Arthur Earl Baird (5 September 1895 – 18 August 1985) better known as Dr. Craig Earl, was an American radio game show host in the 1930s and 1940s. Born in

Medford, Massachusetts Medford is a city northwest of downtown Boston on the Mystic River in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the time of the 2020 U.S. Census, Medford's population was 59,659. It is home to Tufts University, which has its campus alo ...

, United States, Baird hosted ''

Professor Quiz ''Professor Quiz'' was radio's first true quiz program, broadcast with many different sponsors from 1936 to 1948 on CBS and ABC. The program featured Professor Quiz, his wife Betty, and his son, Professor Quiz Jr. The program's announcer was Rober ...

'' from May 9, 1936, until the show concluded July 17, 1948. Baird claimed to have a degree in theology from

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...

(in fact, he attended the college for two years but left without a diploma), and did an early exercise and health program on Boston radio in the early 1920s under that name. He claimed to be an orphan; however, his 1918

draft card Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

recorded him as "living at home in Medford with his folks and attending college". By 1935, Baird was married, but during that year he suddenly vanished. As it turned out, Baird's disappearance was manufactured so he could avoid paying

alimony Alimony, also called aliment (Scotland), maintenance (England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales, Canada, New Zealand), spousal support (U.S., Canada) and spouse maintenance (Australia), is a legal obligation on a person to provide financial suppo ...

child support Child support (or child maintenance) is an ongoing, periodic payment made by a parent for the financial benefit of a child (or parent, caregiver, guardian) following the end of a marriage or other similar relationship. Child maintenance is paid d ...

to his wife. He later made his way to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and masqueraded as "Dr. Craig Earl", scholar and world traveler, taking the job as "quizmaster" on ''Professor Quiz'' in 1936. The identity of "Professor Quiz" was a closely guarded secret until a ''Radio Daily'' article revealed him to be "Dr. Craig Earl" in 1937. In 1942, when his ''real'' identity was discovered, Baird was ordered to pay more than $25,000 to his ex-wife.Halper By this point, Baird had remarried, and his new wife assisted him on his quiz show, working as the scorekeeper. In spite of the fairly widespread bad publicity, Baird continued to use the Earl identity, and his radio career continued. Sometime after leaving the air, Baird apparently legally changed his name to Craig Earl; he died in 1985.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baird, Arthur E. American game show hosts People from Medford, Massachusetts 1895 births 1985 deaths