Nate Berkus - Biography

Nathan Jay "Nate" Berkus (born September 17, 1971) is an American interior designer and daytime television host. He runs the Chicago interior design firm Nate Berkus Associates and has been a regular guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show, offering design advice to viewers. May 25, 2010, was his last day on The Oprah Winfrey Show. His own show, The Nate Berkus Show, debuted in broadcast syndication September 13, 2010. It is co-produced by Harpo Productions and Sony Pictures Television.

Personal life

Berkus was born in Orange County, California, and grew up mainly in suburban Minneapolis. He is Jewish and openly gay. He attended Cushing Academy, a boarding school in Ashburnham, Massachusetts. He started working in design immediately after leaving high school and interned at Dominique Aurientis in Paris and Sotheby's in Chicago. Berkus graduated from Lake Forest College near Chicago in 1994 with degrees in French and Sociology. Berkus founded the company, Nate Berkus Associates, in Chicago in 1995.

Berkus is related to the venture capitalist David Berkus, architect Barry Berkus, musician/artist Gunther Berkus, Josh Berkus of Software in the Public Interest, casino manager /author Eric David Berkus, and western states lawyer Matt Berkus. Designer Nancy Golden from HGTV and DIY networks is his mother.

In December 2004 Berkus and his partner, photographer Fernando Bengoechea, were vacationing at a beach resort in Sri Lanka when the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami hit. While Berkus survived, Bengoechea is missing and presumed dead. Berkus appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show on January 17, 2005, to talk about his ordeal and the loss of his love.

Career

In November 2005 Hyperion Books published Berkus's book Home Rules: Transform the Place You Live into a Place You'll Love (ISBN 1-4013-0137-1), a step-by-step guide to home design and decoration.

In 2005 Nate Berkus began selling his merchandise at Linens 'n Things stores throughout North America.

Berkus was the host of the short-lived reality show Oprah's Big Give, which premiered March 2, 2008, but the series ended on April 20 that same year. On May 13, 2008, it was announced by ABC that it would not be renewed for a second season.

On September 13, 2010, he debuted as the host of his own syndicated daily show, The Nate Berkus Show, which is co-produced by Harpo Productions and Sony Pictures Television. It is recorded at the CBS Broadcast Center in New York, but airs in the nation's largest markets on the ten NBC Owned and Operated stations.

Nate Berkus is also an executive producer of the 2011 film "The Help."

He appeared as himself on the October 12, 2011 and October 13, 2011 episodes of Days of Our Lives, a United States daytime television soap opera, designing the offices of MadWorld Cosmetics for Madison James.

External links

• The Nate Berkus Show
• Who is Nate Berkus? Your Life, The Boston Globe March 23, 2006
• "Gay designer returns home from tsunami-ravaged region" - article from Advocate.com