Norma Quarles (born November 11, 1936) is an American television reporter and anchor. She worked for NBC, CNN and PBS during her career.

Early life

Quarles was born in New York City in 1936 into a Trinidadian family. Her father worked at Macy's in New York which led to her being cast as an extra in '' Miracle on 34th Street'' in 1947. Quarles attended

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...

and

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...

before earning her real estate license and moving to Chicago.

Career

She began her career in 1965 as a radio reporter in Chicago. She worked as a general assignment reporter for television station WKYC in Cleveland for three years, where she was the first African-American woman to file reports for a network. She then moved to WNBC in New York where she served as an anchor for the local morning news. While at WNBC, she requested to substitute

Barbara Walters Barbara Jill Walters (born September 25, 1929) is an American broadcast journalist and television personality. Known for her interviewing ability and popularity with viewers, Walters appeared as a host of numerous television programs, including ...

on '' The Today Show'', but NBC feared that southern viewers would protest and refused her request. In 1977, Quarles began producing ''Urban Tales'' for WMAQ-TV in Chicago. The series' success led her to being named a national NBC correspondent. In 1984, she served as a panelist at the vice presidential debate. In 1988, Quarles joined CNN as a news anchor on ''

CNN Daybreak ''CNN Daybreak'' is an American early morning newscast aired on CNN, anchored from New York by Carol Costello. It debuted on June 1, 1980, the same day CNN went live. First program The first program to air live weekdays on the network, it preced ...

''. She anchored the show for two years and then switched to working as a correspondent, a job which she held until 1999. She then served as a reporter for ''

Religion and Ethics Newsweekly ''Religion & Ethics Newsweekly'' was an American weekly television news-magazine program which aired on PBS. History and content Premiering in 1997, ''Religion & Ethics Newsweekly'' was devoted to news of religion and spirituality, along with ...

'' on PBS, retiring in 2001. Quarles was inducted into the

National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame The National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame is a hall of fame project of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) honoring African-American and other journalists. The original Hall of Fame list was established on April 5, ...

in 1990. She was also a third grade grammar school teacher at Paul Cornell in Chicago.

Film work

Quarles also appeared in several movies. She played a reporter in '' The Last Days of Disco'' and was an extra in ''Miracle on 34th Street''.

Awards and honors

*1973

Front Page Award The Front Page Award is an award given by the Newswomen's Club of New York The Newswomen's Club of New York is a nonprofit organization that focuses on women working in the media in the New York City metropolitan area. Founded in 1922 as the New Yor ...

*1990

inductee *1993 CINE Golden Eagle

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quarles, Norma 1936 births Living people Hunter College alumni City College of New York alumni New York (state) television reporters Television anchors from New York City African-American people American people of Trinidad and Tobago descent