On August 16, 1953, Kathryn Lee Gifford, an American television host, singer, songwriter, actor, and author, was born. Kathryn Lee Epstein was born in Paris, France, to American parents Joan, a vocalist, and Aaron Epstein, a musician and retired chief petty officer of the US Navy. Gifford attended Bowie High School while growing up in Bowie, Maryland.
From 1985 until 2000, she and Regis Philbin co-hosted the talk show Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee. Gifford is well known for co-hosting the fourth hour of NBC’s Today show with Hoda Kotb for 11 years (2008–2019). She was a cast member of Today in 2010 when she took home her first Daytime Emmy. She has received a total of 11 Daytime Emmy nominations.
In the 1970s, Gifford’s career took off when she performed as a vocalist on Tom Kennedy’s quiz show Name That Song. In 1978, she joined the ensemble of the Hee Haw Honeys, a short-lived Hee Haw spinoff. She served as a correspondent and stand-in anchor for ABC’s Good Morning America in the early 1980s.
Did Hoda get along with Kathie Lee?
Hoda Kotb, one of Today’s cohosts, made it clear that she and Kathie Lee Gifford, a former coworker, still have the highest admiration for one another, despite the fact that they don’t seem to get along. For many years, Hoda and Kathie Lee have been close friends.
