Barry Gray (born July 2, 1916, died December 21, 1996) was an influential American radio personality, often labelled as "The Father of Talk Radio". July 2 is the 183rd day of the year (184th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 182 days remaining. ... 1916 (MCMXVI) is a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January-February January 1 -The first successful blood transfusion using blood that had been stored and cooled. ... December 21 is the 355th day of the year (356th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... a Radio Personality is the modern incarnation of the disk jockey, or DJ. In the 1990s, successful radio stations began to focus less on the musical expertise of their hosts and more on the individual hosts personalities. ...

He was born as Bernard Yaroslaw in Red Lion, New Jersey, into a Jewish family. The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination of these attributes. ...

Initially a disc jockey, Gray was working for New York's WMCA in 1945 when he, bored one evening with simply spinning music, decided to put the telephone receiver up to his microphone and share his conversation with the listening audience. The caller that evening just happened to be bandleader Woody Herman, one of the most popular celebreties of the day. This spontanenous live interview was such a hit with both his listeners as well as station bosses, that the talk radio format resulted. Gray subsequently began doing listener call-ins as well. For other meanings of DJ, see DJ (disambiguation). ... The Empire State Building (right) and the Chrysler Building (left) are easily recognized symbols of New York City to the world. ... WMCA, 570 AM, is a radio station in New York City. ... Woodrow Charles Herman (May 16, 1913–October 29, 1987), better known as Woody Herman, was an American jazz clarinetist, alto and soprano saxophonist, singer, and Big band leader. ... Talk radio is a radio format which features discussion of topical issues. ... A radio format or programming format describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. ...

However, the technical aspects of early Cold War broadcasting were challenged by the live call-in, over-the air format. U.S. government restrictions and problematic consequences could not stop Gray's talk show success in putting listeners on the air ... with or without WMCA and the government's permission. His audience loved it, and grew exponentially. For the generic term for high-tension and / or indirect struggle between states, falling short of actual open hostilities, see cold war (war). ...

Rival station WOR also saw the attraction of the talk format, and Gray worked an overnight shift there from 1945 to 1948 or 1949, [1] [2] interviewing everyone from Al Jolson to Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. [3] He also broadcast for WMGM from the Copacabana night club in the late 1940s. [4] WOR-AM is a class A (nighttime clear channel), AM radio station located in New York, New York, USA, operating on 710kHz. ... Al Jolson Al Jolson (born Asa Yoelson in Seredzius, Lithuania on May 26, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was an American singer and the son of Jewish immigrants. ... Adam Clayton Powell (left) with Martin Luther King: both were prominent civil rights leaders. ... WEPN, more commonly known as 1050 ESPN Radio, is a round the clock all-sports talk station in New York City featuring national and local sports programming. ... Copacabana is a famous New York City nightclub. ...

Barry Gray return to WMCA in 1950, and stayed there for 39 years, refining the talk show format still utilized today. During the 1960s he was in the odd position of having an 11 p.m.-1 a.m. late night talk show on a station otherwise dominated by Top 40 music and the youth-targeted "Good Guys" disc jockey campaign. But for teenagers who kept their radios on into the night, Gray's show was a window into the higher-brow New York culture of the 1940s and 1950s. Gray would often have book authors on, and made a point of saying he had actually read their books, something not all talk show hosts did. Gray also had a tendency towards risqué (for the time) topics, such as the novel nudity found in European films playing in art houses, or characteristics of the prostitution scene in Manhattan. Top 40 is a radio format based on frequent repetition of songs from a constantly-updated list of the forty best-selling singles. ...

He was also known as a fierce critic of bigotry and survived the ugliness of McCarthyism and the Red Scare. A constant target of the blacklisting conservative columnist Walter Winchell, who called him "Borey Pink" and "a disk jerk" in the 1950s [5], Barry was fearless in calling out those he found mired in hypocrosy and abusive in power. The Winchell feud seemed to haunt him, however; years after Winchell had lost influence and become a recluse, Gray would still talk darkly on air about plots and physical attacks Winchell had orchestrated against him. Indeed a 1995 biography of Winchell would report that he kept a photograph of a bloodied Gray on his walls. [6] McCarthyism took place during a period of intense suspicion in the United States primarily from 1950 to 1954, when the U.S. government was actively countering American Communist Party subversion, its leadership, and others suspected of being Communists or Communist sympathizers. ... This article contains information that has not been verified and thus might not be reliable. ... Walter Winchell (April 7, 1897 – February 20, 1972), an American newspaper and radio commentator, invented the gossip column at the New York Evening Graphic. ...

Once WMCA changed to an all-talk format in 1970, Gray was again fully in his element. He never backed away from discussing hot topics in politics, especially those that affected New Yorkers. A 1973 profile described him as "brash, abrasive [and] opinionated. [He] was the talk-show titan listeners love to hate, [and] is still going after more than a quarter of a century at the mike." [7] By the 1980s he had shifted from a late-night to a mid-day slot at the station.

Gray left WMCA in 1989 when it dropped its talk format, and went to work slightly up the dial for a return to WOR where he enjoyed national syndication. By the time of his passing, his show was considered to be politically conservative. WOR-AM is a class A (nighttime clear channel), AM radio station located in New York, New York, USA, operating on 710kHz. ...

Gray appeared as his disc jockey self in the 1949 short subject Spin That Splatter. Gray also pioneered in early television, first as the host of The Barry Gray Show on New York WOR-TV when Channel 9 went on the air in 1949 [8], then more visibly as host of the very first Goodson and Todman game show Winner Take All, replacing Bud Collyer in 1951. The Game Show Network airs these very rare episodes every now and then, and they are informative: Gray's hosting style has more in common with today's David Letterman and Conan O'Brien than the classic television game show hosts of yesteryear. Short subject is an American film industry term that historically has referred to any film in the format of two reels, or approximately 20 minutes running time, or less. ... WWOR-TV is the flagship station of the UPN network. ... Mark Goodson (January 14, 1915 – December 18, 1992) was an American television producer born in Sacramento, California. ... Bill Todman (July 31, 1916-July 29, 1979) was an American television producer born in New York City. ... The First Past the Post electoral system, is a voting system for single-member districts. ... Bud Collyer (b. ... GSN logo (2004-present) The Game Show Network logo (1997-2004) The Game Show Network (now known as GSN - The Network for Games) is an American cable television and direct broadcast satellite channel dedicated to game shows and interactive television games. ... Letterman at his desk on The Late Show with David Letterman David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American talk show host, comedian, and television producer. ... Conan OBrien Conan Christopher O’Brien (born April 18, 1963) is a comedian best known as host of NBCs late-night talk show/variety show Late Night with Conan O’Brien. ...

In 2002, Talkers magazine selected Barry Gray as the 8th greatest radio talk show host of all time. [9]

External links

• Talkers Magazine online bio
• Barry Gray at the Internet Movie Database
• Audio of 1980 Barry Gray show, hosting Good Guys reunion
• More on Winchell-Gray feud