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Bill Kurtis

Bill Kurtis

Bill Kurtis (born William Horton Kuretich; September 21, 1940) is an American television journalist, television producer, narrator, and news anchor. He has been noted for his sonorous voice throughout his career. He is most known for narrating A&E's true crime series Cold Case Files as well as American Justice. Kurtis was studying to become a lawyer in the 1960s, when he was asked to fill in on a temporary news assignment at a television station in Topeka, Kansas. His reporting on a devastating tornado outbreak, led to an on air news reporter and later a very successful news anchor position in Chicago. In 1982, Kurtis joined Diane Sawyer on The CBS Morning News, the network broadcast from New York City. The two were also on the CBS Early Morning News, which aired an hour earlier on most CBS stations. He also anchored three CBS Reports: The Plane That Fell from the Sky, The Golden Leaf, and The Gift of Life. He became especially interested in investigative in-depth reports and documentaries. When he returned to Chicago and for a time resumed his anchor duties, he also founded a production company, Kurtis Productions. Kurtis hosted or produced a number of crime and news documentary shows, including Investigative Reports, American Justice, and Cold Case Files. Kurtis is the scorekeeper/announcer for National Public Radio (NPR)'s news comedy/quiz show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!, and served as the host of Through the Decades, a documentary-style news magazine seen on Decades. Kurtis narrated nearly 1,000 documentaries, and Kurtis Productions produced nearly 500 documentaries for series like The New Explorers on PBS; Investigative Reports and Cold Case Files for the A&E; and Investigating History for the History Channel. He also hosted American Justice, produced by Towers Productions. For CNBC, the company has produced nearly 100 episodes of American Greed. Kurtis has received two Peabody Awards, numerous Emmy Awards, awards from the Overseas Press Club, a DuPont Award, and has been inducted into the Illinois and Kansas Halls of Fame. In 1998, he was awarded the University of Kansas William Allen White citation. Kurtis has also authored three books: On Assignment (1984), Death Penalty on Trial (2004), and Prairie Table Cookbook (2008). In the animated series South Park, Eric Cartman owns a board game called "Investigative Reports with Bill Kurtis", featuring a talking Bill Kurtis bust. The boys can be seen playing the game in South Park's season four episode "Cartman Joins NAMBLA" (2000) and season eight episode "Up the Down Steroid" (2004). The game can also be seen on the shelf of a hobby store in the episode "Cock Magic" (2014). A 1972 report by Bill Kurtis, while a correspondent for CBS News in Los Angeles, was used as the introduction to Dr. Dre's album Compton. Kurtis also contributed a spoken-word introduction to The Dandy Warhols' 2005 album Odditorium or Warlords of Mars.

Personal information

Birthday

1940-09-21

Birth Place

Pensacola, Florida, USA

Movies and TV shows :

'85: The Greatest Team in Football History

'85: The Greatest Team in Football History

2016

8.2

Movie
poster

American Justice

1992

7.4

TV
poster

American Justice: Who Is the LIpstick Killer?

0.0

TV
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

2013

6.1

Movie
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

2004

6.7

Movie
Chasing October

Chasing October

2007

0.0

Movie
poster

Cold Case Files

1999

8.5

TV
poster

Cold Case Files

2017

7.9

TV
poster

Cold Case Files: DNA Speaks

2023

9.0

TV
Discovering Deerpath

Discovering Deerpath

2009

6.0

Movie
poster

Investigating History

2004

0.0

TV
poster

Investigative Reports

1991

8.0

TV
Live at Mister Kelly's

Live at Mister Kelly's

2021

0.0

Movie
Making Waves

Making Waves

0.0

Movie
poster

Saturday Night Live

1975

6.9

TV
Stull

Stull

2009

0.0

Movie
poster

The American Revolution

1994

0.0

TV
The Atlanta Child Murders

The Atlanta Child Murders

2001

0.0

Movie
poster

The Mafia: Empire of Crime

1993

0.0

TV
The New Explorers: The Science of Star Trek

The New Explorers: The Science of Star Trek

1995

4.2

Movie
poster

The Sopranos

1999

8.7

TV
poster

The Unexplained

1996

8.8

TV
U-505: Extend The Experience

U-505: Extend The Experience

2006

0.0

Movie
Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie

Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie

2004

5.9

Movie
Will Rogers and American Politics

Will Rogers and American Politics

2010

0.0

Movie
William Allen White: What's the Matter with Kansas

William Allen White: What's the Matter with Kansas

2018

0.0

Movie