Leslie Moonves

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Leslie Moonves bigraphy, stories - Presidents

Leslie Moonves : biography

October 6, 1949 –

Leslie Roy Moonves ( born October 6, 1949) is President and Chief Executive Officer of CBS Corporation.

Personal life

In 1978, Moonves married Nancy Wiesenfeld (m. Dec 17, 1978, div. 2004) with whom he has three children."NY Daily News – Daily Dish – Rush & Molloy: Moonves’ marriage may get an airing" from the New York Daily News Originally published on April 23, 2003 and Retrieved on June 19, 2008 October 26, 2010 |"Moonves, who is Jewish, began an affair with Chen while still married to his first (Jewish) wife, who is the mother of his three older children" In April 2003, Nancy Moonves filed for divorce in L.A. Superior Court, citing irreconcilable differences. Nancy and Les Moonves were already living apart.

In 2004, although his divorce from Nancy was not yet finalized, Les Moonves began dating CBS’ The Early Show reporter Julie Chen. On December 10, 2004, Moonves got a court to grant an early divorce.http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/crime/moonves-i-want-get-my-life Tired of waiting, Moonves’ motion cited a "desire to return to the status of being single". Moonves foresaw a lengthy trial to settle the property and other issues. He argued that "terminating the marital status will aid in promoting settlement of this matter", and the judge gave his request the stamp of approval—leaving the divorce’s alimony, child support and property division details to be determined later—so he could remarry. Just 13 days later in Mexico, he married television and news personality Julie Chen. On September 24, 2009, Chen gave birth to a son, Charlie.

Moonves resides in Beverly Hills, California in a house he bought from his former co-worker Andrew Heyward.http://losangeles.blockshopper.com/property/4358006046/210_ladera/ He also owns residences in New York City and Malibu.http://www.bergproperties.com/blog/sale-price-revealed-for-the-late-director-and-special-effects-artist-stan-winstons-malibu-ca-beach-house-winston-sold-the-house-less-than-a-month-before-his-death-for-10m-after-it-had-been-listed/

Moonves is a great-nephew of David Ben-Gurion, the first Prime Minister of Israel. October 6, 2011

Acting career

In his early career, Moonves was an actor. He landed a few television roles, playing tough guys on Cannon and The Six Million Dollar Man before deciding on a career change. He also worked as one of casting director Caro Jones’ first office assistants early in her career.

On April 7, 2003, Moonves portrayed himself in an episode of The Practice.

From early 2004, Moonves has made regular contributions to Late Show with David Letterman. One of these appearances was provoked by David Letterman himself when he declared outrage that Jay Leno was featured prominently on the CBS website in an ad for CBS’ telecast of the People’s Choice Awards. On the Late Show, Letterman jokingly warned the "CBS stooge in the control room" to call his buddies "before things turn ugly." Leslie obliged. Later appearances have taken the same format, with Letterman discussing current events and the CBS network with the company’s CEO.

Business career

Moonves had previous upper management experience early in his business career. He was in charge of first-run syndication and pay/cable programming at 20th Century Fox Television. Another position he held at 20th Century Fox Television was Vice President of movies and mini-series. Other previous positions he held include Vice President of development at Saul Ilson Productions (in association with Columbia Pictures Television) and a development executive for Catalina Productions.

Lorimar Television and Warner Brothers Television

Moonves joined Lorimar Television in 1985 as executive in charge of its movies and mini-series, and in 1988, became head of creative affairs. From 1989 to 1993, he was President at Lorimar. Then in July 1993, he became President/CEO of Warner Bros. Television, when Warner Bros. and Lorimar Television combined operations. While Moonves was president/CEO of Warner Bros. Television, he green-lighted the hit shows Friends and ER, among many others. Money via CNN.com. Retrieved April 10, 2006.