R.I.P.: Jan Carr, Longtime Radio, TV NOLA Personality

Jan and Bob Carr

Jan Carr, an energetic and enthusiastic presence on New Orleans television and radio for 60 years alongside her husband Bob, died Friday. She was 91, reports WWL-TV4.

Beginning in 1960, the Carrs – who were married for 71 years – opened local TV and radio broadcasts with an incessantly cheery greeting: “This is Bob!” “And this is Jan!” They did so until August, when they were still producing and hosting a regular program at their retirement home, where they interviewed residents, staff and other guests.

As a married couple and the parents of four children whom they frequently discussed on air, the Carrs were called “the first family of New Orleans television.” They became household names throughout the 1960s and 70s for their appearances on WDSU-TV, first on a morning show called “Second Cup,” then on the station’s enormously popular “Midday” show.

Their segments focused on family, parenting, fashion and lifestyle topics. WDSU promoted them as “the personable young married couple” and a “happy marriage of entertainment and good common sense” who “inform, sound off and occasionally bicker. In short, Jan and Bob bring to New Orleans television sets a marriage that is warm and opinionated and entertaining and happy.”

The Carrs followed the same formula, working together in various media – television, radio and print – for 60 years. A trailblazing female broadcaster, Jan Carr was a model of the importance of staying active well past retirement age. Friends half her age marveled at her energy and enthusiasm, even into her 80s. She was quick to explain the secret.

In 1960, the couple moved to New Orleans for a job with WWL-AM. A husband and wife broadcast team was such a novelty at the time that management had to ask the Jesuits of Loyola University, which owned WWL, for permission to hire them.

Once on the air, they hosted a midday show offering “tunes and topical tips for housewives,” which is how the station promoted the Carrs’ family-friendly fare.

In 1961, while attending a French Quarter party hosted by friend and fellow WWL personality Margie O’Dair, the Carrs met Al Shea. The future Channel 6 star, who was then working mostly behind the scenes as a producer, encouraged the couple to audition for a new WDSU morning program, “Second Cup.” It was broadcast live each morning from the roof of the Royal Orleans Hotel, which had just opened next door to WDSU’s studios on Royal Street.

Bob Carr credited his wife with successfully balancing the demands of raising four children while building a career in broadcasting, then a male-dominated field.

In 1989, she returned to television on WLAE with a talk show, “The Jan Carr Show” and a show for seniors called “Silver Network.” She also produced programs and handled fundraising for REACH, a local religious cable channel.

She also did radio shows for WBYU “Bayou” 1450 AM. In 1999, she convinced Bob to join her as co-host, though he was happily retired.  Their WBYU show, and later a Saturday morning show on WGSO-AM, featured their banter and celebrity interviews along with pop music from the 1950s and 60s, crooners, and songs from the big band era. They also edited Prime Magazine, a monthly publication tailored to seniors.

The Carrs were inducted into the New Orleans Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 1994 and honored with a lifetime achievement award from the Press Club of New Orleans in 2003. The Carrs celebrated their 71st wedding anniversary in May 2022.