Lester Holt Biography
Lester Holt is a journalist and news anchor from the United States of America. Holt anchors the NBC Nightly News show, Dateline NBC show and the NBC Nightly News Kids Edition. He has also served as a moderator in a presidential debate, specifically the first debate of 2016, earning him praise for fact-checking statements made by the participants.
How old is Lester Holt – Age
Born as Lester Don Holt Jr., the Nightly News anchor is 65 years old as of March 8, 2024. He was born in Hamilton Air Force Base, California, U.S.A.
Is Lester Holt Married? – Wife
Yes Lester Don Holt Jr. has been married to Carol Hagen since 1982. The couple has two children, namely Stefan and Cameron. The family lives in Manhattan.
Lester Holt Children
Lester is a father of two, sons Stefan and Cameron Holt. Stefan has followed in his father’s footsteps and is a journalist too. He began his career at NBC’S WMAQ-TV in Chicago and has risen to the role of anchor at the same NBC affiliate station.
Lester Holt Journalism Career
Holt’s journalism career began in the early 1980s. He was a reporter for New York’s WCBS-TV in 1981 and in 1982 he moved to Los Angeles with KNXT as a weekend anchor and reporter. He went to back to WCBS-TV in 1983 till 1986 when he joined WBBM-TV in Chicago as an evening news anchor. He is also known for his reporting from war-torn areas around the world that include Somalia, Iraq, Haiti, Northern Ireland and El Salvador.
In 2000, the NBC Nightly News anchor joined MSNBC and by 2003 he had joined NBC News. It is here that he became a substitute anchor for the Today and NBC Nightly News shows. After the sudden death of David Bloom, a Weekend Today co-anchor, in 2003, Holt filled his spot to become a full-time co-anchor of the show.
Lester Holt Nightly News
In mid-2007, Lester became the anchor of NBC Nightly News weekend edition, for 8 years until he replaced fellow journalist Brian Williams as the anchor of NBC Nightly News weekday edition.
Alongside his anchoring duties on NBC, Lester is also a host of the networks Dateline show.
In 2016, Holt was the moderator for the Democratic presidential candidate’s debate as well as the nation’s first presidential debate. After the presidential debate Holt was praised severally for his moderation efforts on fact checking statements made on stage. He is known for and continues to report from areas affected by war, for example in October 2023 from Israel covering the Israel-Hamas War.
Lester Holt Awards
Lester is an accomplished journalist and has been awarded several accolades in his vast career in the field. These are:
- Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award – 1990
- Inducted into the California Hall of Fame – 2015 October
- Alan B. DuMont Broadcaster of the Year from Montclair State University – 2016
- NABJ Journalist of the Year Award from the National Association of Black Journalists – 2016
- Poynter Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Journalism – 2018
- Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism – 2018
- Larry Foster Award for Integrity in Public Communication from the Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication – 2023