O
O, Steven:
SEE Steven-O Sellers
O'Brien,
Bob: KOLA, 2001-04. Bob works at KDES-Palm Springs.
O'Brien, Jim: KBBQ, 1967; KHJ, 1969-70.
During a Philadelphia station promotion in 1983, Jim
parachuted out of a plane with another guy, and their cords
became tangled. Jim cut his own cords and fell to his death
thinking that the two jumpers could not both survive. It was
his 814th jump.
O'Brien,
Pat: KLAC, 2010-12. The sports/entertainment veteran joined the Loose Cannons
show at KLAC in late summer of 2010.
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O'BRIEN, "Big" Ron: KFI, 1979-81; KROQ, 1981; KIIS, 1982-87; KKBT, 1989-91; KOCM/KSRF, 1991-92; KIIS, 1992-93. Ron was a dj at KFI, KROQ, KIIS (also pd), KKBT, KOCM/KSRF and back to KIIS. He died April 27, 2008, from complications of pneumonia. He was 56. Most recently he had been working at KOGL-Philadelphia Born in Des Moines, Ron was the md at WFIL-Philadelphia before coming to Southern California in 1979. His earlier stops included WCAR-Detroit, WRKO-Boston, WCFL-Chicago, WPGC-Washington, DC and WNBC-New York. In the summer of 1981 Ron worked as Eugene Oregon at KROQ. When doing research for Los Angeles Radio People, he commented that he was "#1 rated for 14 consecutive ARBs during the glory years at KIIS." In 1988 he went to WKBQ-St. Louis. For seven years he hosted the nationally syndicated CHR show "On the Radio," which was heard on over 200 stations coast to coast. |
In the fall of 1991, “Big Ron” was part of the launch of "MARS/fm" and later he worked at KKBT as afternoon drive personality. In the '90s Ron worked for KZDG-Denver and KKBH-San Diego. In the summer of 1996 he went to afternoon drive at WYXR (“Star 104.5”)-Philadelphia.
O'Brien, Scott: KORG, 1973. Last heard,
Scott was working at KXDC-Monterey.
O'Connor, Ken: SEE Bob Allen
O'Connor, Mike: KGBS, 1975. Unknown.
O'Connor, Pat: KNAC. "Pounding
Pat" sells CDs and records.
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(Joe Ortiz; Mike O'Neil; Gary Owens; and Scotty O'Neil)
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O'DONNELL, Charlie: KRLA, 1964-67; KGBS, 1968-69; KLAC, 1969-71; KBBQ, 1971; KLAC, 1984-89. Charlie was one of those rare renaissance men with numerous careers and he excelled at all of them. He was the original sidekick to Dick Clark on the decades-long, successful American Bandstand. He was part of the KRLA Top 40 jock team on stage at the Hollywood Bowl to introduce the Beatles. For three decades, he was the announcer on Wheel of Fortune. In the mid-90s, Charlie was the voice of the Academy Awards telecast for two years. Charlie knew early on that he wanted to make radio his life’s work. When he was 12 or 13 his sister was working in downtown Philly across the street from radio station KYW. She was asked to be part of a team representing her company, Du Pont, in a city-wide spelling bee. She asked Charlie if he would like to go along to see a live radio show. When they arrived he was impressed with the well appointed studio and once they were seated, a handsome man came out to the stage microphone and talked briefly with the audience, telling them what to expect and not to help the contestants. Theme music started and the man put his hand to his ear, ala Gary Owens, and opened the show. “I said to myself, ‘That’s what I want to do.’” |
WHAT-AM, a 250-watt black radio station in Philadelphia, was where Charlie started his career. When Storer bought WIBG, it became the city’s first rock station. Charlie was named news director. Charlie was the morning newsman with Tom Donahue. “We became great friends,” said Charlie when interviewed for LARadio. “He was the Orson Welles of rock and roll radio. He had that marvelous stentorian voice.”
A neighbor friend of Charlie’s encouraged him to audition at a local tv station for an announcer position, which he got and his first assignment was the announcing job on American Bandstand with Dick Clark hosting. “Dick and I hit it off immediately. If anything, I’ve learned so much about the business from him. I still consider him one of the greatest commercial announcers of all time. He’s certainly one of the great businessmen.”
The timing of American Bandstand certainly worked, as rock ‘n roll music had not only peeked behind the entertainment curtain, but arrived as it rocked around the clock. Before he knew it they had moved to Los Angeles, Clark believed the music trend was moving as the Beach Boys, Righteous Brothers and Jan & Dean were topping the charts.
One night at the local watering hole for radio/tv people, Martoni’s, Charlie met the man who would be responsible for his greatest radio experience. Reb Foster was the pd at KRLA, which was in a Top 40 battle with Chuck Blore’s KFWB. “My three years at KRLA were sensational. Casey Kasem was doing his bios. The Hullabalooer, Dave Hull, was the silliest son of a gun I ever heard. He was unreal. If I was a kid in this city, there would be nobody else in this city that I would listen to. Dave Hull was the best. And Bob Eubanks was slick. He knew what it was all about. Bob was the Dick Clark of radio for the West Coast. I found myself in the middle of these people and wondered what the hell I had gotten myself into.”
Charlie was between jobs when he ended up as the staff announcer at KCOP/Channel 13. “I would do three newscasts a day for ten years, host Dialing for Dollars, and then the afternoon newscast. I always liked news. I have some kind of affinity for it and I took it very seriously when I did it.”
“It has been a great ride,” reflected Charlie. Charlie’s family sent a personal note that was included in the program for his memorial service. “Charlie was not only the voice of the world, but a loving husband and father. He was the voice in our heads, in our hearts and in our lives. He was a handsome, tall, silver-haired Irish presence. When he walked into a room, you couldn’t help but fall in love with this genuine and generous kind man who would captivate you for hours with his knowledge of pretty much everything, his stories of his past [and boy, he had some stories to tell] or just listen to whatever you had to say. No matter who needed him, nothing was too much trouble for Charlie.”
Charlie died November 1, 2010. He was 78.
O'Donoghue, Deirdre: KPPC, 1970-71; KKGO,
1979; KCRW, 1980-86; KMET, 1983-87; KNX/FM, 1987-88; KLSX,
1988-99. Deirdre, longtime host of "Breakfast
With The Beatles" on KLSX and "Snap" on KCRW,
was found dead in her apartment on January 20, 2001. Born in
1948, Deirdre started her radio career in 1974 at
WBCN-Boston, a station that she maintained was "the best
radio station in the world." She worked at
"underground KPPC" as part of the "community
switchboard" in the early 1970s. Beginning in 1983,
Deirdre was heard on two FM stations - non-commercial KCRW
and KMET. She was with KMET until 1987 when the station
changed format and call letters. Her show "Snap"
(acronym of "Saturday Night Avant Pop") on KCRW
aired three nights a week with anything considered on the
cutting edge of contemporary Pop music. She started at KKGO
in 1979 and went on to work for KCRW, KMET, KNX/FM and KLSX. Deirdre was 52.
O'Hair, Thom: KMET, 1975-76; KFI, 1984. Thom
died January 8, 2001. He was 58.
O'Hara, Russ: KGFJ, 1968; KRLA, 1969-72;
KKDJ, 1972-74; KEZY, 1975-77; KROQ, 1979; KRLA, 1981-82;
KRLA, 1992-93. Russ is working at KDES-Palm Springs.
O'Hara, Steve: KFWB; KCBS. Unknown.
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(Pat O'Brien, Raul Ortal, and Paul Olden)
O'Keefe, Walter: KHJ, 1962. Unknown.
O'Leary, Jim: KBIG, 1960; KFI, 1965-68. Jim
also worked as John Patrick. He spent some time in San Diego.
Jim worked the all-night shift at KFI. He died in the late
1960s.
O'Loughlin, Sean: KLON, 2000. Sean hosted a
midday weekend show at the all-Jazz station.
O'Malley, Paul: KYSR, 1997-2003. Paul was made
station manager at "Star 98.7" in early 2001. He's now Citadel
cluster manager in Dallas.
O'Neal, Don: KIIS, 1990-94. Don left Fresno
radio in late 1997. Unknown.
O'Neil, Garvey: KLAC, 1959. Unknown.
O'Neil, Mike: KHJ, 1969-71; KWIZ, 1972-73;
KUTE/KGFJ, 1974-76; KIQQ, 1975-77; KUTE, 1977-78; KIIS,
1978-83; KLAC, 1983-86; KRTH/KHJ, 1986-87; KMPC, 1989-90.
Mike produces and distributes Keith Olbermann's radio
commentaries from his studio/home outside of Las Vegas.
O'Neill, Erin: KACE, 1979-80. Unknown.
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(Royal Oakes; Bobby Ocean; Jim O'Brien; and Susan Olsen)
O'Neill,
Gary: KGFJ, 1983-84; XHRM. Last heard, Gary was working at
Warner Bros. Records.
O'Neill, Greg: KSRF, 1988-90; KXEZ, 1990-96.
Greg is a writer and is involved in tv and film productions.
O'Neill, Jimmy: KRLA, 1959-62; KFWB,
1963-67; KDAY, 1969-71; KRLA, 1984-85 and 1990-93. Jimmy
lives in Hollywood and is involved in a number of
entertainment projects.
O'Neil, Scotty: KNX/fm, 1965-71; KGIL,
1971-74; KPRZ, 1983-85; KKLA, 1985-86; KMPC/KLIT, 1985-92;
KJQI/KOJI, 1995; KGIL, 1998. Scotty collapsed onstage
during a broadcast remote in Las Vegas on March 24, 2011 and died. He was 69. A
report in the Las Vegas Sun-Times said, "They were in the dressing
room, going over the monologue. Scotty seemed in really good shape, jolly
like he always was. They came out, did the monologue and sat on the couch.
They went to commercial. Scotty got this expression on his face, his eyes
rolled up, and he just looked very peaceful. Everyone thought he'd fainted.
His partner thought he might have been doing it as a joke, a comedy bit. A
nurse from the audience rushed to the stage but she could not find a pulse."
Scotty
was born in 1942 in Raleigh and graduated
from the University of North Carolina with a
broadcasting journalism degree. He arrived
in the Southland in 1965 from WKRG-Mobile to
work at KNX/fm and within two years was
appointed pd. He replaced one of the
legendary voices on KGIL, Paul Compton.
He spent a number of years in the 70s at
KGIL. At KKLA
in 1985, he hosted an afternoon drive show,
"Music on Faith." At 710/KMPC Scotty was the
midday host. When KMPC's sister station KLIT
joined the Lite AC format battle, Scotty was
deejay and pd. When the all-Sports format
was attempted on KMPC, Scotty "was brought in
and asked to save a sinking ship," according
to Larry Stewart of the LA Times.
"O'Neil did the best he could. He
immediately lifted morale and brought in
upbeat Charlie Tuna to host the
important morning drive shift. Scott was
part of “Music of Your Life" for a time.
Throughout the 2000's, Scotty had been living and
working in Las Vegas.
O'Neill, Sean: KLYY, 1999-2002. In late 1999,
Sean was appointed gm at "Viva 107.1." He left the station in
early summer of 2002.
O'Reilly, Bill: KABC, 2002-09. The host of FOX's O'Reilly Factor
started working the 9 a.m. - 11 a.m. shift at KABC on May 8, 2002. He
abandoned is syndicated show in early 2009
O'Shea, Michael: KPOL, 1979; KMPC, 1979-80.
Michael is running seven stations out of Eugene, Oregon.
Oakes, Robert: KFWB, 1967. After a stint at
WBZ-Boston, Robert has been seen as an ABC reporter.
Oakes, Royal: KPCC, 1983-88; KFWB, 1988-2006; KABC, 1994-98. Royal shares his legal expertise on
KFWB and other media outlets.
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OBER, Ken: KLSX, 1995-96. Ken was part of the experimental “Real Radio” at KLSX during the mid-1990s. He hosted MTV’s Remote Control before teaming up with former Brady Bunch star Susan Olsen as part of the launch of “Real Radio,” a non-traditional Talk format. He and Susan left KLSX in early summer 1996. Ken hosted a revised tv version of Make Me Laugh and he worked briefly at Comedy World. He died November 15, 2009. He was 52. A graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, he worked in Boston radio before moving to New York to pursue comedy and acting. He appeared in the tv sitcoms Parenthood and Fresh Prince of Bel Air. |
Ober had worked as writer and producer on Comedy Central’s Mind of Mencia in recent years and also did a stint as a consulting producer on The New Adventures of Old Christine in 2006.
Obuchon,
Homer: KGFJ, 1940s - 1970s. Homer was an engineer at KGFJ. He died May 1,
1977, at the age of 67, of multiple myeloma. He helped build a number of new
studios in several locations.
Ocean, Bobby: KHJ, 1975-80; KWST, 1980-82.
Bobby is a premier imaging voice based in Northern
California. He's working at XM Satellite Radio.
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OCHLAN, PJ: KMZT, 2011-12. A veteran of the original K-Mozart, P.J. is also an actor with a career spanning more than 25 years. He has appeared on Broadway, been in several critically acclaimed films, performed in Joseph Papp’s New York Shakespeare Festival, and been a four-time tv series regular. |
Ochoa, Anthony: KWST,
1981-82; KTSJ, 1983; KYMS, 1985-86; KWVE, 1986-92; KUSC,
1993-2000; KKLA 1993-2002. Anthony now specializes in designing talk
studios & production facilities for The Salem Radio Network, owner of KKLA/KRLA/THE
FISH.
ODM, KIIS,
2004-07. Robert Gutierrez, aka ODM ("One Dope Mexican"), worked late evenings
at KIIS from KGGI-Riverside until late 2007.
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(Daniel Oshe; Keith Olbermann; Warren Olney; and ODM)
Ofgang, Jeff: KFWB, 1998-99. Jeff is an executive producer at KBAK/TV-Bakersfield.
Olbermann, Keith: KNX,
1985-92; KSPN, 2005-07.
Keith hosted Countdown on MSNBC until November 2010 when he was
suspended for contract violations. He came back and officially left MSNBC in
January 2011. He is now at Current TV.
Olden, Jackie: KNX, 1978-86; KABC, 1986-87;
KGIL, 1988-92; KABC, 1992; KNX, 1994. Jackie is working at
KPSI-Palm Springs.
Olden,
Paul: KMPC, 1990-91; KNX, 2005-09. Paul is the public address announcer for
the New York Yankees.
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OLEESKY, Mark: KABC, 1996-2006. Mark co-hosted a computer show at KABC for almost a decade with Marc Cohen called, The Marc & Mark Show. Marc was the radio geek and Mark a computer geek. They came from two very different places but the show worked. Marc turned to Mark to be his expert on the radio show. Marc was a graduate of CSUN and a member of Mensa. Oleesky remembered their first remote that took place at the PC Club in Burbank. “It was a rainy day and I remember driving up to the store and seeing this huge line of people and wondering what they were there for,” said Mark. “I couldn’t even imagine the whole parking lot of Toys R Us was filled to capacity. I couldn’t park in the lot. Turned out they were there for our show.” He was head of an IT division for a real estate/property management company in West Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley. He died of a heart attack on January 11, 2011, at the age of 60. |
Oliva, George: KFI, 1989-91. George is now
writing.
Olivas,
Kevin: KFWB, 1996-99.
Kevin
is Parity Project Director for the National Association of Hispanic
Journalists in Washington, DC.
Oliver, King: KJLH, 1979-86; KACE. King is
now retired.
Olney,
Warren: KCRW, 1992-2011. Warren hosts “Which Way, LA?” locally and “To the
Point” syndicated nationally, both produced by KCRW.
Olsen, Susan: KLSX, 1995-96. The former star
of The Brady Bunch tv show is spokesperson for
Migraine Awareness Month and a mother.
Olson, Stu: KVFM, 1969-74; KWST, 1971-72;
KWNK, 1987. Stu is an actor.
Onink,
Dirk: KFOX, 1983-85. Dirk hosted a Heavy Metal show at KFOX.
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(Kevin Olivas; Homer Obuchon; Yesi Ortiz; and Ron Oster)
Orchard, Ken: KHJ, 1959-80.
Ken serves as
FCC Compliance specialist for Public Inspection Files, EAS, Stations Logs
and other FCC rules and regulations for over 125 stations in seven states.
Ordunio, Doug: KFAC, 1973-86; KKGO, 1991.
Doug is senior music programmer for AEI Inflight audio
service.
Orman, Suze: KFI, 2001; KLAC, 2002. Suze's syndicated show aired at
KLAC until a format change in late 2002.
Ornest, Laura: KFWB; KNX 1997-2009. Laura is
a news lady at KNXNewsradio.
Orozco,
Lance: KCLU, 2003-11. Lance is the award-winning news director at KCLU.
Orr, Vern: KZLA/KLAC, 1982-85. Unknown.
Ortal,
Raul: KCAL, 1966-71; KALI, 1971-95; KWKW, 1995-98; XRPS, 1998-2004. Raul
owns a consulting company, Video Sol Communications, dealing primarily with
Spanish-speaking stations in the States and Veracruz, Mexico.
Ortega, Sam: KRLA, 1996-98.
When
he is not working in radio, Sam is a graphic artist.
Ortiz, Arianna:
Arianna is a traffic reporter.
Ortiz, Joe: KABC, 1971; KLOS,
1972-73; KPFK, 1975-76; KPPC, 1986; KPZE, 1988-89; KABC, 1992.
Ortiz,
Joe: KABC,
1971; KLOS, 1972-73; KPFK, 1975-76; KPPC, 1986; KPZE, 1988-89, KABC, 1992.
Joe is a public relations consultant in the Inland Empire and
also writes for local and national periodicals.
He also manages several blogs and Web sites, including a Web
site for Tom Flores, former Los Angeles Raiders coach.
Ortiz,
Yesi: KPWR, 2006-11. Yesi works middays at Power 106.
Osborn, Dale: KMPC, 1966-69.
Dale lives in Portland and does occasional free-lance voice work.
Osborn, Dave: KLSX, 2001. Better known as
"Super Dave" Osborn for his bizarre stunts that
always go awry, was part of the broadcast team of the Xtreme
Football League.
Osborn, Jamie: KQLZ, 1989-91; KRLA,
1999-2000; KLSX, 2001-03. Jamie is the commercial production
director at KLSX.
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(Ken Orchard; Paul O'Malley; and Anthony Ochoa)
Osborne, Lisa:
KMNY, 1990-92; KKLA, 1995; KFI/KOST, 1996-2003/ KSUR, 2003; KFI, 2005-07;
KFWB, 2009-12. Lisa broadcasts traffic/news from AirWatch and is a fill-in
anchor at KFWB.
Osborne,
Sean: KRLA, 2002. Sean was co-host of "Ian Faith's Music Scene Revue" at
KRLA. He's also produced the Dennis Prager Show.
He's music supervisor at CanApple Productions.
Oscar, Carlos: KLSX, 1995-97. Carlos is a
comedy actor and writer.
Oshe, Daniel: KHTZ, 1979-82; KABC, 1982-2003.
Daniel was part of the engineering team at KABC.
Oshin, Steve: KBIG, 1983-97. Steve is gm of
KBSG/KNDD-Seattle. In the summer of 1999, he was promoted to
head the Entercom cluster of five stations. He left Entercom in February
2008.
Oster, Ron: KWIZ. The former California Man
of the Year owns Rawhide Travel Agency (7 offices around the
world) based in Phoenix. His Arizona agency is #1 out of 631
in the state. He's currently writing a book, The
(mis)Adventures of a Travel(ing) Agent.
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(Ronn Owens; Ozomatli; and Arianna Ortiz)
Othenin-Girard, Linda: KPCC, 1998-99. Linda worked mornings at KPCC.
Otis, Don: KHJ, 1965. From the world of ad
agencies, Don was operations director at KHJ. He passed away in the 1980s.
Otis, Johnny: KFOX, 1958; XERB, 1967; KPPC,
1968-69; KPFK, 1975-89. Born John Veliotes on December 28,
1921, of Greek parentage in an integrated section of Vallejo,
Johnny decided early on to live in the black community.
"Despite all the hardships, there's a wonderful richness
in black culture that I prefer." In the early 1940s when
Johnny first moved to Los Angeles, he was making $75 a week
as a drummer at the Club Alabam. It was all big band music.
By the late 1940s, swing and big bands were dying, r&b
was beginning to take hold, and Johnny was on the ground
floor. He had a #1 song with Willie and the Hand Jive.
He hosted a local tv show that had guests like the Moonglows,
Everly brothers, Sam Cooke, Drifters, Little Richard and Ray
Charles. As a writer he scored hits with Dance With Me
Henry, So Fine and All Night Long.
Johnny twice lost the Democratic nomination for a California
State Assembly seat and was chief of staff for former Lt.
Governor and Representative Mervyn Dymally. Johnny is
involved with artwork, author of Colors and Chords: The
Art of Johnny Otis and sells Johnny Otis Apple Juice. He
lives in Sabastopol with his wife of a half century, Phyllis.
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(Lisa Osborne; Ken Ober; Jimmy O'Neill; and Bob O'Brien)
Owen, Ray:
KPOL, 1961-69. Ray is retired and living in Aqua Dulce.
Owens, Buck: KBBQ,
1967. Buck died March 25, 2006.
Owens, Gary: KFWB, 1961-62; KMPC, 1962-81;
KPRZ, 1982-84; KKGO, 1985-86; KFI, 1986-89; KLAC, 1992;
KJQY/KOJY, 1993-95; KGIL, 1997-99; KLAC, 2005; XTRA, 2005; KSUR/KKGO,
2006-07. Gary has an active voiceover career doing commercials, voicing
cartoons and acting in films.
Owens, Ronn: KABC, 1997-98. Ronn works
middays at KGO-San Francisco. He was on KABC from July 14,
1997 to July 31, 1998.
Oxarart, Frank: KFWB, 1968-69 and 1977-84.
Frank retired from his post as vp/gm at KCBS-San Francisco in late summer
2003 and moved to Sarasota, Florida.
Ozomatli:
KYSR, 2008. The six members of the L.A. based band, Ozomatli took over
mornings in late summer of 2008 and left two months later.
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