Featuring Bill Kurtis
Broadcaster, Humanitarian, and Author

Courtesy of Leading Authorities, Inc.

An acclaimed documentary host and producer, network and major-market news anchor, and multimedia production company president, Bill Kurtis is celebrating his more than forty years in broadcasting. Kurtis has created a body of work that is virtually unparalleled, beginning his television career at WIBW-TV in Topeka, Kansas. In 1966, after being recognized for his 24-hour coverage of a devastating tornado, he was hired as a field reporter and later anchor at WBBM-TV in Chicago.

Kurtis later moved to the network level at CBS, where he anchored the CBS Morning News and contributed to CBS Reports. He covered such notable stories as the Richard Speck murders and the Charles Manson trial. Kurtis is also credited with breaking the Agent Orange story and the story of Amerasian children in Vietnam.

Returning to Chicago and WBBM-TV as news anchor in 1985, Kurtis began travels to the far ends of the earth for the Peabody Award-winning series: The New Explorers, which aired on A&E. In 1990, he founded Kurtis Productions and began producing programs for the A&E Network, including the long-running, award-winning Investigative Reports and Cold Case Files, as well as Investigating History for The History Channel. Kurtis has also served as the host of A&E’s AmericanJustice—the longest running non-fiction justice series on cable.

Kurtis is also an author. The Death Penalty on Trial: Crisis in American Justice is his most recent book, which explores issues surrounding capital punishment in America. By profiling two murder cases, Kurtis reveals his change of mind regarding capital punishment. He also wrote the just-released Prairie Table Cookbook, which tells the story of today’s beef revolution in recipes, pictures, and anecdotes from the trail, as well as modern dishes contributed by today’s top restaurateurs.

Kurtis is the recipient of numerous humanitarian, journalism, and broadcasting awards—including Emmys, CableACE Awards, and the Thurgood Marshall Award for his Investigative Reports installment on the death penalty. He is also a member of the board of directors of several distinguished organizations: The Nature Conservancy, the National Park Foundation, and the Field Museum of Chicago.