Bill O'Reilly

He tied the nuptial knot with long time beau Maureen E McPhilmy, a public relations executive in November 1996. The couple was blessed with a daughter Madeline and son Spencer.

The unison did not last long and the two separated in April 2010. They were legally divorced in September 2011.

Bill O’Reilly was born as William James ‘Bill’ O'Reilly, Jr to William James Sr. and Winifred Angela Drake O’Reilly in New York City. Two years after his birth, his family shifted to Levittown, on Long Island.

He completed his preliminary education from St Brigid Parochial School in Westbury after which he attained high school studies from Chaminade High School, acceding to the wishes of his father.

While at high school, he played Little League baseball and was the goalie of the hockey team. Graduating from high school in 1967, he enrolled himself at the Marist College, in Poughkeepsie, New York. He took to playing football and writing for the college newspaper. Furthermore, he played semi-professional baseball as a pitcher for New York Monarchs.

Graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history in 1971, he moved to Miami, Florida where he took to teaching English and history to students at Monsignor Pace High School for two years.

It was only in 1973 that he returned to attain his master’s degree in broadcast journalism from Boston University. Consecutively, he worked as a reporter and columnist for various newspapers and news weeklies. He even interned at the WBZ-TV in its newsroom department.

He started off his career as a reporter and anchor at WNEP-TV in Scranton Pennsylvania. He worked in various departments, including weather. He then moved to investigative reporting for WFAA-TV in Dallas where he was presented with the Dallas Press Club Award.

Over the years he worked for various networks including KMGH-TV in Denver, KATU in Portland, Oregon, WFSB in Hartford, Connecticut and WNEV-TV in Boston. He even won an Emmy award for his coverage of skyjacking.

In 1980, he took up the position of an anchor and correspondent at the WCBS-TV for the local news feature program, ‘7:30 Magazine’. His investigative report which exposed the corrupt city marshals earned him his second Emmy award.

His outstanding brilliance at work earned him a promotion as he became a news correspondent of the CBS News. He was in charge of covering the wars in El Salvador and Falkland Islands, from Buenos Aires, Argentina. However, an uncredited use of riot footage led him to leave the CBS.

In 1986, he delivered a tribute on the tragic death of his friend and ABC News correspondent Joe Spencer. Hearing his deliverance, ABC News president offered him to join the network as a correspondent.

He became the proud recipient of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Governors' Award at an Emmy awards show in 2008

He has to his credit two local Emmy awards for his coverage of skyjacking for KMGH-TV and investigative reporting of the city marshals for the WCBS-TV.