Stone Stockton Phillips (born December 2, 1954) is an American television reporter and correspondent. He is best known as the former co-anchor of ''

Dateline NBC ''Dateline NBC'' is a weekly American television news magazine/reality legal show that is broadcast on NBC. It was previously the network's flagship general interest news magazine, but now focuses mainly on true crime stories with only occasio ...

'', a

news magazine A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio or television program, usually published weekly, consisting of articles about current events. News magazines generally discuss stories, in greater depth than do newspapers or n ...

TV series. He also has worked as a substitute anchor for ''

NBC Nightly News ''NBC Nightly News'' (titled as ''NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt'' for its weeknight broadcasts since June 22, 2015) is the flagship daily evening News broadcasting#Television, television news program for NBC News, the news division of the NB ...

'' and ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 ...

'' and as a substitute moderator on ''

Meet the Press ''Meet the Press'' is a weekly American television news/interview program broadcast on NBC. It is the longest-running program on American television, though the current format bears little resemblance to the debut episode on November 6, 1947. ' ...

''. Prior to his tenure at

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

, he was an

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...

correspondent for ''

20/20 Visual acuity (VA) commonly refers to the clarity of vision, but technically rates an examinee's ability to recognize small details with precision. Visual acuity is dependent on optical and neural factors, i.e. (1) the sharpness of the retinal ...

'' and '' World News Tonight''.

Early life

Stone Phillips was born December 2, 1954, in

Texas City, Texas Texas City is a city in Galveston County in the U.S. state of Texas. Located on the southwest shoreline of Galveston Bay, Texas City is a busy deepwater port on Texas's Gulf Coast, as well as a petroleum-refining and petrochemical-manufacturin ...

, to parents Victor and Grace Phillips, a

Monsanto The Monsanto Company () was an American agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation founded in 1901 and headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Monsanto's best known product is Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide, developed in ...

chemical engineer and school teacher, respectively. Victor Phillips is a veteran of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Phillips and his siblings—brother Victor III and sister Minta—were raised in the Claymont section of Ballwin, Missouri, in the

Greater St. Louis Greater St. Louis is a bi-state metropolitan area that completely surrounds and includes the independent city of St. Louis, the principal city. It includes parts of both Missouri and Illinois. The city core is on the Mississippi Riverfront on t ...

area. As a boy Phillips was an

acolyte An acolyte is an assistant or follower assisting the celebrant in a religious service or procession. In many Christian denominations, an acolyte is anyone performing ceremonial duties such as lighting altar candles. In others, the term is used f ...

at St. Martin's Episcopal Church in

Ellisville, Missouri Ellisville is a city in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States within Greater St. Louis. It is a western outer-ring suburb of St. Louis. The population was 9,985 at the 2020 census. In 2009, ''Money'' magazine ranked Ellisville #25 on the a ...

, where his parents were founding members of the congregation. Phillips attended Parkway West High School in

Ballwin, Missouri Ballwin is a southwestern suburb of St. Louis, located in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 31,103 as of the 2020 census. History Ballwin was established in 1837. The community was named for John Ball, who settled a ...

, where he was an honor student and starting quarterback on the football team. Phillips is of Scottish ancestry. Phillips matriculated at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

where he continued to excel in academics and in athletics. In 1976, he was starting quarterback for the Yale Bulldogs squad that won the

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight school ...

football championship. Phillips was a member of Yale's

Scroll and Key The Scroll and Key Society is a secret society, founded in 1842 at Yale University, in New Haven, Connecticut. It is one of the oldest Yale secret societies and reputedly the wealthiest. The society is one of the reputed "Big Three" societies ...

secret society and earned the university's prestigious F. Gordon Brown Award for outstanding academic and athletic leadership. Phillips graduated with honors from Yale in 1977, earning a

Bachelor of Philosophy Bachelor of Philosophy (BPhil, BPh, or PhB; la, Baccalaureus Philosophiae or ) is the title of an academic degree that usually involves considerable research, either through a thesis or supervised research projects. Unlike many other bachelor's d ...

Career

After graduating from Yale, Phillips moved to

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

, where he worked as a remedial reading and math teacher at the

Fulton County Fulton County is the name of eight counties in the United States of America. Most are named for Robert Fulton, inventor of the first practical steamboat: *Fulton County, Arkansas, named after Governor William Savin Fulton *Fulton County, Georgia *F ...

Juvenile Detention Center In criminal justice systems, a youth detention center, known as a juvenile detention center (JDC),Stahl, Dean, Karen Kerchelich, and Ralph De Sola. ''Abbreviations Dictionary''. CRC Press, 20011202. Retrieved 23 August 2010. , . juvenile de ...

. He was supplementing his pay by moonlighting as a waiter when he landed an entry-level news position at

WXIA-TV WXIA-TV (channel 11) is a television station in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside MyNetworkTV affiliate WATL (channel 36). Both stations share studios at One Monroe Place on the north ...

, the local

affiliate. In 1980, after less than two years as a reporter, writer, and broadcast producer in Atlanta, Phillips was hired by

as an assignment editor for its

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, news bureau. In 1982, he began filing stories as an on-air correspondent for ABC, covering such major events as the war in Lebanon, the exodus of

Vietnamese boat people Vietnamese boat people ( vi, Thuyền nhân Việt Nam), also known simply as boat people, refers to the refugees who fled Vietnam by boat and ship following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. This migration and humanitarian crisis was at its ...

in the mid-1980s, and Rajiv Gandhi's election campaign following the assassination of his mother, Indira Gandhi. In 1986, Phillips was promoted to a regular role on the ABC news magazine ''

''. Beginning that year, he also served as a substitute host on '' Good Morning America'' and a sports anchor for ABC’s ''

World News Sunday ''ABC World News Tonight'' (titled ''ABC World News Tonight with David Muir'' for its weeknight broadcasts since September 2014) is the flagship daily evening television news program of ABC News, the news division of the American Broadcasting ...

''. Phillips ended his twelve-year relationship with ABC in 1992, joining

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...

to serve as co-anchor with

Jane Pauley Margaret Jane Pauley (born October 31, 1950) is an American television host, and author, active in news reporting since 1972. Pauley first became widely known as Barbara Walters's successor on the NBC morning show ''Today'', beginning at the age ...

on ''

''. While at NBC News, Phillips also hosted ''Weekend Magazine with Stone Phillips''. He conducted a long list of notable interviews during his time with NBC. Among them was the first network interview with

Lynndie England Lynndie Rana England (born November 8, 1982) is a former United States Army Reserve soldier who was prosecuted for mistreating detainees during the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse that occurred at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad during the ...

, the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

soldier, about her role in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. Others included notorious

serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...

Jeffrey Dahmer Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer (; May 21, 1960 – November 28, 1994), also known as the Milwaukee Cannibal or the Milwaukee Monster, was an American serial killer and sex offender who killed and dismemberment, dismembered seventeen men and boys ...

, Russian President

Boris Yeltsin Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...

, and

Bernhard Goetz On December 22, 1984, Bernhard Goetz () shot four young men on a New York City Subway train in Manhattan after they allegedly tried to rob him. Goetz surrendered to police nine days later and was charged with attempted murder, assault, reckles ...

(a man who shot four black teenagers in the New York City Subway). The latter earned Phillips an Emmy Award for Outstanding Interview. Phillips co-anchored ''Dateline NBC'' from its inception until July 2, 2007, when

did not renew his $7 million contract. On October 17, 2005, Phillips was the guest on the premiere episode of ''The Colbert Report''. Phillips' delivery was part of the inspiration for comedian Stephen Colbert's

persona A persona (plural personae or personas), depending on the context, is the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional character. The word derives from Latin, where it originally referred to a theatr ...

on ''

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

.'' On December 18, 2014, Phillips would again appear on the final episode of ''The Colbert Report''. As of 2012, Phillips was contributing reports to the ''

PBS NewsHour ''PBS NewsHour'' is an American evening television news program broadcast on over 350 PBS member stations. It airs seven nights a week, and is known for its in-depth coverage of issues and current events. Anchored by Judy Woodruff, the pro ...

''. In 2013, he reported on golf course water usage for

The Golf Channel Golf Channel (also verbally referred to as simply Golf) is an American sports television network owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Founded in Birmingham, Alabama, it is currently based out of NBC S ...

. In May 2013, Phillips produced and hosted ''Moving with Grace'', a documentary airing on PBS stations that chronicled his efforts and those of his siblings to provide care for their aging parents. It also explored various issues faced by other baby boomers in similar circumstance.

Personal life

Phillips lives in New York with his wife Debra Del Toro-Phillips who is Puerto Rican and moved to New York City as a child. After a successful career in the fashion industry she returned to college and earned a master's degree in social work.

References

External links

Biography at nbcnews.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Stone 1954 births 20th-century American Episcopalians American football quarterbacks American people of Scottish descent American television news anchors American television reporters and correspondents Living people American male journalists NBC News people ABC News people People from Texas City, Texas People from Ballwin, Missouri Players of American football from Missouri Players of American football from Texas Yale Bulldogs football players Yale University alumni Journalists from Texas