Wilkos was born in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up in what is now the Roscoe Village neighborhood in North Center, Chicago, and is the third of four children. His parents are Jeanette (née Pelikan), a beauty school instructor, and Stanley Wilkos, a former police officer who was in the Korean War as an army paratrooper.[2][3][4] He graduated from Lane Technical High School in 1982.[5][6]
Career
Wilkos in the 1980s as a U.S. Marine.
In October 1982,[7] Wilkos joined the U.S. Marine Corps, serving in South Korea, Japan, Illinois, Virginia, and South Carolina before being discharged in March 1989.[8]
Chicago Police Department
Wilkos joined the Chicago Police Department in 1990,[1] where he was stationed at various times in the Logan Square, Humboldt Park, and Near West Side neighborhoods of Chicago.[9]
Jerry Springer
In May 1994, the producers of Jerry Springer, taped in Chicago at that time, needed security guards, so they decided to hire Wilkos and other off-duty police officers to work part-time for the show.[10] Wilkos recruited several fellow officers for the job,[1] and he retired from the force in 2002 and worked exclusively for the show beginning in 2001.
Entertainment Weekly reported that Wilkos became a professional wrestler with the Maryland Championship Wrestling during a temporary production hiatus of Jerry Springer.[11][12] In 2005, Wilkos appeared as a guest on Check, Please!, a restaurant-reviewing program on Chicago's PBS station, WTTW.[13] In 2006, after Springer began what would be a seven-episode stint on Dancing with the Stars, Wilkos filled in for him in the meantime and Springer later recruited Wilkos to substitute for him each Monday, calling him "the obvious choice."[14]
In January 2007, NBC Universal Television officially announced that Wilkos would host a talk show of his own based at NBC Tower in Chicago. The self-titled program premiered on September 10, 2007, and received high ratings.[16] Wilkos is known for his abrasive approach to solving disputes.
Like other tabloid talk shows, The Steve Wilkos Show aired primarily on affiliates of Fox, MyNetworkTV and The CW. Only scattered ABC, CBS and NBC affiliates in smaller markets aired it to fill their timeslot. The CW Plus has aired The Steve Wilkos Show since 2007, airing weekdays between 8am-10am.
On January 21, 2018, Wilkos was involved in a rollover crash near his home and was charged with drunk driving. He asked a judge for an alternative punishment which would result in charges being dismissed upon completion of an education and treatment program.[22][23]
References
^ abcWeller, Sam (January 12, 1998). "Talk Toughs". Weekly Wire. Retrieved December 15, 2007.
^Malooley, Jake (September 1, 2012). "Steve Wilkos Interview". Time Out Chicago. Retrieved August 15, 2018.
^ abLipton, Michael A. (May 4, 1998). "Brawlbuster". People. Retrieved May 29, 2014.