DJ Foster Brooks

Foster Brooks died in 2001 at the age of 89. His talent has largely been forgotten as he spend the peak of his career type-cast into a role as a lush. Cultural attitudes toward alcoholism had changed by the 1980s such that it wasn't funny anymore. The same thing happened to Dean Martin.  Brooks was was almost 70 at the time and it was late in life to re-make his image. But he still landed a reoccurring role on Mork & Mindy as Miles Sternhagen. The role was a manager at a TV station. With his background, it may have been an impersonation of someone from his own career. Brooks made do with these cameo appearances until finally retiring. Anyone born after the movie Dances with Wolves came out would likely have no idea who he was.  More here.

Brooks was born in Louisville in 1912 and was one of seven brothers. His career started in radio, at WHAS-AM right there in Louisville at the age of 13 singing with his mother Edna. He remained primarily a singer at WHAS for years. The station was barely three years old at the time, having only been founded in 1922.  The earliest record I have found of him at the station is from April of 1932. He would have been only 20 years old. "Foster Brooks and Jim Henry staff singers doing a prolog for Hayden Reads Organlog this week at Loew's State, Louisville."  Then in September of that year another issue of Variety reports "Foster Brooks, WHAS baritone will m.c. at Seville Tavern, Louisville."

He later sang harmony with staff pianist Joe Pierson and by January 1937, he was announcing the Bulova watch time during station breaks. But this was not his first radio program. I found a 1934 issue of Variety which puts him on KSO in Des Moines, IA in 1934. It's just one sentence "Foster Brooks and Joe Plerson a new duo for KSO, Des Moines." Plerson was announcing at WQAM in Miami by March of 1935, so clearly the duo split. Plerson later landed at WFBM in 1946 and stayed at least until 1952. Brooks went back to Louisville by 1936.  More here.

Breaking out of singing, Brooks did everything behind the mic he could. He announced softball games and had an oddball afternoon show called "Yellow Blank Salute" with Herbie Koch organ, Charles Hurta on violin and Brooks own recitations. Radio Daily describes it as the staff organist and a staff violinist and makes no mention of Brooks. It was sponsored by Western Union. Radio Dial confirms it was on the air from May 1937 through April of 1938. He was at WHAS for 7 years (total) and was even captain of their baseball team. 

The WHAS studios were in the Courier-Journal newspaper building in downtown Louisville. Brooks became a staff announcer.  In 1937 he raised his profile for his emergency reporting during a severe flood. This was broadcast on both WHAS and WSM-AM. [SOURCE] In one of the pictures he poses with equipment borrowed from WFIL-AM. Yes, that's Brooks up the pole. It looks like they were clowning, which they were, but Monroe died of an infection from an injury that occurred in that dirty water, he was a year younger than Brooks. He and Pete Monroe sent flood bulletins from Lock 41 on the Portland canal and ended up in Variety and Broadcasting magazine multiple quotes and pictures: 

"At that time WHAS bulletins were spaced five minutes apart... the critical stages of the rescue work had passed. An announcer (Pete Monroe) or (Foster Brooks) said "WSM, this is WHAS calling... we will keep our transmitter open to take whatever stray bulletins come in... perhaps five minutes apart. Our transmitters now working with reduced power— go home WSM and get some sleep..."

That coverage is probably why a year later in 1938 Brooks moved to KWK-AM in St, Louis as an announcer. Trade magazines already knew who he was and reported the move.  He followed WHAS alumni Allan Anthony to KWK. Even Rural Radio magazine called out the hire. (The 1978 book Golden Throats & Silver Tongues by Ray Poindexter incorrectly places this in 1931.) A 1939 issue of variety confusingly describes Brooks leaving again in 1939. [SOURCE]

In 1942 he replaced Jack Berry on WHEC-AM in Rochester, NY taking over the Musical Clock. (Those call letters come up again later.) [SOURCE] In 1946 Brooks made his first commercial record, a 78 on Continental "The Face On The Bar Room Floor" Parts 1 [LINK]  and 2 [LINK]. It's oddly rare. The recording is not music or singing or comedy. It's a recitation with multiple character voices, all of which are probably Brooks. The text is old, I found a copy of the poem in the Stone Cutters Journal in 1922. It's attributed to Hugh Antoine d'Arcy who wrote it in 1887 under the original title "The Face Upon the Floor".  I can't speak for the 78, but the poem was very popular for decades. He wasn't even alone in recording it. Harold Selman did a version in 1928 for Okeh, Art Leonard for Regal in 1930, Buddy Williams in 1942 for Zonophone, and that continued right into the vinyl era. Hank Snow did a version in 1968. 

In 1943 550 WGR-AM & WKBW in Buffalo, where he hosted "The Musical Clock" and "Million Dollar Ballroom". In Buffalo, Brooks also performed with a country and western vocal group known as the Hi-Hatters.  Foster continued to play up the zaniness and organized stunts. He co-hosted a quiz show called "Stump Bob Smith." In 1949 he coordinated a canoeing event with WKBW and WEBR. There is one picture from this even of four very soggy DJs: Clare "Butch" Allen, Al Healy, George Walker, and Foster Brooks. It's not clear who won but if that meant staying dry, everyone lost. 

In 1950 went back to Louisville and got a really weird gig on WKLO. The WKLO DJ page describes his time at the station as short and says little else but there are other sources. [SOURCE]  His show was on 15 minutes five nights a week, then Saturdays from 9:30 PM to 1:00 AM. The description (below) in Variety magazine sounds truly bizarre. It sounds vaguely like his old WHAS show, "Yellow Blank Salute." I wish there was a tape of this show somewhere. 

"Brooks has a telephone in the studio and invites listeners to phone in their requests. One of the few air comics in this town, and by far the most versatile, Brooks intersperses vocals with the disks. Accompanied by the electric organ by Jerry Bottorff WKLO program director, Brooks vocals ballads in an excellent baritone voice. He has a gift for ad lib, and his throw-away remarks are entirely unpredictable. His timing and razor sharp zanyisms [sic] are making him a standout ad lib jock." 

By 1950 Brooks was on 970 WAVE-AM. The advertised him in Broadcasting magazine with the note "A top notch MC and wit —has appeared appeared with Arthur Godfrey, Vaughn Monroe, Spade Cooley and others! ... Louisville's most colorful television personality!"  In 1950 He had a "Foster Brooks Show" in 1950" which again sounds oddly like that Yellow Blank Salute again, ad-libs, card trucks and telephone gimmicks and musical accompaniment by the Mart-John Duo playing piano and bass-fiddle. He had a morning show "wake up with WAVE."  H Then he had a kids show at WAVE-TV where he played mickey mouse cartoons and portrayed The Old Sheriff in a western jail set.  Disambiguation Brooks father was a real sheriff in Louisville and Bhis brother was "Cactus" Tom Brooks who portrayed a cowboy clown on WHAS-TV in the 1950s 

Brooks stayed at WAVE for about 5 years. In 1957 Broadcasting also reported when he jumped to WHAM-AM in Rochester, NY. Brooks moved from WHAM-AM/WHFM-FM to WHEC-AM-TV in 1959. [SOURCE] It was the same year he won a Ray-O-Vac radio announcer Top 10 contest. I wish that tape still existed. 

Most short biographies report that he moved to Los Angeles in the 60s and began acting in television and doing stand up comedy. But this is glosses over the details. A Buffalo Bills press book still puts Foster Brooks on WROC-TV, Rochester in 1960, but so does the 1963 issue which seems erroneous. In 1962 KHJ schedules put him on that station in L.A. from January through at least June of that year. This seems to be his last regular radio gig and it's terminus marks the end of his radio career and the transition into character acting and television. 

According to Brooks he quit drinking in 1964 on a $10 bet. "I never drew a sober breath from Friday night to Monday. Eight years ago I quit. Fellow made me a $10 bet I couldn't quit, and I haven't had a drink since. At the time I needed the $10." His first TV appearance was on Gunsmoke in 1962, and his did dozens more; clearly playing a drunk was better for his career than being one. [SOURCE] He had a 30 year career in radio and then had another 20 year career in television. In 1997 Brooks was inducted into the Buffalo Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame. He died in 2001.

Hollywood Walk of Fame: A - C

As of this writing there are 2,476 stars in the Hollywood walk of fame. I recently read that only 10% of those are so-called radio stars.  By that math there should be about 248 radio stars on the walk. There are in fact only 238, which is 9.61%... close enough.

Because many stars cross media formats from music, to film to print and broadcasting the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce breaks this down into categories for us. Each category has an identifying emblem for it's brass radio star.  Inside the coral-pink terrazzo five-point star rimmed with brass is a circular 4-inch brass plaque showing an antique studio-style microphone Radio microphone. I'll warn you now that some category inclusions are dubious.

Since there are hundreds of these lets go at it alphabetically. This will take all week. In cases where there are two names or a state name absent a surname I have alphabetized by the first name of the listed first party. If I have already written a post about them I have inserted a link, if not then just a very abbreviated bio.

Bud Abbott - The straight man of the comedy team of Abbott and Costello, with Lou Costello which his listed under "C."  Many comedy duos share a star. They do not.  Costello appears below.

Dear Abby - Dear Abby of the advice column by the same name. It was founded in 1956 by Pauline Phillips under the pseudonym Abigail Van Buren. Her daughter Jeanne Phillips. There was in fact a Dear Abby radio show.

Fred Allen - He was a vaudeville performer, who became a guest on a couple radio shows then began hosting The Linit Bath Club Revue starting in 1934. The eponymous Fred Allen Show debuted on NBC in 1945. His radio career is long and storied.

Steve Allen - You already know his voice. The Steve Allen Show began airing in 1956,  but his first radio gig was on KOY-AM way back in 1945. You'd know him best as the first host of the tonight show.

Don Ameche - He was a film actor in the 1930s and '40s but he started in radio. He had numerous bit parts over the years, but his big radio role was as John Bickerson... of the Bickersons. It ran 1946 to 1951 but it lives on as a model for sitcoms today.

Morey Amsterdam - He had an eponymous TV program starting in 1948. He did relatively little notable radio. He was was a regular guest on The Al Pearce Show show, and himself hosted an obscure series called the Night Club of the Air which only ran for 2 months in 1937. His inclusion is dubious.

Eddie Anderson - Anderson rose to fame playing the character of Rochester, Jack Benny's personal valet.  He began playing bit parts on the program starting in 1937.  Anderson made it to the Radio Hall of Fame in 2001. He was the man. His gravelly voice tops even Tom Waits.

Eve Arden - She was a a regular on Danny Kaye's variety program in 1946. But her career was playing the character Connie Brooks in the sitcom "Our Miss Brooks." Arden portrayed the character on radio from 1948 to 1957 then for TV from 1952 - 1956, and then a film in 1956.

Eddy Arnold - He was a country artist with over a hundred singles to his name. He made his career the hard way playing live on air. He was on WTJS-AM in Jackson, WMPS-AM in Memphis, KWK-AM in St. Louis, WHAS-AM in Louisville eventually making it to the Grand Ol' Opry on WSM-AM.

Cliff Arquette - It has been said that at one point he was performing on 13 different daily radio shows in the Chicago metro. The big one was called "Dave and Charley" which Arquette hosted with Dave Willock,it even made it on TV briefly. He later revisited his characters for the Tonight Show while Jack Paar was host.

Gene Autry - See previous post here.

Dan Avey - Avey won over 30 major journalism awards in his career including 15 Golden Mikes, which might be a record. He was a sportscaster and newscaster on stations like KXLY-AM, KWIZ-AM, KFI-AM, KFWB-AM, and KABC-AM. He retired in 2007.

Lew Ayres - He was in more than 50 films in his career but he did a tour of radioland. He acted the part of Kildare on the program "The Story of Doctor Kildare" airing 1950 through 1951. He also played the part in film. His inclusion is dubious.

Jack Bailey - He was the host of a daytime game show called "Queen for a Day."  It debuted on the Mutual Radio Network in 1945 continuing through 1948 when it jumped to television.

Art Baker - His real name was Arthur Shank. The program "Art Baker's Notebook" debuted on KFI-AM in Los Angeles in 1938. It ran for 20 years. If that wasn't enough, he went on to host the TV show "You Asked for It."

Kenny Baker - This is different fellow than the Kenny Baker that was in R2D2. This Baker was a singer on  The Jack Benny Program in the 1930s. He had his own program which didn't do so well. He went on to sang on the Texaco Star Theater radio program and do film.

Phil Baker - He hosted a number of big radio programs in his career. Starting in 1933 Baker starred in his own NBC series "The Armour Jester." He was also the host of the popular quiz show "Take It or Leave It," which later became "The $64 Question." He also appeared on Duffy's Tavern in 1944.

Lionel Barrymore - He portrayed the character Doctor Gillespie on the program Doctor Kildare in the 1940s. He also performed in the radio series, Mayor of the Town, and got a bit typecast playing Ebenezer Scrooge on the radio every Xmas from 1934 to1953. He also hosted the AFRS "Concert Hall" Radio Show in he late 1940s.

Brian Beirne -  He actually trade-marked the nick name "Mr. Rock N' Roll."  Beirne was a DJ for KRTH-FM known as K-EARTH 101. After 29 years on air years he retired in 2004.

William Bendix -  His program "The Life of Riley" aired from 1944 through 1951. When it was revised for television "The Life of Riley" ran from 1953 to 1958. His character's tag line "What a revoltin' development" lives on.

Jack Benny - The Jack Benny show ran from 1932 to 1955. It became a television program from 1960 through 1964 on CBS, then NBC for another year. His career requires no further explanation.

Edgar Bergen - A ventriloquist who guested on Rudy Vallée's program in 1936, then a regular bit on the Chase and Sanborn Hour in 1937. That was followed by the Charlie McCarthy Show which lasted 2 years. He jumped to Film and TV from there.

Milton Berle - He made his reputation as a regular on on The Rudy Vallee Hour, and the Gillette Original Community Sing in 1936. The Milton Berle Show only ran a year from 1947 - 1948. Berle became the host of NBC's Texaco Star Theater taking over for Jack Carter.. His reign ran from 1948 to 1955 when it jumped to TV.

Ben Bernie - He was called  The Old Maestro. He broadcast on NBC Blue WJZ-AM starting in 1923. His program ran on CBS through most of the 1930s.  He slowly started to segue into film around 1937 and left radio. His last starring radio role was the "Ben Bernie War Workers" program" which ran from 1941 to 1943.

Rodney Bingenheimer - Rodney has been hosting his own program "Rodney on the ROQ" on KROQ since August of 1976. They'll probably have to tear it from his cold dead hands.

Mel Blanc - Now just famous for his voice work on Warner Bros cartoons, he actually began in radio. In 1927 he began doing voice over the KGW-AM program The Hoot Owls. He jumped to KEX-AM in 1933 to produce his Cobweb And Nuts show which lasted 2 years. He followed that with a spin on the Johnny Murray Show, then The Joe Penner Show, then a big win on the Jack Benny Show. He got his own program "The Mel Blanc Show", which ran from 1946  into 1947. It didn't matter.. he'd already discovered cartoon work. The die was cast.

Ford Bond - Bond was a radio announcer peaking in the mid 1940s. He did Manhattan Merry-Go-Round, Fun At Breakfast, Kraft Music Hall, Easy Aces, and many others. He began on WHAS-AM in Louisville in 1922. He died in 1962 after retiring to the Virgin islands. Can't knock that.

Edward Bowes - He was host of  Major Bowes' Amateur Hour on WHN-AM in 1934. The show ran until 1946 when he retired. He died two months later.

Bill Boyd - A western Swing man he played on air at many stations including WRR-AM,  KTER-AM and KSKY-AM in Dallas and alter WKNE and WPWA. His band The Cowboys Ramblers, had their own popular radio show, "The Bill Boyd Ranch House" around 1947 on WRR.

Eddie Bracken - Another vaudeville man who moved to radio. It was his success in film that landed him his very own "Eddie Bracken Show." It ran for 2 years on CBS 1946 and 1947.

Tom Breneman - Breneman was the host of "Breakfast in Hollywood." It debuted on the Blue Network in 1941, but moved to ABC, NBC and Mutual at various times. It initially launched as "Breakfast on the Boulevard" on KFWB-AM in Los Angeles.  It was so big it had a magazine, he had a restaurant and they made a movie about the program in 1946. It was finally cancelled in 1948 only because he died.

Fanny Brice - She spent most of her career trapped in the role of Baby Snooks. The character first appeared in a skit on The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air. At the age of 60 she was still typecast as a child.

Ray Briem - Ray retired from radio in 2008 after a long career at KABC-AM. As a conservative talk show host. He'd been a long time radio man having even hosted programs for AFRS.

Cecil Brown - Brown was famous as a WWII news commentator. He was hired by CBS in 1940. His career gained ground criticizing Mussolini but lost it criticizing the British. After the war he became a commentator for the Mutual Network.

Bob Burns - He was a regular on the Kraft Music Hall program, and Rudy Vallee's show The Fleischmann Hour starting in 1935. Prior to that he'd only done random appearances on programs like "The Fun Factory." He hosted the Academy Awards in 1938 which improved is cache. His own radio show, The Arkansas Traveler ran from 1941 to 1943 and was followed by  The Bob Burns Show  which ran 1943 to 1947.

Judy Canova - Her career exploded after a 1931 guest spot on the Fleischmann Yeast Hour. She did a series of films, then got her own radio show 1in 1943, The Judy Canova Show. It ran for 12 years. She moved on to TV and had a long career there as well.

Eddie Cantor - See previous post here.

Ken Carpenter - Ken was an NBC Radio Announcer. He was probably best known for announcing Bing Crosby on the Kraft Music Hall radio variety program for 27 years. He started his career in KFI-AM in 1929 as a sports announcer. He stayed with NBC doing sports color until 1942.

Jack Carson - He appeared in 1938 on the Kraft Music Hall while Bing Crosby's was host. He guested several more times and got own CBS radio show, the Jack Carson Show,  in 1943.  The show lasted 4 years. he left to host The Sealtest Village Store program where he stayed until 1948.

Bud Collyer - Bud was Superman on The Adventures of Superman on the Mutual Network in 1940. That iconic work would probably be enough but he also acted on all 3 major networks. He went on to host TV game shows like Beat the Clock and to Tell the Truth.

Jerry Colonna - He had the greatest mustache ever made. He was famous on radio as Bob Hope's zany sidekick. He actually started as a serious trombonist in the CBS house orchestra. He even recorded as a part Raymond Scott's famous Quintette and of course played on the Kraft Music Hall.

Perry Como - Como is most famous for his recording career and his early work hosting television programs. His work on the radio program "Beat the Band" was notable, lasting on NBC radio from 1940 to 1944. Btu it represents the bulk of his radio career.

Spade Cooley - He had his own TV show starting in 1947 but before that he was on radio a bit. He guested in 1946 on Gene Autry's Program "Melody Ranch." Then with his own show "Spade Cooley Time" on KFVD-AM. He went straight from there to KTLA-TV.

Charles Correll - He played the character Andy Brown of Amos & Andy alongside Freeman Gosden. The bit began on WMAQ-AM in 1926 as Sam 'n' Henry and continued on to WGN-AM, where it became Amos and Andy. It became syndicated and continued on in different forms until 1962.

Lou Costello - He was the shorter stouter half of the comedy team of Abbott and Costello, with Bud Abbott. They began in vaudeville individually, then as a team and signed up with the William Morris Agency in 1938. They became a regular feature on The Kate Smith Hour and rapidly moved into film.

Bing Crosby - Bing appears at least 5 other times on this page for launching other careers during his tenure on the Kraft Music Hall from 1935 to 1946. But he'd already been host of the Woodbury Soap Program, the Chesterfield's Music Program, The Cremo Singers and The Radio Singers on CBS back in 1931. his first appearance was probably in 1929 on Old Gold presents the Paul Whiteman Orchestra.

Bob Crosby - Despite am 18-month interruption for WWII the "Bob Crosby Show" ran on NBC and CBS separately from  1943 to 1950. He moved from there to a show called "Club Fifteen" on CBS from 1947 to 1953. From 1952 to 1955 he was a band leader on the Jack Benny Show. That was followed by a half hour Bob Crosby Show that ran on CBS from 1953–1957. He tried a little TV show in Australia in the 1960s but it fizzled.

Milton Cross - See previous post here.

Frank Crumit - Crumit was a vaudeville man. He and his wife Julia Sanderson were a comedy and singing duo in 1928 on CBS as the "Singing Sweethearts" even though they were already divorced. In 1030 they started co-hosting a quiz show called "The Battle of the Sexes", which ran 13 years. they started a new program on WABC-AM, but it was abruptly cut short when Crumit died of  a heart attack in 1943.

Bill Cunningham - This is not the same radio man as right-winger Bill Cunningham in Cincinnati. This is the man who hosted "Meet the Boss" from 1944-1952 carried by Mutual Broadcasting.

Who was Rex Miller?

Most disc jockeys would be pumping gas if they couldn't be at the mic. As a group they are generally uneducated, but charismatic. But we one-dimensional people make the best on-air talent apparently. Rex Miller wasn't like that at all. Bright, industrious and multifaceted. the big question is why he bothered with radio at all. More here.

He was born in 1939, Miller became a radio announcer before he finished high school in St. Joseph, Missouri. He dropped out of junior college to attend Elkins Institute of Radio in Dallas. It was there he went back to radio. He studied both as an announcer and engineer. By all reports his career started at WNOX, but it didn't end there.

 

His resume includes KLIF and KBOX in Dallas, WQXI in Atlanta, WITH in Baltimore, KWK in St. Louis, WPRO Providence, WUBE in Cincinnati, WNOX in Knoxville, KQV Pittsburgh, and both WNUS and WIND in Chicago... he left his stamp in a dozen major cities. As a radioman he was unstoppable. While at KLIF he released a series of 45s in Dallas just to show off his musical talents.

He left radio in 1971 to pursue a writing career. Beginning in the 1980s he started publishing horror novels. The novel Slob was his debut. He published half a dozen horror novels including Slice, Savant, Butcher, Iceman and the 5-book Chaingang series, maybe others. Steven King was a fan. He also had a successful mail-order business dealing in collectibles for comics and superheros. In some circles Rex was referred to as an expert in the field of juvenile-related collectibles.

Rex died on May 21, 2004 at a hospital in Sikeston, Missouri. He had been in a nursing home for six years, after a debilitating stroke. More here.  [Nevermind Some deletionist prat deleted the article on Rex Miller, try this one on the Jeff Roteman page here. ]  I took some time to parse his bibliography. Some of the dates are dubious, because of reprints and e-books —but have at it.

Title	Year	Publisher	X
Saint Louis Blues	1995	Maclay & Associates	XXX
Iceman	1990	Onyx	XXX
Profane Men	1989	New American Library	XXX
Slob	1987	Signet	XXX
Frenzy	1989	Pan Books	XXX
Stone Shadow	1989	Onyx	XXX
Slice	1990	Onyx	XXX
Chaingang	1992	Pocket Books	XXX
Butcher	1994	Pocket Books	XXX
Savant	1994	Pocket Books	XXX