Bio
Steve Wilkos is an American ex-Marine and Chicago police officer, best known as the director of security on The Jerry Springer Show. On many occasions he substitutes as host of the show.
He has appeared in two films to date - Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) and Pauly Shore Is Dead (2003).
On 17 January 2007 it was announced that Wilkos would be leaving the Springer show to host his own daytime talk show, which debuted in national syndication on Sept 10, 2007.
A native of Chicago, Wilkos served in the U.S. Marine Corps for almost seven years before joining the Chicago Police Dept. For almost 12 years, he worked for Chicago's volatile 14th District while moonlighting during his off hours on Springer.
Wilkos retired from the police force in 2001 and has devoted himself full time to television ever since.
Over the last two seasons on Springer before he left the show, Wilkos filled in for Springer as host of the long-running talk show on more than 50 episodes, using his law enforcement background and no-nonsense style to create his own identity as a talk show host.
When not watching cartoons with his two young children, Wilkos makes time to catch his favourite show, The Simpson's, for which he lent his voice for a cameo on a past episode (a milestone he proudly calls "the highlight of my career so far.")
Being a huge sports fan, Wilkos can be spotted at various professional sporting events in his free time, such as basketball and football games, and he is a regular at Chicago Cubs baseball games.
In addition, Wilkos is in constant demand for weekend appearances at auto shows, fundraisers and various other events.