Maria Shriver
Maria Owings Shriver (born November 6, 1955)[2] is an American journalist, author, a member of the Kennedy family, former First Lady of California, and the founder of the nonprofit organization The Women's Alzheimer's Movement.[3][4] She was married to former governor of California and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, from whom she filed for divorce in 2011 and which was finalized in 2021.
Maria Shriver
Independent (2011–present)[1]
Democratic (until 2011)
4, including Katherine and Patrick Schwarzenegger
- Sargent Shriver (father)
- Eunice Kennedy (mother)
Kennedy family
Chris Pratt (son-in-law)
Brentwood, California, U.S.
- Journalist
- author
Shriver began her journalism career at CBS station KYW-TV and briefly anchored the CBS Morning News before joining NBC News in 1986. After anchoring weekend editions of the Today show and the NBC Nightly News, she became a correspondent for Dateline NBC, also covering politics. After leaving NBC News in 2004 to focus on her role as First Lady of California, she returned in 2013 as a special anchor. For her reporting at NBC, Shriver received a Peabody Award in 1998 and was co-anchor for NBC's Emmy-winning coverage of the 1988 Summer Olympics.[5]
As executive producer of The Alzheimer's Project, Shriver earned two Emmy Awards and an Academy of Television Arts & Sciences award for developing a "television show with a conscience."[6]
Early life[edit]
Shriver was born in Presbyterian Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, on November 6, 1955, the second child of politician Sargent Shriver and activist Eunice Kennedy. She is a niece of the late U.S. president John F. Kennedy, U.S. attorney general and U.S. senator Robert F. Kennedy, U.S. senator Ted Kennedy, and six other siblings. A Roman Catholic,[7] she is of mostly Irish and German descent.
Shriver spent her middle school years living in Paris[8] save for a brief period where Shriver's family temporarily moved to Chicago in the summer of 1968 following Eunice Kennedy Shriver's work with the Special Olympics.[9]
Shriver permanently returned from France to Bethesda, Maryland, in 1970,[9] where she attended Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart high school and graduated in 1973,[10][11] later attending Manhattanville College in Purchase, New York, for two years, then transferring into a Bachelor of Arts degree in American studies at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., graduating in June 1977.[12][13]
Shriver is a fourth cousin of tennis player Pam Shriver.[14] Shriver is also a cousin of Caroline Kennedy.
Career[edit]
Media career and advocacy[edit]
In her book Ten Things I Wish I'd Known Before I Went Out Into The Real World (2000), Shriver says that she became passionate about broadcast journalism after being sent to the back of the campaign plane with the press corps while volunteering for her father's 1972 U.S. vice presidential race, calling these orders "the best thing that ever happened to me". After her journalism career began with KYW-TV in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she co-anchored The CBS Morning News with Forrest Sawyer from August 1985 until August 1986, co-anchored NBC News's Sunday Today from 1987 until 1990. Shriver also served as Saturday anchor 1989 & Sunday 1990 of NBC Nightly News. She was a contributing anchor on Dateline NBC from 1992 until 2004. In August 2003, Shriver took an unpaid leave of absence from NBC News when her husband became a candidate in the 2003 California gubernatorial recall election.
Following her husband's November 17, 2003, inauguration as the 38th Governor of California, she became the First Lady of California. She then returned to reporting, making two more appearances for Dateline NBC.
On February 3, 2004, Shriver asked to be "relieved of [her] duties at NBC News," citing concerns the network had over the conflict of interest between her role as a journalist and her status as the First Lady of California and her increasing role as an advocate of her husband's administration.[15]
She appeared as herself in the film Last Action Hero (1993). She also played a minor role as herself in "Be Prepared", a 2006 episode of the television series That's So Raven promoting a "Preparedness Plan". On March 23, 2007, Shriver returned to television news as substitute host of panel-discussion talk show Larry King Live on CNN with musician Sheryl Crow and other guests.
Shriver announced that she would not return to the news media after the excessive media coverage of the death of Anna Nicole Smith.[16][17] Shriver subsequently returned to the news media.[18][19]
Honors[edit]
As executive producer of The Alzheimer's Project, Shriver earned two Emmy Awards and an Academy of Television Arts & Sciences award for developing a "television show with a conscience".[91] She has additionally won Peabody Awards for her television journalism.[92]
In 2009, Shriver was honored with the Shinnyo-en Foundation's 2009 Pathfinders to Peace Award, which is bestowed annually to a person who exemplifies the ideals of compassion, harmony, and peace.[93] At the presentation ceremony honoring Shriver, the foundation's chief executive said, "Maria Shriver sees the best in other people – their innate goodness – and inspires them to become their own 'Architects of Change'. In a world that glorifies ambition at any cost, Maria instead teaches character. She is a woman of quiet strength who role-models kindness and charity, and has used her celebrity to help create peace in the world."[94]
The Saint John's Health Center has a nursery named after Shriver.[95]
A hybrid rose was named after Shriver in October 2004. The Maria Shriver rose contains starchy-white blooms and a powerful citrus fragrance.[96]
In 2017, the Alzheimer's Association awarded Shriver with its first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award.[97]