Glenn Beck is certainly no stranger to American political, social and religious discussions. His views on these key issues have polarized opinions across the country for years. Beck is a political commentator and a radio and television producer. He is best known for his medium, The Blaze, on which he hosts the Glenn Beck Radio Program and the Glenn Beck Television Program.
The conservative thinker is a tough nut to crack and is not easily swayed by opposing opinions, no matter how hard they push. Lee Harris of The Weekly Standard in 2010 described Glenn as a prophet and a voice of reason to his admirers and a clown and demagogue to his detractors. Over the years he has worked with big names like Fox News, Premiere Radio Networks, The Hollywood Reporter, and others.
Glenn Beck bio
Glenn Lee Beck was born in Everett, Washington on February 10, 1964, and has German and English ancestry through his parents. Beck attended a Jesuit high school and then Sehome High School in Washington, where he graduated in 1982.
By age 13, Glenn was already working at a local AM station as a host. He also worked as a DJ for a local FM station in Seattle while in high school. After leaving high school, he moved to Utah where he spent six months working at radio station KAYK, before leaving for Washington DC radio station WPCG in February 1983.
The 80s and 90s saw Beck jump around working as a DJ for 7 radio stations including KZFM, KOY-FM, KRBE, WBSB and WKCI-FM. During this period, he was accompanied by controversies of all kinds and was fired from almost all of these stations.
His first real success came with the launch of his eponymous Glenn Beck Program radio show. It premiered in 2000 and aired on WFLA (AM). It quickly boosted the station’s afternoon rankings from eighteenth to first in a year. This is largely due to the show’s controversial coverage of the 2000 presidential election. The show was picked up by Premiere Radio Networks in January 2002, then by WPHT and a host of other stations. As of May 2008, the show was ranked #4 in the nation, garnering over six million listeners on over 280 stations.
That same year, he won the Marconi Radio Award for Union Network Personality of the Year. After spending the latter half of the 2000s with CNN and Fox News, Glenn launched his own news and entertainment network in September 2011. He initially launched it as a subscription Internet television network. The network surpassed 300,000 subscribers in less than a year and was later carried by Dish Network.
Beck is also an accomplished author. He has written several books in the categories of fiction, non-fiction and children’s books. His writings have reached No. 1 on The New York Times Bestseller List under four categories. He has around 30 published works including An Unlikely Mormon: Glenn Beck’s Conversion Story It’s About Islam: Revealing the Truth About the Islamic State, Al-Qaeda, Iran and the Caliphate , and The Immortal Nicholas.
Family: parents, siblings
Beck was born to Mary Clara and William Beck. They resided in Mountlake Terrace, Washington at the time of Glenn’s birth. He had only one brother, an older sister whose name is unknown.
Glenn Beck and his sister were living with their mother in Sumner, Washington when she (his mother) committed suicide in 1979. They then returned to live with his father in Bellingham, Washington.
Who is Glenn Beck’s wife?
Glenn Beck has been married twice. His first wife was a woman named Claire. They married in 1983 and had two daughters, Mary and Hannah. They divorced in 1994. Beck brought his two daughters into his marriage to his second wife, Tania Colonna in 1999. The couple gave birth to one child, Cheyenne, and adopted another, Raphe.
What happened to him?
Tragedy is not a new subject for Glenn Beck. Since his childhood days, he’s had enough sour moments to kill him, but he keeps pushing. Glenn lost his mother and half-brother to suicide in a short time. After the birth of his first daughter, Mary, he soon discovered that she had cerebral palsy from a series of beatings she had endured at birth.
Glenn also suffered from a series of health difficulties. As a young man, he was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Beck also struggled with drug addiction and alcoholism during his first marriage. This is largely the cause of the dissolution of the union. Beck also mentioned that he has macular dystrophy and has suffered from a serious neurological disorder for five years.
Over the years, Beck’s rhetoric has changed many times. However, in that space of time, some sources, including The Daily Beast, reported that the millionaire’s entertainment and news empire had long since crumbled. This claim appeared to have been given some authenticity when The Blaze laid off much of its staff in 2017.
On June 25, 2018, Beck had a remote interview with CNN’s Brian Stelter when the anchor asked him about the veracity of The Daily Beast article. Glenn responded by removing his microphone and walking away from the interview.
What is Glenn Beck’s religion?
Glenn Beck is a Christian, or more accurately a Mormon. Beck began his search for God and truth in 1996 when he took a theology course at Yale University, although he retired without completing it. His spiritual quest also covers his journey through the works of authors with extremely different points of view: Alan Dershowitz, Pope John Paul II, Adolf Hitler, Billy Graham, Carl Sagan and Friedrich Nietzsche.
His introduction to the Mormon worldview came in the form of his radio partner and friend Pat Gray, who advocated for the denomination. Glenn rejected Pat’s religious leanings but later accepted them a few years later. He later mentions in an interview that he owes his acceptance of Christianity to many factors, including a one-on-one with legendary American evangelist Billy Graham.
He and his second wife, Tania, joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in October 1999.