High school yearbook photos from 1961 reveal a strikingly different Geraldo Rivera, then a teenager active in athletics and theater at West Babylon High School on Long Island. The images, obtained by the Daily Mail, show Rivera, born in Manhattan in 1943, in his senior year, participating in football, track, and a school production of "Cheaper by the Dozen."
Rivera's early life was marked by a family trauma that he later cited as a driving force in his ambition. His father, a cafeteria concessions worker, was fired in his late 40s, leaving the family with limited savings. This experience, as Rivera recounted in 1986, instilled in him a determination to remain in control of his own future and "be somebody."
Following high school, Rivera attended the University of Arizona and pursued a career in law. He represented clients such as the Young Lords, a Puerto Rican activist group. In his late 20s, he transitioned to broadcast journalism, beginning his television career in the 1970s.
Over the following decades, Rivera became a prominent interviewer, speaking with a wide array of public figures including Barbra Streisand, Michael Jackson, and Donald Trump. He hosted various programs, including ABC's "Good Night America" and later the syndicated talk show "Geraldo," which ran from 1987 to 1998 and tackled controversial topics.
Following the September 11 attacks, Rivera joined Fox News, where he worked for many years. During his tenure, he covered the War on Terror, though his reporting sometimes led to controversy. He also notably competed on "Dancing with the Stars" in 2016 at the age of 72.
Rivera, who often identified as a Republican but held more liberal views on issues such as abortion and immigration, departed Fox News in 2023 after a public dispute with co-hosts. He had been with the network since the early 2000s.