Bill Kurtis

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Bill Kurtis
Born	William Horton Kuretich September 21, 1940 (1940-09-21) (age 69) Pensacola, Florida
Occupation	television journalist and producer
Notable credit(s)	The CBS Morning News, Investigative Reports, American Justice, and Cold Case Files

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Bill Kurtis (born William Horton Kuretich on September 21, 1940 in Pensacola, Florida) is an American television journalist, producer, former CBS News anchor and current host of A&E crime and news documentary shows, including Investigative Reports, American Justice, and Cold Case Files. Previously, he anchored CBS Morning News and was a popular news anchor at WBBM-TV, the CBS owned-and-operated station in Chicago.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life 1.2 Television career 1.3 Personal life 1.4 Writing credits 2 Pop Culture 3 References 4 External links 5 Media

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Bill Kurtis was born to Wilma Mary (Horton) (1911-2002) and William A. Kuretich of Croatian origin (1914-2001),^[1] a Marine Corps general and decorated veteran of Okinawa. His father's military career resulted in extensive travel for the family. When they settled down, he was raised in Independence, Kansas.

At 16, Kurtis began working as an announcer for KIND-AM, a commercial station in Independence of which he is currently a part owner. He graduated from The University of Kansas with a B.S. in journalism in 1962 and went on to earn his J.D. from the Washburn University School of Law in 1966. While in law school he did the evening news for Stauffer Publications TV station WIBW in Topeka and clerked for the law firm of Colmery and Russell. After passing the Kansas bar examination and winning a job with a Wichita law firm, Kurtis discussed his options with Harry Colmery and Bob McClure, of Colmery and Russell, and decided on a career in journalism.

Kurtis is a principal of KICA/KICA-FM/KKYC/KMUL/KWUA stations in the Clovis-Portalis, NM and Muleshoe, Texas areas.

[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 (32 km) southwest of town generated a tornado that headed straight towards Topeka. Kurtis warned: "For God's sake, take cover." This warning became synonymous with the 1966 Topeka tornado that left 16 dead and injured hundreds more. Kurtis remained on the air for 24 straight hours to cover the destruction. His performance during this disaster proved to be his big break.

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. Kurtis 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. He frequently appears on A&E as the host and narrator of Cold Case Files and American Justice.

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.^[2]

He was the narrator in the Will Ferrell comedy film Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, and also contributed a spoken-word intro to the Dandy Warhols' 2005 album Odditorium or Warlords of Mars. Other narration work includes his introduction to various news clips on the CD portion of the multimedia book, We Interrupt This Broadcast.^[3]

Most recently, Kurtis was featured in a series of commercials for AT&T Mobility which poke fun at his serious investigative journalist persona. He appears on a tropical island or in a similarly desolate place and, after explaining the AT&T Laptop Connect Card, states "I'm Bill Kurtis, and I've just found [trademark pause] the Internet." He appears oblivious to the background, which features mythical things such as the fuselage of Amelia Earhart's long-lost aircraft in one instance, the Fountain of Youth in another, a yeti in a third, and a leprechaun with a pot of gold in a fourth.

A second group of ads in the series took a different approach and featured Kurtis "racing" figures such as Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps, undefeated professional boxer Floyd Mayweather, Jr., and record-fast serving tennis player Andy Roddick (amongst other historically "fast" individuals) in Internet speed-surfing contests, allowing himself access to AT&T technology, inevitably winning each time. He concluded each contest by announcing his victory, for example, "I'm Bill Kurtis [pause], and I'm faster than Michael Phelps."

In the latest^[when?] promotions, Kurtis appears in various locations with a netbook to demonstrate the coverage of AT&T's wireless data network. He has been seen riding in a motorcycle sidecar, aboard a passenger airplane, and in a small diner, among other places, and ends by saying something that lampoons his serious-reporter personality (e.g., "I'll have a cherry lime rickey and a hard-boiled egg" to the waitress in the diner).

On November 13, 2009, Kurtis reunited for one evening with his co-anchor of 20 years earlier, Walter Jacobson, to anchor the WBBM 10 PM news in Chicago while the usual anchor, Rob Johnson, was on vacation.^[4]

[edit] Personal life

Kurtis and his longtime partner, Donna La Pietra, are very active on the Chicago social circuit, supporting numerous non-profit organizations.^[5] He has also done several public service announcements including RFB&D (Recording For The Blind and Dyslexic). Kurtis' wife, Helen (who was his high school sweetheart and whom he married in 1963), died of cancer in June 1977.^[6] They had two children, Mary Kristin (born December 1965) and Scott Erik (born October 1970).^[7] Scott Kurtis, 38, who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia since he was in his mid-teens, was found dead July 20, 2009 on his father's Kansas cattle ranch, where he had lived. His body was discovered by his sister Mary Kristin Kurtis, who also lives near the ranch. Scott Kurtis suffered from heart and thyroid ailments as a result of the schizophrenia.^[8]

Since 2005, Kurtis has become heavily involved in raising and marketing grass-fed beef. His 10,000-acre (40 km) ranch in southeastern Kansas was once the home of Laura Ingalls Wilder.^[9] While looking for innovative uses for his ranch, Kurtis learned about the health and environmental benefits of grass-fed beef and founded Tallgrass Beef Company.^[10] He is also the owner of Prairie Grass Cafe in Northbrook, Illinois.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Writing credits

• 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

[edit] Pop Culture

In the TV Series South Park, episode Cartman Joins NAMBLA: The boys are playing a game "Investigative Reports with Bill Curtis" fun time game where a player must decide to deny a scandal or cover it up

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Bill Kurtis at the Internet Movie Database
• Tallgrass Beef Company
• A Bill Kurtis Tribute
• A&E American Justice
• A&E Cold Case Files
• Illinois Broadcasters Association

[edit] Media

• Interview on The BusinessMakers Show

Persondata
NAME	Kurtis, Bill
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Kuretich, William Horton
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Television producer
DATE OF BIRTH	September 21, 1940
PLACE OF BIRTH	Pensacola, Florida
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH