When exactly did Al Roker get his start? Why does his wife look so familiar? And HOW MANY
world records does he have? Stay tuned to see the transformation of Al Roker.
According to Inc., after Al Roker's parents encouraged him not to attend art school, he
ended up at SUNY Oswego, a small public university in New York.
During those classes, one of his professors immediately recognized Roker's talent for
TV and recommended him to a news station in his neck of the woods.
In 1974, WHEN-TV in Syracuse, New York was looking for a weekend weatherman. According
to Syracuse.com, the station's news director told Roker he could, quote, "only afford a
drunk or a college student." So for only $10 a day, the college student was given the job.
When Roker was in his senior year, the station's full-time weatherman uttered something inappropriate
on-air and didn't return to work. Luckily, Roker already knew the ropes and was the perfect
full-time replacement. Once graduation rolled around, he moved on to reporting the weather
at WTTG in Washington D.C.
After a few years of reporting the weather in Washington D.C., NBC came calling for Al
Roker. In 1978, he found himself at an affiliate station in Cleveland, Ohio, before hitting
it big as the weekend weatherman at WNBC in New York City. According to Inc., Roker was
quickly promoted to reporting on the popular weeknights instead. Though it was only a local
newscast, his fame eventually escalated due to a certain national television show.
Across the hall was where "Late Night with David Letterman" was shot. Because of the
close proximity of the sets, Letterman would repeatedly run over to WNBC and interrupt
Roker's live broadcasts during tapings of his talk show. As Roker reminisced on "Today"
-
"We had one news director, who had no sense of humor, order the doors locked during the
Letterman show. That only lasted about two days."
Thanks to his appearances on a national late-night talk show, the weatherman started receiving
widespread attention. He became the go-to guy to sub for other weathermen in the area.
By 1993, the national weatherman had a pretty recognizable face in pop culture. That year,
he made his acting debut as himself in an episode of "Seinfeld."
"Guess your boyfriend's gonna have to catch the next train."
"He's not my boyfriend." "He's not? Interesting!"
Over the years, Roker has played many more roles on screen and even created his own production
company in 1994 so that he could make his very own content for television — and his
time on TV still doesn't stop there. Listen closely, and you'll hear him lend his voice
to some famous animated characters too.
While Al Roker's professional life was on the rise, the relationship he had with his
second wife wasn't doing as well. By 1992, he had officially separated from NBC producer
Alice Bell. Yet, soon after their split, he found himself smitten with another woman in
the news biz, television journalist Deborah Roberts, who went from filling in on "Today"
to working as a correspondent on NBC's "Dateline." Roker reminisced to People -
"I remember seeing her up on a monitor doing a news report and thinking, 'Wow, this is
one of the most stunningly beautiful women I've ever seen.'"
After being friend-zoned by Roberts for nearly two years, Roker was busy apartment sitting
for her when he decided to make a flirty move. While Roberts was away reporting on the Olympics,
he restocked her kitchen and left behind a bouquet of flowers on her table.
"And then I got my first date with her a week later."
"Uhhh I'm like 'that's a nice entrance sir.'"
In 1995, the two made their relationship official and tied the knot in New York. Today, he and
his wife share two children together, Leila and Nicholas, as well as co-parent his daughter
Courtney from his previous marriage.
After subbing again and again for weatherman Willard Scott on the "Today" show, Al Roker
received some big news in 1996. The iconic weather forecaster announced that he would
be retiring, and Roker was experienced enough to take his place on the national morning
show — though that was, surprisingly, never what he intended to happen. Roker admitted
during an interview on "Behind the Brand" -
"I kind of backed into doing the 'Today' show,' mostly because I was, you know, close by.
And I could wear Willard's pants."
From that moment on, Roker was seen every weekday reporting the weather in every neck
of the woods. It was all thanks to the weatherman before him, who truly took him under his wing,
telling Inc. -
"Willard was the 'Today' show weatherperson, beloved, literally like a second dad to me.
And he was the one who said, ya know what? I think it's time to step back, and I'm telling
them they're crazy if they don't tap you."
As if hosting a national morning show wasn't enough, Al Roker further honed his hosting
skills in the early aughts by using them to enlighten fans about another one of his passions:
cooking, as he explained to Food & Wine -
"I did a special for the Food Network on the Memphis in May BBQ Fest, and that led to another
special, and another."
By 2004, he found himself with his very own Food Network show called "Roker on the Road."
On the series, Roker could be seen traveling across the country and tasting delicious food.
What made his debut on the network unique was his weatherman's perspective on the restaurant
industry, saying -
"I'm a normal guy. I'm not a chef. I don't own a restaurant, so I really speak to and
for the viewer."
Al Roker decided to share his life story in 2000, when he released his first book that
gave fans an inside look at his personal life. "Don't Make Me Stop This Car!: Adventures
in Fatherhood" is a collection of short stories that shined the spotlight on his life as a
father. He's since released eight more nonfiction books, some about his life and even cookbooks.
In 2009, he decided to make up a story this time and released his first fiction novel
titled "The Morning Show Murders." He explained to the Hallmark Channel -
"I've always loved mysteries, and I always wanted to write a murder mystery, and they
said, 'Write what you know,' so I wrote about a chef who's also on a morning show."
Obviously, it only made sense that it was actually made into a show as well. In 2018,
his book series became a mini-series on the Hallmark Channel titled "Morning Show Mysteries"
Though Al Roker was the most famous weatherman in the country, he wasn't happy with himself
behind the scenes. he admitted to Parade in 2012 -
"If I was having a bad day, eating was like self-­medicating."
By 2002, he found himself weighing around 340 pounds.
It wasn't until he was visiting his father in the hospital that he decided to make a
change. A week before he passed away, Roker promised his dad that he would become healthy
and lose weight. He signed himself up for gastric bypass surgery in 2002 and rapidly
shed about 150 pounds. However, after his mother was hospitalized in 2008, he found
himself putting the pounds back on.
After a visit with a nutritionist, he quickly began losing weight again and got his health
back on track, saying on "Today" in 2013 -
"I'm thrilled that I've finally got to this place at 58 years old. I finally got it figured
out."
Since 2014, Al Roker has been breaking world records on the small screen through a special
he calls "Rokerthon." It all started on an episode of "Today" where he spent 34 hours
straight broadcasting the longest uninterrupted live weather report in existence. Every year
since, he's worked with weathermen and weatherwomen across the country to continue to break records
from the "Guinness World Records" book.
As of 2021, Roker has five world records to his name from his "Today" show segments — everything
from reporting the weather from all 50 states within one week, working to shatter the conga
line world record, and reporting alongside the most weathermen online during a relay
on the morning show's website.
Yet, while fans think they may have seen it all on "Today," it turns out that Roker holds
an additional world record on another famous television show. No one has appeared on "Conan"
more than the weatherman. How? Well, he used to report the weather right across the hall
from Conan O'Brien's own set, and as he told Whalebone Magazine -
"And whenever somebody couldn't make it, I was like this ready guest. Not so much that
I was that talented."
In 2018, Al Roker decided to add Broadway actor to his lengthy list of achievements.
That year, he was cast in the musical "Waitress". Though the weatherman is always up for a new
challenge, he was hesitant about ever stepping foot on a stage — especially since he had
to sing. As he told Broadway World -
"It would be like Lin-Manuel Miranda waking up one morning and saying 'you know what?
I want to do the weather on a network morning show.'"
It was actor William Shatner, of all people, who inspired Roker to give it a try. Roker
explained -
"I got a great piece of advice from William Shatner doing this series called 'Living Legends.'
I asked him about the secret to his success and career longevity and he said 'always say
yes.’"
What was even more encouraging for Roker was receiving his daughter's approval, considering
she was an acting major.
Though he only accepted a limited run for his Broadway role, he loved performing live
on stage. The following year, he showed up once again in "Waitress" for a few more shows.
It's hard to remember a time when we didn't see Al Roker on TV. In 2018, Al Roker found
himself celebrating 40 years at the famous NBC network. During an episode of the "Today"
show, his cast and crew celebrated with a special segment and even renamed Rockefeller
Plaza "Rokerfeller Plaza" in his honor.
While being on the national newscast for 22 of those years has been his claim to fame,
simply ending up on TV at all had always been a dream come true for Roker, who said on "Today"
-
"I thought I had died and gone to Heaven because my parents could actually turn on the TV and
see me."
After appearing on multiple segments of "Today," Al Roker opted to report on more than just
the weather in 2019. Shortly after Megyn Kelly left the show, it was announced that a new
"3rd Hour of Today" would air featuring Roker alongside other co-hosts
For over two decades, Roker has been a staple on the morning show. Now that he's able to
discuss his personal life even more on-screen during his newest segment, he's become incredibly
close with his co-hosts, saying -
"We love each other, we support each other, But most importantly, these three people I
literally trust my professional and my personal life to every day"
In November 2020, Al Roker shared some shocking news to kick off an episode of the "Today"
show. After a routine doctor's visit, Roker had been diagnosed with prostate cancer.
"Good news/bad news kinda thing. The good news is we caught it early. Not great news
is that it's a little aggressive. So I'm going to be taking some time off to take care of
this."
That very same week, he went off-air and into surgery.
Two months later, Roker got some incredible news. His blood work now showed that the cancer-causing
antigens in his body had been reduced dramatically. At that moment, his cancer was officially
declared "undetectable," he told People, but he would have to continue with regular doctor's
visits to make sure it stayed that way.
Ever since the weatherman shared his first diagnosis with fans, he's continued to be
incredibly open about his health journey, revealing that, according to his doctor, one
in nine men will also have prostate cancer in their lives.
Regardless of Al Roker's health or even his age, he's clearly not slowing down anytime
soon. Yet, some fans freaked out when they saw him back out reporting on intense weather
in 2021. When Hurricane Ida rolled around, of course Roker was standing in the center
of it all. The category 4 storm nearly knocked him off his feet, and viewers took to Twitter
to voice their concerns for the 67-year-old weatherman.
To the fans who weren't convinced about his safety, he wrote on Twitter -
"For those who think I'm too old to be doing this, try and keep up."
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