Ralph Story

Ralph Story
Ralph Story
	Story in 1956.
Born	Ralph Bernard Snyder; August 19, 1920; Kalamazoo, Michigan, U.S.
Died	September 26, 2006 (aged 86); Santa Ynez, California, U.S.
Occupation	Broadcaster
Spouse	Diana (m. 1978)

Ralph Story (born Ralph Bernard Snyder; August 19, 1920 – September 26, 2006)

The $64,000 Challenge

from 1956 to 1958, and as the writer and host of Ralph Story's Los Angeles from 1964 to 1970.

Biography

Story was born in

Los Angeles. At the suggestion of the station's managers, he changed his name to Ralph Story. Story's casual style and witty observations about life in Los Angeles made him a popular host and won him national recognition.^[1]

Story later moved into

embroiled in allegations that popular contestants were supplied with answers in advance.^{[citation needed}

]

Television journalism

Story, who was not implicated in the scandal, returned to local broadcasting in 1960. He returned to KNX, this time anchoring a news program and later joined The Big News, one of the nation's first hour-long local TV newscasts, on KNXT-TV (sister station to KNX radio, owned and operated by CBS). His regular feature, Human Predicament, about people caught in unusual events and situations, became a popular segment. It developed into a local news magazine program about the people and places of Los Angeles called Ralph Story's Los Angeles. It aired for six years.^{[citation needed]}

Ralph Story's Los Angeles aired from 1964 to 1970 on KNXT. Created by producer/director Dan Gingold, it featured the work of two writers, Jere Witter and Nate Kaplan.^[2] Wittily hosted by Story, the show examined interesting features, events and sites documenting the history and culture of Los Angeles. Generations of Angelenos developed a passion for their city as a result of this documentary-style show. Select episodes of Ralph Story's Los Angeles are housed at the UCLA Film & Television Archive and are available for public viewing by advance appointment via the Archive Research and Study Center located in Powell Library, room 46 on the UCLA campus.^[3] In "Lucy Meets Ken Berry," a 1968 episode of The Lucy Show, Story played himself^[4] as the host of Ralph Story's Los Angeles.^[5]

Story joined

Stephanie Edwards and newsman Bob Banfield that became the precursor to Good Morning America. In one episode, they explored the way that a new Baskin-Robbins ice cream flavor was developed by creating the Apricot Marmalade flavor (to match the "AM" initials).^{[citation needed}

]

When the program evolved into GMA and moved to New York City, Story stayed in Los Angeles, where he continued working as a writer, producer, and reporter for several TV stations. After a brief stint on

Rose Parade. In 1995, he wrote and hosted a program about Los Angeles landmarks called Things That Aren't Here Anymore for KCET and followed it up with a sequel.^{[citation needed}

]