Bill Kurtis was born William Horton Kuretich on September 21, 1940. He is an American television journalist, television producer, narrator, and news anchor, renowned for his sonorous voice throughout his career. Kurtis is most known for narrating A&E's true crime series Cold Case Files and American Justice.
Kurtis's career in television news began in the 1960s when he was studying to become a lawyer. He was asked to fill in on a temporary news assignment at a television station in Topeka, Kansas, and 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. He also anchored three CBS Reports: The Plane That Fell from the Sky, The Golden Leaf, and The Gift of Life.
Kurtis became especially interested in investigative in-depth reports and documentaries. When he returned to Chicago and resumed his anchor duties, he also founded a production company, Kurtis Productions.
Throughout his career, Kurtis has hosted or produced numerous crime and news documentary shows, including Investigative Reports, American Justice, and Cold Case Files. He 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 has narrated nearly 1,000 documentaries, and Kurtis Productions has produced nearly 500 documentaries for various networks, including PBS, A&E, and the History Channel. He has also hosted American Justice, produced by Towers Productions, and has produced nearly 100 episodes of American Greed for CNBC.
Kurtis has received numerous awards for his work, including 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 game can be seen in several episodes of the show.
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.
