Kathie Lee Gifford was born in Paris, France on August 16, 1953. At the age of fourteen, she organized a folk group with her sister called Pennsylvania Next Right. She won Maryland's Junior Miss title and the national competition's Kraft Hostess Awards at the age of seventeen. She studied communications, drama, and the arts at Kansas State University. She went to Los Angeles at the age of twenty and got a minor role on the soap "Days of Our Lives. In 1977, she was a feature singer for the game show "Name That Tune" and later was a co-star in "Hee Haw Honeys," which was a spinoff of "Hee Haw." Gifford was a guest host on "A.M. Los Angeles" and was seen by the producers of "Good Morning America" and offered a job. She worked as substitute anchor and special correspondent, covering human-interest stories. Three years later, she auditioned for co-host of "The Morning Show" with Regis Philbin. She got the job and continued working on "Good Morning America" for the first year. In 1988, the show's name was changed to "Live with Regis and Kathie Lee." She left the show in 2000. On April 7, 2008, she started co-hosting the fourth hour of "NBC's Today Show" with Hoda Kotb. Gifford also has a singing career, which has included her singing with symphonies across the nation. She has recorded two songs for the Winnie the Pooh's 69th anniversary for Walt Disney Records and has completed an album of lullabies for children. She has also recorded albums titled "Sentimental," "It's Christmastime," and "The Heart of a Woman." She is also the author of "I Can't Believe I Said That," "Listen to My Heart," "Just When I Thought I'd Dropped My Last Egg.," and "The Rock, the Road, and the Rabbi: My Journey into the Heart of Scriptural Faith and the Land Where It All Began." Gifford has also been involved with many charities with her husband, Frank Gifford, such as Variety Club International's "The Children's Charity" and the Association to Benefit Children, out of which came the Cody Foundation. Resources from the foundation support Cody House and Cassidy's Place, named after their children, which provide shelter and care to H.I.V. positive and crack-addicted children.
