Bill Boggs Biography
Bill Boggs is a television host and journalist from the United States. He is also a producer and actor, having worked on Species II (1998), The Devil’s Advocate (1997), and Trading Places (1983).
Bill Boggs Age
Boggs was born William Boggs III on July 11, 1944, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He is 82 years old as of July 2023.
Bill Boggs Education
Boggs received a BA from the University of Pennsylvania. He received his master’s degree from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California.
Bill Boggs Wife- Married
Boggs has had four marriages. His first marriage was annulled to a college classmate. He married Leslie Bennetts for the second time. For 19 years, he was married to Canadian actress Linda Thorson, with whom he has a son, Trevor. In 2010, he divorced his fourth wife, publishing executive Carol Edmunds Campbell. Boggs is now living with his long-term girlfriend, Jane Rothchild.
Bill Boggs Career
He was a celebrity correspondent for PBS’s syndicated My Generation television show, which featured interviews based on his 2007 HarperCollins book, Got What it Takes? : Successful People Reveal How They Made It to the Top. Interviews with Renée Zellweger, Donald Trump, Sir Richard Branson, Clive Davis, Joe Torre, and others are included in the book. Boggs is a motivational speaker for Vistage International, the world’s largest CEO organization, based on material from his book. At First Sight, his novel, was published by Grosset and Dunlap. Zellweger optioned that novel and his one-man show about his TV career, Talk Show Confidential, for a screenplay based on his life.
Boggs got his start in show business as the personal manager for a new comedy team called Tom Patchett and Jay Tarses, who worked with Boggs at the Armstrong Cork Company in Lancaster. Armstrong was abandoned by the three men. Boggs also worked as a substitute teacher in the Philadelphia public school system and later as the Assistant Dean of Men at his alma mater, UPenn. After three years of collaboration, Boggs took his first on-camera job at KYW-TV in Philadelphia and left management to write for Bob Newhart, Mary Tyler Moore, and others.
Boggs left KYW in 1972 to host and produce his first talk show, Southern Exposure, for then-ABC affiliate WGHP-TV in High Point, North Carolina. He hosted the syndicated All Star Anything Goes (1977–78) as a former news anchorman for WNBC in New York City.
From 1975 to 1986, Boggs was a regular on WNEW-TV (now WNYW). He took over for Lee Leonard as host of Midday Live and later replaced Gene Rayburn on Saturday Morning Live. He created the Food Network’s first national restaurant review show, TV Diners, and spent many years hosting Bill Boggs’ Corner Table, the network’s first non-cooking/celebrity interview show. He co-created and hosted Comedy Tonight (1985–86), TV’s first syndicated stand-up comedy series.
For Showtime, he hosted Championship Boxing Report Update, and for the Travel Channel, he hosted Historic Traveler and Freeze Frame (an adventure photographer show). Boggs was the founding executive producer of TruTV and The Morton Downey Jr. Show. Boggs has appeared in a number of films and television shows, including Oz and Miami Vice. In the film The Eyes of Laura Mars, he played himself. In 2003, he made his solo stage debut with Talk Show Confidential. The show featured stories and rare video clips from his time as a talk show host on television. Boggs/Baker Productions Inc. was founded by him and Richard Baker. The company produced several music shows with artists such as Lou Reed (A Night with Lou Reed), Bobby Short (Bobby Short & Friends), and others.
Boggs is an officer of the Friars Club of New York, a member of the American Popular Song Society’s board of directors, and a member of the Northeast Philadelphia Hall of Fame. In addition to his television work, he is a Vistage International leadership coach and motivational speaker. He contributes to the website thedailymeal.com with a restaurant column. Boggs has given six stage presentations based on his career: Talk Show Confidential, Sinatra Memories, Food Network Fun, A Ratpack Revival, Voices of Our Time, and Confessions of a Talk Show Host.
Bill Boggs Net Worth
Bill has an estimated net worth of 1 million dollars.
Bill Boggs Movies
1978 Eyes of Laura Mars
1983 Trading Places
1989 The Lemon Sisters
1994 Safe Passage
1996 Sudden Manhattan
1996 Night Falls on Manhattan
1997 The Devil’s Advocate
1998 Species II
2001 Double Whammy
2001 Piñero Lennon Anchorman
2001 Carman: The Champion
2016 The Comedian