Maury Povich

Background

Maurice Richard Povich was born in the Washington District of Columbia on January 17, 1939. He is the second of three children born to Shirley Povich and his wife, Ethyl Friedman, in a Jewish family. Povich grew up with his sister Lynn and brother David. His father was a well-known sports columnist for the Washington Post, whose career impacted his childhood, sparking an interest in sports and news. In 1957, he graduated from the Landon School in Bethesda, Maryland, with a high school diploma. He studied Television Journalism at the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1962.

Povich began his career in broadcast journalism as a street reporter in Washington, D.C., 50 years ago. On WTTG. T.V., a local Metromedia station, he rapidly transitioned to covering news, talk, and sports shows. During the turbulent 1960s and 1970s, Povich anchored “Panorama,” a daily two-hour live news chat show. He later worked for ABC, C.B.S., and NBC-owned and operated television stations in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Philadelphia, anchoring newscasts. In 1983, he returned to WTTG. T.V. in Washington, D.C., to present “Panorama” and the station’s ten o’clock news. Rupert Murdoch bought the Metromedia company in 1985, and Fox Television was born. Povich was recruited to New York by Australian media mogul Rupert Murdoch to help establish and anchor the news magazine “A Current Affair,” which debuted in 1986. Povich departed “A Current Affair” in 1991 to host his nationally syndicated talk program, Paramount’s “The Maury Povich Show,” simplified to “Maury” after the show’s move from Paramount to N.B.C. Universal in 1998. He was president of the National Television Academy’s (N.T.A.) New York Chapter for two consecutive terms–previous presidents of the N.T.A. New York Chapter.

Povich’s wife, Connie Chung, received the prestigious Governor’s Award from the New York Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) in March 2006. In 1962, Povich married Public Relations Consultant Phyllis Minkoff. However, after having two daughters, they separated in 1979. He married Connie Chung on December 2, 1984, five years after his first marriage ended. In 1968, he met Chung at WTTG. Their 23-year-old son, Matthew, lives with them in Manhattan. Povich is also the grandfather of four children.