Bones Wouldn't Exist Without This Real Life Forensic Anthropologist
The 2000s were the heyday of network procedurals centered around oddball geniuses. While Hugh Laurie's Dr. House verbally excoriated his patients before saving their lives from rare diseases, elsewhere on prime-time, Dr. Temperance Brennan (Emily Deschanel) solved murders through bones alone. "Bones" ran for an impressive 12 seasons on FOX before signing off in 2017, but half a decade later it's still a much-rewatched favorite among fans. While other famously eccentric TV geniuses have either been based on only the thinnest true story or are total fictions (alas, the meme-generating protagonist of "The Good Doctor" is not a real guy), Dr. Brennan is a rarity, as she's based on a real person.
Forensic anthropologist, professor, and author Kathy Reichs is the direct inspiration for Dr. Brennan, and she also quite literally wrote the book on the character: "Bones" is based on Dr. Reichs' still-ongoing novel series, which began in 1997 with the book "Deja Dead." Though there are considerable biographical and personality differences between the Bones we see on screen, Dr. Reichs' protagonist Tempe, and Reichs herself, it's safe to say that some of the hero's fascinating exploits match up with the author's own life.
Dr. Kathy Reichs has led an impressive career
Dr. Reichs is one of roughly 110 people in the world who is currently actively certified by the American Board of Forensic Anthropology, per its website. Like Brennan, Dr. Reich seems to be an in-demand expert who's made a name for herself with a globe-crossing career. In 2002, according to her website, she visited Guatemala to help exhume a mass grave full of victims of the Guatemalan Civil War. Viewers tuning into "Bones" for the first time will see Brennan coming back from a similar trip in the pilot episode, where she ends up waylaid at the airport by FBI agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz) when he requests her help for the first time. Reichs also testified at the U.N. Tribunal on Genocide in Rwanda, and has traveled everywhere from Illinois to Israel to do her work.
Like Dr. Brennan, Dr. Reichs has also helped ascertain the facts in major murder cases. According to a 2011 USA Today profile, the anthropologist's first novel was inspired by her work with the remains of the victims of Quebec-based serial killer Serge Archambault. Dr. Reichs also did a full skeletal analysis in the case of the 2008 death of Caylee Anthony (although she didn't end up testifying in the case), finding no forensic evidence of abuse nor any clear cause of death. Though forensic science has its limitations (biological data can't always tell scientists about a person's race or cultural background, their gender presentation, or their lived experiences), bones can still tell well-studied experts plenty about the life and death of a subject.
Life imitates art imitates life
If you're a "Bones" fan and think Reichs' name sounds familiar, you're not wrong: the show's Dr. Brennan is also an author, and the fictional anthropologist in her own novels is, hilariously, named Kathy Reichs. Dr. Reichs worked as a producer on the show, wrote a handful of episodes, and even appeared in one — playing a professor in the season 2 episode "Judas on a Pole."
Now in her 70s, Dr. Reichs still seems committed to the field she loves. She's still listed as a Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, and her next Temperance Brennan book, "Fire and Bone," is due out in August 2024. While the protagonist in Brennan's own books on the Fox series may share a name with Reichs, the scientist noted to USA Today that her life is by no means exactly like any version of Brennan's. "Professionally we're the same, but our personal lives are different," the author explained. "I think our sense of humor is the same. My friends say that when she says smart-*ss things, they can hear me saying them."