In a note to editorial staff, Wait Wait…Don't Tell Me! Executive Producer Mike Danforth shared that Bill Kurtis is retiring from his role as the show's judge and scorekeeper:
All,
Legendary anchorman and America’s favorite judge and scorekeeper, Bill Kurtis is retiring from his role at Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!, capping off a phenomenal 12-year run with the show.
Kurtis is known to NPR listeners everywhere for a voice so rich and deep it can lend dignity to anything — even a description of a ham sandwich. The man is an icon in the world of broadcast journalism.
Bill got started as a reporter and anchor at a CBS affiliate in Chicago in the 1960s where he covered everything from the anti-war protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention to the Charles Manson murder trial. He co-anchored The CBS Morning News. He helped usher in the era of true crime documentaries with Cold Case Files. And he proved his voice could make you laugh in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.
With his lifetime of experience as a journalist tackling serious news, the only mountain left to conquer was the radio news quiz.
Bill officially joined Wait Wait in 2014 taking over for Carl Kasell, a beloved figure in the world of public media and iconic voice of NPR news for decades. Few would have been up to the task. Bill was a natural.
From Peter Sagal: “I couldn’t believe a newsman of his stature, accomplishment and hard-earned credibility would ever stoop to doing our silly little show. 12 years and hundreds of shows with him later, I still can’t quite believe it, but am incredibly grateful to have been wrong."
Almost immediately Bill proved he had the right blend of gravitas and goofiness to succeed on Wait Wait. And nowhere was this more apparent than in his opening introduction every week: “I’m the voice of your aunt’s sexual awakening, Bill Kurtis”; “I'm the voice so creamy, you better take some Lactaid”; “I'm the voice so rich, it makes you sign a pre-nup.”
Those of us on the Wait Wait staff all love writing for Bill because he can do so much with the power of his voice. Whatever’s in the script is twice as funny when he says it. And it’s true for everything he does. Cold Case Files is so much creepier. The minerals display at the Field Museum that he narrates — it’s way less boring because of Bill. We’re so lucky to get to work with him.
And now, at 85, Bill says it’s time to hand things over to a new generation of voices.
From Bill: “There is no better way to stay young than to surround yourself with this crew of outrageously talented people who have no fear in taking down anything and anyone with a well placed joke. Then to let me give it voice and be standing there when the roar of laughter comes rolling back from the audience. No better feeling! What an incredible chapter Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me is in my life.”
Bill will still be a part of the Wait Wait family, filling in as judge and scorekeeper, lending his powerful voice to winner voicemails, and popping into the Wait Wait socials to say hi. His last show will be May 23. Plans around a successor for the role will be announced soon.
–Mike Danforth, Executive Producer, WWDTM
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