Maria Owings Shriver Schwarzenegger (born November 6, 1955), better known as Maria Shriver, is an American television journalist and the First Lady of California.

Shriver was born in Chicago, Illinois, as the second child and only daughter of the politician Sargent Shriver and his wife Eunice Kennedy Shriver. Her mother is a sister of the assassinated American President John F. Kennedy. Shriver received a B.A. degree in American Studies from Georgetown University. Shriver married the actor Arnold Schwarzenegger on April 26, 1986. They have two daughters and two sons.

She was a TV news reporter for NBC's Dateline NBC from 1989 until 2004. In August of 2003, Shriver took an unpaid leave of absence from NBC News when her husband became a candidate in the 2003 California recall. Upon her husband's inauguration as the 38th Governor of California, she became the First Lady of California on November 17, 2003. She then returned to reporting, making two more appearances as an anchor for Dateline NBC.

On February 3, 2004, Shriver told NBC she wished to be "relieved of [her] duties at NBC News," citing the conflict of interest between her role as a journalist and her status as the First Lady of California and her increasing role as an advocate of her husband's administration. NBC News president Neal Shapiro did not refer to Shriver's decision as a resignation, however, and issued a statement calling Shriver's departure "an extended leave of absence."

Prior to her work at NBC, Shriver had co-anchored the CBS Morning News. She has won Peabody and Emmy awards and is the author of two best-selling books: What's Heaven and Ten Things I Wish I'd Known Before I Went Out Into The Real World .

External links

• Official site of the First Lady of California http://www.firstlady.ca.gov
• A brief biography http://www.icgf.org/Board_Bios/maria_shriver_icgf_bio.htm
• Shriver Resigns from 'Dateline NBC' Post http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/entertainment/7866811.htm - Associated Press, February 4, 2004.