Tom Bergeron
Tom Bergeron is one busy guy! Not only has he been the host of “America’s Funnies Home Videos” since 2001, but he was also the host of “Hollywood Squares” from 1998 until 2004. And he has been the host of “Dancing with the Stars” since 2005. In his spare time, he fills in as a guest host for “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.”
Tom was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts in 1955. His first job in media was as a disc jockey. He spun records for the local station WHAV. He went on to Portsmouth, New Hampshire’s WHEB where he was extremely popular in the early 80s.
Tom hosted the local game show “Granite State Challenge” for New Hampshire’s public television. He joined Boston’s WBZ-TV in 1992 as an on-air personality, including a contributor for the Evening Magazine segment and the host on Lottery Live, the nightly drawing of the Massachusetts State Lottery games.
In 1987, while still performing his other duties, Tom landed the job of host on “People Are Talking,” an afternoon talk show. By the early 90s, he was very popular around Boston and WBZ started featuring him on their sister radio station as well as their television station. In 1993, “People Are Talking” ended, but Tom continued being a commentator and reporter for WBZ-TV for another year.
He left WBZ-TV in 1994 to take a position with the cable channel FX as the co-host of their morning show “Breakfast Time.” With co-host Laurie Hibberd, the show was so successful that Fox picked it up two years later, renaming it “Fox After Breakfast.” It ended the next year and Tom signed on with ABC to be a guest host of “Good Morning America.” When Charles Gibson left, they considered having Tom fill his place, but the job eventually went to Kevin Newman.
In 1998, Tom landed the hosting job on “Hollywood Squares.” Between 1998 and 2004, he was nominated for five Emmys, winning in 2000 for Outstanding Game Show Host. Tom landed the job as host of “America’s Funniest Home Videos” in 2001, taking over for former hosts Daisy Fuentes and John Fugelsang. Before that, Bob Saget had hosted the show from 1989 until 1997. Tom added the segments where he puts his own face over several of the funny videos and he also added the “slo-mo gizmo” feature.
In 2005, Tom started hosting the wildly popular “Dancing with the Stars” with Lisa Canning. She was eventually replaced by Samantha Harris, who took maternity leave this season. She has been temporarily replaced by season two winner Drew Lachey.
To add to his television repertoire, Tom has appeared on “Enterprise” twice (in 2002 and 2005), appeared once on the game show “I’ve Got a Secret,” appeared six times on “The View,” co-hosted the 33rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards, appeared on “The Tony Danza Show” five times, hosted the 2003 Miss America Pageant, hosted the 4th Annual Family Television Awards in 2002, and co-hosted the 2005 Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Association Telethon. He serves as the national vice president of the Muscular Dystrophy Association and as the 2007 March of Dimes spokesperson. Tom is a member of the Massachusetts Broadcasters’ Hall of Fame.
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