Facts about Wendy Williams
Wendy Williams Biography
Wendy Williams spent 20 years as a popular radio host in New York and Philadelphia before making it on television as the host of her own daytime talk show. A New Jersey native and graduate of Northeastern University (1986), Williams got her start in Boston radio as an intern. After stints in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Washington, D.C., she landed in New York in 1989, where she gradually gained an audience for her sass-and-brass approach to regular callers and celebrity interviews. Williams called herself the “Queen of Radio” and her indiscreet personal questions put to celebrities brought her fame as the creator of awkward but compelling radio. Her radio show, The Wendy Williams Experience, was formatted for a VH-1 television series in 2006, and in 2009 she left the radio business behind for cable daytime television. Part RuPaul and part Oprah, her hosting job on The Wendy Williams Show includes commentary on celebrity gossip, talk of the ups and downs of daily life and occasional heartfelt interviews with celebrities. Wendy Williams also appeared as a contestant in the 12th season of Dancing With the Stars (2011).
Extra credit
Wendy Williams had a catchphrase on radio, “How ya’ doin’?”, that was originally used to insinuate that a celebrity was homosexual; she kept the catchphrase for her television show, but stopped using it in that context… Williams was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2009… Wendy Williams is not to be confused with Wendy O. Williams (1949-98), the mohawked, electrical tape-wearing lead singer of the punk band the Plasmatics.