Wally Phillips
Wally Phillips | |
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Chicago, Illinois | |
| Country | United States |
Walter Phillips (July 7, 1925 – March 26, 2008[1]) was an American radio personality best known for hosting WGN's morning radio show from Chicago for 21 years from January 1965 until July 1986, and was number one in the morning slot from 1968 until he left for an afternoon radio slot in 1986.[1]
A pioneer of the radio call-in talk show format,[2][3] Phillips delighted in a form now banned by the FCC: putting people on the air without their knowledge.[4]
Early life
Phillips was born in
After the end of World War II, he attended drama school for a while and then became a disc jockey in Grand Rapids, Michigan. A year after beginning his DJ career he returned to Cincinnati.[6]
Radio career
Cincinnati
Phillips expanded his career as a radio personality at WLW in Cincinnati where he established his call-in format and his trademark style of remixing prerecorded interviews as a comedy piece. He was eventually fired after he inserted a phony item into a newscast.[6] Discussing this piece in a 1976 interview with the Chicago Tribune, Phillips said,
"I wrote, 'All members of infantry company so-and-so report immediately to your draft board,' and I described an insurrection in some phony country. He read it on the air. Hell, they even had the
FBI all over the station."[6]
Chicago
Later, Phillips moved to Chicago, Illinois along with staff announcer, and future Bozo the Clown star, Bob Bell. The two started at WGN (AM) in 1956 after being introduced as "comedians from Cincinnati".[6]
His WGN morning show was consistently top-rated in Chicago,[1] and led to his being labeled "the king of morning radio". At the height of his popularity, Phillips attracted nearly 1.5 million listeners, a now unheard-of 50% market share.[2][3][7]
Innovations
Phillips was one of the first broadcasters to routinely use humorous and offbeat phone calls in his show, including
Another time, Phillips called Ipanema, a neighborhood located on the southern region of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and inquired whether there were any women there who were "tall and tan and young and lovely". He tried to order pizza from Rome and even tried to return a natural Christmas tree weeks into the new year because it had browned and lost all its needles. On one occasion, he managed to obtain Luciano Pavarotti's hotel room number, and called to ask if the singer would give Phillips opera lessons and "teach [Phillips] to sing flat, like you do."[9]
Phillips was the first to offer a $1 million prize to listeners—as a part one of his most famous and longest-running promotions in which he would debunk self-proclaimed
Another unique aspect of Phillips' show was a large library of sound bites, each just a few seconds in length, which could be played on short notice in response to something that was said.
Retirement
In 1998, he retired from WGN radio after 42 years, twelve years after giving up the morning show where he was succeeded by
"Wally Phillips was the biggest, most successful, most influential local radio broadcaster in Chicago history. He was the number one local radio personality in the United States."
Bruce DuMont, President of the Museum of Broadcast Communications"[7]
Phillips was inducted into the
On October 21, 2004, the street corner of Rush Street and Delaware Street in Chicago was designated as Honorary Wally Phillips Way.[11]
Personal life
In 1969, Wally Phillips founded the Neediest Kids Fund, which has since raised $35 million for charity.[8]
Phillips was married three times – all to the same woman, Barbara.[5] He had two daughters Holly and Jennifer, and a son, Todd.[8]
He died in Naples, Florida on March 26, 2008, after suffering from Alzheimer's disease for the previous five years.[2][6][8]
References
- ^ a b c d e "Longtime WGN radio host Wally Phillips dead at 82". Chicago Tribune. 2008-03-27.
- ^ a b c d e "Chicago Radio Voice Stilled: Legend Wally Phillips Dies". WBBM NewsRadio 780/Associated Press. 2008-03-27.
- ^ a b c d "Wally Phillips, WGN broadcaster and legend of Chicago Radio radio, dies at 82". Chicago Sun-Times.
- ^ a b c Cuprisin, Tim (2008-03-27). "WGN stalwart Phillips was longtime king of talk-driven morning radio". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Archived from the original on 2008-03-30. Retrieved 2008-04-03.
- ^ a b c Hoekstra, Dave (2008-03-28). "Wally Phillips was Chicago radio - Known for cornball humor and giveaways, legendary WGN host ruled morning dial". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2008-04-02.
- ^ a b c d e f Jensen, Trevor (2008-03-27). "City's 'favorite uncle' - WGN personality commanded the radio waves for 2 decades with his trend-setting format". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2008-03-29.
- ^ Today.com/Associated Press. 2008-03-28. Retrieved 2008-03-28.
- ^ Daily Herald. Retrieved 2008-03-28.
- ^ a b Phil, Rosenthal (2008-03-28). "Phillips' new kind of show dominated Chicago radio". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2008-03-29.
- ^ a b A look at the WGN transmitter and site where the two machines are now stored-2004
- ^ "The History of Chicago's WGN Radio 720". WGN (AM). Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved 2008-03-30.
Further reading
- The Wally Phillips people book: 1,762,913 heads are better than one, Wally Phillips, forewords by ISBN 0-89803-012-9, 1979.
- Way to Go: Surviving in this World Until Something Better Comes Along, Wally Phillips, ISBN 0-688-03907-3, 1985, William Morrow and Company, New York.
External links
- WGN's summary of Phillips' career
- Wally Phillips at the National Radio Hall of Fame
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