Jeff Probst Named as Host of Television Academy's 20th Hall of Fame Induction Gala
The Primetime Emmy-winnning Survivor host will help to induct seven new members into a distinguished group of television icons.
Jeff Probst, host and executive producer of the CBS series Survivor, will host the 20th Annual Hall of Fame Induction Gala. The ceremony will take place at the Beverly Hills Hotel on Thursday, January 20, 2011. Presenters were also named to honor this year’s previously announced inductees. Film editor George Englund will present to actress Cloris Leachman, television network executive Fred Silverman will present to writer and producer Susan Harris, and entertainment executive Bob Daly will present to cable executive Tom Freston. Several inductees will be recognized posthumously. Actor Dick Van Dyke will present to composer Earle Hagen, actress Florence Henderson will present to game show producer Bill Todman, and ABC news anchor Bob Woodruff will present to broadcast journalist Peter Jennings. The inductees join more than 100 individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to the television medium and have been inducted into the Hall of Fame since its inception in 1984. Probst is a three-time Primetime Emmy® Award winner for Outstanding Reality Host, as the host of the phenomenally successful series Survivor. He also received an Emmy in 2001, when the show won the first-ever Outstanding Nonfiction Program (Special Class). He partnered with Mark Burnett as the creator and executive producer of Live for the Moment, and in 2002 he wrote and directed the feature film Finder’s Fee, starring Ryan Reynolds, James Earl Jones, Robert Forster and Matthew Lillard. Probst has guest hosted on Live with Regis and Kelly and Larry King Live, in addition to hosting Howard Stern Celebrity Fan Roundtable on Sirius/XM radio. Exclusive coverage of the Hall of Fame Induction Gala, including interviews with the inductees, presenters and other behind-the-scenes footage, will be available that same night on www.emmys.com. Founded by former Television Academy president John H. Mitchell, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame has honored on-camera legends and pioneering directors, producers, costume designers, writers, animators, executives, reporters and documentarians/explorers. Past honorees include Lucille Ball, Johnny Carson, Walter Cronkite, Walt Disney, Bob Hope, Mary Tyler Moore, Barbara Walters, Dan Rather, Oprah Winfrey, Jacques-Yves Cousteau, Lorne Michaels, Carl Reiner, Katie Couric, Bob Mackie, Bob Barker, Bea Arthur, Regis Philbin, William Shatner, Bob Stewart, and Candice Bergen. For more information on the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, its many industry-related programs and services, including year-round events, please visit www.emmys.com.