Paula Zahn's work as a journalist and newscaster has taken her around the world and to numerous TV networks, and it's brought her many accolades. But her career actually has some pretty humble roots. Zahn is a native of Omaha, Neb., The Independent reported, and was born into a family of hard-working parents. She entered the world on Feb. 24, 1956, born to a mother who was a substitute school teacher and a father who worked at IBM as an executive, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Zahn spent her childhood in Canton, Ohio, Celebrity Net Worth noted, until her family eventually relocated to Naperville, Ill. Zahn spent summers teaching children with disabilities and she saved up for college by doing theater, she told the Chicago Tribune. "I think we grew up in a very special time. It really was a great home town, a very family-oriented place," she said.
During her teenage years, Zahn competed in beauty pageants, and as Celebrity Net Worth pointed out, she was almost a beauty queen, as she was pretty successful at wowing the judges on stage. In fact, Zahn made it to the semi-finals of the 1973 Miss Teenage America Pageant. Her worlds later collided in a way when one of the episodes of her TV show On the Case With Paula Zahn was called "Beauty Queen Killer."
