2003 Inductee
Bill has been an integral part of Denver broadcasting for more than 25 years. Through these past decades he has been a calm and reassuring presence guiding Colorado viewers through coverage of the state’s worst tragedies and greatest triumphs. He provided hours of live coverage on the crash of United flight 232, the Columbine shootings, the Hayman Fire and the Pope’s visit to Denver in 1993. His work on these stories – and hundreds of others in his career at News4 – has earned him regional and national recognition.
Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Bill spent the early part of his life in the South. It was during his senior year in high school that he realized he might want to go into broadcasting. After attending classes at the University of Southern Mississippi and the University of Tennessee, Bill went on to serve as anchor at several stations: WTVF-TV in Nashville, KSDK-TV in St. Louis, and at WALA-TV in Mobile, Alabama. He soon moved west to work at KMGH-TV in Denver. It was in December 1981 that he joined News4 as weeknight anchor. His successful career has resulted in numerous local and national awards, including 15 Emmys from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for his “journalistic enterprise” reporting. He has earned two national Headliner Awards and a Peabody Award for his series, “Yellowstone: Four Seasons After Fire.” He received a duPont Award for “Erin’s Life,” a series on the life of a woman who survived a serious accident. And, in 2001, Bill was honored with a national Edward R. Murrow Award for “Erin’s Life: Ten Years Later.”
The best part of his job, according to Bill, is the opportunity to meet interesting people; but one hardship of the business is the emotional impact of some stories. The one that stands out in his mind occurred in 1991 when he traveled to Romania to do stories on young orphans. He says he could not have imagined the horrific conditions he found there.
Bill has been actively involved in many community service campaigns. Most notably, Bill took the lead in a News4 effort to help find homes for Colorado kids awaiting adoption. As a spokesman for the Adoption Exchange for nearly 20 years, Bill has profiled kids looking for families. His efforts have helped almost 3,500 kids find new families.
In December of 2001, Denver Mayor Wellington Webb honored Bill with a proclamation recognizing his decades of service to Denver television. Bill is married and has two children. When he is not working, he enjoys spending time with his family.