A Look Back At Lester Holt's Career Beginnings In Chicago
By Rachel Cromidas in News on Jun 18, 2015 7:50PM
After months of rumors and speculation, NBC News has named Lester Holt the anchor of NBC Nightly News, which Brian Williams previously helmed.
The announcement is monumental for the legacy of Nightly News and Holt, who has been a TV news reporter for 34 years, and is the first solo African-American broadcast network news anchor. Holt was ecstatic in a statement released after the announcement, calling it "an enormous honor."
"The respect and admiration I have for the Nightly News team has only grown deeper over the last several months that we've been together," he said. "Day-in and day-out under an uncomfortable spotlight they have produced world-class journalism. I’m very proud and grateful to be part of such an unflappable and dedicated team of professionals as we move forward together."
Holt, who is currently on vacation, also took to his Twitter account to briefly express his excitement:
Promised my family I wouldn't think about work during vacation. Just got the ok to break that promise. Excited and grateful for new role.
— Lester Holt (@LesterHoltNBC) June 18, 2015
Long before Lester Holt was in line to replace Williams and working as the interim NBC Nightly News anchor, he was a fill-in evening news anchor on WBBM here in Chicago, with an unmissable mustache.
He co-anchored the weekend news in 1986:
He also co-anchored the afternoon news in 1990, filled in for evening news anchor Bill Curtis in 1992, covered the crash of flight 4184 in 1994 and appeared in The Fugitive.
He also covered the 1995 heatwave that racked Chicago:
And he played with puppets on the legendary Chicago Nude Hippo show:
And his legacy lives on in a video explaining the ins-and-outs of jury duty. A classic and standard viewing for those who are doing their civic duty in Cook County:
Even after he left for the greener pastures of MSNBC and NBC news, Holt continued to make appearances on Chicago news programs (just without that iconic mustache), including teaming up with his son Stefan Holt more than once.