Sawyer, Forrest 1949–

PERSONAL

Born April 19, 1949 in Lakeland, FL. Education: University of Florida, B.A., 1971, M.A., 1976; attended University of Texas and Oregon State University.

Career: Broadcast journalist, news anchor, actor, and writer. Sawyer Media Systems, cofounder and chair. Reporter and news director at various radio stations, including WDVH–AM in Gainesville, FL, WGST News-radio in Atlanta, GA, and WVBF–FM in Boston, MA, 1974–80; WAGA–TV, Atlanta, GA, anchor, 1980–85. The Discovery Channel, host of "Twister Week," 1999, anchor of "Shark Week;" also works as a lecturer.

Awards, Honors: Several Emmy Awards, including News Emmy, general coverage of a single breaking story, 1998, for covering the funeral of Princess Diana, and News Emmy, historical programming category, 1999, for report on the 1978 tragedy at Jonestown; George Foster Peabody Broadcasting Award, Henry W. Grady School of Journalism, University of Georgia; Edward R. Murrow Awards; Ohio State Award; awards from Associated Press, American Psychological Association, and Sigma Delta Chi.

CREDITS

Television Appearances; Series:

Coanchor, Morning, 1985–86.

Coanchor, CBS Early Morning News, CBS, 1985–87.

Coanchor, The CBS Morning News, CBS, 1987–88.

News anchor, Good Morning America (also known as GMA), ABC, 1988–89.

Coanchor, ABC World News This Morning, ABC, 1988–89.

Anchor, World News Sunday, ABC, 1989–93.

Correspondent, ABC News Nightline (also known as Nightline), ABC, 1989–90.

Substitute anchor, ABC News Nightline (also known as Nightline), ABC, 1989–99.

Host, Day One, ABC, 1993–95.

Substitute anchor, The News with Brian Williams (also known as The News on CNBC), CNBC, 1996.

Anchor, ABC News Saturday Night, ABC, 1998.

Anchor, MSNBC Live (also known as MSNBC Dayside and MSNBC Right Now), MSNBC, 1999–2003.

Television Appearances; Specials:

Moderator, Religion: The Secular Press (also known as For Our Times), CBS, 1987.

Anchor, The Electronic Time Machine, ABC, 1989.

Anchor, Working in America: Hazardous Duty (also known as Burning Questions), ABC, 1989.

Anchor, Revolution at Work, ABC, 1991.

Anchor, Day One: They Were Young and Brave, ABC,1994.

Correspondent, Rebirth: The Untold Stories of Oklahoma City, ABC, 1996.

Correspondent, Fugitive Son: The Hunt for Alex Kelly, ABC, 1996.

Correspondent, Who Shot Martin Luther King Jr.?, ABC, 1997.

Anchor, Paparazzi: Shooting Stars, ABC, 1997.

Anchor and reporter, Animal Transplants: Madness or Miracle?, ABC, 1997.

Host, Mighty Mo: The Many Lives of the USS Missouri, 1998.

Correspondent, Cancer: Race for a Cure, ABC, 1998.

Host, Live from a Shark Cage, The Discovery Channel, 1999.

Correspondent, Inside Task Force Hawk, The Discovery Channel, 1999.

Anchor, Warnings from a Small Town, The Discovery Channel, 2000.

Host and narrator, Rage to Revenge: The Science of Violence, The Discovery Channel, 2000.

Anchor, How Biased Are You?, The Discovery Channel, 2000.

Moderator, Educate about Hate, The Discovery Channel, 2000.

Correspondent, Assault on Gay America: The Life and Death of Billy Jack, PBS, 2000.

Anchor, MSNBC Reports: Reality TV Survivor's Guide, MSNBC, 2000.

Host, No Way Out: The Fall of Saigon, MSNBC, 2000.

Host, MSNBC Reports: Gay Hollywood Comes Out, MSNBC, 2001.

Host, Waging War, MSNBC, 2001.

Host, Behind the Terror (also known as Behind the Terror: Understanding the Enemy), The Learning Channel, 2001.

Host, MSNBC Reports: Witness to the Execution, MSNBC, 2001.

Host, MSNBC Reports: In Search of Satan, MSNBC, 2001.

Intimate Portrait: Maria Shriver, Lifetime, 2001.

Anchor, America's New Heroin Epidemics: Along Comes the Horse, MSNBC, 2001.

Host, The Making of the Death Pilots, MSNBC, 2002.

MSNBC Reports: The Next War, MSNBC, 2003.

Uganda: The Presidential Tour, Travel Channel, 2003.

Television Appearances; Miniseries:

Host, Liberty! The American Revolution, PBS, 1997.

Television Appearances; Episodic:

The Charlie Rose Show (also known as Charlie Rose), 1995.

Moderator, "The Debate," The West Wing, NBC, 2005.

Film Appearances:

Newscaster, Sharky's Machine, Warner Bros., 1982.

First newscaster, The Manchurian Candidate, Paramount, 2004.

Frank Kaplan, For Sale by Owner, Port Pictures, 2008.

WRITINGS

Television Specials:

Revolution at Work, ABC, 1991.

(With others) Day One: They Were Young and Brave, ABC, 1994.

Who Shot Martin Luther King Jr.?, ABC, 1997.

Mighty Mo: The Many Lives of the USS Missouri, 1998.

Warnings from a Small Town, The Discovery Channel, 2000.

OTHER SOURCES

Periodicals:

New York Times, April 12, 1992, p. 27.