Rudy Kalis grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He spent four years in the United States Air Force and then earned a degree in communications from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
After spending two years working as a news and sports reporter in Green Bay, Wisconsin, he came to WSMV-TV in Nashville in 1974 where he worked as a sports reporter, sports director and news anchor for 43 years. He has interviewed some of the greatest athletes in the world and covered sporting events like the Superbowl, NCAA football and basketball championships and various other major sporting events.
In his tenure he earned 4 regional Emmy’s, was voted the outstanding Sportscast in the state of Tennessee 12 times by the Associated Press and was voted the outstanding sportscaster in Nashville 30 times by various publications.
He also won a national Iris award for a locally produced documentary entitled “The Boxer”.
He is also in the Metro Football Coaches Hall of Fame and the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway Hall of Fame.
Since retiring from full-time work in 2018, he has become a full-time volunteer for a faith-based prison ministry called Men of Valor.  He is a member of the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Nashville.