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{{Short description|American sportscaster, news anchor, and film producer}}
{{for|the basketball player|Jim Lampley (basketball)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name        = Jim Lampley
| image       = Roy Jones, Jr. & Jim Lampley.jpg
| caption     = Lampley (right) in New York in 2010
| birth_date  = {{Birth date and age|1949|4|8}}
| birth_place = [[Hendersonville, North Carolina]], U.S.
| death_date  = 
| death_place = 
| alma_mater  = [[University of North Carolina]]
| occupation  = Television [[journalist]]
| alias       =
| title       =
| family      = 
| spouse      = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Bree Walker|1990|1999}}
* Debra Schuss|2012
}}
| children    = 4
| relatives   = 
| credits     = ''[[HBO World Championship Boxing]]'' anchor and co-host (1988–2018) <br />''[[Olympic Games]]'' reporter and anchor (1984–2008)
| URL         =
}}

'''James Lampley''' (born April 8, 1949) is an American [[sportscaster]], [[news anchor]], [[film producer]], and restaurant owner. He is best known as a blow-by-blow announcer on ''[[HBO World Championship Boxing]]'' for 30 years. He covered a record 14 [[Olympic Games]] on U.S. television, most recently the [[2008 Summer Olympics]] in [[Beijing, China]].

==Early life and career==
Lampley was born in [[Hendersonville, North Carolina]], and after the sixth grade was raised in [[Miami, Florida]].<ref>{{cite news | last=Distl | first=Craig | title=The Emmy-award winning journalist from Hendersonville who got away | date=May 21, 2024 | url=https://www.blueridgenow.com/story/news/local/2024/05/21/the-emmy-award-winning-journalist-from-hendersonville-who-got-away/73730273007/ | work=blueridgenow.com }}</ref> His father died when he was five, and his mother immersed him in sports to make up for what she felt his father would have done.<ref>{{cite news | last=Moss | first=Bill | title=City native Jim Lampley heads to Boxing Hall of Fame | date=May 11, 2015 | url=https://www.hendersonvillelightning.com/news/3962-city-native-jim-lampley-heads-to-boxing-hall-of-fame.html | work=hendersonvillelightning.com }}</ref> In 1971, he graduated from the [[University of North Carolina]] where he majored in English and earned a master’s degree from UNC’s Department of Radio, Television and Motion Pictures.<ref>{{cite web | title=Jim Lampley | access-date=January 11, 2025 | url=https://comm.unc.edu/people/department-faculty/jim-lampley/ | work=unc.edu }}</ref>

==Broadcast network television==

===ABC Sports===
In 1974, while in graduate school, he was chosen along with Don Tollefson in what [[ABC Sports|ABC]] called a ''talent hunt''. ABC executives thought that Lampley's youthful looks would make him endearing to the college crowds they looked to attract for their [[College Football on ABC|college football]] games. At ABC, he covered such events as [[Major League Baseball on ABC|Major League Baseball]] and [[College Basketball on ABC|college basketball]] games, the [[1986 Indianapolis 500|1986]] and [[1987 Indianapolis 500]], the 1977 [[Monon Bell]] game between [[DePauw University]] and [[Wabash College]], five [[Olympics on ABC|Olympics]], as well as the program ''[[Wide World of Sports (US TV series)|Wide World of Sports]]''.

From 1983 to 1985, he was the studio host of ABC broadcasts of the [[United States Football League on ABC|United States Football League]] (USFL), a spring league that featured stars such as [[Herschel Walker]], [[Jim Kelly]], [[Steve Young (American football)|Steve Young]] and [[Reggie White]].

On July 4, 1984, with [[Sam Posey]] alongside, he called the [[NASCAR]] [[Coke Zero 400|Firecracker 400]], and interviewed [[President of the United States|President]] [[Ronald Reagan]] during the winner's interview with race winner [[Richard Petty]].

In 1985, Lampley along with [[Al Michaels]] served as anchors for ABC's coverage of [[Super Bowl XIX]], the first Super Bowl that ABC televised. After the game, Lampley presided over the presentation ceremony for the [[Vince Lombardi Trophy|trophy]].

===KCBS===
In 1987, Lampley moved to CBS.  At CBS, he took over duties as co-anchor on the daily news show in [[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles]], and also was a correspondent. That same year, he began working for [[Home Box Office|HBO]], covering [[boxing]] and HBO's annual telecast of the [[Wimbledon Championships]]. He also attended the [[1992 Winter Olympics|Albertville Olympics]] in 1992, as a news anchor for [[KCBS-TV]].

===NBC Sports===
In 1992, Lampley moved to [[NBC Sports|NBC]], where he helped cover the [[1992 Summer Olympics|1992 Barcelona Olympics]], [[1993 Ryder Cup]], [[1994 CART PPG Indy Car World Series|1994]] [[Grand Prix of Toronto]], and the [[1996 Summer Olympics|1996 Atlanta Olympics]]. In [[1993 NFL season|1993]], Lampley took over studio hosting duties for [[Bob Costas]] on ''The [[NFL on NBC]]''. Lampley moved to play-by-play duties for NBC's NFL telecasts the following year and was later replaced by [[Greg Gumbel]]. While with ''NFL on NBC'', he was slated to join [[Jim Laslavic]] as the #8 announcing team in [[1997 NFL season|1997]] during Week 9's [[1997 Tennessee Oilers season|Tennessee Oilers]]-[[1997 Arizona Cardinals season|Arizona Cardinals]] game; however, he was not placed in the lineup at all. In 1995, he began working at the ''[[Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel]]'' HBO series. In 1998, he covered the [[1998 Winter Olympics|Nagano Olympics]] and the [[Goodwill Games]] for [[Turner Sports|Turner]], and in 2000, he covered the [[2000 Summer Olympics|Sydney Olympics]], again for NBC.

In 2004, Lampley was the daytime anchor for NBC's Olympics coverage for the [[2004 Summer Olympics]], as well as anchoring the [[USA Network]]'s coverage of the Games. In 2006, Lampley served as a central correspondent for the [[2006 Winter Olympics]] which aired on the networks of [[Olympics on NBC|NBC Universal]]. Torino 2006 was the 13th Olympics Lampley covered, surpassing the record set by America's original voice of the Olympics, [[Jim McKay]]. Lampley was again called upon to anchor for the [[2008 Summer Olympics]] in [[Beijing, China]], Lampley's 14th Games. The [[2010 Winter Olympics]] was the first time since the [[1980 Summer Olympics]] that he didn't cover. [[Al Michaels]] served as the daytime host of the 2010 Olympics on NBC. Lampley also did not cover the [[2012 Summer Olympics]] either in which Michaels also served as the daytime host.

==''HBO World Championship Boxing''==
Fans may best know Lampley for his work on ''[[HBO World Championship Boxing]]'', ''[[Boxing After Dark]]'', and on the HBO [[pay-per-view]] telecasts from March 1988 until December 2018, when HBO announced that they would drop the boxing program. As blow by blow announcer, he called some of boxing's most famous moments, such as [[Julio César Chávez vs. Meldrick Taylor|Thunder Meets Lightning]], when [[Julio César Chávez]] saved himself from a decision defeat by knocking out [[Meldrick Taylor]] (who was leading the fight on two of the three official scorecards) with only two seconds to go in the last round, and [[Buster Douglas|James "Buster" Douglas]]'s upset of [[Mike Tyson]] for the world heavyweight championship. Other highlights in his career were the first [[Riddick Bowe]]-[[Andrew Golota]] fight at [[Madison Square Garden]], where a riot occurred following the "Foul Pole's" disqualification for low blows, and the famous "It happened...IT HAPPENED!" call of George Foreman's miracle comeback against then heavyweight champion Michael Moorer when a straight right ended Moorer's reign.

Lampley also hosted a series called ''Legendary Nights'' in 12 installments in honor of HBO's three decades covering boxing in 2004, recounting 12 memorable fights broadcast on HBO in that timespan.

Lampley later wrote, hosted, and executive produced his own studio boxing news show, ''The Fight Game with Jim Lampley'' on HBO.

==Olympic Coverage==

*[[1976 Winter Olympics]] (play-by-play for [[Olympics on ABC commentators|ABC]])
*[[1976 Summer Olympics]] (play-by-play for ABC)
*[[1980 Winter Olympics]] (play-by-play for ABC)
*[[1984 Winter Olympics]] (daytime host for ABC)
*[[1984 Summer Olympics]] (late-night host for ABC)
*[[1992 Winter Olympics]] (coverage for KCBS-TV)
*[[1992 Summer Olympics]] (late-night host for NBC)
*[[1996 Summer Olympics]] (late-night host for NBC)
*[[1998 Winter Olympics]] (primetime host for TNT)
*[[2000 Summer Olympics]] (cable host for [[MSNBC]])<ref name="nbcuniversal's olympic tradition">{{cite web |url=http://nbcsportsgrouppressbox.com/media-guide/nbcuniversals-olympic-tradition/ |title=NBCUniversal's Olympic Tradition |publisher=NBC Sports Group Press Box |access-date=20 August 2012 |archive-date=1 August 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120801211740/http://nbcsportsgrouppressbox.com/media-guide/nbcuniversals-olympic-tradition/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*[[2002 Winter Olympics]] (cable host for both MSNBC and [[CNBC]])<ref name="nbcuniversal's olympic tradition"/>
*[[2004 Summer Olympics]] (daytime host for NBC and cable host for [[USA Network]])<ref name="nbcuniversal's olympic tradition"/>
*[[2006 Winter Olympics]] (daytime and late-night host for NBC)<ref name="nbcuniversal's olympic tradition"/>
*[[2008 Summer Olympics]] (daytime host for NBC)

==Sports radio==

Lampley was the first program host on New York's [[Sports radio|sports talk radio]] station [[WFAN (AM)|WFAN]] when it began operation on July 1, 1987.

==Awards and recognitions==

In 1992, he won the [[Sam Taub Award]] for excellence in boxing broadcasting journalism.<ref>[http://www.ibhof.com/ibhfbwaa.htm International Boxing Hall of Fame / BWAA Awards<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080617035615/http://www.ibhof.com/ibhfbwaa.htm |date=2008-06-17 }}</ref>

For his participation in the ''Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel'' HBO series, Lampley earned three [[Emmy]] awards.{{clarify|reason=Were the Emmys given to Lampley specifically, or to the show as a whole? Also, Emmys are in specific topic categories, so which Emmys were they?|date=April 2017}}{{citation needed|date=April 2017}}

Lampley was inducted into the [[International Boxing Hall of Fame]] in its 2015 class.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.espn.com/boxing/story/_/id/11978825|title=Bowe, Mancini highlight 2015 HOF class|date=4 December 2014|website=ESPN.com}}</ref>

==Filmography==
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Year
!Title
!Role
!class="unsortable"|Notes
!Ref
|-
| 2012
| ''[[The Other Dream Team]]''
|Himself 
|Documentary about the [[Lithuania men's national basketball team]] at the [[Basketball at the 1992 Summer Olympics – Men's tournament|1992 Summer Olympics]].
|<ref>{{cite web |title=The Other Dream Team |url=https://www.netflix.com/title/70229271 |website=[[Netflix]] |access-date=19 September 2025}}</ref>
|}

==Life outside sports==

===Film and producing career===
Lampley's movie production company, ''Crystal Spring Productions'', has produced a handful of movies, including [[2000 in film|2000]]'s ''[[Welcome to Hollywood]]''. The company, now known as Atticus Entertainment was executive producer of the HBO documentary series, ''On Freddie Roach'' in 2012–13. Since 2012, it has produced the continuing series, ''The Fight Game with Jim Lampley''.

In addition to several minor credits as an announcer in films, Lampley portrayed himself in the movies like ''[[Rocky Balboa (film)|Rocky Balboa]]'', ''[[Southpaw (film)|Southpaw]]'', ''[[Creed (film)|Creed]]'', ''[[Grudge Match]]'', all in all more than a dozen feature film credits. He also appeared in the 2007 sports comedy films ''[[Blades of Glory]]'' starring [[Will Ferrell]] and [[Jon Heder]], and ''[[Balls of Fury]]'', with [[Christopher Walken]]. Lampley also appeared on television in shows such as ''[[Everybody Hates Chris]]'', ''[[MacGyver (1985 TV series)|MacGyver]]'', the [[Andy Samberg]] [[HBO]] [[mockumentary]] ''[[7 Days in Hell]]'', and ''[[Eastbound & Down]]''.

===Personal life===
Lampley was married to former news anchor [[Bree Walker]] from 1990 to 1999.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-03-16-vw-240-story.html |title="L.A.'s Most Visible Office Romance"|website=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=16 March 1990 }}</ref> The pair had a son, Aaron James Lampley, born in August 1991.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jul-27-et-braxton27-story.html |title="Taking the sting out of a disability"|website=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=27 July 2004 }}</ref>

Lampley and his current wife, Debra, live in [[Chapel Hill, North Carolina]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hbo.com/boxing/bios/jim_lampley.html|title=HBO Boxing Bios}}</ref> Their blended family includes five daughters, two sons and nine grandchildren. Lampley is the former owner of two restaurants in [[Utah]], both of which were named the ''Lakota Restaurant and Bar''.

One of his daughters is Brooke Lampley, Global Chairman and Head of Global Fine Art at [[Sotheby's]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Armstrong |first=Annie |date=2022-06-13 |title=How Type-A Market Dealmaker Brooke Lampley Became the Highly Meme-able Face of Sotheby's Next Generation |url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/brooke-lampley-sothebys-next-generation-2127163 |access-date=2023-11-17 |website=Artnet News |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/21/fashion/weddings/21Lampley.html | title=Brooke Lampley, Christopher Papagianis | work=The New York Times | date=20 November 2010 }}</ref>

===Domestic violence arrest===
In 2007, Lampley was arrested for suspicion of domestic violence over an incident that took place at his girlfriend's home.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-jan-04-me-lampley4-story.html |title=" Jim Lampley is arrested in domestic violence case"|website=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=4 January 2007 }}</ref> He later pleaded no contest to violating a restraining order and was sentenced to three years of probation, plus required to complete a 52-week domestic violence counseling program.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-jim-lampley-pleads-no-contest-gets-probation-2007feb22-story.html |title=" Jim Lampley pleads no contest, gets probation"|website= sandiegouniontribune.com|date=22 February 2007 }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
*[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-lampley/ Jim Lampley at the Huffington Post]
*[http://www.hbo.com/boxing/bios/jim_lampley.html Biography at HBO Boxing]
*[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-jan-04-me-lampley4-story.html Jim Lampley is arrested in domestic violence case]

{{Major League Baseball on ABC}}
{{NBA on NBC}}
{{IndyCar Series on ABC}}
{{IndyCar Series on NBC}}
{{NASCAR on ESPN}}
{{Boxing on ABC}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lampley, Jim}}
[[Category:1949 births]]
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