Columns

Happy Birthday today to Suzanne Somers, Merilee Rush, John Mayer, Kellie Martin and Tim Robbins. Vancouver deejay Jack Cullen (pictured) aired his first ever ‘Owl Prowl’ on CKMO AM 1410; ‘The Right to Happiness,’ a longrunning quarter hour daytime drama, debuted on the NBC Blue radio network; ‘The Bob Newhart Show’ aired its 100th episode on CBS-TV; The Vancouver-produced ‘Smallville’ debuted on the WB network; and the last episode of ‘Max Headroom’ aired on ABC-TV. Among the celebrity deaths for Oct. 16th are Shirley Booth, Ken Carpenter, Barbara Billingsley, Lister Sinclair, Jean Shepherd, Ella Mae Morse, Gene Krupa, and Dan Dailey. Details, and ALL the milestones for this date INSIDE.

Merv Griffin‘s weekly music series “Saturday Prom” debuted on NBC-TV. Tom Snyder debuted his late-night show, ‘Tomorrow,’ on NBC TV. former Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic cut the ribbon to officially open Seattle’s Hotel Max, formerly The Vance Hotel. (picture). musician Ryan Adams jumped into the audience at a show in Nashville to find a fan who had yelled out a request for “Summer of ’69,” a Bryan Adams song. Adams gave the fan 30 dollars as a refund and refused to continue the show until the man left.

It’s the date that gave us Roger Moore, Lillian Gish, Harry Anderson, Canadian news anchor Harvey Kirck, radio actor Russell Thorson and singer/TV talent judge Usher. ‘The Lux Radio Theatre’ began its 20 year run, from New York; Edward Noble’s purchase of NBC radio’s Blue network was approved; The rescue of little Jessica McLure from an abandoned Texas wellshaft began on North American TV screens; Roy Orbison and the Everly Brothers guested on ABC-TV’s ‘Shindig’; and ‘Red Red Wine’ by UB40 was #1. Notable obits for Oct. 14th include Bing Crosby, Leonard Bernstein, Elwood Glover (pictured), Keenan Wynn, Hy Averbach and Dame Edith Evans. ALL the milestones for this date INSIDE.

It’s the date of birth for Paul Simon, Marie Osmond, Nana Mouskouri, deejay Cousin Brucie Morrow, and Billy Bush. ‘Kukla Fran & Ollie’ debuted on local Chicago TV, Bing Crosby & Frank Sinatra co-hosted an ABC-TV special introducing Ford’s Edsel. The third Kennedy-Nixon Presidential debate was televised with the nominees a continent apart; and after 22 years CBS radio cancelled ‘Art Linkletter’s House Party.’ Leaving us this date were Ed Sullivan, Al Martino (pictured), Gary Collins, newsmen Douglas Edwards and Hughes Rudd, and actress Bea Benaderet. Details and ALL the Oct. 13th milestones INSIDE.

Born this date were daytime radio star Jane Ace, Hugh Jackman, Nancy Kulp, Kirk Cameron, plus sportscasters Tony Kubek and Dan Russell. After 15 years on radio ‘Burns and Allen’ made their debut on CBS-TV; ‘Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons’ began its 18 year run on network radio; Walter Cronkite spent all 3 prime time hours on CBS-TV on the memoirs of Dwight Eisenhower; the late singer Karen Carpenter received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; and Vancouver-based Nickelback scored their first #1 album. Celebrities leaving us on Oct. 12th include announcers Joel Aldred and Johnny Olsen (pictured), musicians Ray Conniff, Carmen Cavallero, John Denver and Gene Vincent, Bullwinkle producer Jay Ward, and veteran actor Leon Ames. Details and ALL the Oct 12th milestones INSIDE

Happy Birthday today to David Morse, Joan Cusack, Matt Bomer, Jane Krakowski and Daryl Hall. The ‘American Album of Familiar Music’ began its long Sunday night run on NBC radio; Hugh Downs (Pictured) left both ‘NBC-TV’s ‘Today show’ and ‘Concentration’ for a year off. Canada’s first hockey telecast aired in French on Montreal’s CBFT; Rod Stewart got his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; Elton John’s ‘Candle in the Wind’ began its 12-week run atop the charts; and Bob Dylan played Vancouver’s Pacific Coliseum. Bowing out this date sadly were CBS newsman Douglas Edwards, ventriloquist Wayland Flowers, singers Connee Boswell, Tex Williams and Russ Hamilton, and actor/sportscaster Gil Stratton Jr. Details and ALL the Oct. 11th milestones INSIDE.

Born this date were Helen Hayes, Peter Coyote, Ivory Joe Hunter, Ben Vereen, Tanya Tucker, Mario Lopez, David Lee Roth and Thelonious Monk. The first of 165 episodes of ’77 Sunset Strip’ aired on ABC-TV; ‘Zorro’ and later ‘The Geena Davis Show’ also had their premieres on ABC. Frank Sinatra recorded his iconic ‘Come Fly With Me’; The Supremes appeared for the 1st time on CBS-TV’s ‘Ed Sullivan Show’; and Queen released ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ as a single. Neil Diamond scored his first #1 hit with ‘Cracklin’ Rosie’; the BBC inexplicably banned the PG-rated ‘Monster Mash’; and Victoria got country music back when CKXM AM1200 signed on, replacing CKDA. Obits Oct 10th include Redd Foxx, Eddie Cantor, Christopher Reeve, Alex Karras, Solomon Burke, and announcer Tony Marvin. Details and ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE

Happy Birthday to Nick Cannon, Matt Damon, Bruno Mars, Dawna Friesen, Sigourney Weaver, Angus T. Jones, and Chevy Chase. Ozzie & Harriet (pictured) got married this date, and nine years later to the day began their weekly radio sitcom on CBS. The radio show with the distinctive opening, ‘Grand Central Station’ also debuted on CBS; ‘Quirks & Quarks’ began its long run on CBC Radio; ‘Empty Nest’ and ‘Ed’ had their premieres on NBC-TV, and Royal Canadian Air Farce’ began its weekly TV run on the CBC. ‘Cagney and Lacey’ got their start as a TV movie on ABC; Jerry Lee Lewis recorded his smash hit ‘Great Balls of Fire’; and Stan Freberg’s satirical ‘St. George and the Dragonet’ was the #1 hit recording. Details and ALL the milestones for Oct. 8th INSIDE.

It’s the birthday of Simon Cowell, Joy Behar, John Mellancamp, Toni Braxton, plus the late Andy Devine and Vaughn Monroe. The Fox News channel began programming on US cablesystems; the CBC began an ill-fated experiment with a 9 pm TV newscast; the original Hawaiian Eye aired the first of its 134 episodes on ABC-TV; The Rolling Stones performed on NBC’s Saturday Night Live; Bruce Springsteen was interviewed on CBS-TV’s 60 minutes; and Dennis Reid received the OK to sell his three Cariboo radio stations in BC. Alanna Morissette became the first Canadian woman to top the Billboard album chart; and obits include singers Billy Daniels and Mario Lanza, as well as Winnipeg media mogul Izzy Asper. ALL the milestones for Oct..7th INSIDE.

It’s the birthday of actors Jeremy Sisto and Ioan Gruffudd, plus the late Robert Mitchum, Canadian radio inventor Reginald Fessenden, and early Vancouver broadcaster Gerry Wilmot. Both ‘Maxwell House Show Boat’ and the human interest radio show ‘Hobby Lobby’ debuted on NBC, which also introduced Frank Sinatra in his only non-singing series ‘Rocky Fortune.’ The Ed Wynn Show’ became the first regular live TV origination from the West Coast; Pat Boone guested on Rod Serling’s NBC-TV show ‘Night Gallery’; 21-yr old Barbra Streisand guested on CBS-TV’s ‘Judy Garland Show’; ‘Dear John’ starring Judd Hirsch (pictured) debuted on NBC-TV; and Howard Stern announced he would soon be moving to satellite radio. ALL the milestones for Oct. 6th can be found INSIDE.