Former NBC 5 anchor Deborah Norville's Chicago memories shine bright
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Deborah Norville, host of "The Perfect Line." Photo: Courtesy of WCIU-TV
This fall, former "Inside Edition" anchor Deborah Norville received the 2025 Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award for more than 30 years of anchoring the news magazine.
- Of course, Chicagoans remember Norville for her time anchoring at NBC 5 in the 1980s.
State of play: Norville left Chicago to become a national star and just recently hung up her anchor jacket to host "The Perfect Line," a syndicated game show that airs weeknights at 7:30pm on WCIU-TV.
What she's saying: "The only thing I knew about Chicago was the best local reporters in the country were here," Norville, who came from Georgia, tells Axios. "I worked alongside all these great people, like Dick Kay, who were the best at research, at developing sources, at working a beat, all the things that are part of being a good local reporter, and they were nice enough to share their knowledge with me."
Norville was just back in town promoting her game show, so we asked her about what her perfect day in Chicago would look like (all these years later).
🍳 Breakfast: "If it's a perfect day, then I have a blind date breakfast. I gave up on blind date dinners, too expensive and always awkward. Instead, I'd go to one of the nice downtown hotels, order a nice omelet or yogurt to find out if we had a connection. The great part is that everybody's got a schedule, so no lingering."
🌊 Morning activity: "The lakefront. I was driving up Lake Shore Drive to go do an interview this morning. It was so beautiful. The waves were so dramatic. I drove past Oak Street Beach and past my old apartment building. I used to do my morning run through Lincoln Park, then take a turn and run through the Zoo to say 'hi' to the animals."
🍝 Lunch: "If I could get a panzarotti from Ranalli's on Lincoln, that would be incredible. Ranalli's is still there but the panzarotti isn't on the menu anymore. When I anchored the weekend news, I would call them right before sports and say, 'Could I please have a panzarotti cut in half, wrapped separately, and delivered?' And they would go, 'Is this Deborah?'"
🖼️ Afternoon activity: "A wonderful thing to do is just go wander the Art Institute. No matter when you go, even if you're staring at the haystacks for the 47th time, you see something different."
😍 Dinner: "I don't know if it's still around, but I just loved the restaurant at the top of East Lake Shore Drive. I forget the name, but it was a rooftop with the most beautiful views." (Editor's note: We think maybe the Pinnacle?)
🎶 Evening activity: "I would go to the South Side and go listen to jazz. Even though those clubs are harder to find these days, this is my perfect day and perfect isn't always possible."
- "If the clubs aren't open, I'd go find a goofy golf spot (again, not around anymore). I remember one fellow took me out. We had a six-pack of beer and a bag of French-fried shrimp and we sat on the hood of his car over by the river on North Avenue. We threw the tails in the river, and then we went and played goofy golf. It was a good night for me."