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: S - Z

At long last this research project has come to an end. I have asked the question repeatedly why these people are famous within radio and the answer appears to be that some of them were not. Though the walk even includes some misspelled names, cartoon characters and animals, there are no erroneous inclusions. There is always a reason, it's just not always apparent, though it is sometimes a parent. No doubt these oddities will spawn many future posts.(and corrections)

Julia Sanderson - Julia Sanderson and her husband Frank Crumit were a comedy and singing duo in 1928 on CBS as the "Singing Sweethearts" even though they were already divorced. In 1930 they started co-hosting a quiz show called "The Battle of the Sexes", which ran 13 years.

Vin Scully - starting out at WFUV as a student DJ, he graduated and got a job filling in at WTOP. He did well enough there to get a better job doing college football coverage on the CBS Radio Network. He currently does Play-by-play for the Los Angeles Dodgers on KLAC.

Ryan Seacrest - An internship at WSTR turned into an overnight shift which inexplicably parlayed into a Hollywood career hosting vapid reality TV programs. In 2004 he took over American Top 40 from a retiring Casey Casem, and later that year starting doing "On Air With Ryan Seacrest" mornings on KIIS.

Dinah Shore - By all reports her radio debut was actually on the Grand Ole Opry on WSM-AM with a Vanderbilt singing troupe. She left for New York and began singing on WNEW. There she sang with Frank Sinatra and for Xavier Cugat which began her recording career.

Ginny Simms - She was in the Kay Kyser band circa the Kollege of Musical Knowledge. The Ginny Simms show ran from 1941 to 1942 on CBS went thru a couple changes becoming the Purple Heart Show, and Talent Theater around 1945. She sang on many other programs including The Pause That Refreshes, The Bob Burns show, and others.

Penny Singleton - He fame originate in one character, Blondie of the comic strip of the same name. She played opposite Arthur Lake (as Dagwood) starting in 1939 on their radio show until it ended in 1950. In 1967 she famously led the Rockettes in a strike against Radio City Music Hall.

Red Skelton - His first appearance on the Rudy Valee show was in 1937. the appearance went so well that in 1938 1938, Skelton replaced Red Foley as the host of "Avalon Time" on NBC. He started doing MGM films and did another radio show "The Raleigh Cigarettes Program" starting in 1941. It lasted until 1953. He moved on to a 3-year syndicate deal with Ziv radio. He was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1994

Smilin' Jack Smith - (Not to be confused with "Whispering" Jack Smith) He first appeared on KFRC with Anson Weeks and His Hotel Mark Hopkins Orchestra. More radio work followed and he guested on The Kate Smith Show, and The Prudential Hour. Jack got his own radio show in 1945 and it lasted until 1952. He moved into TV afterwards.

Kate Smith - See previous post here.

Phil Spitalny - See previous post here.

Hanley Stafford - His most popular role was as Lancelot Higgins on The Baby Snooks Show. He also played parts on several classic programs such as Popeye, Flash Gordon, Calling All Cars, Jungle Jim, and "The Shadow of Fu Manchu."
Jo Stafford

The Real Don Steele - As a Boss Jock he became nationally-known during his run on KHJ which lasted from 1965 to 1973. (He hosted a TV version from 1965 to 1975 on KHJ-TV.) He also spent time on KIQQ, KTNQ, KRLA, KODJ, KCBS-FM and KRTH.

Bill Stern - Known by me only for announcing the nation's "first" remote sports broadcast. He started out doing play-by-play in 1925 on WHAM-AM. Then was hired by NBC Blue in 1937 to host The Colgate Sports Newsreel as well as Friday night boxing on radio. It ran until 1956. He later did sports commentaries for Mutual. He was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1988.

Cliffie Stone - See previous post here.

Ezra Stone - His biggest role was as Henry Aldrich in t"The Aldrich Family" which ran 1939-1953. The Aldrich family sketch started out in a stage show, then was reworked to a bit for both Rudy Vallée and Kate Smith's shows. NBC brought it in to develop into a 30 minute program. He went on to direct programs.

Gale Storm - She beat all the odds and won a 1939 "Gateway to Hollywood" radio contest and got a 2-year contract with CBS. She appeared on variety programs like The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom, Lux Radio Theater, Family Theatre, My Little Margie and a number of feature films.

Igor Stravinsky - (There are multiple alternate spellings) I can fine no records of live radio broadcast US performances. His inclusion appears to be dubious.

Alec Templeton - He played with several orchestras and played on piano on The Rudy Vallée Show, The Chase and Sanborn Hour, Kraft Music Hall and The Magic Key of RCA. His own program, Alec Templeton Time ran from 1939 to 1941.

Jay Thomas - Best known for a reoccurring role on Mork & Mindy he started in radio as a high school football announcer. He went on to KPWR, WXLO, WKTU and many others. Billboard magazine like to refer to him as semi-legendary. He now hosts the Jay Thomas Show on XM/Sirius.

Lowell Thomas - In 1930 he became a news commentator with the CBS radio. He switched to NBC and in late 1930 he hosted the first-ever television-news broadcast. He came back to CBS in 1947. He retired in 1976. He was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1989.

Bill Thompson - Starting in 1934, he was a regular on Don McNeill's morning show "The Breakfast Club" He was also in the choir on "The Sinclair Weiner Minstrels" in 1937. He was also a regular in the cast of "Fibber McGee and Molly." In the 1950s he was in several episodes of CBS Radio Workshop. He went on to do voice over for Walt Disney cartoons.

Tommy & Betty Lou Riggs - In 1931 Riggs was running a poultry business and Tommy was a pianist-vocalist on WCAE-AM. Then they began doing the Tom and Betty bit together on WCAE's. Tommy voiced both himself and a 7-year old girl... which is creepy. the program moved to KDKA, then WTAM then WLW in 1937. They did a stretch on Rudy Vallée's Royal Gelatin Hour. they also did the Kate Smith Show and were a summer replacement for Burns and Allen in 1942. In 1950 Tommy Riggs and Betty Lou ran for one season on CBS.

Arturo Toscanini - He conducted Operas and led the NBC Symphony Orchestra. In 1963, NBC Radio broadcast a weekly series of programs entitled Toscanini: The Man Behind The Legend, commemorating Toscanini's career. Like Stravinski this is a dubious inclusion. The series was rebroadcast by PBS radio in the late 1970s.

Charlie Tuna - See previous post here.

Lurene Tuttle - Another claimant to the title of "The First Lady of Radio," she was reputed to be appearing in 15 programs a week at her peak. She did play virtually every female character "The Adventures of Sam Spade" in addition to appearing on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, and the Great Gildersleeve. She was in a slew of soap operas, The Red Skelton Show, Hollywood Hotel, The Restless Gun, Dragnet, Lux Radio Theater, The Screen Guild Theater, Suspense... the list seems to go on forever.

Vera Vague - Barbara Jo Allen got her star in the name of a fictional spinster-type character she created and portrayed on radio and in film. After Vera was introduced in 1939 on "NBC Matinee," she became a regular on Bob Hope's show around 1941. In 1937, she had debuted in network radio as Beth Holly on NBC's "One Man's Family." She also did roles in "Death Valley Days," "I Love a Mystery" and others. In 1952, still in the role of Vera, she hosted her own television series "Follow the Leader" on CBS.

Rudy Vallée - See previous post here.

Harry von Zell - His first radio gig was as an announcer for the Paul Whiteman Orchestra program, then he relocated to New York There he got a job as a CBS staff announcer and announced for Fred Allen, Phil Baker, Eddie Cantor, Eddy Duchin, Ed Wynn and others. He later headlined his own show "The Smiths of Hollywood" which lasted 1946 - 1947.

Mark Wallengren & Kim Amidon - In 1986, Mark Wallengren and Kim Amidon debuted their new eponymous morning show on KOST. Following a 2007 purchase by Clear Channel Amidon left the show and was replaced. Amidon was last known to be doing fill-ins on KTWV.

Jimmy Wallington - He was the announcer for several popular NBC radio shows including Carnation Contented Hour, Eddie Cantor, Fred Allen, the Screen Directors Playhouse, Jimmy Durante, The Big Show, and many others. He also announced for Voice of America for years.

Fred Waring - See previous post here.

Willard Waterman - His biggest role was in replacing Harold Peary as the title character of The Great Gildersleeve from 1950 to 1957. At the same time he had a recurring role as Mr. Merriweather in "The Halls of Ivy." Prior to all that he was on soap operas and a variety show called Chicago Theater of the Air .

Jack Webb - See previous post here.

Orson Welles - See previous post here.

Paul Whiteman - He started on the Old Gold Hour in 1930 but Whiteman had several radio shows, including The Philco Hour, Kraft Music Hall, the Chesterfield hour and Paul Whiteman's Musical Varieties on WJZ. He semi-retired in the late 1940s but He continued to perform on air and was also the music director for the ABC Radio Network.

Dick Whittinghill - He spent 30 years as a DJ at KMPC-AM starting in 1950. He also later did a the afternoon drive slot at KPRZ. He had previously DJ'd at AFRN, KPFA in Helena, MT, KIEV and KGFJ.

Tex Williams - His last appearance on radio was by phone from his hospital bed on Bill Aken's radio program "The Country Call Line" two days before he died. He was a western swing musician who had appeared on WSM at the"Grand Ole Opry," "The National Barn Dance" and Gene Autry's Melody Ranch. Williams also hosted his own radio program, "Riverside Rancho" in 1949.

Meredith Willson - A conductor and songwriter who in 1929 became the concert director for radio station KFRC then became the musical director for the NBC radio. He also appeared on on Good News, Maxwell House Coffee Time, Burns and Allen, and The Big Show. He later hosted his own variety show, the Musical revue which ran 1935-1953.

Don Wilson - Probably best remembered as the fat guy who announced on The Jack Benny show. But his career went back further than Benny's. Don started out singing on KFEL-AM in Denver in 1923. He had also been a sportscaster doing the Olympics in 1932. He also announced for Alan Young, Bing Crosby, Ginny Simms, Music by Gershwin and Baby Snooks.

Marie Wilson - Starting on Broadway she gained national prominence playing the lead role of a dumb blonde in My Friend Irma on film, TV and radio. The TV show and the radio show ran concurrently. The radio series ran from 1947 to 1954.

Paul Winchell - A ventriloquist, singer and comedian, whose he had many guest appearances on various radio programs starting in 1936, on Major Bowes' Original Amateur Hour. He had a season as WOR-AM in 1943, then again as 1948 Summer fill-in. He later did voice over on numerous cartoons and had a TV program where the ventriloquist thing makes more sense.

Walter Winchell - See previous post here.

Charles Winninger - A vaudeville actor who got typecast as a a riverboat captain and eventually ended up playing it on the NBC Maxwell House Show Boat program. He also made appearances on Lux Radio Theater.

Ed Wynn - He was the host of The Fire Chief on NBC from 1938 to 1949. In 1933 he founded his own radio network the Amalgamated Broadcasting System, which lasted only five weeks. He moved onto television. Also notable that He was once knocked unconscious by W.C. Fields with a pool stick.

Alan Young - His biggest roles were in television playing Wilbur Post in the television series Mister Ed, and as was the voice of Scrooge McDuck. He actually started out on the CBC in Canada, then in 1944 did a summer fill-in show, The Alan Young Show on NBC which was a hit. It ran for nine years 1944-1949 and then crossed over to television.

Carleton G. Young - He played many roles on may different soap operas such as "The Heinz Magazine of the air." He also played parts in some classic mystery and suspense programs. He played the character Phillip Galt on the suspense series "The Whisperer" in 1951, and "Jim Laughton" in Hollywood Mystery Time.

Robert Young - He always seemed to be playing doctors. He acted in "The Doctor Fights" in 1944, and played ones on TV as well. His biggest roles was as Jim Anderson, in "Father Knows Best" which ran on NBC radio1949 - 1953. Prior to that he acted on the CBS Studio One program, which ran 1947 - 1948 and "Passport for Adams which started back in 1944.

Radio Plays for Children

First published in 1947 by the H.W.Wilson Company "Radio Plays for Children" is no children's book. The manual weighs in at a hefty 285 pages in hardback. Watson adapted stories by R.L. Grimes, and K. Seredy as radio plays for a total of 26 scripts. The wording used in advertisements of the era was 'selected and arranged." It gives instructions on how to get air time, and the plays are indexed by the age group appropriate for each. Of course a Librarian would have an index.

Katherine Williams Watson was not a DJ. She was the head of the children's department of the Denver Public Library. She previously wrote the book "Once Upon a time; Childrens Stories retold for Broadcasting. That one was published in 1942 and presented a set of 8 radio plays that were all first presented on WHAM in Rochester. It was also published by the H.W.Wilson Company.

I know next to nothing about her except that she was interested in radio, and based in Denver. Her connection to WHAM, and Rochester in general... remains a mystery.

The Best of All Possible Worlds

Harry Abraham hasn't had a radio show since 1978 and that is a travesty. In 1978 WHAM-AM flipped to country music and Harry hit the road, his jazz show ended abruptly. He died May 7th 2009 and that too was a goddamn shame. Even in 1982, just 4 years after the show was nixed Larry King at Billboard was reminiscing about the program in print.

1180 WHAM was a clear channel station.. it could be heard from Rochester south to Dallas, west to Denver East into the Atlantic, and North deep into Canada. That mean that from midnight to 5 AM Harry owned the night. His show "The Best of All Possible Worlds" was one of the greatest jazz programs that ever was. In a time of jazz greatness when classic sides were born, Harry was there to play them. More here.

He signed off the show the same way every time '...wishing you the best of all possible worlds..." After radio he tried his hand at a number of gigs, computer networking, photography, and one not-so-successful bank robbery. While in prison he studied up and went straight, but never went back to radio.