William Wolf Handel | |
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Bill Handel, June 2009
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Born |
Wolf Handel August 25, 1951 Brazil |
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | Cal State Northridge B.A. in Political Science; J.D., Whittier Law School |
Occupation | Attorney, radio host and commentator |
Website | handelonthelaw |
William Wolf "Bill" Handel (born August 25, 1951) is the director and founder of the Center for Surrogate Parenting, licensed attorney, and an AM radio personality in Los Angeles, California.
Handel currently hosts two radio programs on KFI in Los Angeles, California. First is KFI's local morning show, in which he comments on current events. The program is one of the top rated morning programs in the Los Angeles market, with more than 1 million listeners. Additionally, he hosts a legal advice show on weekends called Handel on the Law, which launched in 1985 and is syndicated by Premiere Radio Networks and heard on more than 150 stations.
His legal show is currently his longest running radio program to date. In early 2010, The Bill Handel Show replaced Dr. Laura when she ended her syndicated show. Both of Handel's shows played across the United States on America's Talk channel 158 on XM Satellite Radio. On February 22, 2010, the afternoon show was replaced by The Bill Carroll Show.
Handel was born Wolf Handel in Brazil, to Leo and Nechama Handel. His father Leo Handel was a Polish Jew who had hidden in a Jesuit house and lived as a Catholic priest during World War II. Much of the Handel family lost their lives in the Holocaust.
Leo applied to emigrate to the United States legally, and was forced to wait for eleven years to obtain entry. During this time he lived in Brazil where he met and married his wife, Nechama, a dentist. The Handel family emigrated to the U.S. when Bill was six. He was sworn in as a U.S. citizen at the age of eleven, at which time he changed his name to William Wolf Handel. Handel speaks fluent Brazilian Portuguese.
He spent the remainder of his formative years growing up in the San Fernando Valley. He attended California State University, Northridge where he obtained his bachelor's degree in Political Science. He then earned his J.D. from Whittier Law School.