Lee Leonard Biography

Lee Leonard got his start in sports broadcasting on New York’s WNBC-AM in 1964 and went on to join CBS-TV as a studio analyst for The NFL on CBS in the early 1970’s. After a successful run with CBS he left to join the NBC Sports team and starred as one of the co-hosts of the GrandStand show. In 1979 Leonard signed with a startup sports network called ESPN and became the first man to speak on air for ESPN on September 7, 1979. During his time with ESPN he served as a colorcommentator and reporter on their flagship program SportsCenter. In 1980 he moved to CNN to host People Tonight and later moved to Entertainment Tonight before launching the popular series Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous in 1981. In the mid 90’s Leonard joined News 12 in New Jersey and went on to host a public affairs program on the New Jersey based cable network CN8.

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