Sue Simmons (born May 27, 1942) is an American retired

news anchor A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...

who was best known for being the lead female anchor at

WNBC WNBC (channel 4) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Linden, New Jersey–licensed Telemundo stati ...

in New York City from 1980 to 2012. Her contract with WNBC expired in June 2012 and WNBC announced that it would not renew it. Her final broadcast was on June 15, 2012, shortly after her 70th birthday.

Early life and education

Simmons grew up in the Manhattan neighborhood of

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

; her father was John Simmons, a jazz

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboard bass or a low b ...

whose contemporaries included

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and Singing, vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and se ...

Art Tatum Arthur Tatum Jr. (, October 13, 1909 – November 5, 1956) was an American jazz pianist who is widely regarded as one of the greatest in his field. From early in his career, Tatum's technical ability was regarded by fellow musicians as extraord ...

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Born and raise ...

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop s ...

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing". From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His conc ...

Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American dancer, actress, singer, and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years, appearing in film, television, and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of th ...

and

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...

. She graduated from

Julia Richman High School The Julia Richman Education Complex (JREC) is an educational multiplex located in the Upper East Side neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. Named after the district superintendent of schools, Julia Richman, it houses six autonomous small sc ...

in 1961 and decided to work instead of going on to college.Cahalan, Susannah
"The ‘Live!’ and times of TV’s legendary anchor Sue Simmons"
''The New York Post'', March 11, 2012.

Career

WNBC

She began her career as a consumer action reporter at

WTNH-TV WTNH (channel 8) is a television station licensed to New Haven, Connecticut, United States, serving the Hartford–New Haven market as an affiliate of ABC. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside MyNetworkTV affiliate WCTX (channel 59), a ...

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134 ...

. She was with

WBAL-TV WBAL-TV (channel 11) is a television station in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is the flagship property of Hearst Television, which has owned the station since its inception, and is sister to the company's sole r ...

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

from 1974 to 1976 where she was an anchor for the station's

Action News ''Action News'' is a local television newscast format originating in the United States. First conceived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, it is characterized by a tight format with strict time limits on set packages, a focus on surrounding suburbs, ...

and Baltimore At One broadcasts. From 1976 to 1980 she was a reporter and anchor at

WRC-TV WRC-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Washington, D.C., airing programming from the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Class A Telemundo outlet WZDC-CD (channel 44 ...

Washington, DC ) , 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 Morg ...

, an

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 ...

owned-and-operated station. From 1980 to 2007, she was a co-anchor for WNBC's '' Live at Five'' news broadcast. She worked with several co-anchors, including

Jack Cafferty Jack Cafferty (born December 14, 1942) is a former CNN commentator and occasional host of specials. In the summer of 2005, Cafferty joined '' The Situation Room''. He left CNN after November 15, 2012. Career Cafferty started his career in Reno ...

Tony Guida Tony Guida (born November 5, 1941) is a New York-based local television and radio personality. He is currently a news anchor for WCBS Newsradio 880 and a business correspondent for CBS News. Life and career Guida began his career working as a re ...

Matt Lauer Matthew Todd Lauer (; born December 30, 1957) is an American former television news personality, best known for his work with NBC News. After serving as a local news personality in New York City on WNBC, his first national exposure was as the ne ...

, Dean Shepherd, Jim Rosenfield,

Perri Peltz Perri Peltz is an Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker, journalist and public health advocate. Most recently, Perri created the documentary news series ''Axios'' on HBO with Matthew O’Neill. Perri & Matthew also co-directed and produced the 2019 ...

, and

David Ushery David Ushery (born June 5, 1967) is an African-American television news anchor at WNBC News 4 New York, NBC’s flagship owned and operated station. An integral member of the NBC 4 New York News team, Ushery has covered many of the largest and m ...

. In 2007, ''Live at Five'' broadcast for the final time. Weeknights at 11 p.m., she co-anchored with

Chuck Scarborough Charles Bishop Scarborough III (born November 4, 1943) is an American television journalist and author. Since 1974, he has been the lead news anchor at WNBC, the New York City flagship station of the NBC Television Network, and has also appeared ...

. On March 7, 2012, WNBC announced that it would not renew its contract with Simmons; the contract expired in June. Simmons' final broadcast was on June 15, 2012; she received farewells from long time co-workers, as well as numerous sports figures and celebrities. Simmons was replaced on the 11 p.m. newscast by Shiba Russell. ''Chuck and Sue'' (as they were known in New York) were together since Simmons' arrival at WNBC—the longest run for an anchor team in New York City television history. She was one of the highest paid local anchors in New York, making $5 million a year. Simmons was referenced in the song ''

Traffic and Weather ''Traffic and Weather'' is the fourth studio album by the American rock band Fountains of Wayne. It was released on Virgin Records in April 2007. Background While previous Fountains of Wayne albums saw lead singer Chris Collingwood and bassis ...

'' by the power pop band Fountains of Wayne. On June 23, 2017, Simmons returned to WNBC for a tribute to

Gabe Pressman Gabriel Stanley "Gabe" Pressman (February 14, 1924 – June 23, 2017) was an American journalist who was a reporter for WNBC-TV in New York City for more than 60 years. His career spanned more than seven decades; the events he covered included th ...

, longtime reporter for the station who died earlier in the day at age 93.

On-air profanity

On May 12, 2008, as a live news

teaser Teaser may refer to: * One who teases * Teaser (animal), a male livestock animal (typically a bull) whose penis has been amputated, "''gomer''" Film exhibition, broadcasting, advertising * Teaser (trailer), a short film used to advertise an ...

was played, Simmons was heard loudly exclaiming, "The fuck are you doing?" It was later revealed that her remark was directed at distracted co-anchor

. She later apologized on-air for her inappropriate language. The incident has been mocked in several sketches 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 Entertainm ...

's ''

Late Show with David Letterman The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production ...

''. The clip was later featured in a 2021 episode of HBO's ''

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver ''Last Week Tonight with John Oliver'' (often abridged as ''Last Week Tonight'') is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by comedian John Oliver. The half-hour-long show premiered in April 2014 on HBO. ''Last ...

''. Simmons has stated that she was normally notified proactively when the show was broadcasting live, because she had a reputation for being caught on the air during candid moments. On that particular occasion, she had not been notified, and she uttered the profanity while attempting to get the attention of Scarborough, who was preoccupied with his computer.

Back surgery

In November and December 2010, Simmons was away from her job while she underwent back surgery. On January 3, 2011, she returned to work. However, when she returned from surgery she was no longer a part of the 6 p.m. newscast and only co-anchored the 11 p.m. newscast.

Acting

Sue Simmons made her acting debut as herself in the fourteenth season premiere episode of the

legal drama A legal drama is a genre of film and television that generally focuses on narratives regarding legal practice and the justice system. The American Film Institute (AFI) defines "courtroom drama" as a genre of film in which a system of justice play ...

, '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit''. Simmons went on to guest star as herself on

comedy series ''

30 Rock ''30 Rock'' is an American satirical sitcom television series created by Tina Fey that originally aired on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013. The series, based on Fey's experiences as head writer for ''Saturday Night Live'', tak ...

''. She has also appeared in other television series and films in the role of a

newscaster A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...

, including: ''

The First Wives Club ''The First Wives Club'' is a 1996 American comedy film directed by Hugh Wilson, based on the 1992 novel of the same name by Olivia Goldsmith. The film stars Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn, and Diane Keaton as three divorcées who seek retribution ...

'' (1996), '' Exiled: A Law & Order Movie'' (1998) and ''

Elementary Elementary may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Elementary'' (Cindy Morgan album), 2001 * ''Elementary'' (The End album), 2007 * ''Elementary'', a Melvin "Wah-Wah Watson" Ragin album, 1977 Other uses in arts, entertainment, a ...

'' (2012).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Simmons, Sue 1942 births American television reporters and correspondents Television anchors from Baltimore Living people Television anchors from New York City Television anchors from Washington, D.C. American women television journalists Julia Richman Education Complex alumni 21st-century American women