Jim Vance

For other people named Jim Vance, see James Vance (disambiguation).

Jim Vance (born January 11, 1942[1] in Ardmore, Pennsylvania) is an American television news anchor in Washington, D.C.

Early life and career

Vance grew up in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, a suburb west of Philadelphia. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education from Cheyney University, a historically black university in Cheyney, Pennsylvania.[2] Vance taught English for three years in a Philadelphia junior high before making the leap to television.[3]

Career

Vance currently anchors the 6 p.m. edition of News4 on WRC-TV in Washington, D.C. He retired from anchoring the 11 p.m. edition of the news in May 2015. He has worked for WRC-TV since 1969, and in 1972, he became the station's main co-anchor, as one of the first African Americans to serve in this position at any American television station. Between 1972 and 1976, he worked as co-anchor with Glenn Rinker at WRC-TV-4. Between 1976 and 1980, Vance co-anchored with Sue Simmons, a pairing that resulted in one of the first, if not the first, African-American co-anchors of a major market newscast. Since 1989, he has been part of currently the longest-running anchor team in Washington, alongside co-anchor and health reporter Doreen Gentzler. He is famous on the Internet for appearing in a video with the late sports anchor George Michael where they laughed at a model who fell twice on a runway.

He had an extremely brief cameo as himself in the 2009 movie State of Play. He also appeared as himself in the 2010 NBC TV show The Event and the 2013 NBC TV show The Blacklist.

Awards and honors

Vance has earned 19 Emmys and has been inducted into the National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame. He has also been named Washingtonian of the Year by Washingtonian magazine in 1976.[4]

Personal life

Vance lives in Spring Valley, Washington, D.C.. He was married briefly for 10 months when he was 19 and has a daughter Dawn from that marriage. A second marriage also ended in divorce in the mid-1980s. In 1987, he married his third wife, former WRC-TV and WHUT journalist Kathy McCampbell Vance[5] As of July 2014 they are estranged.[6] His other two children are daughter Amani (1972) and son Brendon (1976). He has one grandson.[7]

Vance battled a cocaine addiction in the late 1970s and early 1980s, later going public with the ordeal.[4][5] He checked into the Betty Ford Clinic in 1984.[5] In 2014, Vance revealed he was beaten by his mother as a child and advocated against that form of discipline.[8]

References

  1. ↑ "Happy Birthday VANCE! - OhMyGoff". ohmygoff.tv. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  2. ↑ "Jim Vance". NBC4 Washington. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  3. ↑ "'Oscars for Teachers' Recognizes Outstanding D.C. Educators". Education Week Teaching Now blog. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  4. 1 2 "Jim Vance Interview: Washington's Favorite Newscaster on the Iffy State of TV, the Booming State of DC, and Whether You Can Do Too Much Weather Coverage - Washingtonian". Washingtonian. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 "NBC4's Jim Vance and Doreen Gentzler Unscripted Moments". Washingtonian. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  6. ↑ Paul Farhi (25 July 2014). "Jim & Doreen: NBC4's top-rated anchors are still leading the pack after 25 years". Washington Post. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  7. ↑ "Happy Birthday VANCE! - OhMyGoff". ohmygoff.tv. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  8. ↑ "Video - NBC4 Washington". nbcwashington.com. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
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