Dave Garroway

***David Cunningham "Dave" Garroway*** (July 13, 1913, Schenectady, New York, USA – July 21, 1982, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, USA) was an American television personality. He was the founding host and anchor of NBC's Today from 1952 to 1961. His easygoing and relaxing style belied a lifelong battle with depression. Garroway has been honored for his contributions to radio and television with a star for each on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as well as the St. Louis Walk of Fame, the city where he spent part of his teenage years and early adulthood.

Born in Schenectady, New York, Garroway was 14 and had moved with his family thirteen times before settling in St. Louis, Missouri, where he attended University City High School and Washington University in St. Louis, from which he earned a degree in abnormal psychology. Before going into broadcasting, Garroway worked as a Harvard University lab assistant, as a book salesman, and as a piston ring salesman. After not being able to successfully sell either, Garroway decided to try his hand in radio.

Garroway began his broadcasting career at NBC as a page in 1938, he graduated 23rd in a class of 24 from NBC's school for announcers. Following graduation, he landed a job at Pittsburgh radio station KDKA in 1939. As a station reporter, he went about the region filing reports from a hot-air balloon, a U.S. Navy submarine in the Ohio River, and from deep inside a coal mine. His early reporting efforts earned Garroway a reputation for finding a good story, even if it took him to unusual places. The "Roving Announcer", as he was known, worked his way up to become the station's special events director, while still attending to his on-air work. After two years with KDKA, Garroway left for Chicago.

When the United States entered World War II in 1941, Garroway enlisted in the U.S. Navy. While stationed in Honolulu, he hosted a radio show when he was off duty, playing jazz records and reminiscing about the old days back in Chicago. After the war, Garroway went to work as a disc jockey at WMAQ (AM) in Chicago. Over time, Garroway hosted a series of radio programs such as The 11:60 Club, The Dave Garroway Show, and Reserved for Garroway. One oddity Garroway introduced on his radio shows was having the studio audience respond to a song number not by applauding but by snapping their fingers. Garroway also worked to organize jazz concerts, creating a "Jazz Circuit" of local clubs in 1947, bringing back interest in this music genre. His fellow disc jockeys voted him the nation's best in the 1948 and 1949 Billboard polls. He won the award again in 1951.

Garroway was the first "communicator" on NBC Radio's Monitor when the program first aired on June 12, 1955. He continued as the Sunday evening host of the news and music program from 1955 to 1961. Garroway worked on the air at WCBS radio in 1964 and briefly hosted the afternoon rush hour shift at KFI in Los Angeles in late 1970 and early 1971.

Garroway was introduced to the national television audience when he hosted the experimental musical variety show Garroway at Large, telecast live from Chicago. It was carried by NBC from June 18, 1949, to June 24, 1951.

Garroway's relaxed, informal style when on the air became part of his trademark. In 1960, New York Times reviewer Richard F. Shepard wrote, "He does not crash into the home with the false jollity and thunderous witticisms of a backslapper. He is pleasant, serious, scholarly looking and not obtrusively convivial." On television, Garroway was known for his signoff, saying "Peace" with an upraised palm.

Along with Arthur Godfrey, Arlene Francis, Steve Allen and Jack Paar, Garroway was one of the pioneers of the television talk show. Television commentator Steven D. Stark traces the origins of the style to Chicago. Garroway, Studs Terkel, and Hugh Downs all hosted relaxed, garrulous, extemporaneous shows in that city in the early 1950s. Earlier radio and television voices spoke with an authoritative "announcer's" intonation, resembling public oration, often dropping about a musical fifth on the last word of a sentence. Garroway was one of the broadcasters who introduced conversational style and tone to television, beginning some broadcasts as though the viewer were sitting in the studio with him, as in this November 20, 1957, introduction for the Today show: "And how are you about the world today? Let's see what kind of shape it's in; there is a glimmer of hope."

Pioneering NBC president Sylvester "Pat" Weaver chose Garroway as the host of his new morning news-and-entertainment experiment, the Today show, in 1951. He was joined by news editor Jim Fleming and announcer Jack Lescoulie when the show debuted on Monday, January 14, 1952. Though initially panned by critics, Garroway's style attracted a large audience that enjoyed his easygoing presence early in the morning. His familiar "cohost," a chimpanzee with the puckish name of J. Fred Muggs, did not hurt his genial manner, but his concurrent seriousness in dealing with news stories and ability to clearly explain abstract concepts earned him the nickname "The Communicator" and eventually won praise from critics and viewers alike.

At the same time he did Today, Garroway also hosted a Friday night variety series, The Dave Garroway Show, from October 2, 1953, to June 25, 1954. On October 16, 1955, he began hosting NBC's live Sunday afternoon documentary Wide Wide World, continuing with that series until June 8, 1958. Another Friday evening variety show, Dave's Place, was on the air in 1960. He also hosted a radio show, Dial Dave Garroway, that went on the air as soon as Today wrapped up each morning. Dial Dave Garroway had begun in 1946 when Garroway was still working for WMAQ in Chicago.

Garroway took Today to various locations during his tenure: Paris in 1959 and Rome in 1960; car shows and technology expos; plays and movies; and aboard an Air Force B-52 for a practice bombing run. Through television, Garroway gave viewers access to a variety of people that included politicians, writers, artists, scientists, economists, and musicians.[39] In his role as Today host, Garroway acted as pitchman for several of the show's sponsors. Among them were Admiral television sets, Alcoa and Sergeant's dog food. Most of the appearances were in the form of print ads in newspapers and magazines. By 1960, there was also a board game called "Dave Garroway's Today Game".

In 1961, Garroway hosted a special filmed program for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association that traced Billy Graham's crusades from 1949 to 1960.