Tag Archive: WLW
Helen Diller, Cincinnati’s first TV “star”
The first “star” of Cincinnati television died recently. I use quotation marks because Helen Diller Hinn would've gotten a big laugh from that opening sentence. Helen was 96 years young when she passed away quietly at her apartment in Lancaster, California on March 24, 2014. Born in Winnipeg in 1917,... Continue Reading »
Mary Wood Centennial
In a previous post, we mentioned the centennial of the birth of beloved Cincinnati vocalist Ruby Wright but Ruby wasn't the only one to enter the world in January 1914 because on the 19th of that month, Mary Wood was born. For folks outside of Greater Cincinnati, the name might... Continue Reading »
Ruby Wright, Cincinnati Vocalist
It’s hard to believe that popular Cincinnati vocalist Ruby Wright passed away ten years ago this year. It’s perhaps even more difficult that today marks the centennial of her birth. One-hundred years ago, on January 8, 1914, Ruby Wright was born in Anderson, Indiana. Destined for a career in show... Continue Reading »
Quiz 1 – Elliott Lewis
This week, and for the next few weeks, we're playing a game on our Facebook “Media Heritage, Inc.” and “Big Broadcast” pages. If you'd like to play, “like” one or both of those Facebook pages and on Mondays, we'll post a photo of an old radio “second banana”…a secondary or... Continue Reading »
Happy Birthday, Ma Perkins
Ma Perkins was “born” at Cincinnati's WLW radio station on this date, August 14, 1933…80 years ago! The daily soap opera was a huge success and ran for over 7000-episodes, ending as one of the final group of dramas cancelled by CBS on November 26, 1960 (often called “the day... Continue Reading »
Richard “Red” Skelton
100 years ago today (July 18th), Richard “Red” Skelton was born in Vincennes, Indiana. For many he occupies a niche of fond memories and sweet smiles. His television variety program in the 1960s was a must-see, weekly event in many households. How many remember, with glassy eyes, his closing comment... Continue Reading »
Roger Baker
In December 1938, popular Cincinnati Reds announcer Red Barber turned down an offer to remain in Cincinnati and headed east to broadcast for his old friend Branch Rickey and the Brooklyn Dodgers. Left with a hole to fill, WSAI/WLW conducted a national search for an announcer who could take Barber's... Continue Reading »
Dick Bray
By the time Dick Bray got into sports broadcasting, he was already well known in the Cincinnati athletics community. Born in Hyde Park, a Cincinnati suburb, in 1903, Bray was a three-sport star at Xavier University. He played 2nd base for the Comello Clothiers 1928 National Amateur Championship baseball team,... Continue Reading »
Red Barber (1934-1966)
Walter Lanier Barber certainly knew about WLW before he became the Cincinnati Reds announcer in 1934. In fact, “Red” Barber had auditioned several times at the station that boomed into Gainesville, Florida, where he attended the University of Florida and somehow got a job reading news on the school's own... Continue Reading »
Bill McCluskey and St. Patty’s Day
It's that time of year to remember St. Patrick and all things Irish and, for many older Cincinnatians, thoughts turn to the late Bill McCluskey. It was Bill McCluskey who co-founded Cincinnati's St. Patrick's Day Parade in 1968 and he was often Grand Marshal of that parade when he was... Continue Reading »
Barbara Cameron
For a period in the mid-to-late 1940s, the name “Barbara Cameron” was everywhere at WLW. The Dayton-born songstress was hired to replace none other than Doris Day in late 1943 and the attractive 18-year-old quickly filled several holes in wartime-depleted WLW’s vocal department. Barbara sang on the popular late-night Moon... Continue Reading »
Andy Williams
The news of the passing of legendary vocalist Andy Williams did not come as too much of a surprise. Andy, himself, announced he faced a diagnosis of bladder cancer last fall and British tabloids were reporting his impending death as recently as July. Still, even at age 84, Williams’ passing... Continue Reading »