Bill Handel - Biography

Biography

Handel was born in Brazil, to Leo and Nechama Handel. His father Leo Handel was a Polish Jew who had hidden in a Jesuit monastery 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 and he was sworn in as a U.S. citizen at the age of eleven.

He spent the remainder of his formative years growing up in the San Fernando Valley, the northern portion of the City of Los Angeles. He attended Cal State Northridge (regarded as the 'Harvard of the West'), where he obtained his bachelor's degree in Political Science. He then earned his J.D. from the prestigious Whittier Law School.

Before beginning his talk radio career, he provided legal counsel for some of the ground breaking cases establishing the bounds in the field of surrogate parenting, including the writing of one of the earliest surrogate parenting contracts ever written, and helping establish many of the legal precedents of the field.

Handel is the director of the Center for Surrogate Parenting, which helps childless couples have children through surrogacy. The company has offices in California and Maryland and has clients from all over the world.

Handel is known to refer to himself as a "Latino Jew". Although he makes fun of his own heritage, and all stereotypes, one of his more serious and memorable excursions involved taking white supremacist John Metzger to Auschwitz to view the concentration camps and the gas chamber where his grandfather was executed. The German government originally thought that KFI was a neo-Nazi radio station and did not want to allow the trip, but finally relented after being presented with more information.

Handel generally expresses a politically centrist viewpoint, with support for some civil liberties and reduction of wasteful government spending and excessive taxation, while still denouncing civilian ownership of firearms, and supporting federally funded embryonic stem-cell research.

He has hosted his own television show, Judge For Yourself, which was canceled due to low ratings and the lack of time in Handel's schedule. Judge For Yourself was unique in that it solicited comments from a 900 number, whose results would be broadcast on the next day's show. He also served as a fill-in host on Glenn Beck, when it aired on CNN Headline News.

He underwent bariatric surgery at Centinela Freeman Hospital to lose weight. Handel's experiences with this surgical procedure have been thoroughly documented in a series of segments on his morning radio show. Handel has also openly discussed his previous drug addiction.

Handel is married to Marjorie Handel, and has twin daughters named Pamela and Barbara. His brother, Mark W. Handel is a real estate development professional at MWH Development in the greater Los Angeles area.

Handel is also a blue belt in kempo karate and attends classes several days a week.