Leeza Gibbons was born ambitious. The popular Southern girl doggedly worked her way up the TV ladder, and now she uses her celebrity to promote causes she believes in, including children's rights and finding a cure for AIDS.

Gibbons grew up in Heartsville, South Carolina, but she was no old-fashioned Southern belle. Gibbons' father was a free-thinking educator and politician, and her mother was a stay-at-home mom; both parents instilled their daughter with loads of ambition. A popular go-getter intent on realizing her dreams, she graduated from the University of South Carolina magna cum laude in 1978, and landed a job as a general assignment reporter at a tiny TV station in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

In Gibbons' own words, her first few months on TV were less Jane Pauley-esque than one of "Charlie's Angels doing the news." But the young woman's determination triumphed over her inexperience; in less than two years, Gibbons moved to the larger Dallas market to co-host "P.M. Magazine." Shortly thereafter, she headed "Two on the Town"; then, in 1984, she set her sights on the behind-the-scenes celebrity TV magazine "Entertainment Tonight." With a resume and a tape in hand, Gibbons booked a flight to Los Angeles to audition to be a reporter. Her chutzpah paid off: She scored a 13-week contract with "E.T.," and was later named weekend co-anchor with John Tesh.

Her love life, however, wasn't quite as onward and upward. Gibbons' first marriage in 1980 to Dallas radio executive John Hicks ended in divorce, as did her second union with British actor Chris Quenten (the two had a daughter, Alexis, in 1989, a year before splitting up). But Gibbons' losing streak ended when she met the handsome soap star Steve Meadows. The couple walked down the aisle in 1991, together with Gibbons' daughter. Soon, sons Troy and Nathan were born.

From 1994 to 2000, Gibbons produced and hosted her own daytime talk show, "Leeza," which received more than two dozen Emmy nominations. Since 2000, she has anchored the TV newsmagazine "Extra," while devoting her time to a list of worthy causes, including numerous AIDS charities, Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the American Red Cross. In 1998, she was named the celebrity spokesperson for the March of Dimes, and she also works as the national spokesperson for KidsPeace, a support organization for kids in crisis.