evening ne ...

until 1995, when he was ousted in a network shakeup. It was believed at the time that he was campaigning to replace Robertson. While at ''Canada AM'', then Prime Minister

Brian Mulroney Martin Brian Mulroney (March 20, 1939 – February 29, 2024) was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studi ...

cancelled a live appearance after Morrison jokingly referred to him earlier in the show as "whatshisname". Morrison returned to NBC in 1995 as a correspondent for ''

'', his position as of 2023. He appeared as a newscaster in an episode of ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, with a total of nine seasons consisting of List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It ...

'', " The Trip". In the episode, he reported the arrest of Kramer as a serial killer. Morrison's interviews on ''Dateline'' have kept audiences watching and attracted the attention of comedians as well. ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' created a sketch with him as the central figure played by

Bill Hader William Thomas Hader Jr.''Finding Your Roots'', January 26, 2016, PBS. (born June 7, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and director. He was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 20 ...

on November 22, 2008. And on an episode of ''

Late Night with Seth Meyers ''Late Night with Seth Meyers'' is an American late-night news and political satire variety talk show hosted by Seth Meyers on NBC. The show premiered on February 24, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. Airing w ...

'' that aired on July 9, 2014, Morrison appears as himself, parodying his characteristic dramatic delivery of real-life murder mysteries that he is known for on ''Dateline''.

Personal life

In 1981, Morrison married Suzanne Perry (née Langford), a writer, consultant, one-time news anchor and political fundraiser who was also

press secretary A press secretary or press officer is a senior advisor who provides advice on how to deal with the news media and, using news management techniques, helps their employer to maintain a positive public image and avoid negative media coverage. Dutie ...

to former

Canadian Prime Minister The prime minister of Canada () is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the confidence of a majority of the elected House of Commons; as such, the prime minister typically sits as a ...

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau (October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000) was a Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1984. Between his no ...

. They have four children. Morrison also has a son, from a previous marriageArmchair Expert with Dax Shepard, Podcast, Episode 37 and was the stepfather of actor

Matthew Perry Matthew Langford Perry (August 19, 1969 – October 28, 2023) was an American and Canadian actor, comedian, director and screenwriter. He gained international fame for starring as Chandler Bing on the NBC television sitcom ''Friends'' (1994– ...

, Suzanne's son from a previous marriage to actor

John Bennett Perry John Bennett Perry (born January 4, 1941) is an American retired actor, singer, and model. He is the father of the late actor Matthew Perry. Early life Perry was born on January 4, 1941, in Williamstown, Massachusetts, the son of businessman, ...

. In 2024, following Matthew Perry's death, the Morrisons launched the Matthew Perry Foundation to support people in recovery from addiction.

Parodies

Morrison's reporting style has been parodied on ''

'' by cast member

. On the March 30, 2009, episode of ''

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon ''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show was the third installment of the '' Late Night'' franchise. Hosted by Jimmy Fallon,

'', Hader, referencing the fact that Morrison works in

30 Rockefeller Plaza 30 Rockefeller Plaza (officially the Comcast Building; formerly RCA Building and GE Building) is a skyscraper that forms the centerpiece of Rockefeller Center in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York. Completed in 1933 ...

, where both ''Dateline NBC'' and ''Saturday Night Live'' are produced, jokingly stated that he lived in fear of getting into the same elevator as Morrison. The two actually would meet during a Hader interview on ''

Weekend Today Weekend editions of '' Today'', an American morning news and talk program that airs daily on NBC, began with the launch of the Sunday edition of the program on September 20, 1987. After NBC expanded ''Today'' to seven days a week in the 1990s ...

''. "I can't give him pointers, he's the master," Hader said. "I don't know how you get better than Keith Morrison."

References

External links

NBC News biography
*
Anchor away: Journalist Keith Morrison has found success south of the border
from the ''Saskatoon Star-Phoenix'', July 2, 2003 {{DEFAULTSORT:Morrison, Keith 1947 births Living people Canadian expatriate journalists in the United States Canadian television news anchors Canadian television reporters and correspondents CBC Television people CTV Television Network people Journalists from Saskatchewan NBC News people People from Lloydminster Television anchors from Los Angeles 20th-century Canadian journalists 21st-century Canadian journalists