Colleen Williams
{{short description|American journalist}}
{{About|the news anchor|the soccer player|Colleen Williams (soccer)}}
{{Multiple issues|{{BLP sources|date=October 2013}}{{Notability|Biographies|date=October 2013}}{{Third-party|date=October 2013}}}}
{{Infobox person
|name=Colleen Williams
|image=
|birth_name=Colleen Ann Williams
|birth_date={{birth date and age|1955|3|06}}
|birth_place=Winston-Salem, North Carolina, U.S.
|alma_mater=Creighton University
University of Nebraska at Omaha
|occupation=Journalist
|years_active=
|television=WOWT
KPIX-TV
KCBS-TV (1983–1986)
KNBC (1986–present)
|spouse=
|children=1
|website=
}}
Colleen Ann Williams (born March 6, 1955) is an American journalist. She is a news anchor of KNBC Channel 4 in Los Angeles, currently serving on the 5 and 11 p.m. weekday broadcasts. She also reports on occasion for NBC News and MSNBC. Williams is one of the most-recognized anchors in the Los Angeles area, the second-largest media market in the United States. Williams once could be recognized for her trademark hairstyle which until the late 1990s included a prominent silver streak.
Early life
Williams was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. An Air Force brat, she moved around the country throughout her childhood. She attended college at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska before finishing her bachelor's degree in education at University of Nebraska at Omaha.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbcumv.com/talent/colleen-williams/bios_read_more?show=151128|title=Colleen Williams {{!}} NBCUniversal Media Village|website=www.nbcumv.com|access-date=2019-02-22}}
Career
Williams taught in the Omaha Public School system for a few years before starting her news career with WOWT in Omaha.
Williams joined KNBC in 1986 from cross-town rival KCBS-TV where she anchored the 5 p.m. news for three years, succeeding Connie Chung after she left for NBC News. Prior to her L.A. arrival at KCBS (which was then KNXT), Williams anchored at KPIX-TV, the CBS station in San Francisco, California.
Williams was particularly visible during the O. J. Simpson murder trial,{{cite news|last1=FERNANDEZ|first1=MARIA ELENA|title=O.J. Simpson's Bronco Chase: 'Theater of the Absurd'|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/o-j-20-years-later/o-j-simpsons-bronco-chase-theater-absurd-n129071|accessdate=31 March 2015|publisher=www.nbcnews.com|date=11 June 2014}} which she covered for KNBC and MSNBC, co-anchoring a daily summary of the trial each evening.{{cite web|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160305081108/http://swedish.imdb.com/title/tt0382458/fullcredits|title=OJ Simpson: The Trial Full Cast & Crew|work=IMDb|access-date=October 23, 2024}} It was after the Simpson trial concluded that Williams succeeded long-time 11 p.m. anchor Kelly Lange. Lange left the station after 25 years to work briefly for KCBS-TV before leaving television entirely in 2001.{{cite news|last1=Lowry|first1=Brian|title=Kelly Lange Is Leaving KNBC After 27 Years|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-dec-18-ca-55118-story.html|access-date=31 March 2015|work=Los Angeles Times|date=18 December 1998}}
On August 29, 2009, Williams attended the 61st Emmy Awards at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in North Hollywood, California.{{cite news|title=Colleen Williams|last1=Livingston|first1=David|url=http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/anchor-colleen-williams-attends-the-61st-annual-los-angeles-news-photo/90179580|accessdate=31 March 2015|agency=Getty Images|publisher=Getty Images|date=29 August 2009}}
Awards
Williams has received Golden mic awards:
- Coverage of the Chatsworth train crash
- NBC4's special "LA Riots: Rubble to Rebirth."
- Coverage of 1996 Atlanta Summer Games Centennial Park bombing
Williams was also awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Radio & Television News Association.{{Cite web|url=http://www.nbclosangeles.com/on-air/about-us/Colleen_Williams.html|title=Colleen Williams|website=NBC Southern California|language=en|access-date=2019-02-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120722161940/http://www.nbclosangeles.com/on-air/about-us/Colleen_Williams.html|archive-date=2012-07-22|url-status=dead}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.nbclosangeles.com/author/colleen-williams/ Biography from NBCLosAngeles.com]
- {{IMDb name|1497536}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Colleen}}
Category:American television journalists
Category:Creighton University alumni
Category:Journalists from San Francisco
Category:Television anchors from Los Angeles
Category:Mass media people from Omaha, Nebraska
Category:Mass media people from Pasadena, California
Category:Journalists from Greater Los Angeles
Category:People from Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Category:Television anchors from San Francisco
Category:University of Nebraska Omaha alumni