Tom Morris Jr. is an American television host and producer. He was a producer on ''

America's Most Wanted ''America's Most Wanted'' (often abbreviated as ''AMW'') is an American television program whose first run was produced by 20th Television, and second run is under the Fox Entertainment#Fox Alternative Entertainment, Fox Alternative Entertain ...

'' (AMW) for three years, then became an on-air correspondent on the show through 2011. In 2016, he was hired as one of the original co-hosts of ''

Live PD ''Live PD'' is an American television program that aired on the A&E Network from 2016 to 2020. It follows police officers in the course of their patrols live, broadcasting interactions with the public. The show was hosted by Dan Abrams with a ...

'', which became the most successful show in A&E's history.

Early life

Morris is the son of Dr. Eleanor Morris of Burgess, Virginia and the late Rev. T. Wright Morris. He graduated from Northumberland High School, in

Heathsville, Virginia Heathsville is a census-designated place (CDP) in and the county seat of Northumberland County, Virginia, Northumberland County, Virginia, United States. Heathsville is in the easternmost county of the Northern Neck of Virginia, which was the birt ...

, in 1975. He earned his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in mass communications from

Norfolk State University Norfolk State University (NSU) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black university in Norfolk, Virginia. It is a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and Virginia High-Tech Partnersh ...

Career

Morris' first job in television came while he was still in college, as an intern news writer in Norfolk, Virginia. After college, he worked as a courier with the White House press corps, and worked his way up to

cameraman A camera operator, or depending on the context cameraman or camerawoman, is a professional operator of a film camera or video camera as part of a film crew. The term "cameraman" does not necessarily imply that a male is performing the task. ...

. Morris left the press corps in the 1980s and took a job as an economic development specialist with Prince George's County in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

. In 1987, he joined the U.S. State Department's newly formed antiterrorism Embassy Task Group. He was assigned to

Mogadishu Mogadishu, locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and List of cities in Somalia by population, most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port connecting traders across the Indian Ocean for millennia and has ...

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

. In 1993, Morris began working as a producer for ''

''. After three years of working on the show, the executive producer of the show assigned him to be an on-air correspondent for a murder case. He continued his on-air work for the show through 2011. In 2016, Morris was contacted by the producers of ''

'' to be a co-host alongside Dan Abrams. He worked on the show for the entirety of its run. Morris' experience on AMW led to Live PD regularly featuring a "Wanted" segment during its episodes, starting in the first season. During season 2, Morris worked with Angeline Hartmann (who had also worked at AMW) at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children to produce a regular "Missing" segment within the show as well. As Live PD grew in popularity, it spawned a number of spin-offs; one of those, '' Live PD: Wanted'', was hosted by Morris solo.

Other endeavors

In 2019, Morris was added to the board of directors of the

American Red Cross The American National Red Cross is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Humanitarianism, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. Clara Barton founded ...

in greater New York. He is also the narrator for the A&E series, "Fugitives: Caught On Tape".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Tom, Jr. Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American television hosts American television producers Norfolk State University alumni America's Most Wanted Live PD