Элеонора Мондейл: Жизнь и карьера медиа-персоны

American media personality (1960–2011)

Eleanor Jane Mondale Poling (January 19, 1960 – September 17, 2011) was an American radio personality, television host, and actress.

Mondale was the only daughter of Joan Mondale and former Vice President Walter Mondale. Her older brother is former Minnesota State Senator Theodore Adams "Ted" Mondale. Her younger brother is attorney William Hall Mondale, the former assistant Attorney General of Minnesota (1990–2000). For her senior year of high school, Mondale attended St. Timothy's, a boarding school outside of Baltimore. After graduating from St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York, she moved to begin a career in Hollywood.

After she completed her college education, Mondale quickly earned a reputation in the media for being a "wild child", although she claimed many of the rumors were unfounded. Mondale's first marriage, to football player Keith Van Horne, lasted from April 9, 1988, until August 1989, when Van Horne filed for divorce. In 1990, she dated rock singer songwriter Warren Zevon, traveling on tour with him to Australia. She also dated Washington Redskins offensive tackle George Starke. Mondale's second marriage, from June 21, 1991, to November 1991, was to Greg Malban, a DJ known as Greg Thunder. In 1999, Mondale sold her house in Los Angeles to move to New York to be with her then boyfriend, New York plastic and reconstructive surgeon Joe DeBellis. In June 2005, Mondale married Minneapolis musician Chan Poling of the group The New Standards. Mondale and Poling lived on a small farm in Minnesota, where they raised miniature horses until her death.

Mondale took time off from college in 1981 to move to Hollywood. She worked briefly as an extra and had one speaking line in the TV series 240 Robert. She continued taking fill in radio news jobs at various Chicago radio stations, including WCKG FM. In early 1987, Mondale joined Chicago radio station WCKG FM as a morning news anchor. In June 1987, Mondale shifted to being the co host of WCKG's morning show alongside John Fisher. In early 1988, Mondale took a leave of absence from WCKG to collaborate with a Chicago writer on a book about the children of U. S. presidents. In June 1989, Mondale took a job in Minneapolis as an entertainment reporter for WCCO TV. In March 1990, Mondale quit unexpectedly just a few days before a local magazine was to publish a feature on Mondale titled "Walter and Joan's Wild Child". After leaving WCCO and spending some time in Australia, Mondale and fellow sidekick Dan Walker were forced out of WKQX in January 1993. After leaving WKQX, Mondale began working in television. In March 1993, Mondale and Robin Leach co hosted a two hour special on national television about Madonna titled "Madonna Exposed". In early 1994, Mondale began working as a correspondent for NBC's Today show. In mid 1994, Mondale landed a job as anchor/host of "Q and E", a half hour weekly celebrity show airing on E!, and was also a regular correspondent for the network's news division. In 1996, Mondale was hired by CBS as a Los Angeles based correspondent forThis Morning. Mondale also later hosted the E! shows Wild On in 1997 and E! News Live. She worked on ESPN as a reporter on the horse racing events, which lasted two years (2002–2003). She covered for ESPN2 the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. After ESPN, she co hosted The World's Greatest Auto Shows for the Speed Channel in 2004 and 2005. She worked for the CBS Television show This Morning. In 2006, after battling brain cancer for the first time, Mondale signed on as a host at WCCO AM. She remained there until 2009, when she left the airwaves to go on disability because of her cancer's recurrence. In 2013, she was posthumously inducted into the Minnesota Broadcasting Hall of Fame.

Mondale had five speaking lines in the opening minutes of the 1991 film Drop Dead Fred. She appeared in the 1999 film Ground Control as Christine, and narrated the feature documentary film Fritz: The Walter Mondale Story (2008), which details the life of her father and aspects of her own childhood. She also appeared in the short film Mirage (2004), directed by Sayer Frey and produced by Shelli Ainsworth.

After a bout of seizures, Mondale was diagnosed with brain cancer in June 2005. In the summer of 2006, the cancer was in remission, but she announced in February 2008 that a small tumor had returned and that she would seek treatment at the Mayo Clinic. Mondale was again diagnosed with brain cancer in August 2009 and was scheduled to undergo surgery later that month. She died from the disease at her home in Minnesota on September 17, 2011, at the age of 51.