Diana Lewis: More than a news anchor

The Fourth of July represented an anniversary for Diana Lewis at WXYZ-TV, Channel 7 in Detroit. That was the date in 1977 when she signed on as co-anchor of the evening news.

Some viewers, especially those of younger generations, may not realize that Lewis appeared in the 1976 smash movie hit, "Rocky." She had a bit part as a TV reporter firing a question at Sylvester Stallone.

From 1974 to 1977, she was a weekend anchor and consumer reporter at KABC-TV 7 in Glendale, Calif. This is where she met her husband, Glenn Crawford, the award-winning producer and director. She was invited back for another stint in "Rocky V" in 1990 and also appeared in TV shows such as "Murder, She Wrote" and "All My Children."

Her daughter, Glenda Terrell Lewis-Hall, started at WXYZ in 2003 as a weekend news anchor and reporter. On Mother's Day eve 2004, Diana Lewis departed her weekday schedule so she could co-anchor with her daughter. According to the Museum of Television and Radio, this was the first mother-daughter TV news pairing in the nation's broadcast history.

Diana Lewis is known for supporting worthy causes, foremost organ and tissue donations. Her fame is such that when PeopleQuiz.com asked who was the first African-American news anchor, the correct answer of Max Robinson (ABC, 1978) was provided - other options were Ed Bradley from "60 Minutes" and, yes, Diana Lewis.

In 2008, Diana Lewis was inducted into the Michigan Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame.

Sources:

http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/about_us/staff/diana-lewis
http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1800112611/cast
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100507/fullcredits#cast
http://www.peoplequiz.com/quizzes-133.html