You likely know Bill O’Reilly from his extensive career at Fox News and continued political coverage from his own “No Spin News” podcast since his Fox departure.
But what is his educational background that shaped the man we all know today? See photos of a young Bill O’Reilly in high school and get to know more about his extensive academic background.
Full Name: William James O’Reilly Jr.
Career: TV Host, Political Commentator, Author
Birthdate: Sep 10, 1949
High School: Chaminade High School
Yearbook photos of Bill O’Reilly from Chaminade High School
Who is Bill O’Reilly?
Bill O’Reilly is a conservative media pundit most well known for his decades long tenure as a media personality on Fox News, hosting The O’Reilly Factor, which was the highest rated cable news show for over 16 years.
Justin Hoch, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Since departing from the news station in 2017, the political commentator has continued to host his own podcast, No Spin News, that was eventually aired on Newsmax and The First news stations.
What Should You Know About Bill O’Reilly?
- High School Roots: Born in 1949 and raised in Levittown, NY, O’Reilly attended Chaminade High School, an all-boys Catholic school in Mineola, NY. A self-described “jock,” he was the goalie for the varsity hockey team and crossed paths with a young Billy Joel during his Long Island upbringing.
- Elite Educational Background: O’Reilly holds three degrees: a B.A. in History from Marist College, an M.A. in Broadcast Journalism from Boston University, and a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.
- Dominating Cable News: O’Reilly hosted The O’Reilly Factor on Fox News for over 20 years, maintaining the #1 spot in cable news ratings for 16 consecutive years until his departure in 2017.
- Investigative Pedigree: Long before his opinion-based commentary, O’Reilly was an award-winning investigative reporter, earning two Emmy Awards and covering international conflicts in El Salvador and the Falkland Islands for CBS News.
- Family Life: O’Reilly was married to Maureen McPhilmy from 1996 until their divorce in 2011. They have two children, Madeline and Spencer. Spencer currently plays lacrosse for Salve Regina University.
Bill O’Reilly’s Education Background
Bill had an extensive, high-quality education through private Catholic schools in his childhood and prominent universities for college.
Elementary & Middle School
O’Reilly spent his younger years at St. Brigid School in Westbury, New York. During elementary school, O’Reilly shared openly in his book A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity, that it was at this Catholic school that his intellectual mind began to form.
“in my [early] life… It was the diminutive, intense Sister Mary Lurana who ruled, at least in the third-grade class where I was held captive. Already, I had barely survived my first two years at St. Brigid’s because I was, well, a little nitwit. Not satisfied with memorizing The Baltimore Catechism’s fine prose… I was constantly annoying my [schoolmates] and, of course, the no-nonsense Sister Lurana. With sixty overactive students in her class, she was understandably short on patience. For survival, she had also become quick on the draw. Then it happened. One day I blurted out some dumb remark and Sister Lurana was on me like a panther. Her black habit blocked out all distractions as she leaned down, looked me in the eye, and uttered words I have never forgotten: ‘William, you are a bold, fresh piece of humanity.’”
He continued his education at St. Brigid for junior high as well before starting at a new school on Long Island for high school.
High School
While Bill was insistent that he wanted to attend public high school with his friends at W. Tresper Clarke High School, his dad ultimately made him attend a private Catholic school, Chaminade High School in Mineola, Long Island, New York.
He played Little League baseball and was the varsity hockey team goalie at Chaminade and put pride into being a jock.
During high school, he hilariously crossed paths with a young Billy Joel, who also resided on Long Island during his childhood. Bill described him as a “hoodlum” and shared the following about his fellow celebrity, “[Billy] was in the Hicksville section [of Long Island]—the same age as me—and he was a hood. He used to slick it [his hair] . . his guys would smoke and this and that, and we were more jocks.”
College
Undergrad
Bill furthered his education at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY, where he punted for the club football team, wrote for the school newspaper The Circle, and majored in history. He also spent a semester abroad at Queen of Mary College at The University of London. He was an honors student at Marist and graduated in 1971, while playing semi-pro baseball for the New York Monarchs.
Before going back to college for his masters, Bill moved to Miami, Florida and worked at Monsignor Pace High School for two years teaching history and English.
Masters Programs
In 1973, he decided to go back to college, pursuing a masters in broadcast journalism at Boston University. Fittingly, he got involved in local journalism as a reporter and columnist for a variety of local news weeklies and newspapers such as the Boston Phoenix and BU’s own student newspaper, the Daily Free Press. He also interned at WBZ-TV.
Eventually, O’Reilly earned another masters degree from Harvard in 1996, a masters in public policy from theIvy League School’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Bill O’Reilly: Then Vs. Now
See page for author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Bill O’Reilly at the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia.jpg: World Affairs Council of Philadelphiaderivative work: Karppinen, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
While you probably recognize Bill today from his decades as a cable news titan, you might be wondering what he looked like young. Compare this high school photo from Bill O’Reilly’s yearbook compared to a modern photo.
Career
Early Days in Broadcasting
O’Reilly quickly made a name for himself in local broadcast news in 1973, kicking off his news anchor career at WNEP-TV in Scranton, PA in where he was also a weatherman.
He then moved on to WFAA-TV in Dallas, TX, where he received a Dallas Press Club Award for his top notch investigative reporting. At his next station, KMGH-TV in Denver, he earned a local Emmy.
O’Reilly also worked at WFSB in Hartford, CT and then anchored the program 7:30 Magazine at WCBS-TV, where he won another Emmy Award.
Bill O’Reilly moved to national news as a correspondent at CBS News in 1982, covering wars in both El Salvador (on location) and the Falkland Islands.
He returned to local news at WNEV-TV in Boston after his stint at CBS, on a wide-range of shows as a weekend anchor, reporter, and eventually the host of its New England Afternoon news magazine.
National News Career
After his extensive local broadcast journalism career, Bill began working at ABC News in 1986, hosting day time news briefs and as a reporter for a variety of ABC national news programs like Good Morning America, World News Tonight, and Nightline.
After 3 years at ABC, he went on to host Inside Edition that was syndicated by King World nationally until 1995.
In 1996, he was hired by Fox News to anchor The O’Reilly Report, which was eventually renamed to the O’Reilly Factor. For over 14 years, it had the highest ratings of any 24-hour cable news TV shows. His opinion-oriented approach to cable news has since became a staple at Fox and other news stations. In 2017, Bill O’Reilly stepped down from Fox News.
DoD photo by MASTER SGT. James M. Bowman, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Career After Fox
After departing from Fox News, O’Reilly launched a podcast called No Spin News and Analysis in 2017, which went on to be aired on Newsmax TV in 2020.
Family
Parents & Sibling
Bill was born on September 10, 1949 to mother Winifred Angela O’Reilly and father William James O’Reilly. Winifred was from Brooklyn, NY and William was from Teaneck, NJ.
At the time of his birth, the family lived in Teaneck, before moving to Levittown on Long Island in 1951.
He has one sister, Janet O’Reilly.
Ex-Wife & Children
Bill O’Reilly was married to Maureen McPhilmy from 1996 to 2011.
The two met in 1992 at a party. They were married at St. Brigid Parish in Westbury, NY (where he previously attended elementary school!) and have two children together, Madeline and Spencer O’Reilly.
He and Maureen divorced in 2011 after getting separated in 2010.
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Source: Wikipedia
