Boggs was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a BA and received a Master's degree from Penn's Annenberg School for Communication. He was the celebrity correspondent for the syndicated My Generationtelevision show airing on PBS, featuring interviews inspired by his 2007 HarperCollins book, Got What it Takes?: Successful People Reveal How They Made It to the Top. The book includes interviews with Renée Zellweger, Donald Trump, Sir Richard Branson, Clive Davis, Joe Torre, and others. Based on material in his book, Boggs serves as a motivational speaker for Vistage International, world's largest CEO organization. He has also published a novel, At First Sight, with Grosset and Dunlap publishers. That novel and his one-man show about his TV career, Talk Show Confidential, were optioned by Renée Zellweger for a screenplay inspired by his life. Boggs began his show business career in comedy, when he became the personal manager for a new comedy team named Tom Patchett and Jay Tarses, who were coworkers with Boggs at the Armstrong Cork Company in Lancaster. The three men left Armstrong for show business. While helping to launch their careers Boggs also worked as a substitute teacher in the Philadelphia school system and later as Assistant Dean of Men, at the University of Pennsylvania. After working with them for three years. Boggs took his first on-camera job in KYW-TV in Philadelphia and stopped managing the team, who went on to write for Bob Newhart, Mary Tyler Moore and other syndicated TV shows. In 1972 Boggs left KYW for ABC affiliate, WGHP-TV in High Point, North Carolina, where he produced the syndicated Southern Exposure with Bill Boggs morning talk show. A former news anchorman for WNBC in New York City, Boggs also hosted 'All Star Anything Goes' a CBS TV game show. His first talk show was in 1972. He hosted 'Southern Exposure' for ABC affiliate, WGHP channel 8 in High Point, North Carolina. Boggs was host of Midday Live on WNEW-TV from 1975 to 1986, as well as 'Saturday Morning Live' on WNEW TV. succeeding Lee Leonard. He created the first national restaurant review show, TV Diners, for the Food Network, and spent many years hosting the network's first non-cooking show, the celebrity interview show, Bill Boggs' Corner Table. Boggs co-executive produced and hosted TV's first syndicated stand up comedy series, Comedy Tonight in the late 1980s. He also hosted Championship Boxing Report Update for Showtime, and Historic Traveler and Freeze Frame for the Travel Channel. Boggs was also the executive producer of The Morton Downey, Jr. Show and founding executive producer of Court TV. Boggs appeared in several film and television dramas including Oz and Miami Vice. He appeared as himself in the movie Eyes of Laura Mars. He debuted a solo stage show called Talk Show Confidential in 2003. The show included stories and rare video clips from his years as a television talk show host. Boggs formed Boggs/Baker Productions Inc with Richard Baker. The company produced several music shows including artists as varied as Lou Reed, Bobby Short Ian Hunter, Mink DeVille and a documentary on The Stuttgart Ballet as well as the syndicated series Comedy Tonight. Boggs is an officer of the Friars Club of New York and a member of the board of directors of The AmericanPopular Song Society, and has been inducted into the Northeast PhiladelphiaHall of Fame. In addition to his work on television, he is a leadership coach and motivational speaker for Vistage International. He writes a restaurant column for thedailymeal.com. Boggs performs six stages presentations drawn from his career, "Talk Show Confidential," "Memories of Sinatra," "Fun at the Food Network," "A Ratpack Revival," Voices of Our Time," and "Confessions of a Talk Show Host."
Personal life
Boggs has been married four times. His first marriage was to a college classmate, and was annulled. His second marriage was to Leslie Bennetts, a journalist and columnist for Vanity Fair. His third marriage was to Canadian actress Linda Thorson, and produced a son, Trevor. His fourth marriage, to publishing executive Carol Edmunds Campbell, ended in divorce in 2010. Boggs lives with longtime girlfriend Jane Rothchild.
