Who is Pat O’Brien?
Pat O’Brien is an American author and radio host best known for his work as a sportscaster with CBS Sports from 1981 to 1997. He also worked as the anchor and host of Access Hollywood from 1997 to 2004, and The Insider from 2004 to 2008.
Pat covered two Olympic Games for CBS in 1992 Winter and 1994. He also covered four for NBC in 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2012. He has also covered the World Series, Super Bowl, NBA Finals, and Final Four as a pregame host while at CBS. O’Brien wrote Talkin’ Sports: A B.S.-er’s Guide, a book published in 1998. He also released an autobiography, I’ll Be Back Right After This, in 2014.
O’Brien grew up in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He attended Axtell Park Middle School before graduating from Washington High School in 1966. In 1970, He received a degree in government from the University of South Dakota. He was a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity.
Pat afterward earned a master’s degree in international economics from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C. From 1964 to 1967 he was a member of Sioux Falls area rock and roll band Dale Gregory and the Shouters. On April 25, 2010, he was inducted into the South Dakota Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. After the Shouters, he was the lead band personality in the local band Those of Us, a compilation of the Shouters and the X-Men.
O’Brien started his career working for KSOO TV-Radio in Sioux Falls. After he graduated from college in 1970, he worked as a researcher at NBC News in Washington, D.C. He was also a production assistant for The Huntley-Brinkley Report. He later served as a reporter and anchor for WMAQ-TV in Chicago. Pat moved to KCBS-TV which was then KNXT-TV in Los Angeles, where he earned four local Emmy Awards In 1977.
How Old is Pat O’Brien?
Pat was born Patrick John O’Brien on February 14 1948 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, US. He is 75 years old as of 2023. He shares his birthdate with other famous people such as Brett Dier, Carl Bernstein, Danai Gurira, Drew Bledsoe, Enrico Colantoni, Freddie Highmore, Jake Lacy, Jim Kelly, Meg Tilly, Karl Urban, and Simon Pegg, among others.
Pat O’Brien Wife
He married Linda O’Brien in 1973. They have a son named Sean. He filed for divorce from his wife of three decades in August 2004. He later announced his engagement to his girlfriend of five years, Betsy Hoyt Stephens in July 2008. She is a clothing and accessories designer.
Pat O’Brien CBS Sports
He is perhaps known for his sixteen-year association with CBS Sports which he joined in 1981. While there, he covered the Super Bowl, World Series, NBA Draft, NBA Finals, Winter Olympic Games, the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, NCAA Football Championship, and also the Final Four.
He also hosted the 3 weeks late-night talk show Overtime…With Pat O’Brien. Pat also hosted VH1’s Fairway to Heaven and Lift Ticket to Ride. He was a regular on The NFL Today with Greg Gumbel, Terry Bradshaw, and Lesley Visser in 1990.
Pat O’Brien Entertainment anchor
He was the co-host of Access Hollywood from 1997 to 2004. Among his co-hosts was Giselle Fernandez until 1999 then Nancy O’Dell through 2004. He later became the lead host of the Entertainment Tonight spin-off The Insider from its start in 2004 until 2008.
Pat O’Brien Sports
He joined Steve Hartman and Vic “The Brick” Jacobs on the Loose Cannons show on August 18, 2010. Later, Vic left the show and it was renamed Primetime on Fox Sports Radio. It could be heard from 3 p.m. to 7 pm. E.S.T. All along with the show, he was often patronizing about a Los Angeles-based newspaper sportswriter, Tom Hoffarth. A memo sent to some people at Sherman Oaks-based Fox Sports Radio with a new lineup for early 2014. It left him and Steve Hartman without a show.
O’Brien returned to the sports world when he covered the Summer Olympic Games in Sydney for NBC, appearing on the CNBC channel in 2000. He also covered the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah appearing on MSNBC. He anchored the 2004 Games in Athens, Greece for NBC. This time he appeared on both the Network and MSNBC. In 2012 he anchored the tennis tournament coverage which was carried on Bravo. He also hosted the late-night edition of the 2006 U.S. Open Tennis Championships for CBS Sports which was his return to CBS after a 9-year break.
He had a cameo appearance in P. Diddy’s Bad Boy For Life music video in 2001. He filled in for Casey Kasem three times on Kasem’s radio programs American Top 40 and American Top 20 in early 2003. It was once in January, once in February, and once in March when Kasem took vacation time. He also voice-acted in an episode of The Twilight Zone entitled “Mr. Motivation”. His voice is also used for a doll named “Mr. Motivation”.
He has also been targeted on shows like The Simpsons, Home Movies, The Howard Stern Show, South Park, The Soup, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Best Week Ever, The Adam Carolla Show, The Opie and Anthony Show, The Boondocks, Cheap Seats and The Showbiz Show with David Spade. By Jimmy Fallon on Saturday Night Live. He was the subject of a TV Funhouse cartoon by Robert Smigel. He appeared on the Adult Swim program Robot Chicken in 2005.
Pat O’Brien’s Net Worth
He has a net worth of $1.5 million.
Pat O’Brien Alcoholism
O’Brien issued a written statement announcing that he had been admitted to a rehabilitation facility for alcoholism on March 20, 2005. He was interviewed by talk show therapist Phil McGraw, it was featured during a prime time special on CBS on May 4, 2005. He said the reasons behind his alcohol and drug abuse since the 1960s, as well as his experiences during his time in rehabilitation.
Pat expressed remorse for the voicemail incident and apologized for what his substance abuse did to his family. He returned to The Insider the next day, and reports from newsblues.com said that he had been signed to a new deal as host of the show. It was reported that he re-entered rehabilitation.