American Idol Host Ryan Seacrest
Born
on December 24, 1974 in Dunwoody, Georgia, Ryan John Seacrest had always
known he wanted to become a DJ. He was fascinated with the work of radio
celebrities like Casey Kasem and Dick Clark. When he was 12 years old, he
passed out self-made business cards in the hopes of landing a DJ job in his
town. As a high school student, he took over making the daily morning
announcements and eventually landed a job as an evening radio host for WSTR-FM
when he was 16 years old. After graduating from high school, he enrolled at
the University of Georgia, where he majored in journalism. As a freshman, he
landed his first television hosting job for ESPN's Radical Outdoor
Challenge. He went on to host game shows like MTV's Gladiators 2000, ABC
Family's Wild Animal Games and Click while working as a DJ with Lisa Foxx
for the afternoon shift of Star 98.7, a radio station in Los Angeles. Ryan's popularity grew further when he was chosen to co-host the Pop Idol American franchise, American Idol. The following year, Ryan was flying solo on the American Idol stage and in 2003, hosted the show's spin-off, American Juniors. In 2004, Ryan came out with his own televised radio talk show, On Air With Ryan Seacrest, but after receiving low ratings, the show was pulled out after only nine months. In the same year, Ryan was given the honor of hosting the highly popular radio show American Top 40, where he took over his idol, Casey Kasem. He also replaced DJ Rick Dees as the host of KIIS-FM's morning program. He has also occasionally taken Larry King's place in Larry King Live. His critical recognitions include a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and a Daytime Emmy Award for his work as a co-host for the 2005Walt Disney World Christmas day.
Early life
Seacrest was born in Dunwoody, Georgia, to homemaker Constance Marie Zullinger and attorney Gary Lee Seacrest. He has a younger sister, Meredith. At a young age, he knew he wanted to be a DJ, and idolized radio personalities like Casey Kasem and Dick Clark. At the age of twelve, he made business cards for work, and handed them out when he met people. Ryan also hosted the morning announcements at his high school, Dunwoody High School, from which he graduated in 1993. During High School Seacrest was a journalist on the school paper, a member of the model UN club and captain of the Dunwoody High School Swim Team (The Aquanots)
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