Elizabeth Vargas

Journalist • Broadcaster

Birth Date: September 6, 1962

Age: 61 years old

Birth Place: Paterson, New Jersey

A prominent news correspondent and host, Elizabeth Vargas became the first woman of Puerto Rican extraction to become an anchor of ABC's flagship nightly news program, "World News Tonight" (1965- ). Serving as co-host alongside roving war correspondent, Bob Woodruff, Vargas helped fill the giant hole left behind by iconic anchor Peter Jennings, who died in 2005 following a brief battle with lung cancer. Previously, she made a name for herself as a correspondent on "Dateline" (NBC, 1992- ) while also acting as a substitute co-anchor on "Today" (NBC, 1952- ) and a substitute weekend anchor on "Nightly News" (NBC, 1970- ). In 1996, she left NBC for ABC, where she raised her profile as a news anchor and substitute co-host on "Good Morning America" (1975- ), before moving over to primetime as a correspondent on "20/20" (ABC, 1978- ), where she won an Emmy for coverage of the Elian Gonzalez story in 1999. Vargas returned to "20/20" and remained one of ABC's most high-profile news personnel.