Al Roker

Albert Lincoln "Al" Roker Jr. (born August 20, 1954) is an American television personality, weather forecaster, actor, and book author. He is best known as being the weather anchor on NBC's Today. From Monday, July 20, 2009 to Friday, October 2, 2015, he co-hosted his own morning show, Wake Up with Al, on The Weather Channel. Roker also appears occasionally on NBC Nightly News. He holds an expired American Meteorological Society Television Seal #238.

Writing with Dick Lochte, Roker began a series of murder mysteries in 2009 that feature Billy Blessing, a celebrity chef turned amateur detective. The second book in the series, The Midnight Show Murders (2010), was nominated for a 2011 Nero Award.

On November 12, 2014, 10 PM EST, Roker attempted to beat the previous unofficial world record for an uninterrupted live weather report of 33-hours held by Norwegian weather broadcaster Eli Kari Gjengedal. On November 14, 2014, 8 AM EST, Roker set the new official Guinness World Record by reporting for 34-hours.

Family History

Al Roker was born in Queens, New York, the son of Isabel, of Jamaican descent, and Albert Lincoln Roker Sr., a bus driver of Bahamian descent. His surname comes from the Roker plantation on Andros Island in the Bahamas.

According to the July 2011 issue of Us Weekly in "25 Things You Did Not Know About Me," Roker is the first cousin of the late actress Roxie Roker, who was most notable for her role as Helen Willis on the sitcom The Jeffersons and the mother of popular rock musician Lenny Kravitz. That makes Kravitz Roker's first cousin once removed.

Resources

• Al Roker Official Website
• Wikipedia: Al Roker