Julie Chen |
Wiki |
Julie Suzanne Chen (born January 6, 1970) is an American television personality, news anchor, journalist, and producer for CBS. She has 14 years of newscasting experience. She is best known for co-anchoring CBS's The Early Show, alongside Harry Smith and Maggie Rodriguez. She has been the host of the U.S. version of Big Brother since its debut in July 2000.
Chen was born in Queens, New York. Chen's mother grew up in Rangoon, Burma, where Chen's grandfather was a leading industrialist. Her father was born in China and was one of the top leaders in the Kuomintang government of Chiang Kai-shek. Consequently, her family moved everywhere in China, eventually fleeing to Taiwan.
Chen attended Junior High School 194 in Queens, where she was voted "Most Intelligent" and "Most Likely to Succeed." She graduated from high school in 1987 from St. Francis Prep after having missed the cutoff scores for specialized high school entrance exams for schools like the Bronx High School of Science, the school her older sisters attended. She attended the University of Southern California and graduated in 1991 with a major in broadcast journalism and in English.