Melba Tolliver, more you may remember working at News 12

Hundreds have worked on-camera at News 12 over the last 40 years, from the legends to the lesser-knowns. But did you know that Chauncey Howell — funny guy, bow-tie — once worked there? Or CNBC's Ted David? Or Islip Town councilwoman Trish Bergin?

This place was the launching pad for a lot of big careers, and the landing pad for some notable ones, too. Here are 11:

Trish Bergin

This Islip native made one of the more interesting whiplash moves in News 12 history, from anchor to Republican Islip Town councilwoman in 2009, but she had a solid TV run until then. Bergin was a reporter at WLIG/55 and WCBS/2, then starting in 1993, shared reporting and anchor duties with Scott Feldman at News 12. She joined "Inside Edition" as weekday substitute/ weekend anchor in 2002, but her own personal tabloid moment was the year before, when she briefly dated Billy Joel (and later, per those tabloids, LI "Survivor" and neurologist Sean Kenniff.) Her second stint at News 12 started in 2003

Patti Ann Browne

Longtime Fox News anchor ("Red Eye," "Fox & Friends First") built her reporting chops at News 12, from 1991 to 1997, when she covered some of the biggest stories in Long Island history (the LIRR massacre, TWA Flight 800). She also hosted "Reporter's Roundtable" and anchored the mornings. Later, she spent three years at MSNBC followed by that 17-year run on Fox before retiring.

Linda Cohn

A true TV pioneer, this Coram native has anchored well over 6,000 (and counting) episodes of ESPN's "SportsCenter" (a record) but started out in L.I. radio (WALK/97.5 FM) and TV (WLIG/55). She was a sports reporter for News 12 from May 1988 to October 1989.

Ted David

He once seemed destined for a career in local radio (WLIX/94.7 FM, Islip; WGBB/1240 AM, Freeport; WHLI/1100 AM, Hempstead; WSGM/740 AM, Huntington; WPIX-FM, NYC, ABC Radio Network, NBC/Westwood Radio) until ... he and Lea Tyrrell launched News 12's "Weekend Daytime" edition in 1988. A year later he became a founding anchor of CNBC, where he remained until 2009. (From 2006 to 2017, David freelanced for News 12, too.)

Carolyn Gusoff

WCBS/2 veteran, and (along with Jennifer McLogan) dean of L.I. TV reporters, Gusoff (who grew up in Woodmere) spent most of her career at WNBC/4 (1993-2008), but was a charter (or near-charter) reporter at News 12, instrumental in its early success. Other than a three-year run at WNYW/5 (2009-2012), she's covered L.I. for nearly 40 years.

Chauncey Howell

The bow-tied critic/raconteur (1935-2021) — mostly associated with WNBC/4 (1974-1982) and WABC/7 (1986-1991) — moved to NY1 in the mid-'90s then joined News 12 (first in the Bronx) in 1999. His genial, off-the-cuff segments were popular, if sometimes too off-the-cuff: In 2005, he called a Republican town candidate in Brookhaven "everyone's favorite councilwoman." Democrats howled at Howell, forcing News 12 to produce a piece on her rival.

Jill Martin

The Plainview native — who's recently battled health problems — and "Today's" lifestyle reporter (as well as "Steals & Deals" host), had an early career run as a reporter at News 12, in the early aughts.

Bonnie Schneider

This Jericho native was a longtime meteorologist with CNN starting in 2005 (also later with Headline News, Bloomberg, and the Weather Channel), but worked the morning shift at News 12 in the late '90s and early aughts.

Melba Tolliver

Another true pioneer, she was the first Black anchor of a network TV news broadcast (for ABC News, albeit briefly in 1967, during a strike), and was a member of New York's first female co-anchor team. She was also an "Eyewitness News" star (1967-1976), as well as on Ch. 4 (1976-1980), where she was paired with Pia Lindstrom. From 1986 to 1994, she was News 12's inaugural anchor, alongside Bill Zimmerman.

Roma Torre

One of the first reporters hired by News 12, she was also among the first hired by NY1, in 1992. (She remained there until 2020, as theater critic and lead anchor.) Another of her distinctions — a couple dozen movie appearances where she was credited as "anchor," or "TV reporter."

Bob Wolff

Consider that when this legendary New York sports anchor started at News 12 at launch in 1986, he had already been a TV sports anchor and reporter for 47 years. Let that sink in — half a century of play-by-play for the Knicks, Rangers, calling Don Larsen's perfect game (1956) and the Colts win over the Giants (1958). He remained at News 12 until his death in 2017. With 78 years in front of a mic or camera, that's a Guinness World Record. (Let that sink in.)