Leyna Nguyen (born December 13, 1969)First Viet-Am wins two Emmy awards
URL accessed on April 4, 2010. is a

Vietnamese-American Vietnamese Americans ( vi, Người Mỹ gốc Việt, lit=Viet-origin American people) are Americans of Vietnamese ancestry. They make up about half of all overseas Vietnamese and are the fourth-largest Asian American ethnic group after Chinese ...

podcaster and former

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

anchor and

reporter A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Life and career

Nguyen is a three-time

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

-winning journalist, who anchored the nightly 4pm and 9pm newscasts on

KCAL-TV KCAL-TV (channel 9) is an independent television station in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is owned by the CBS News and Stations group alongside CBS West Coast flagship KCBS-TV (channel 2). Both stations share studios at the C ...

in Los Angeles. She made broadcast history by becoming the first newscaster to anchor the news on two stations in the same market, with the Viacom-owned duopoly of KCBS and KCAL-TV. Her career in Los Angeles on CBS2 and KCAL9 spanned over two decades, from 1997 to 2018. Before joining the second-largest television market in the nation, Nguyen was a news anchor and reporter for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

-affiliate

KCRA-TV KCRA-TV (channel 3) is a television station in Sacramento, California, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Hearst Television alongside Stockton, California, Stockton-licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate KQCA (channel 58). Both stations ...

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, California, where she also hosted a quarterly program on Asian-American issues. Before California, Leyna was in

Augusta, Georgia Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navig ...

anchoring the news on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

-affiliate

WRDW-TV WRDW-TV (channel 12) is a television station in Augusta, Georgia, United States, affiliated with CBS and MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Gray Television alongside low-power, Class A NBC affiliate WAGT-CD (channel 26). Both stations share studios at ...

. She appeared in over 30 television shows and movies such as '' NCIS: Los Angeles'', ''

Boston Legal ''Boston Legal'' is an American legal drama and comedy drama television series created by former lawyer and Boston native David E. Kelley, produced in association with 20th Century Fox Television for ABC. The series aired from October 3, 2004, t ...

'', ''

Two and a Half Men ''Two and a Half Men'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS for twelve seasons from September 22, 2003, to February 19, 2015. Originally starring Charlie Sheen in the lead role alongside Jon Cryer and Angus T. Jones, the ...

'', ''

Pushing Daisies ''Pushing Daisies'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Bryan Fuller that aired on ABC from October 3, 2007, to June 13, 2009. The series stars Lee Pace as Ned, a pie-maker with the ability to bring dead things back to life ...

'', ''

Austin Powers in Goldmember ''Austin Powers in Goldmember'' is a 2002 American spy comedy film directed by Jay Roach. It is the third in the ''Austin Powers'' film series and stars Mike Myers in four roles: Austin Powers, Dr. Evil, Goldmember, and Fat Bastard. Myers and M ...

'', and ''

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' is an American media franchise created by the comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Leonardo, Michelangelo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Miche ...

''. She hosted the annual

Jerry Lewis Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian. As his contributions to comedy and charity made him a global figure in popular culture, pop culture ...

Labor Day Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United St ...

Telethon A telethon (a portmanteau of "television" and "marathon") is a televised fundraising event that lasts many hours or even days, the purpose of which is to raise money for a charitable, political or other purportedly worthy cause. Most telethons f ...

with entertainer

Casey Kasem Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem (April 27, 1932 – June 15, 2014) was an American disc jockey, actor, and radio personality, who created and hosted several radio countdown programs, notably '' American Top 40''. He was the first actor to voice Nor ...

, and the Southern California

Special Olympics Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities and physical disabilities, providing year-round training and activities to 5 million participants and Unified Sports partners in 1 ...

Summer games, with Hall of Famer

James Worthy James Ager Worthy (born February 27, 1961) is an American sports commentator, television host, analyst, and former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "Big Game James", he played his entire professional career with the Los Angeles Lakers ...

. She's also involved in the Vietnamese entertainment industry, including a role as a master of ceremony for Asia Entertainment Inc. (from Asia 43 in 2004 through Asia 82 in 2018), and plays herself in numerous films and TV shows. Nguyen was born in Vietnam and came to the United States in 1975, settling in

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. She earned a degree in Mass Communications from

Webster University Webster University is a private university with its main campus in Webster Groves, Missouri. It has multiple branch locations across the United States and countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs ...

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

. While in St. Louis, Leyna was the "Morning Drive" personality for jazz radio station WEBU, and was a substitute teacher for grades K through 6. In 1987, Nguyen was crowned "Miss Asia," in 1996, she was named "

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swi ...

Woman of The Year” in 2000, she was designated one of the country's "25 Most Influential Vietnamese-Americans in 25 years," and in 2011, she was honored by the

California State Legislature The California State Legislature is a bicameral state legislature consisting of a lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members; and an upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members. Both houses of the Legisla ...

as Woman of The Year for her philanthropic work. Since 2020, Nguyen has produced and hosted a podcast about

non-monogamy Non-monogamy (or nonmonogamy) is an umbrella term for every practice or philosophy of non- dyadic intimate relationship that does not strictly hew to the standards of monogamy, particularly that of having only one person with whom to exchange se ...

swinging Swing or swinging may refer to: Apparatus * Swing (seat), a hanging seat that swings back and forth * Pendulum, an object that swings * Russian swing, a swing-like circus apparatus * Sex swing, a type of harness for sexual intercourse * Swing rid ...

cuckolding A cuckold is the husband of an adulterous wife; the wife of an adulterous husband is a cuckquean. In biology, a cuckold is a male who unwittingly invests parental effort in juveniles who are not genetically his offspring. A husband who is aw ...

, and other alternative sexual lifestyles called ''Consenting Adults''. Nguyen has a non-profit foundation called "Love Across the Ocean", which benefits underprivileged school children in Vietnam and assists refugees in Southern California.

References

External links

*
KCBS2/KCAL9 On-Air Talent Bios

Love Across The Ocean Website
Leyna Nguyen @ Facebook
LEYNA NGUYEN "A time for love"Vietnamese American National GalaLeyna Nguyễn: Thua thiệt hai lần, thành công gấp đôi

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nguyen, Leyna Television anchors from Los Angeles Television anchors from Sacramento, California American people of Vietnamese descent Vietnamese community activists Living people 1969 births Emmy Award winners Webster University alumni Apple Valley High School (Minnesota) alumni