Bobby Rivers, who hosted shows on local and network TV, died December 26 in Minneapolis. He was 70 and had battled cancer.
Robert Bennett Rivers Jr. was born in Los Angeles in 1953. He grew up in South-Central Los Angeles and graduated from Marquette University in Milwaukee.
Rivers got his start on TV on Good Morning Milwaukee in 1979. He was an entertainment reporter at WISN Milwaukee, and contributed to PM Magazine.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel called Rivers the city’s first Black TV and film critic.
Gino Salomone, former WISN entertainment reporter, told the Journal Sentinel: “He was one of the most talented people but people didn't know what to do with him. He grew frustrated with agents and news directors, you know, a Black gay man was not something they knew what to do with. And it's just a shame because he was so fast and so entertaining. And quick and accurate."
Rivers shifted to VH1, where he was a VJ starting in 1985 and hosted the celeb talk show Watch Bobby Rivers, which premiered in 1988.
In the 1990s, Rivers was an entertainment reporter at WNBC and WNYW New York, appearing on Weekend Today in New York and Good Day New York, respectively.
In the 2000s, he hosted Top 5 on Food Network and was a film critic on Lifetime’s Lifetime Live. He also worked in morning radio with Whoopi Goldberg from 2006 to 2008, according to Rivers’s bio on his BobbyRiversTV blog.
The bio reads, “Bobby Rivers interviewed Paul McCartney in London, had a cocktail with Lucille Ball in her home, got a soundbite from Bette Davis and hugs from Tom Hanks.”
Rivers also played a reporter in bit parts on The Sopranos.
Goldberg shared on Instagram, “All hail this pioneer Bobby Rivers … He brought SO much to the table. R I P Bobby.”
