Radio History: June 5

➦In 1910...Radio, TV character actor Herb Vigran was born in Cincinnati.

He moved to Los Angeles in 1939, and with his unique voice was frequently cast in scores of network radio dramas and variety shows, performing with the likes of Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Lucille Ball and Jimmy Durante.

He appeared in more than 350 TV shows and big screen films, most notably in Dragnet, Gunsmoke and I Love Lucy.

He died of complications from cancer Nov. 29 1986 at age 76.

➦In 1956...Elvis Presley appeared on The Milton Berle Show, causing a national uproar with his hip-swiveling performance of "Hound Dog. When Presley appeared next on Ed Sullivan’s show on CBS TV, he was pictured only from the waist up.

➦In 1973…following news that the American Red Cross had run out of money as a result of aid efforts for recent natural disasters, Gordon Sinclair of CFRB in Toronto recorded what would become his most famous radio editorial, "The Americans." While paying tribute to American success, ingenuity, and generosity to people in need abroad, Sinclair decried that when America faced crisis itself, it often seemed to face that crisis alone.

At the time, Sinclair considered the piece to be nothing more than one of his usual items. But when U.S. News & World Report published a full transcript, the magazine was flooded with requests for copies. Radio station WWDC-AM in Washington, D.C., started playing a recording of Sinclair's commentary with "Bridge Over Troubled Water" playing in the background. Sinclair told the Star in November 1973 that he had received 8,000 letters about his commentary.

With the strong response generated by the editorial, a recording of Sinclair's commentary was sold as a single with all profits going to the American Red Cross. "The Americans (A Canadian's Opinion)" went to No. 24 on the Billboard Hot 100, making the 73-year-old Sinclair the second-oldest living person ever to have a Billboard U.S. Top 40 hit.

A transcript of the commentary was also recorded by Byron MacGregor, news director of Windsor, Ontario, radio station CKLW-AM Windsor-Detroit, and it became an even bigger hit in the U.S., climbing to No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Sinclair was said to be annoyed by MacGregor's recording, which was released as a single before Sinclair's authorized version. 

➦In 1977…DJ Charlie Van Dyke did his last show on 93KHJ, Los Angeles.

➦In 1982…DJ Cousin Brucie returned to New York City Radio on WCBS 101.1 FM.

➦In 1998...actress Jeanette Nolan died following a stroke at age 86.  During the golden age of radio she played a variety of characters on such programs as “The March of Time”, “Cavalcade of America“, “The Court of Missing Heirs”, “The Adventures of Mister Meek”, “Life Begins” and “Manhattan at Midnight”.  She appeared in more than 300 television shows, including “Perry Mason” (1957), “I Spy” (1965), “MacGyver” (1985), “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” (1955), and as a regular on “The Richard Boone Show” (1963) and “The Virginian” (1962).

Ronald Reagan

➦In 2004...Ronald Reagan died of Alzheimer's disease at age 93.  In the '30s, Reagan held jobs as a radio announcer at several radio stations. While at WHO radio in Des Moines he was  an announcer for Chicago Cubs baseball games. His specialty was creating play-by-play accounts of games using only basic descriptions that the station received by wire as the games were in progress.

While traveling with the Cubs in California in 1937, Reagan took a screen test that led to a seven-year contract with Warner Brothers studios. He spent the first few years of his Hollywood career acting in B-grade movies, in the '50s and early '60s, he hosted Death Valley Days & GE Theatre on TV, and who 1n 1980 was elected the 40th President of the U-S.

➦In 2013…Radio personality Don Bowman died at age 75.  He was original host of the syndicated American Country Countdown from 1973 to 1978, During his career, he was a personality at KDEO-San Diego, KEWB-Oakland-San Francisco, KDWB-Minneapolis-St. Paul, WKDA-Nashville, KRZK-Branson.

Bill Moyers is 90

🎂HAPPY BIRTHDAYS:

• News correspondent Bill Moyers is 90. 
• Country singer Don Reid of the Statler Brothers is 79. 
• Singer-performance artist Laurie Anderson is 77. 
• Guitarist Fred Stone of Sly and the Family Stone is 77. 
• Country singer Gail Davies is 76. 
• Financial expert Suze Orman (“The Suze Orman Show”) is 73. 
• Drummer Nicko McBrain of Iron Maiden is 72. 
• Jazz drummer Peter Erskine (Steps Ahead, Weather Report) is 70. 
• Singer Richard Butler of Psychedelic Furs is 68. 
• Saxophonist Kenny G is 68. 
• Actor Beth Hall (“Mom,” ″Mad Men”) is 66. 
• Actor Jeff Garlin (“The Goldbergs,” ″Curb Your Enthusiasm”) is 62. 
• Actor Ron Livingston (“Sex and the City,” ″The Practice”) is 57. 
• Singer Brian McKnight is 55. 
• Musician Claus Norreen (Aqua) is 54. 
• Actor-singer Mark Wahlberg is 53. 
• Actor Chad Allen (“Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman”) is 50. 
• Bassist P-Nut of 311 is 50. 
• Actor Navi Rawat (“Numb3rs”) is 47. 
• Actor Liza Weil (“How To Get Away With Murder,” ″Gilmore Girls”) is 47. 
• Bassist Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy is 45. 
• Guitarist Seb Lefebvre of Simple Plan is 43. 
• Actor Chelsey Crisp (“Fresh Off the Boat”) is 41. 
• Actor Amanda Crew (“Silicon Valley”) is 38. 
• Musician Harrison Mills of Odesza is 35. 
• Musician DJ Mustard is 34. 
• Actor Sophie Lowe (“Once Upon a Time In Wonderland”) is 34. 
• Actor Hank Greenspan (“The Neighborhood”) is 14.

✞REMEMBRANCES:

• In 1993..Conway Twitty, Country and rockabilly singer-songwriter ("Linda On My Mind"; "Honky Tonk Heroes"), dies in surgery at 59
• In 1999..Mel Tormé, American singer (The Velvet Fog) and composer (The Christmas Song), dies at 73
• In 2002..Dee Dee Ramone [Douglas Colvin], Punk rock bassist (The Ramones), dies of a heroin overdose at 51
• In 2004..Ronald Reagan, 40th US President (Republican: 1981-89) and actor (Bedtime for Bonzo), dies at 93
• In 2023..Astrud Gilberto (née Weinert), Brazilian samba singer ("The Girl From Ipanema"), dies at 83