Meet Celebrity Guest Speaker PETRI HAWKINS BYRD!
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Petri Hawkins
Byrd,
otherwise known as ‘Officer Byrd’ from the TV court show,
Judge Judy, was born Petri Adonis Byrd in the Crown Heights
section of Brooklyn, New York. (He changed the ‘Adonis’ to his
mother’s maiden name, ‘Hawkins’ because “I didn’t want people to
think I made it up.”).
Byrd - as he’s
known to friends and fans alike-, graduated from Eastern District
High School, in Brooklyn and attended Hostos Community College, in
the Bronx. In 1986, after being transferred from Brooklyn Family
Court to Manhattan Family Court, Byrd met is future TV boss,
Judge Judith Sheindlin. In 1989, Byrd received his
bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from John Jay College. (“Some
folks graduated ‘magna cum laude’. I
graduated ‘Thank you, Lordy”’! )
In 1990, Byrd
and his family moved to the San Francisco Bay Area., where he worked
for the U.S. Marshal Service. |
It was in 1995,
while working as a campus supervisor at a local high school that he
received a call from Judge Judy, asking whether he would be interested
reuniting with her to do a TV court show. The rest, as they say, is
history. Judge Judy is currently in its eleventh season
and shows no signs of slowing down.
"Officer”
Byrd, while continuing in the role that has brought him
worldwide recognition, continues to broaden his horizons through work in
theatre, commercial and film. A published and recorded songwriter, the
former Brooklynite is currently working on animation and spoken word
projects, for children and adults. A staunch community activist, Byrd is
the chairman of the national board for the O.K.Program,-
an organization designed to address social issues confronting young
African-American males- as well as the board chairman of Teen
Center USA, a faith-based youth program.
When not working
on the Judge Judy Show, Byrd is a much sought after emcee and
“inspirational” speaker. (He’s emceed shows for Gerald Albright,
Smokey Robinson, Howard Hewitt, Brian Culbertson, War, Heatwave, Norman
Brown, CeCe Winans and Take 6.)
Byrd
currently
lives in the Sacramento area with his wife and four children. As to his
future plans, Byrd says, “The Bible tells me that God
knows the plans He has for me. So I’m content to just be
His co-pilot!”
