One of the reigning TV hosts of the 1980s and 1990s is unrecognizable in his high school senior yearbook photo from 1961.Born in Manhattan, he graduated from West Babylon High School on Long Island and worked as a lawyer before starting in broadcast news in the 1970s.Over the ensuing decades he established himself as a sought-after interviewer, conversing on air with names like Barbra Streisand, Michael Jackson, Donald Trump, Raquel Welch, Liza Minnelli and even Charles Manson.After the September 11 attacks, he joined Fox News and remained on the network until his departure only a few years ago amid simmering feuds with his co-hosts.However the yearbook photos obtained by the Daily Mail show him in a much earlier stage of life, playing football, running track and acting in a school production.Can you guess who he is? One of the reigning TV hosts of the 1980s and 1990s is unrecognizable in his high school senior yearbook photo from 1961 The TV star-to-be is pictured back row middle as part of the football team for West Babylon High School, which is located on Long Island His interests stretched outside of athletics as well, as demonstrated by the photo of him (back row middle) in the cast of a school production of Cheaper by the DozenHe is none other than Geraldo Rivera, born at Beth Israel Hospital in Lower Manhattan in 1943 to restaurant employee Lillian Friedman and cabbie Allen Rivera.The Daily Mail has contacted Rivera’s representative for comment. Rivera’s yearbook photos show an active, spirited Long Island teenager, with group shots of him on West Babylon High School’s football team and track team.His interests stretched outside of athletics as well, as demonstrated by photos of him in the Leaders Club and in the cast of a school production of Cheaper by the Dozen.However, behind the cheerful facade of his busy youth, there lurked a family trauma that set the stage for Rivera’s future as a public figure.Rivera’s father had worked in cafeteria concessions at a defense plant until, in his late 40s, he was fired because the new bosses thought he was overpaid and too old.’So after all these years invested in this job, he was suddenly out there with maybe $3,000 in savings and no place to go, no expectations, no future essentially,’ Rivera said in 1986 on the TV series Monica Kaufman Closeups.’I was only in high school, and I said to myself: “I will never put myself in a position where somebody can come in and do that to me, and have it have such a profound negative impact on my life. I’m going to keep the initiative. I’m going to be somebody,”‘ the anchor remembered. He is none other than Geraldo Rivera, born at Beth Israel Hospital in Lower Manhattan in 1943 to restaurant employee Lillian Friedman and cabbie Allen Rivera Rivera’s yearbook photos show an active, spirited Long Island teenager, such as in this group shot of him (back row right) on West Babylon High School’s track team Born in Manhattan, he grew up in Brooklyn and on Long Island and worked as a lawyer before starting in broadcast news; pictured (front row middle) in the school Leaders Club His determination propelled him into the University of Arizona – for which he is pictured in his 1965 college yearbook – and then a career as an attorney Rivera is pictured in 1979 hosting a segment of 20/20 for ABC, having begun his career on broadcast television in 1970 during his late 20s In 1986 – at the age of 42 – he achieved new heights of stardom by hosting the two-part TV special The Mystery of Al Capone’s Vaults He achieved stardom in the 1980s and over the ensuing decades established himself as a sought-after interviewer, sitting down with names like Barbra Streisand One of his early-career interviews was with Raquel Welch (left), conducted in 1975 when he was hosting an ABC show called Good Night America Rivera is pictured on his syndicated talk show Geraldo in 1990 interview Richard Tinyes, the father of 13-year-old murder victim Kelly Ann Tinyes There followed his smash hit tabloid talk show Geraldo, which ran from 1987 to 1998 and saw him cover a wide range of seamy topics; pictured in 1994 boating on his off-timeHis determination propelled him to the University of Arizona and then a career as an attorney, during which he represented such clients as the Young Lords, a Puerto Rican street gang-cum-leftist activist group inspired by the Black Panthers.During his late 20s, he pivoted to broadcast TV, and in 1986 – at the age of 42 – he achieved new heights of stardom by hosting the two-part TV special The Mystery of Al Capone’s Vaults, which was watched by 30 million people.The special itself turned out to have an anticlimax in which the Chicago hotel basement Rivera explored was revealed to be empty, but his fame was still enhanced.There followed his smash hit tabloid talk show Geraldo, which ran from 1987 to 1998 and saw him cover a wide range of seamy topics typified by headlines like Teens Who Trade Sex for Drugs, Church’s Sexual Watergate, Infertile Women Obsessed with Bearing Children, Men in Lace Panties and When the Other Woman Is a Man.After the 9/11 attacks, Rivera reinvented himself again and joined Fox News, traveling to the Middle East in order to cover the unfolding War on Terror.His run as a war correspondent involved its share of misadventure, such as when the American military jettisoned him from Iraq for his indiscreet reporting on a planned operation, or when he claimed to have been present for a deadly friendly fire incident in Afghanistan and then was exposed to have in fact been 300 miles away.Nevertheless he enjoyed a long and successful run hosting a variety of programs on the network, from Cops: All Access to debate-centered political talk shows.In the midst of his time on the conservative station, he competed on Dancing with the Stars in 2016 at the age of 72, though he was part of the first duo eliminated. After the 9/11 attacks, Rivera reinvented himself again and joined Fox News, where he remained until 2023, working on a variety of series; pictured 2022 In the midst of his time on the conservative station, he competed on Dancing with the Stars in 2016 at the age of 72; he is pictured with his professional partner Edyta ?liwi?ska Rivera, a Republican, was often characterized as one of Fox News’ resident liberals, given his support of abortion, gay marriage, amnesty for illegal immigrantsRivera, a Republican, was often characterized as one of Fox News’ resident liberals, inasmuch as his support of abortion, gay marriage, amnesty for illegal immigrants and Palestine placed him at odds with many of the network’s other pundits.His final show there was the panel series The Five, where he clashed bitterly with co-hosts Greg Gutfeld – whom he called a ‘punk’ on-air – and Jesse Watters.In 2023 he announced that he had been fired from The Five and had, as a consequence, decided to exit Fox News entirely.Rivera later remarked that the network ‘always’ sided with Gutfeld over their bust-ups and ‘I could sense that I was hanging by a thread,’ via Mediaite.On the personal front, Rivera ran up a tally of four divorces – including from Kurt Vonnegut’s daughter Edie – before marrying his current wife Erica Levy in 2003.