Bill Kurtis

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Bill Kurtis (born September 21, 1940) is a television journalist and producer best known as the host of numerous A&E crime and news documentary shows, including Investigative Reports, American Justice, and Cold Case Files. Previously he anchored The CBS Morning News and was a popular news anchor of the CBS affiliate in Chicago.

1 Biography
2 Television career
3 Writing career
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Biography

Kurtis was born Bill Kuretic in Pensacola, Florida to Croatian parents. His father was William A. Kurtis, a Marine Corps general and decorated veteran of D-Day [1], so the family traveled extensively. When they settled down, he was raised in Independence, Kansas.

In college, Bill Kurtis was an announcer for KIND-AM, the radio station at Independence Community Junior College. He graduated from The University of Kansas with a B.S. in Journalism in 1962. He graduated from Washburn University School of Law with a J.D. in 1966.

Since 2005, Kurtis has become heavily involved in raising and marketing grass-fed beef. His ranch was once the home of Laura Ingalls Wilder. ^[1] While looking for innovative uses for his 10,000-acre ranch in Southeastern Kansas, Kurtis learned about the health and environmental benefits of grass-fed beef and founded Tallgrass Beef Company. ^[2]

Bill is passionate about the well-being of small-town America. He has invested a tremendous amount of time, energy and resources into the town of Sedan, Kansas. Mr. Kurtis is interested in promoting small towns of southeast Kansas as tourist destinations, where those from metropolitan areas can see where America's values were born.

[edit] Television career

Kurtis began his television career as a full time anchor at WIBW-TV in Topeka, Kansas. On the evening of June 8, 1966, a severe thunderstorm 20 miles southwest of town was heading straight towards Topeka. Bill warned: "For God's sake, take cover." He remained on the air for 24 straight hours to cover the destruction. This warning became synonymous with the Topeka Tornado of 1966 that left 16 dead and injured hundreds more. It was also Kurtis' big break.

Despite passing the Kansas bar examination and winning a job with a Wichita law firm, Kurtis decided on a career in journalism.

He moved to Chicago in 1966 to work at WBBM-TV's Channel 2 News Chicago, first as a reporter and then as an anchorman. In 1982, he moved to New York to anchor the CBS Morning News, but returned to Chicago three years later to produce documentaries for the television show The New Explorers. He also returned to WBBM-TV at that time and worked as an anchorman there until 1996. He started his own production company, Kurtis Productions in 1990, and joined the A&E cable television network the following year.

Kurtis has received numerous awards for his television work, including over twenty Emmys and the Illinois Broadcasters Association 1998 Hall of Fame Award and the Kansas Association of Broadcasters 2003 Hall of Fame Award ^[3].

Bill Kurtis served as the narrator in the Will Ferrell comedy film Anchorman. Kurtis also contributed a spoken word intro to the Dandy Warhols' 2005 album Odditorium or Warlords of Mars.

[edit] Writing career

Bill Kurtis on Assignment published October 1, 1983 (out of print) by Rand McNally; ISBN 0-528-81005-7
American Justice published August 1, 1999 by TV Books Inc.; ISBN 1-57500-109-8
The Death Penalty On Trial: Crisis in American Justice about the death penalty was published November 30, 2004 by PublicAffairs; ISBN 1-58648-169-X