Rappaport age

"Today Show" entertainment reporter Jill Rappaport
chats about life as a celebrity interviewer.

SUZANNE CHESSLER SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

ou have to get up early to keep up with Jill Rap-
paport's latest celebrity news, and you have to stay
up late to keep up with her celebrity partying.
Rappaport, entertainment reporter for "Today,"
often gets story ideas at star-studded premieres and
galas, where she connects with the glamorous people she
brings to her TV audience.
"My segment is really a mini-version of 'Entertain-
ment Tonight,"' said Rappaport, who grew up in Detroit
and Birmingham and attended Seaholm High School
and Temple Israel confirmation classes.
"In six minutes, I will do four or five interviews, many
with celebrities who have films opening that week. I
have to stay on top of everything that's going on to get
the biggest names and be one up on anybody trying
to do the same story."
Tom Cruise, John Travolta and Tom Selleck are
only three of the Hollywood hunks who recently have
appeared with Rappaport, but when it comes to in-
terviews of greatest impact, she recalls Barbra
Streisand and the late Jill Ireland.
"I have loved Barbra
Jill Rappaport: "Like Streisand since I was a kid,
a little kid in a candy and I interviewed her at the
store."
Emmy Awards in Los Ange-
les almost two years ago,"
Rappaport said. "I think she
saw my excitement and en-
thusiasm and liked that I
was so honest about being a
fan.
"I was told I would have a
minute and a half with her,
but she ended up sitting
down with me for 20 min-
utes. We talked about every-
thing from her return to the
stage to her fear of rejection.
She couldn't have been
sweeter.
"One of the saddest inter-
views was with Jill Ireland,
who was in remission from
breast cancer when I spoke
with her. Talking about the
reality of the disease and how ti
0")
it made her look at her life 0-)
differently really affected me
because she was such a ti
strong, courageous woman >-
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trying to help other women ..z,
become aware."
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Rappaport, who has dined cn
with Frank Sinatra and gone
shoe shopping with Patti La-
Belle, prefers to present

LINDA RAPPAPORT SOLOMON

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RAPPAPORT-AGE page 90