Steve Wilkos

Steven John Wilkos (; born March 9, 1964) is an American television personality and former law enforcement officer with the Chicago Police Department. He has been hosting The Steve Wilkos Show since 2007, and was director of security on Jerry Springer from 1994 to 2007. He had previously substituted for Springer as host on several occasions before being given his own talk show. Early life and education Wilkos was born in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up in what is now the Roscoe Village neighborhood in North Center, Chicago, and is the eldest 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. He graduated from Lane Technical High School in 1982. Career In October 1982, Wilkos joined the United States Marine Corps, serving in South Korea, Japan, Illinois, Virginia, and South Carolina before being discharged in March 1989.