Christopher W. Wallace is a reputed American news television anchor as well as political commentator who currently serves in the capacity of a host for the Fox Broadcasting Company’s Fox News Channel show ‘Fox News Sunday’. Wallace identifies himself as a Democrat, having been registered as one for more than 2 decades. A winner of three Emmy Awards, Wallace has been serving with the Fox Network since 2003.
Wallace embarked upon a career in the field of Journalism in 1975, with a role at NBC network, and in his more than 4 decades-long career has worked with 3 out of four major networks in the United States including ABC, NBC and Fox, while he also served time with the CBS affiliated WBBM-TV in Chicago. Having moderated NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ previously, Wallace remains the only television journalist to have hosted or moderated more than one major Sunday political talk shows airing in the morning.
Early Life and Education
Wallace was born on 12 October 1947 in Chicago, Illinois as the son of home-maker Norma Kaphan and Mike Wallace, also a television reporter best known for his work on CBS’s ’60 Minutes’. He had one older sibling, a brother named Peter Wallace, who died in a mountain climbing accident in Greece. The brothers were raised Jewish. When he was just a year old his parents divorced and his mother remarried Bill Leonard, the former President at CBS News, who exposed him to political journalism.
Wallace studied at the Hotchkiss School and later attended Harvard College where he first served as an on-air news reporter from its student radio station WHRB. Wallace then got into Yale Law School but decided to begin a journalism career by taking up a job at ‘The Boston Globe’ newspaper, which is when he decided to begin a career in television.
Career Rise
Wallace started his career in network journalism in 1975 when he was hired by NBC where he served as a reporter with New York City’s WNBC-TV for 14 years. He later transferred to the network’s bureau in Washington serving as a political commentator at NBC News. In982, he became the co-anchor of ‘The Today Show’, based in Washington. His other roles at NBC included those of chief White House correspondent from 1982 to 1989, the moderator of the show ‘Meet the Press’ from 1987-1988 as well s the anchor for ‘NBC Nightly News’; Sunday Edition. Wallace moved to ABC in 1989, where he served as a senior correspondent on the show ‘Primetime Thursday’, while also hosting ‘Nightline’ occasionally. He reported live from Tel Aviv during the 1991 Gulf War. He served at the network for another 14 years.
After joining Fox News Channel in 2003, Wallace was named the host of Fox News Sunday alongside Chris Wallace in 2003, replacing Tony Snow. He also served as an occasional guest on WRKO Boston’s ‘The Howie Carr Show’. in 2016, Wallace became the first news anchor to have been selected to moderate a general Presidential debate. Wallace, who continues to host Fox News Sunday since 2003, has been felicitated with a Dupont-Columbia Silver Baton Award along with 3 Emmy Awards.
Personal Life
In 1973, Wallace got married to Elizabeth Farrell. Together, the couple became parents to four children; sons Peter and Andrew and daughters Megan and Catherine. They couple stayed together until their divorce. Wallace then entered into a relationship with Lorraine Smothers (née Martin) who was previously married to comedian Dick Smothers. Wallace married Smothers in 1997 and became step-father to her children Sarah and Remick Smothers. Wallace and Smothers had two children together, sons James and William.
Chris Wallace – Net Worth and Salary
Wallace draws an annual salary of $1 Million and has an estimated net worth of approximately $6 Million.