Debrah Lynn 'Debbye' Turner Bell (born September 19, 1965 in
Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...
) is an American
television anchor
A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces or hosts television show, television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. It is common for people ...
,
veterinarian
A veterinarian (vet) or veterinary surgeon is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, veterinarians also play a role in animal r ...
,
talk show host
Below is a list of talk show
A talk show is a television programming, radio programming or podcast genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk ...
, former beauty queen and winner of the 1990
Miss America
Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 18 and 28. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is judged on competition segments with scoring percentages: ''Priva ...
pageant.
Early life and education
Turner was born in
Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...
and raised in
Jonesboro, Arkansas
Jonesboro () is a city located on Crowley's Ridge in the northeastern corner of the U.S. State of Arkansas. Jonesboro is one of two county seats of Craighead County, Arkansas, Craighead County. In 2023, the city had an estimated population of ...
. Turner earned a Bachelor of Science in agriculture from
Arkansas State University
Arkansas State University (A-State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Jonesboro, Arkansas, United States. It is the flagship campus of the Arkansas State University System and the second-largest university in the st ...
, and attended the
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...
. She is a member of
Alpha Kappa Alpha
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. () is an List of African American fraternities, historically African-American Fraternities and sororities, sorority. The sorority was founded in 1908 at Howard University in Washington, D.C.. Alpha Kappa Alpha ...
sorority. Turner also spent a couple of years honing her public service skills working for Safeway Stores.
In 1991, she received her
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to:
Titles and occupations
* Physician, a medical practitioner
* Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree
** Doctorate
** List of doctoral degrees awarded ...
degree from the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine.
She became a spokesperson for Purina and pursued a career in veterinary medicine before going into television.
Pageantry
Turner was the first runner-up at the Miss Arkansas Pageant, a state preliminary competition for the Miss America program in 1988.
In the summer of 1989, she won the
Miss Missouri title and went on to win the 1990
Miss America
Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 18 and 28. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is judged on competition segments with scoring percentages: ''Priva ...
crown. Turner is a singer, pianist, and skilled percussionist, evidenced by her marimba rendition of '"
Flight of the Bumblebee
"Flight of the Bumblebee" () is an orchestral interlude written by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844–1908) for his opera '' The Tale of Tsar Saltan'', composed in 1899–1900. This perpetuum mobile is intended to musically evoke the seemingl ...
"' in the talent portion of the 1990 Miss America contest. Turner was the third
African-American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...
national titleholder and the first—and as of 2019, the only—Miss Missouri to be crowned Miss America.
Career
Turner's first hosting job came at the
St. Louis
St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
affiliate
KSDK
KSDK (channel 5) is a television station in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Tegna Inc. The station's studios are located on Market Street in Downtown St. Louis, and its transmitter is located in Shrewsbury, M ...
, on a show called ''Show Me St. Louis'' in 1995.
Six years later, Turner joined
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...
as a feature correspondent then became their "resident veterinarian" and a fill-in anchor. Turner was also a fill-in anchor on the ''
CBS Morning News
''CBS News Mornings'' (formerly ''CBS Morning News'') is an American early-morning news broadcast presented weekdays on the CBS television network. The program features late-breaking news stories, national weather forecasts and sports highlight ...
''. Turner left CBS in 2012. She has appeared on
Animal Planet
Animal Planet (stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American multinational pay television channel focusing on the animal kingdom owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. First established on June 1 ...
's ''
Cats 101'' and ''
Dogs 101'' series. She was the host of ''Arise America'', on
Arise News. She is currently the Leadership and discipleship leader at Kentwood Community Church, located in Grand Rapids Michigan.
Personal life
Turner is the daughter of
Frederick C. Turner, Jr. and Gussie Turner.
Turner married Gerald Bell in 2008. The couple has a daughter.
Turner's older sister, Suzette, is married to
megachurch
A megachurch is a church with a very large membership that also offers a variety of educational and social activities. Most megachurches are Evangelical, although the term denotes a type of organization, not a denomination. A megachurch draws 2 ...
pastor,
Kirbyjon Caldwell.
References
External links
Turner's official websiteDebbye's Arise News TwitterTurner biographyat ''The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Debbye
1965 births
Living people
People from Honolulu
American television news anchors
Miss America 1990 delegates
Miss America winners
Arkansas State University alumni
Journalists from St. Louis
People from Jonesboro, Arkansas
University of Missouri alumni
American veterinarians
Miss America Preliminary Swimsuit winners
Women veterinarians
American women television journalists
African-American beauty pageant winners
20th-century American people
20th-century African-American women
20th-century African-American people
21st-century American women