A Morning Show Legend Has Been Hospitalized
Al Roker lets fans know that he's been in the hospital since last weeks after discovering a dangerous blood clot.
This article is more than 2 years old
Today show’s beloved meteorologist Al Roker has been in the hospital last week because of blood clots. After the Today anchor and weatherman received a bunch of concerned messages from fans, he posted an update to social media on Friday to let everyone know what was going on. When Roker was admitted to the hospital, he had a blood clot in his leg which spread to his lungs.
Thankfully, Al Roker appears to be on the mend. The meteorologist wrote on Instagram that after “some medical whack-a-mole,” he’s now recovering. He didn’t give an estimate on when he can be expected back on the set of Today but told his followers he hoped to see them all soon.
Sadly, the 21st century has not been kind to Al Roker in terms of keeping him out of the hospital. Since 2001 he’s endured two different surgeries on his knee, carpal tunnel surgery, surgery on his back, a hip replacement, and two years ago went under the knife after a prostate cancer diagnosis. And that’s all without counting his gastric bypass surgery in 2002, which helped him lose over 100 pounds.
Al Roker began his screen meteorologist career almost 50 years ago when he landed a job as a weather anchor for a CBS affiliate in Syracuse, New York while still attending school at SUNY Oswego. He began working with NBC 4 years later at Cleveland’s WKYC. It took a lot of years, but eventually the early nineties found Roker substituting on the Today show for the then full time weather presenter Willard Scott, as well as anchor Bryant Gumbel.
By 1996, Scott retired and Al Roker took his place int full time weather slot. He has since been a fixture of morning television, and his exposure has offered him plenty of other screen opportunities.
Al Roker has hosted NBC’s coverage of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade since 1995; the year before he took over from Willard Scott. He’s reportedly a big fan of game shows, and had a short-lived game show of his own on NBC called Remember This? as well as hosting 2008’s Celebrity Family Feud.
He’s also gone into non-screen endeavors including becoming an author. Teaming up with Dick Lochte, Al Roker co-authored a mystery book series including The Midnight Show Murders and The Morning Show Murders. The latter was adapted into a TV movie.
Al Roker has also appeared in numerous films and TV shows, usually playing himself. He’s done so in just about every film in the Sharknado series, Zombieland: Double Tap, and the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot. He’s also voiced characters in Superman: The Animated Series, Kung Fu Panda 3, and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs along with other projects.
