Bill O'Reilly

Biography:

Bill O’Reilly was born on September 10, 1949, at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan, to William James Sr. and Winifred Angela (née Drake) O’Reilly, who came from Brooklyn and Teaneck, New Jersey, respectively. His ancestry is primarily Irish, with some English (Colonial American) roots. His father’s family traced its origins in County Cavan, Ireland, back to the early 1700s, while his mother’s side had ties to Northern Ireland. At the time of his birth, the family lived in a small apartment in Fort Lee, New Jersey, before relocating in 1951 to Levittown, Long Island. He grew up with his sister, Janet.

O’Reilly studied at St. Brigid parochial school in Westbury and then attended Chaminade High School in Mineola, a private Catholic boys’ school. Though he wanted to go to W. Tresper Clarke High School with his friends, his father insisted on Chaminade. There, he played Little League baseball and was goalie for the varsity hockey team. During this period, he encountered Billy Joel, whom he later described as a “hoodlum.”

After finishing high school in 1967, O’Reilly enrolled at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York, where he was an honors history student, punter for the club football team, and a writer for the student paper, The Circle. His junior year was spent abroad at Queen Mary College, University of London. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in history in 1971 and also pitched semi-professional baseball for the New York Monarchs. From 1970 to 1972, he taught English and history at Monsignor Pace High School in Miami before pursuing a Master of Arts in broadcast journalism at Boston University, where he wrote for local publications, interned at WBZ-TV, and worked as a reporter. Later, in 1996, he completed a Master of Public Administration at Harvard’s Kennedy School. Marist once awarded him an honorary degree, later rescinded after sexual abuse allegations surfaced.

O’Reilly’s early TV career included roles at WNEP-TV in Scranton, WFAA-TV in Dallas (where he won a Dallas Press Club Award), KMGH-TV in Denver (earning a local Emmy for skyjacking coverage), and WFSB in Hartford. He later worked at WCBS-TV in New York, where he anchored 7:30 Magazine and won another Emmy for exposing corruption among city marshals. In 1982, he joined CBS News, covering conflicts in El Salvador and the Falklands before leaving after a dispute over uncredited footage.

He then worked for WNEV-TV in Boston, briefly for KATU in Portland, and WCVB-TV in Boston before joining ABC News in 1986. At ABC, he earned two Emmy Awards and two National Headliner Awards, hosted news briefs, and reported for Good Morning America, Nightline, and World News Tonight.

In 1996, Roger Ailes recruited him to Fox News to host The O’Reilly Report, later renamed The O’Reilly Factor. The show became the top-rated program on cable news, noted for its opinion-driven format. While O’Reilly gained prominence, media watchdogs frequently accused him of distorting facts. In 2008, Media Matters named him its first “Misinformer of the Year.”

Throughout his career, O’Reilly was embroiled in controversies: he accused major charities of mismanaging 9/11 funds, called for boycotts (notably of Pepsi over ads featuring Ludacris), admitted to being wrong about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and relentlessly attacked abortion provider George Tiller, whom critics argued he helped demonize before Tiller’s murder in 2009. He was also parodied for a leaked 1990s rant on Inside Edition, which became a viral internet meme.

In April 2017, Fox News dismissed O’Reilly after revelations that he and the network had settled multiple sexual harassment lawsuits, leading to a mass exodus of advertisers from The O’Reilly Factor. The show ended shortly afterward, replaced by The Factor with Dana Perino, and his primetime slot went to Tucker Carlson.

After leaving Fox, O’Reilly launched the podcast No Spin News, later expanded into a video stream and aired on Newsmax TV and The First TV. He also co-headlined tours with Dennis Miller, collaborated with Glenn Beck, and began The O’Reilly Update, a daily radio program. In December 2021, he toured with former president Donald Trump, promoting insider perspectives on Trump’s administration.