John F. Kennedy
Famous Military Veterans
Marilyn Monroe
Anthony Weiner
My Ghost Story
I Survived
Babe Ruth
Johnny Cash
Georgia O'Keefe
I Survived
1 photo
Quick Facts
- NAME: Joan Lunden
- OCCUPATION: Talk Show Host, News Anchor, Journalist
- BIRTH DATE: September 19, 1950 (Age: 62)
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Fair Oaks, California
- Originally: Joan Elise Blunden
- ZODIAC SIGN: Virgo
Best Known For
Journalist, television personality and author Joan London was on Good Morning America for nearly two decades, and was one of the most popular TV co-hosts.
Quiz
Think you know about Biography?
Answer questions and see how you rank against other players.
Play NowJoan Lunden. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 06:51, May 25, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/joan-lunden-262764.
Joan Lunden. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/joan-lunden-262764 [Accessed 25 May 2013].
"Joan Lunden." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 25 2013, 06:51 http://www.biography.com/people/joan-lunden-262764.
"Joan Lunden," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/joan-lunden-262764 [accessed May 25, 2013].
"Joan Lunden," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/joan-lunden-262764 (accessed May 25, 2013).
Joan Lunden [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 25] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/joan-lunden-262764.
Joan Lunden, http://www.biography.com/people/joan-lunden-262764 (last visited May 25, 2013).
Joan Lunden. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/joan-lunden-262764. Accessed May 25, 2013.
Synopsis
Joan Lunden was born September 19, 1950, in Fair Oaks, California. She was hired as a trainee for KCRA’s news department in 1973, but quickly rose up the ranks. By 1975, she was a weather person, reporter, and anchor for the station. That year, she took a job at WABC. In 1980, she joined Good Morning America as a host, where she would remain for nearly the next two decades.
Aspiring News Reporter
Journalist, television personality, author. Born Joan Blunden on September 19, 1950, in Fair Oaks, California. On Good Morning America for nearly two decades, Joan Lunden was one of the most popular television co-hosts. Growing up in Sacramento, she lost her father, a surgeon, when she was only 13 years old. A pilot, he died when he crashed his plane.
Lunden started at the ground level in the news business. She was hired as a trainee for KCRA’s news department in 1973, but quickly rose up the ranks. By 1975, Lunden was a weather person, reporter, and anchor for the station. That year, she left her native California for New York City to take a job at WABC. An article in People magazine that Lunden was very inexperienced when she arrived and it showed in her reporting. “Her name was changed from Blunden to avoid being called ‘Blunder,’” the article stated. While it was not the smoothest transition, Lunden eventually found her way and even began contributing consumer reports to ABC’s national program, Good Morning America (GMA).
Big break
In 1980, Lunden joined GMA full-time as a host, with David Hartman serving the main host for the show. In an odd twist of fate, Lunden and her husband, producer Michael Krauss, were also expecting with their first child when she took the job at GMA. She helped break new ground by talking openly on air about her pregnancy and did many segments on parenting. For years, Lunden played second fiddle to Hartman who handled most of the serious news pieces. Despite sometimes being seen as merely an attractive sidekick, she was able to cover some major news events, such as Prince Charles’s wedding to Lady Diana in 1982 and the 1984 Winter Olympics. With her ever increasing popularity, Lunden eventually negotiated a better contract to be on more even footing with Hartman.
Despite a hectic schedule that usually involved getting to the studio extremely early in the morning, Lunden found time for other projects. She wrote her autobiography, I’m Joan Lunden, Good Morning, in 1986, in which she shared some of the challenges she faced as a female journalist. That same year, she tackled a subject she knew well—motherhood—in Joan Lunden’s Mothers Minutes, which was also the name of a special segment she did on television. Lunden followed up this title with an infant care book, Your Newborn Baby: Everything You Need to Know (1988).
After Hartman retired in 1987, Charles Gibson was brought on board as Lunden’s new co-host on GMA. The audience loved the pair and the show became the one to beat in the morning rating race against NBC’s The Today Show with Bryant Gumbel and Jane Pauley.
profile name: Joan Lunden profile occupation:
Your Connections
Sign in with Facebook to see how you and your friends are connected to famous icons.
Profile Connections
Included In These Groups
-
Female Talk Show Hosts
View groupTaking on topics of politics, entertainment, women's issues and more, female talk show hosts have proven to be every bit as engaging, intelligent, and funny as their male counterparts. Oprah Winfrey's 25-year-reign as the queen of talk is unparalleled, but many other female talk show hosts have come into their own as well, including Tyra Banks, Ellen DeGeneres, Sally Jessy Raphael and Kelly Ripa.
Visit Biography.com's Women's History group to explore more biographies, photos and videos of some the world's most fascinating women.
Female Talk Show Hosts 26 people in this group
-
Famous Virgoans
View groupMichael Jackson is one, so is Stephen King and Greta Garbo. Some say typical traits of Virgoans are helpful, critical, shy, and meticulous. Meet some famous people who share the astrological sign Virgo.
Famous Virgoans 564 people in this group
-
Famous Talk Show Hosts
View groupSince the early days of television, talk show hosts have been among the most popular personalities in the medium. From TV pioneers like Jack Paar and Johnny Carson to daytime legends like Phil Donahue and Oprah Winfrey to late night talkers like Jon Stewart and Jimmy Kimmel, here is a look at the famous hosts who have talked the talk on TV.
Famous Talk Show Hosts 94 people in this group
