Happy Birthday to GMA Anchor Robin Roberts

Robin Roberts was born today, November 23, in 1960. She is the anchor of ABC's Good Morning America.

After growing up in Mississippi and attending Southeastern Louisiana University, Roberts was a sports anchor for local TV and radio stations. Roberts was a sportscaster on ESPN for 15 years (1990–2005). She became co-anchor on Good Morning America in 2005. She has been treated for breast cancer and for myelodysplastic syndrome.

In the fall of 2005, Roberts anchored a series of emotional reports from the Mississippi Gulf Coast after it was devastated by Hurricane Katrina; her hometown of Pass Christian was especially hard hit, with her old high school reduced to rubble. 

It was Roberts that President Barack Obama chose to tell, during an interview on May 9, 2012, "I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married." ABC broke into regular programing for a special report with that historic news. 

Roberts received a 2012 Peabody Award for GMA's coverage of her fight against myelodysplastic syndrome. The Peabody citation credits her for "allowing her network to document and build a public service campaign around her battle with rare disease" and "inspir[ing] hundreds of potential bone marrow donors to register and heighten[ing] awareness of the need for even more donors." ESPN awarded its Arthur Ashe Courage Award to Roberts at the 2013 ESPYs.

On December 29, 2013, Roberts posted a photo on Facebook with a caption that read:

At this moment I am at peace and filled with joy and gratitude. I am grateful to God, my doctors and nurses for my restored good health... I am grateful for my entire family, my long time girlfriend, Amber, and friends as we prepare to celebrate a glorious new year together.

The post was a reflection of the past year and noted her health, the status of her bone marrow transplant, and her sexual orientation. Roberts and Amber Laign, a massage therapist, have been together since 2005. Though friends and co-workers have known about her same-sex relationships, this was the first time Roberts publicly acknowledged her sexual orientation. 

Rock'n Robin Productions Sizzle Reel from Rock'n Robin Productions on Vimeo.