Photos: CNN, HLN's memorable anchors and faces through the years

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Photos: CNN, HLN's memorable anchors and faces through the years

Photos of past CNN anchors and HLN anchors, including biographical information and things to know.

Lois Hart and David Walker: The married team of Hart and Walker co-anchored CNN’s first newscast on June 1, 1980. Hart nervously stumbled through the sign-off from that first show, apparently unsure how to do so on a 24-hour news network. Hart and Walker left CNN in 1989 to join CNBC, where they then anchored that network’s first newscast. The couple retired in 2008.

Nick Charles: A former taxicab driver, Charles worked at CNN from 1980 to 2001. He was the network’s first sports anchor and one of the network’s first on-air personalities. Charles co-anchored “Sports Tonight” alongside Fred Hickman before moving on to his own show, “Page One with Nick Charles.” Charles died in 2011 after a two-year battle with bladder cancer. He was 64.

Elsa Klensch: Klensch hosted "Style with Elsa Klensch," CNN’s fashion and design program, from 1980 to 2001, after years in Australian media and American magazines, among others. On her very first show, she interviewed Halston, Martha Graham, Andy Warhol and Liza Minnelli. Klensch's career took a new turn when she published her first novel, "Live at 10:00, Dead at 10:15," the first in a mystery series, in 2004. She published the series' fourth and final installment, "The Third Sin," in 2014.

Rowland Evans and Robert Novak: Evans and Novak joined CNN in its infancy in 1980, and their political discussion program “Evans & Novak” — an adaptation of their already successfully syndicated column — became one of the lineup’s early hits. The pair pioneered by “transferring [their column’s] influence to the new medium of cable television,” the New York Times wrote in Evans’ obituary, following his 2001 death. He and Novak hosted their program together for almost 20 years; and Novak continued to write following Evans’ 1993 retirement. A pugilistic political commenter on many different series, Novak left CNN in 2005 and moved to Fox News, but retired from journalism in 2008 following a brain tumor diagnosis. He died in 2009.

John Holliman: Holliman joined the network at its debut in 1980 as part of the original reporting team, after several years at the Associated Press, and was the first correspondent hired for the Washington, D.C., bureau. He was one of the “boys of Baghdad” — one of only three network reporters in Baghdad during bombing at the start of the Gulf War. (His on-air exclamation of “Holy cow!” during one such explosion became a kind of pre-Internet meme from the war coverage.) He was killed on Sept. 12, 1998, in a head-on collision in Gwinnett County. He was 49.

Bernard Shaw: Shaw spent 21 years at CNN, joining in 1980 as an anchor. He famously asked U.S. presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, during a debate with then-Vice President George H. W. Bush: Would he favor an irrevocable death penalty for the person who hypothetically had raped and murdered his daughter? Shaw also anchored the network’s live coverage of the Gulf War, one of the network's three "Boys of Baghdad," which helped define its journalism. “He was famous for literally being cool under fire,” NPR’s Michael Martin said in 2014. Shaw retired in 2001.

Peter Arnett: Arnett worked for CNN from 1981 to 1999, after years as a notable war reporter. During the Gulf War, he was one of the three "boys of Baghdad." His reporting on civilian damage provoked a backlash from both the White House and members of Congress, who accused of him of being unpatriotic. Arnett was fired by the network following a “flawed” 1998 report claiming that in 1970 the U.S. Army used sarin, a lethal nerve agent, against deserting American soldiers in Laos. Following that he was assigned to cover the Iraq War for both NBC and National Geographic, before those relationships were severed following remarks to Iraqi state TV in 2003 that the U.S. invasion had “failed.” In 2007, after four years at Britain’s Daily Mirror, he retired.

Soledad O'Brien: O’Brien joined CNN in 2003 and has been co-anchor of “American Morning,” a field reporter and host of “Starting Point.” She was named the Journalist of the Year by the National Association of Black Journalists in 2010. She won her first Emmy for her reporting on “Crisis in Haiti,” a story on “Anderson Cooper 360.” O’Brien left the network in 2013 after incoming president Jeff Zucker canceled “Starting Point.” She now runs her own production company: Starfish Media Group.

Anderson Cooper: One of the most recognizable faces on CNN, and the scion of one of the nation's most prestigious families (the Vanderbilts), Anderson Cooper joined the network in 2001 after several years at ABC News and, briefly, as a reality TV host. He has covered everything from political debates to natural disasters. His coverage of Hurricane Katrina helped earn CNN a Peabody Award, “skyrocketing” him at the network, and Cooper won two of his eight Emmy Awards for his reports on the earthquake in Haiti. He has been host of “Anderson Cooper 360” since 2003.

Sanjay Gupta: Gupta joined CNN in 2001. In 2006, Gupta’s “Charity Hospital” coverage for “Anderson Cooper 360,” in which he uncovered that official reports Charity Hospital in New Orleans had been evacuated in the wake of Hurricane Katrina were false, earned him a News and Documentary Emmy. He was awarded with two Emmys for his coverage on the earthquake in Haiti in 2010. Gupta remains with CNN as its chief medical correspondent and was awarded the Alfred I DuPont-Columbia Award in 2015 for his reporting in the primetime documentary “WEED.”

Larry King: King spent 25 years at CNN, from 1985 to 2010, interviewing celebrities, presidents and almost anyone else in the news on “Larry King Live.” Praised for keeping no personal agenda, King was known for his ability to get people to talk. His show was a staple on CNN; and King continued to host occasional specials for the network following his departure as host, from 2010 to 2012. In 2013 he joined RT (originally Russia Today) as host of “Larry King Now.”

Glenn Beck: Beck worked at CNN’s Headline News from 2006 to 2008. While there, his eponymous show was second only to “Nancy Grace” in ratings. His numbers continued to rise during his tenure with the network, known for his conservative and divisive commentary. But he was hired away by Fox News, where he worked until 2011. He now operates a subscription-based network, The Blaze, and a sister website.

Tucker Carlson: Carlson worked at CNN from 2000-2005, and was co-host of “The Spin Room” and, following its cancellation, the debate program “Crossfire.” In 2004 Jon Stewart trashed the program for “hurting America.” Following the Stewart incident, the show was canceled in 2005 and Carlson left for MSNBC. He is now editor in chief of The Daily Caller, a conservative news website he launched in 2010, and a weekend co-host of Fox News’ “Fox & Friends.”

Bobbie Battista: Battista rose from the ranks of secretary to become the first female news anchor of her station in Raleigh, N.C. CNN called in 1981, and she joined sister network Headline News as an original anchor before moving to CNN in 1988 as host of "World Day,” “News Hour” and others. She went on to cover nearly every major news story over the next two decades including: the destruction of the Berlin Wall, the explosion of the Challenger space shuttle and the fall of the Soviet Union. Following changes at CNN after AOL’s merger with Time Warner in 2001, Battista decided to leave the network. She now hosts “On the Story,” a nightly news program on Georgia Public Broadcasting.

Candy Crowley: Crowley joined CNN in 1987, most famously working as a political correspondent and host of “State of the Union.” She has covered the campaigns of the last five presidents and has hosted “State of the Union” since 2010. During the 2012 presidential race, Crowley became the first woman in 20 years to moderate a presidential debate. Crowley has won numerous awards over her 27 years including Emmys and a Peabody Award. In 2014, she decided to leave CNN in 2014, after 27 years with the network. A well-respected journalist and political correspondent, Crowley as of June 8, 2015 Crowley was still unemployed by her own choice.

John King: King joined CNN in 1997 and has worked as senior White House correspondent, then chief national correspondent, and anchor of “State of the Union” and, now, “Inside Politics.” He played a vital role in the network’s coverage of Sept. 11 and the ensuing war in Iraq. While serving as the senior White House correspondent, King accompanied President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney on several trips to the Middle East. In 2005, he became the network’s chief national correspondent and a prominent part of CNN’s political and election coverage.

Fareed Zakaria: Zakaria began hosting "Fareed Zakaria GPS" on CNN in 2008. An authority on international relations, he has worked as an editor of Newsweek International, managing editor of Foreign Affairs and as an analyst for ABC News. Zakaria hosted his first primetime GPS special, “Restoring the American Dream,” on the network in 2010, receiving a Peabody Award for it in 2012. In addition to his ongoing duties as host, he contributes to CNN.com and The Atlantic, among others, after weathering a number of plagiarism-related scandals.

Christiane Amanpour: In 1983, Amanpour joined CNN as an entry-level assistant in Atlanta. Since then, she has become one of the most influential journalists on global affairs, thanks in part to her coverage of the Gulf War, Iraq War and the trial of deposed dictator Saddam Hussein. She has interviewed several world leaders including Tony Blair, Pervez Musharraf and Hassan Rouhani (according to one 2014 analysis, she has the most world leaders following her on Twitter of any journalist); and she now anchors “Amanpour,” a nightly foreign affairs program on CNN International, and is the network’s chief international correspondent.

Aaron Brown and Paula Zahn: Brown and Zahn, in their the first days on air on Sept. 11, 2001, helped cover that day’s 9/11 terrorist attacks; and their coverage of that pivotal event defined them to the network audience. Soon after, each launched a program: “NewsNight with Aaron Brown” and “American Morning with Paula Zahn.” But both Brown and Zahn left CNN within a matter of years: Brown in 2005 and Zahn in 2007.

Chuck Roberts: CNN’s longest-running anchor, Roberts anchored broadcasts from the company’s Headline News network from its debut on Jan. 1, 1982 (when it was CNN2), until his July 30, 2010, retirement, when it was HLN. Roberts has said he saw the sister network as a chance to go national, after stints at stations in Missouri, Nebraska and Texas. As the AJC’s Rodney Ho wrote then, he “started in the afternoon and never left that shift.” Roberts then joined Atlanta radio station All News 106.7 as an anchor.

Rick Sanchez: Sanchez worked for CNN from 2004 to 2010, anchoring “Out in the Open” and “Rick’s List,” as well as reporting as a correspondent, after time at WSVN and WBZL in Miami an MSNBC, among others. He was once immobilized by a stun gun on camera; and came under fire for calling President Barack Obama a “cotton-picking president.” On Oct. 1, 2010, Sanchez was fired following remarks he made on radio show “Stand Up with Pete Dominick,” where he accused “Daily Show” host Jon Stewart of being “prejudicial.” When pressed, he explained on air that Stewart’s Jewish identity did not also classify him as a minority, as “everybody who runs CNN is a lot like Stewart.”

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Lois Hart and David Walker: The married team of Hart and Walker co-anchored CNN’s first newscast on June 1, 1980. Hart nervously stumbled through the sign-off from that first show, apparently unsure how to do so on a 24-hour news network. Hart and Walker left CNN in 1989 to join CNBC, where they then anchored that network’s first newscast. The couple retired in 2008.

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