R.I.P.: Legendary Chicago Personality Jerry G. Bishop

Jerry G. Bishop

A legend of Chicago radio and television died this past weekend. Jerry G. Bishop, best known as a DJ on WCFL-AM in the mid- to late 1960s and the original "Svengoolie" on WFLD-TV in the early 1970s, passed away on Sunday in San Diego, where he has lived since 1978, according to Chicago Radio & Media.

 Bishop was 77.

Jerry G. Bishop was born Jerry Ghan in Chicago in 1936. He began in radio working at WNMP-AM (now WCGO-AM) in Evanston in 1961. A Columbia College Chicago graduate, he heard the music on that station one day, just drove to it, and asked for a job there. He was hired as an announcer the next day, and quickly went on to host the morning show.

Around that same time, he also worked part-time at radio stations in Springfield and Rockford, IL. Within a year, he was hired at WPGC-AM in Washington, D.C. At all those stations, he used his real name on the air.

In 1963, he was hired to be a DJ at Cleveland's KYW/WKYC-AM. There, Program Director Ken Draper asked him to change his on-air name to simply Jerry G. During this period, Jerry G. also was picked to be a reporter touring with The Beatles in 1964 and 1965, covering their nationwide concerts and the Beatlemania surrounding them for NBC Radio and Group W radio stations.

After Ken Draper was hired  at WCFL-AM in the mid-1960s. One of the first moves Draper made was to hire Chicago native Jerry Ghan to came back home and take over as the new morning show host at 'CFL. Draper asked Ghan to pick a last name to go with the "Jerry G." name he had been using. A quick flip through the Cleveland phone book landed on the last name of Bishop. The rest is history.

For three years, Jerry G. Bishop enjoyed great success at WCFL-AM and was considered one of Chicago's top personalities. In 1969, a change in station management prompted Bishop to walk away from WCFL-AM and over to up and coming UHF station WFLD-TV.

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