Piers Morgan biography

Synopsis

Early Life

Born on March 30, 1965, in Newick, East Sussex, England, television personality Piers Morgan has become an international celebrity as the host of his own interview program Piers Morgan Tonight. He lost his father, Vincent O'Meara, when he was still an infant. His mother remarried, and he took his stepfather's last name, becoming Piers Pughe-Morgan.

Morgan grew up in Sussex, where his mother and stepfather ran a local pub. Both he and his family were politically conservative and strong backers of Margaret Thatcher. At first, Morgan was educated at a private school, but the family eventually ran out of money for his school fees. He had to go to a local comprehensive school where he had a tough time fitting in. Morgan was bullied and beat up by his new classmates.

Newspaper Editor

Morgan turned to journalism as a career in the 1980s. He started out as a reporter for newspapers in Surrey and South London. In 1989, Morgan joined The Sun as entertainment editor. There he wrote and edited a gossip column. Morgan himself was often featured alongside celebrities in his column. His career in media, however, really took off in 1994 when Rupert Murdoch selected him to be the new editor of the weekly tabloid News of the World. At only 28 years old, Morgan became one of the youngest editors to run a national British newspaper.

After a brief stint at News of the World, Morgan took the reins of The Mirror in 1995. He developed a reputation as an aggressive and sometimes controversial editor. Through his newspaper, Morgan ran inside stories on the royal family, including Princess Diana's harassment of a married art dealer. He opposed Britain's involvement in the Iraqi war and published articles criticizing the British government, including Prime Minister Tony Blair. The desire to get the scoop at any cost got The Mirror in trouble on a number of occasions. Model Naomi Campbell won her case against the paper for invasion of privacy.

Morgan lost the top post at The Mirror over different story in 2004. He ran photographs that reportedly showed British soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners, but the images later proved to be false. Rather than slinking away in a cloud of scandal, Morgan took his firing as a chance to recreate himself as a media personality.

Television Fame

After his unpleasant exit from The Mirror, the always opinionated Morgan moved to the small screen as the co-host of a political chat show. He also chronicled his many experiences as one of Britain's most famous media personalities in his popular 2005 memoir The Insider and conducted numerous celebrity interviews for British edition of GQ.