Bob Vila Was a Miami Kid and a Florida Gator Before This Old House
Before he was America’s handyman, Bob Vila was a journalism student at the University of Florida, class of 1969. He was born in Miami on June 20, 1946, to Cuban parents. After college he served in the Peace Corps in Panama, and then he got into restoring old houses.
This Old House
In 1979 public television launched This Old House with Vila as host. The show followed real renovations of real houses from start to finish, and he explained the work as it happened. He hosted it until 1989, then went on to Bob Vila’s Home Again.
What It Started
The show helped turn home renovation into something ordinary homeowners tried themselves, and Vila stayed at it for decades in commercials and his own shows.
