As a swimming star, sports commentator, and lobbyist for women's sports, Donna de Varona has worked to widen the margins of opportunity: "I had my dream, and I achieved it. Image of U.S. Olympic swimmers Donna deVarona and Cathy Ellis, California, 1964. According to Wikipedia: Joanna Kerns is an American actress and director best known as Maggie Seaver on ABC's 1980s sitcom Growing Pains. Encyclopedia.com. She became host, special reporter, and analyst for many of the network's high-profile programs, including ABC Sports and ABC News. Donna de Varona. "Donna de Varona Rejoins ABC Sports." American actress and director (born 1953), The Big One: The Great Los Angeles Earthquake, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, "Growing Pains Stars: Where Are They Now? Encyclopedia.com gives you the ability to cite reference entries and articles according to common styles from the Modern Language Association (MLA), The Chicago Manual of Style, and the American Psychological Association (APA). Donna De Varona will celebrate 76rd birthday on a Wednesday 26th of April 2023. ." Later in life, Kerns recalled that Meredith was a great influence on her, saying, "Burgess was the one person who really influenced my acting career". Born Donna de Varona in April of 1947, in San Diego, California; daughter of David and Martha de Varona; married John Pinto (a lawyer and investment banker); children: John David, Joanna. Suddenly, she realized she was learning so much outside of college that she left, two finals short of her degree. Birthplace: San Diego, CA. She was a founding member of the Women's Sports Foundation, and in 1975 she served on President Ford's Commission on Olympic Sports. Organize, control, distribute and measure all of your digital content. As an alternate, she did not swim in competition. De Varona serves on the executive board of Special Olympics International and is a member of the International Olympic Committee's Women and Sports Commission. Embed. In a controversial legal dispute, de Varona sued ABC Sports, charging age and gender discrimination. De Varona was the first woman to cover the Olympics for U.S. network television. Joanna Kerns (born February 12, 1953) is an American actress and director best known for her role as Maggie Seaver on the family situation comedy Growing Pains from 1985 to 1992. https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/de-varona-donna-1947, "de Varona, Donna (1947) Joanna Kerns (born February 12, 1953) . Joanna Kerns (born February 12th, 1953 in San Francisco, California) is an American actress and director. DETAILS. GROWING PAINS - "Graduation Day" (Flashback Scenes) - Airdate: May 4, 1988. Within the Cite this article tool, pick a style to see how all available information looks when formatted according to that style. Time for equality is long past due. Following her retirement from competitive swimming in 1964, de Varona embarked on a multifaceted career. Hiss & Pop. De Varona's mother, Martha, was also warm and supportive of her interests. De Varona went on to become ABC's first full-time female sportscaster. Donna de Varona. Vergrern Sie die Reichweite Ihrer Marke authentisch und teilen Sie Markeninhalte mit Kreativen im Internet. De Varona graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles with a B.A. Women's Soccer World, www.womensoccer.com/ (January 11, 2003). AKA Donna Elizabeth de Varona. She received the Gracie Allen Award for excellence in broadcasting in 2000 and 2001. On the radio network's website, a press release noted, "Each week [de Varona's] commentary explores and highlights the positive stories of athletes, coaches and the people who support them. She was in the chair for the 1999 Women's World Cup in America. Inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame, 1987. Soon after the cancellation of The Four Seasons, Kerns auditioned for a new series in late 1984, called Growing Pains. 2023 Getty Images. In August 2019, Kerns filed for divorce from Appleton. According to an article in Great Women in Sports, de Varona told a Women's Sports and Fitness writer, "I will always be an activist. Kerns is the third child of four. Her father, David de Varona, who sold insurance, was a Hall of Fame rower and an All-America football player at the University of California who served as de Varona's first swimming coach. Born: Joanna Crussie DeVarona (1953-02-12) February 12 . Grossman, Andrew. *paternal grandfather Cuban [Spanish, Basque, more distant Portuguese andIndigenous] Their aunt was silent film actress Miriam Cooper. She directed one episode of Growing Pains while starring on the show and got hooked. de Varona was raised in Lafayette, California, near San Francisco. Title IX legislation ultimately ensured that girls and women received the same opportunities and federal funding in sports education that boys and men did. She later remarked on the fun and also the pressure of her early famebeing endlessly interviewed, photographed, and held up for scrutiny by a vast array of American magazines, ranging from the serious adult weekly to the glossy teenage comic. (Photo by ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images) The case was later settled out of court, and de Varona resumed working at ABC. Determined to work harder, she began to practice at the Berkeley YMCA and to train five to six hours a day at the Santa Clara Swim Club. Donna DeVarona (Donna Elizabeth DeVarona) was born on 26 April, 1947 in San Diego, California, USA, is an Actress, Producer. Donna de Varona is a born fighter. Millionen hochwertiger Bilder, Videos und Musiktracks warten auf Sie. Initially, de Varona wanted to play Little League baseball, like her beloved older brother David. That was my test because I was just back at ABC and we were in a crisis situation with the problems of scheduling and snow. When she qualified for the U.S. swim team for the 1960 Summer Olympic Games in Rome, Donna de Varona was only 13 years old, the youngest member of the Games that year. Her father, a celebrated rower and All-American football player at the University of California, was her first coach. . . She was born on February 12, 1953 at San Francisco, California, United States. Encyclopedia.com. De Varona's sister, Joanna Kerns, (best known for her role as the . As an outstanding young athlete, a champion of equal rights for women in the sports arena, and a highly visible presence in the media, de Varona made a significant impact on the world of women's sports. In People, de Varona told a reporter that the network was trying to attract more of the [age] "18-to-39 male market" and that network executives believed that she was too old to hold this audience's interest. Hollywood Reporter (October 1, 2002): 4. https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/de-varona-donna, "De Varona, Donna Retrieved February 22, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/de-varona-donna-1947-olympic-swimmer-sportscaster-activist. NY: Frederick Warne, 1978. At the age of 17, she appeared on ABC's Wide World of Sports, becoming the youngest and one of the first women sportscasters for a national network. "De Varona, Donna As a ten-year-old she entered the Far Western American Athletic Union meet in San Francisco and finished dead last. However, the date of retrieval is often important. De Varona covered her 12th Olympic Games in 2000 when she signed on with NBC for the Games in Sydney, Australia. Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Thematic Series: The 1960s, Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Thematic Series: Sports Figures, DeFrantz, Anita 1952 This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Growing up, Kerns was constantly in competition with Donna. (b. Their aunt is silent film actress Miriam Cooper. Therefore, that information is unavailable for most Encyclopedia.com content. Her older sister, Donna de Varona, is an Olympic gold medal swimmer, winning two gold medals in the 1964 Olympics. www.hoby.org/ (January 13, 2003). She also served five times on the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. Elizabeth was born in Pennsylvania, to Pennsylvania-born parents. Kerns was constantly in competition with Donna. Janet Woolom nicely summarizes de Varona's lifelong contribution: "She had a profound impact on increasing opportunities for women in all levels of sports. [8], In 2020, de Varona, along with 300+ women athletes and activists, signed a letter to the National Collegiate Athletic Association in support of an Idaho law that bans transgender women student athletes from competing in women's and girls' sports. Sportscasting had never before known the likes of Howard Cosell, nor is it likely to see another like, CHAPTER 7 In 1972, she moved back to California and landed a job as a backup dancer at Disneyland, and started auditioning for TV commercials and steady acting jobs. Kerns is the third child of four. [1][bettersourceneeded] Her father, David Thomas DeVarona, was an insurance agent, and her mother, Martha Louise (ne Smith), was a clothing store manager. According to Mer-Jo Borzilleri in an article provided by the Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service, de Varona said that "time and resources" did not allow her to give the job the attention it would require. Restrictions: Athletic administrator Hollywood.com. (With Barry Tarshis) Donna de Varona's Hydro-Aerobics, New York: Fawcett, 1986. But all she got for her effort was a uniform with the number "0" on it and the privilege of retrieving the team's bats. She remains a world record holder in numerous events, including the sport's most challenging one, the 400-meter individual. At age 13, Donna de Varona was the youngest member of the United States swimming team at the Olympic Games Rome 1960. NCAA. https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/de-varona-donna-0, "De Varona, Donna Four years later at the Tokyo Games, de Varona won two gold medals . In addition she set eight long-course (fifty-meter pool) world records and ten short-course (twenty-five-yard pool) American records. (February 22, 2023). A promoter of women in sport, in the mid-1970s, she joined Billie Jean King in establishing the Women's Sports Foundation. in political science in 1986. She defeated the second-place finisher by a margin of six seconds and set an Olympic record. To this day the medley is seen, arguably, as the most demanding of all swim events. Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Thematic Series: The 1960s. In 1994, she married second time with Marc Appleton, a famous architect from Los Angeles. As a little girl, Joanna grew up in the shadow of her older sister, swimmer Donna de Varona, who won two gold medals in the 1964 Olympic Games and became a network TV sportscaster. When she first competed in the Olympics, perhaps 20 percent of the athletes were women. Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Thematic Series: Sports Figures. Donna Elizabeth de Varona: Nickname: Liz : Height: 5' 6" (1.68 m) Mini Bio (1) Sister of Joanna Kerns. Ive worked on the Hill, in television, in the movies, but this is my constant. During the 1950s and the 1960s athletic opportunities for women, much less young girls, were few and far between. From 1997 to 1999, de Varona chaired the organizing committee for the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup. This is not accurate. Joannas paternal grandmother was named Elizabeth Thomas. Organisieren, kontrollieren, verteilen und messen Sie alle Ihre digitalen Inhalte. Instead, de Varona sought opportunities to create programs that would promote the sport. Donna de Varona, (born April 26, 1947, San Diego, California, U.S.), American athlete and sportscaster who, after a record-breaking amateur career as a swimmer, established herself as an advocate for womens and girls sports opportunities. 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