Early Life
He was born in New York City, the son of Marilyn Kolmer, a boutique owner, and Jay Robert Lauer, a bicycle-company executive. His parents divorced during his youth, and his father died in 1997. Lauer had become co-host of The Today Show replacing longtime host Bryant Gumbel in early 1997, not long before his father's death. Lauer is of Romanian Jewish descent on his father's side, as seen on the Today Show's Finding Our Roots. In 1999, both Lauer and his co-host Katie Couric initially resisted participation in the proposed series about their family roots. The series turned out to be a hit, and Lauer was moved by what he learned about his immigrant ancestors. "My dad was Jewish. My mom is not. So I was not raised anything. I do feel a desire now to find something spiritual. Getting married and wanting to have kids has something to do with that."
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