Ted Koppel

Origin

Born and raised in Lancashire, England, Koppel immigrated to the United States of America at the age of thirteen. He received a BSc from Syracuse University, and later an MA from Stanford in mass communications and political science. He became a naturalized citizen in 1963 at the age of 23. That same year he married his wife, Grace Anne Dorney.  

Character Evolution

Koppel became involved in show business after obtaining work at a New York radio station as a copyboy. He was hired by ABC Radio News as a correspondent in 1963, the youngest person to receive that job. Three years later he became a war correspondent in Vietnam for ABC’s television news. He returned to America in 1968 to cover the presidential campaign of Richard Nixon, and was soon assigned the position of bureau chief in Hong Kong, as well as becoming the correspondent for the US State Department. He travelled to China with President Nixon in 1972. In 1980 Koppel became the anchor for ABC’s new program Nightline. He remained with the program for 25 years, retiring from the program in 2005 as well as ending his association with ABC, which had lasted for over forty years. During his time with the program he and Nightline were charged with biased reporting, but these allegations did not significantly tarnish his reputation or that of the program. In 2005 he began working as a managing editor for the Discovery Channel. In 2006 he began writing an editorial column for the New York Times, as well as providing commentary for some National Public Radio shows. He makes occasional appearances on The Daily Show. In 2008 he ceased his association with the Discovery Channel. Also in 2008, he did some work for the BBC in the coverage of the 2008 Democratic National Convention. In 2011 he appeared on the NBC Nightly News. He then took work from NBC as a special correspondent for the Rock Centre.