BRIDGEPORT, Conn., Jan. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire-iReach/ — Radio personality Bob Crane, who also portrayed Colonel Robert E. Hogan in the television series Hogan’s Heroes, has been nominated posthumously for induction into the National Radio Hall of Fame for his extensive work in broadcasting.
Crane’s nomination is endorsed by WICC-600 AM radio in Bridgeport, CT, the Connecticut Broadcasting History organization and several of his radio colleagues.
Nominations for the National Radio Hall of Fame are accepted through March 1 of each year, and individuals are judged and selected based on their overall achievements and contributions to radio and broadcasting. The ballot of this year’s official nominees will be announced in June or July 2012, and voting will be open to the public during the late summer on the National Radio Hall of Fame Web site. Those selected for induction will be announced in November 2012.
Bob Crane’s work in radio spanned three decades, and he was one of the first radio personalities to be granted permission by the Broadcast Engineers Union to play his own records. This is one of several changes Crane helped inspire, cementing his reputation as an innovator in the radio industry.
“Bob Crane performed his radio show with split-second timing and the use of various gimmicks and sound effects, many pre-recorded on acetate,” says Carol Ford, campaign manager for Crane’s induction into the Hall of Fame. “For his show to work, he needed to select and play certain records himself, something that had previously only been done by station engineers.”
During his show, Crane played drums, used gimmicks and performed more than 1,000 different voices, all his own creations and often mixed in with songs and paid advertising. Crane’s program consistently ranked at the top of audience market shares on each coast.
Born in Waterbury, CT, in 1928 and raised in Stamford, CT, Crane graduated from high school in 1946. He began his broadcasting career at WLEA in Hornell, NY, in 1950. In 1951, he returned to Connecticut and worked for WBIS in Bristol for three months before moving to WLIZ/WICC in Bridgeport. Crane was also program director for WLEA, WBIS and WICC. In 1956, he relocated to Los Angeles to work for KNX-CBS Radio, where he conducted interviews with approximately 3,000 celebrities, including Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon, Dick Van Dyke, Bill Cosby and Ronald Reagan. Crane left KNX in 1965 to pursue a career in acting but remained close to radio throughout his life, broadcasting for the U.S. Armed Forces Radio Network in the late 1960s and KMPC in Los Angeles in the 1970s.
On June 29, 1978, Crane was murdered in Scottsdale, AZ, and the crime has never been officially solved. The investigation revealed Crane had had a proclivity to sex with numerous consenting women. Shortly before his death, however, Crane admitted to Reverend Edward Beck, a pastor and addiction counselor, to having a sexual addiction and wanting to break free of it.
“Bob Crane recognized his addiction and had committed to changing for the sake of being a better father to his children, whom he adored,” says Rev. Beck, who had been helping Crane locate a psychiatrist specializing in sexual addiction in Southern California in the days prior to his death. “It’s a tragedy that Bob Crane’s legacy comes down to his murder and addiction, rather than what I believe is his real legacy—a very caring man who was a tremendously talented entertainer.”
A strong supporter of Crane, WICC proudly honors their former morning radioman.
“Bob Crane had a rich history in radio broadcasting,” says WICC Station Operations Manager Curt Hansen. “WICC is proud to have employed Mr. Crane during his early years in radio and openly recognizes his outstanding career achievements well before his addiction became active.”
Ford further contends that Crane’s addiction and murder should not define him, and that his work should speak for itself.
“Bob Crane has been called a radio genius by his colleagues,” she says. “It’s time he receives the proper recognition he deserves.”
In 1988, the Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago inducted the first members into the National Radio Hall of Fame. Since then, those who shaped and transformed the radio and broadcasting industry have been honored annually.
For more information and updates, and to hear segments of Crane’s radio program, visit http://www.vote4bobcrane.org.
To learn more about the National Radio Hall of Fame, visit http://www.radiohof.org/
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