Press & broadcasting
Bill Bonds
1932–2014 · television news anchor, reporter
Detroit-born WXYZ Action News anchor whose blunt editorials, 1967 riot coverage and feud with Mayor Coleman Young made him the city's most famous newsman.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan- Died
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
aged 82- Birth name
- William Duane Bonds
- Detroit years
- 1932–2014
- Field
- Press & broadcasting
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Bonds was born in Detroit, served in the Air Force from 1951 to 1955 and graduated from the University of Detroit in 1959. After starting in radio in Albion, he joined WXYZ in 1964 as a part-time booth announcer and made his name covering the 1967 Detroit uprising, reporting live from the streets. Following a stint in Los Angeles, he returned to WXYZ-TV in 1971 as the station launched its Action News format, and within two years the newscast was Detroit's top-rated, a position it held for decades. His combative on-air commentaries, especially his sparring with Mayor Coleman Young, including a 1989 challenge to a fistfight, became local legend, while his struggles with alcohol were also public. After leaving WXYZ in 1995 he hosted Bonds Tonight on WJBK and did commercials, and he died at home in Bloomfield Hills in 2014.
Highlights
- Anchor of WXYZ-TV Action News from 1971, Detroit's top-rated newscast for decades
- Covered the 1967 Detroit uprising live
- Famous feud with Mayor Coleman Young
- University of Detroit graduate (1959)
- Later hosted Bonds Tonight on WJBK-TV
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Worked here · 1964–1995
WXYZ-TV Broadcast House
Channel 7's studios, from which Bonds anchored Action News.
Studied here · 1955–1959
University of Detroit (today University of Detroit Mercy), McNichols Campus
He earned a degree in political science and English here in 1959.