Nancy Grace

Nancy Grace Headshot

Lawyer • Host • Personality

Birth Date: October 23, 1959

Age: 64 years old

Birth Place: Macon, Georgia

Legal commentator and media celebrity Nancy Grace has become a strong television presence who was unafraid to speak her mind. Fueled by her fiancé's murder in 1979, the New York University-trained prosecutor began her career trying felony cases in Georgia during the 1990s before she transitioned to television host opposite celebrity lawyer Johnnie Cochran on CourtTV. In 2001, Grace secured her own show, "Closing Arguments" (CourtTV, 2001-07), where she covered daily U.S. court proceedings, preparing her for a second program, "Nancy Grace" (CNN, 2005-11). She also appeared as a commentator on major talk shows including "Larry King Live" (CNN, 1985-2010), "Anderson Cooper 360" (CNN, 2003- ) and "Good Morning America" (ABC, 1975- ). Grace was a popular host and victim's rights advocate who had the unique ability to snap audiences to attention about the American justice system.

Nancy Grace was born in Macon, GA on Oct. 23, 1959. The youngest of three children from a working class family, her mother was a payroll clerk at a local manufacturing plant and her father a freight agent for Southern Railway. Grace expressed an early interest in literature, particularly Shakespeare, and after graduating from Mercer University in 1977, intended to become an English professor. That path diverged after her fiancé, Keith Griffin, was shot to death by a coworker in 1979, leading Grace to pursue a career in felony law and victim rights. She received a J.D. from her alma mater before continuing her legal studies at New York University. After clerking for a federal court judge, Grace practiced anti-trust and consumer protection law at the Federal Trade Commission before returning to her home state as a professor of litigation and business law at Georgia State University. During the 1990s, Grace went to work as a Special Prosecutor in the Atlanta-Fulton County District of Georgia. Never one to shy away from tough subjects, her caseload focused on serial murder, child molestation, rape and arson.

From the beginning, Grace's career was controversial. In 1994, the Supreme Court of Georgia declared a mistrial in her Bell v. State case after she reportedly drew inappropriate comparisons between rape and murder during a closing argument, unduly prejudicing the jury; in 1997, the courts overturned a murder-arson conviction after concluding Grace's conduct during the trial violated the defendant's right to due process and fairness. Ethical boundary pushing and recklessness characterized her years as a litigator, and after more than a decade of practicing law, Grace left the public sector to join CourtTV - first as a legal commentator alongside celebrity lawyer Johnnie Cochran, and then as host of her own solo trial coverage show. She quickly ascended to the ranks of bigwig barristers with her host position on "Closing Arguments" (CourtTV, 2001-07), covering court cases across the country. Grace won over audiences with her easy-access analysis and candid, if somewhat incendiary, observations. The program elevated her profile, and she was soon being featured regularly as a guest commentator on major networks and programs like "Larry King Live" (CNN, 1985-2010), " ESPN's SportsCentury" (1999- ) and "E! True Hollywood Story" (1996- ).

In 2005, CNN Headline News began airing "Nancy Grace" (2005-2011), a nightly primetime legal analysis hour where Grace would unearth, analyze and follow U.S. cases. The show featured her hard-hitting and often polarizing style, well evidenced by coverage of Melinda Duckett and Casey Anthony's trials. Grace interviewed Duckett on the show in September 2006, less than two weeks after Duckett's two-year-old son went missing. During the dialog, Grace pummeled Duckett with leading questions, insinuating she was to blame for the boy's disappearance. The next day, before the show was aired, Duckett shot herself. The Duckett family blamed her death on the media's lambaste, and later targeted Grace in a wrongful death suit; she reportedly settled with the family in the amount of $200,000. Grace's hyperbolic style landed her in the hot seat again with the 2005 release of her book, Objection! How High Priced Defense Attorneys, Celebrity Defendants and a 24/7 Media Have Hijacked Our Criminal Justice System. She was accused by the press of misrepresenting the facts of her fiancé's murder case to benefit her own professional positioning; she also included a passage likening defense lawyers to Nazi concentration camp guards within the text.

Grace left CourtTV in 2007 to focus on her CNN career and other opportunities. She dabbled in new modes of entertainment, with a commentary role in the independent documentary "A Lawyer Walks Into a Bar" (2007) and then opposite talk show host Star Jones in the season eight finale of "Law and Order: SVU" (NBC, 1999- ). Her personal life also began to dovetail with her professional ascension when she abruptly married her longtime boyfriend in the spring of 2007 and, in November of that year, at age 48, gave birth to twins. But motherhood did little to slow Grace down; she continued her CNN duties, even finding time to guest star on "The Wire" (HBO, 2002-08) and appear in Will Smith's anti-hero comedy "Hancock" (2008), as well as release her first work of fiction, The Eleventh Victim in 2009 and a second, Death of the D-List, in 2010. Grace also returned to daytime television with "Swift Justice with Nancy Grace" (2010-12), a syndicated CBS series featuring small claims litigation, and played herself in two episodes of Lifetime's "Drop Dead Diva" (2009-14).

During the late 2000s, Grace was also airing her most captivating coverage to date, covering the prosecution, trial and conclusion of State of Florida vs. Casey Anthony. She was credited with elevating the case - which accused Casey Anthony of killing her two-year-old daughter Caylee Anthony, burying her body and providing false evidence - to a national level. Over three years of proceedings, Grace was on the front lines of Anthony's character condemnation, insisting on her guilt and referring to her as "Tot Mom." Grace moved her CNN program's productions to Florida during the final weeks of the trial to focus exclusively on the proceedings. After a jury acquitted Anthony in July 2011, Grace responded with a notorious on-air statement, "Tot Mom's lies seem to have worked. The devil is dancing tonight." Despite her disappointment in the verdict, during the weeks leading up to the acquittal, Grace's coverage of the trial increased her viewership by 100 percent. Only a month later, Grace continued to capitalize on her growing notoriety by joining the season 13 cast of "Dancing with the Stars" (ABC, 2005- ).

Credits

CrimefeedStream

Executive Producer
Series
2023

CrimefeedStream

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Series
2023

Bryan Kohberger: I Am Blank

Host
Show
2023

ID Special Report: The Long Island Serial Killer

Executive Producer
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2023

ID Special Report: The Long Island Serial Killer

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2023

Left for Dead: The Case of Madison Brooks

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2023

Jussie Smollett: After the Hoax

Host
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2023

The Murdaugh Murders Trial

Host
Show
2023

Nancy Grace Murdaugh Trial

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Show
2023

Murdaugh Family Murders: A Timeline

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2023

Murdaugh Family Murders: A Timeline: Extras

Host
Show
2023

The Idaho Murders

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Show
2023

Trapped: A Nancy Grace Investigation

Host
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2023

America's Crime Crisis Summit Hosted by Nancy Grace

Host
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2022

American Kidnapping: Finding Elizabeth Smart with Nancy Grace

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2022

America's Crime Crisis: Live Summit

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2022

Chicago Crime Crisis: Nancy Grace & Gianno Caldwell

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2022

Mother's Day Murder: A Nancy Grace Investigation

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2022

Marrying a Murderer: A Nancy Grace Investigation

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2022

Wanted: A Nancy Grace Investigation

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2022

Wanted: A Nancy Grace Investigation: Extras

Self
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2022

Christmas Bedtime StoriesStream

Executive Producer
Movie
2022

A Kyle Rittenhouse Investigation With Nancy Grace

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2021

Surviving Bundy With Nancy Grace

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Show
2021

A Casey Anthony Investigation With Nancy Grace

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Show
2021

Released: A Bill Cosby Investigation With Nancy Grace

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2021

A Natalee Holloway Investigation With Nancy Grace

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Show
2021

In the Valley of Sin

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Show
2021

America's Most Wanted Overtime

Self
Show
2021

A Fort Hood Investigation With Nancy Grace

Anchor
Show
2020

American Kidnapping: Finding Elizabeth Smart

Host
Show
2020

A Ghislaine Maxwell Investigation With Nancy Grace

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Show
2020

Crime Stories, Questions With Nancy Grace

Host
Show
2020

Bloodline Detectives

Narrator
Show
2020

A Tiger King Investigation With Nancy Grace

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2020

Bloodline Detectives

Narrator
Show
2020

American Kidnapping: Finding Elizabeth Smart (Director's Cut)

Host
Show
2020

Bible Study: Messages of Hope

Guest
Show
2020

Crime Stories With Nancy GraceStream

Host
Series
2020

Tamron Hall

Guest
Talk
2019

Injustice With Nancy GraceStream

Executive Producer
Reality
2019

Injustice With Nancy GraceStream

Host
Reality
2019

Hailey Dean Mysteries: Death on Duty

Actor
Nancy
Movie
2019

Hailey Dean Mysteries: Death on Duty

Executive Producer
Movie
2019

Hailey Dean Mysteries: A Prescription for Murder

Executive Producer
Movie
2019

Our Christmas Love SongStream

Executive Producer
Movie
2019

Hailey Dean Mysteries: Killer Sentence

Executive Producer
Movie
2019

On Trial

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Show
2018

Grace vs. AbramsStream

Host
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2018

Hailey Dean Mysteries: A Marriage Made for Murder

Executive Producer
Movie
2018

Daily Blast Live

Guest
Show
2017

DailyMailTV

Correspondent
Show
2017

DailyMailTV

Guest
Show
2017

STEVE on Watch

Guest
Talk
2017

The Murder of Laci Peterson

Host
Show
2017

Connected Life with Brett Chukerman

Guest
Show
2017

Hailey Dean Mystery: Deadly Estate

Writer
Movie
2017

Hailey Dean Mysteries

Actor
Nancy
Series
2016

Hailey Dean Mysteries

Executive Producer
Series
2016

Hailey Dean Mysteries

Guest Star
Sarah Mills
Series
2016

Hailey Dean Mysteries

Writer (Book)
Series
2016

Crime Watch Daily With Chris Hansen

Guest
Show
2016

Hot Car Death:Murder or Mistake? Nancy Grace Investigates.

Actor
Show
2016

Hollywood Medium With Tyler HenryStream

Guest Star
Reality
2016

Hailey Dean Mystery: Murder, With Love

Executive Producer
Movie
2016

Hailey Dean Mystery: Murder, With Love

Self
Movie
2016

Hailey Dean Mystery: Murder, With Love

Writer
Movie
2016

The Jim Gaffigan ShowStream

Self
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2015
80%

Robert Durst: Millionaire Murderer?

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2015

Hollywood Today Live

Guest
Show
2014

The Arsenio Hall Show

Guest
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2013

Bethenny

Guest
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2013

Nancy Grace Behind Bars

Actor
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2013

The Real

Guest
Talk
2013

Hollywood Game Night

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Game Show
2013

HLN After Dark

Anchor
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2013

Home & Family

Guest
Talk
2012

Nancy Grace Mysteries

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2012

Anderson Live

Host
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2012

Steve Harvey

Guest
Talk
2012

The Revolution

Guest
Show
2012

The Eleventh Victim

Executive Producer
Movie
2012

The Death of Michael Jackson: Dr. Conrad Murray on Trial Part 2

Host
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2011

The Death of Michael Jackson: Dr. Conrad Murray on Trial Part 1

Host
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2011

Anderson

Guest
Show
2011

The Talk

Guest
Talk
2010

Raising HopeStream

Guest Star
Series
2010
96%

Swift Justice With Nancy Grace

Host
Show
2010

Access Hollywood Live

Guest
Show
2010

The Joy Behar Show

Guest
Show
2009

The Dr. Oz Show

Correspondent
Talk
2009

The Dr. Oz Show

Guest
Talk
2009

Watch What Happens Live With Andy CohenStream

Guest
Talk
2009

Drop Dead DivaStream

Guest Star
Nancy Grace
Series
2009
78%

The Doctors

Guest
Talk
2008

The Wendy Williams Show

Guest
Talk
2008

Rachael Ray ShowStream

Guest
Talk
2006

The Colbert Report

Guest
Talk
2005

Dancing With the StarsStream

Contestant
Reality
2005

Nancy Grace

Host
Show
2005

Jimmy Kimmel Live!Stream

Guest
Talk
2003

Dr. PhilStream

Guest
Talk
2002

The WireStream

Guest Star
Nancy Grace
Series
2002
94%

The Early Show

Guest
Show
1999

Law & Order: Special Victims UnitStream

Guest Star
Herself
Series
1999
78%

The View

Guest
Talk
1997

Access Hollywood

Guest
News
1996

Extra

Guest
News
1994

The Tonight Show With Jay Leno

Guest
Talk
1992

Entertainment Tonight

Guest
News
1981

Good Morning America

Guest
News
1975

News aboutNancy Grace