Elizabeth Vargas was born on September 6, 1962 in Paterson, New Jersey, USA as Elizabeth Anne Vargas. She is an actress and writer, known for 20/20 (1978), 20/20 Downtown (1999) and Dateline NBC (1992). She has been married to Marc Cohn since July 20, 2002. They have two children.

She graduated with a Bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri, USA, where she began her broadcasting career as a reporter-anchor for KOMU-TV. Husband, Marc, was shot in the head on August 7, 2005 in Denver, Colorado, during an attempted carjacking. He survived with minor physical injuries. Announced on May 23, 2006 that she will step down from her ABC Evening News (1953) (aka "ABC World News Tonight") position to take maternity leave and later return to co-anchor 20/20 (1978) and ABC News specials. She said she decided to scale back her duties at ABC, in order to spend more time with her growing family. Returned to work at ABC after two months of rehab for alcoholism [January 24, 2014]. Gave birth to her 1st child at age 40, a son Zachary Raphael Cohn on January 31, 2003 and weighing 7 lbs. 13 oz. Child's father is her now estranged husband, Marc Cohn . Gave birth to her 2nd child at age 43, a son Samuel Wyatt Cohn on August 16, 2006 and weighed in at 7 lbs, 9 oz. Child's father is her now estranged husband, Marc Cohn . (August 20, 2014) Filed for divorce from her husband of 12 years Marc Cohn last year. She was an army brat whose family had to move through 14 homes, 9 army bases and 8 schools.