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Soledad O BrienFamous American television journalist
Date of Birth: 19.09.1966
Country:  USA |
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Biography of Maria O'Brien
Maria de la Soledad Teresa O'Brien, known as Maria O'Brien, is a renowned American television journalist. She was born on September 19, 1966, in St. James, New York, USA. Maria is best known as the co-anchor of the morning television show "American Morning" from July 2003 to April 2007, alongside Miles O'Brien (no relation).
Early Career
Maria began her career as an associate producer and news anchor at WBZ-TV, a local NBC affiliate in Boston. She then moved on to the "News NBC" program in 1991, where she worked as a producer for "Nightly News" and "Today" in New York. Maria also worked as a local reporter and bureau chief for KRON, an NBC affiliate in San Francisco, for three years. She served as a reporter for the program "Know Zone" on KRON before it was later moved to CNET without Maria.
Rise to Prominence
Maria became a regular contributor to the program "Next Step" on the Discovery Channel. She hosted a morning weekend show on the cable news channel MSNBC and the technology program "The Site" from spring 1996 to November 1997. In July 1999, Maria joined the "Weekend Today" morning news and talk show with David Bloom. She made significant contributions to shows like "Today Show" and "Nightly News," covering major stories such as the John F. Kennedy Jr. plane crash and the school shootings in Colorado and Oregon in the 1990s. In 2003, Maria covered the space shuttle "Columbia" disaster and later became the weekend anchor for NBC's coverage of the Iraq War. She also reported on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005, interviewing the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Michael Brown.
Current Work
Maria transitioned to CNN, where she co-anchored the morning program "American Morning" from New York City with Bill Hemmer from July 2003 to April 2007. Due to low ratings, she was replaced by Kiran Chetry and Miles O'Brien. Recently, Maria completed work on the documentary film "Children of the Storm" directed by Spike Lee. She continues to work as a correspondent for CNN, occasionally appearing on the two-hour news program "Anderson Cooper 360." Maria also participated in exit polls during the 2008 United States presidential race.
Recognition and Personal Life
Maria hosted a special edition of the documentary series "Black in America" in July 2008, focusing on the lives of African Americans. She has received numerous awards and honors throughout her career, including a local Emmy Award for hosting "Know Zone." Maria has been listed as one of the "50 Most Beautiful People" by People magazine in 2001 and People en Español in 2004. She has also been recognized by Irish American magazine as one of the "100 Top Irish Americans" twice. In 2007, Maria received the presidential award from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Maria O'Brien is a member of the Board of Trustees at the Harlem School of the Arts. She has been a commencement speaker at Cornell University and has delivered speeches at Stony Brook University as part of the "My Life as..." lecture series. In April 2008, Maria became the first recipient of the "Voice Award" established by the Weill Cornell Medical School to recognize her advocacy and willingness to be the voice for marginalized and silenced communities.
Maria's parents, Edward and Estella, were immigrants from Cuba and Australia, respectively. They met while attending daily Mass at a church near their college town. They got married a year later, the day after Christmas, in Washington, D.C., as interracial marriage was illegal in Maryland at the time. Maria is the fifth of six children, all of whom graduated from Harvard University. Her siblings include a law professor, a corporate lawyer, an information company executive, an ophthalmologist, and an anesthesiologist.
Despite having Cuban and Irish Australian heritage, Maria is not fluent in Spanish. In 1995, she married Bradley Raymond, co-chairman of the investment banking firm Thomas Weisel Partners. The couple has two daughters, Sofia Elizabeth and Cecilia, and twin sons, Charlie and Jackson.
