Bill Shirk (born May 3, 1945 in
Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...
) is an American
escape artist
Escapology is the practice of escaping from restraints or other traps. Escapologists (also classified as escape artists) escape from handcuffs, straitjackets, cages, coffins, steel boxes, barrels, bags, burning buildings, fish-tanks, and oth ...
,
radio personality, broadcast
entrepreneur
Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...
and
actor
An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...
.
Biography
Radio broadcasting
Shirk graduated from
Ball State University in 1967 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Education.
Shirk has owned and started radio stations in
Muncie
Muncie ( ) is an incorporated city and the seat of Delaware County, Indiana. Previously known as Buckongahelas Town, named after the legendary Delaware Chief.http://www.delawarecountyhistory.org/history/docs/lenape-villages.pdf It is located in ...
, Indianapolis,
Cloverdale and
Lebanon, Indiana
Lebanon (/ˈlɛbnən/) is a city in and the county seat of Boone County, Indiana, United States. The population was 15,792 at the 2010 census. Lebanon is located in central Indiana, approximately northwest of downtown Indianapolis and south ...
.
Shirk was the Station Manager, Sales Manager, Program Director, Production Manager and Afternoon Disc Jockey on
WERK
Werk may refer to:
* Elliot Werk (born 1957), Democratic politician from Boise, Idaho
* Nicholas Werk (born 14th-century), English politician
* colloquial name for Třinec Iron and Steel Works in the Czech Republic
* WERK, a radio station in ...
Radio, in Muncie, Indiana from 1968 to 1972. Shirk became the General Manager and a DJ at
WXLW in Indianapolis in 1972 and then became the owner in 1974 and in 1991 added
WHHH
WHHH (100.9 FM, "Hot 100.9") is a radio station licensed to Speedway, Indiana. Owned by Urban One, it broadcasts an urban contemporary format serving the Indianapolis metropolitan area. Its studios are co-located with its sister stations at ...
-FM, Hot 96.3 as owner and DJ. Currently, he is the President and CEO of Hoosier Broadcasting Corporation.
Escape artist
While playing a major role in Indianapolis radio during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s and early 2000s, Shirk was also making his mark in the
escape artist
Escapology is the practice of escaping from restraints or other traps. Escapologists (also classified as escape artists) escape from handcuffs, straitjackets, cages, coffins, steel boxes, barrels, bags, burning buildings, fish-tanks, and oth ...
industry.
Between 1976 and 1980, Shirk set eight
world record
A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...
s, including the fastest time to escape from a strait jacket (4.53 seconds) and worlds fastest jail break.
In 1977, Shirk was buried alive for 79 hours with a ten-foot python, two tarantulas and a rattle snake, which received world wide coverage and a donation from President
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1 ...
. He raised $10,000 for the Marion County Association for Retarded Citizens.
In 1983, Shirk starred as himself in the movie ''The Escapist''. The film revolved around his fictionalized efforts to save his radio station from a greedy corporation and featured several of his highly publicized stunts, including straight jacket escape while hanging upside down from a helicopter 1600 feet in the air.
In 1992, Shirk was buried alive under seven tons of dirt and cement in a
Plexiglas
Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) belongs to a group of materials called engineering plastics. It is a transparent thermoplastic. PMMA is also known as acrylic, acrylic glass, as well as by the trade names and brands Crylux, Plexiglas, Acrylite ...
coffin, which collapsed and almost took Shirk's life. This was performed on the 66th anniversary of
Harry Houdini's death.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shirk, Bill
1945 births
Living people
American magicians
American performance artists
American radio executives
Ball State University alumni
Escapologists
People from Putnam County, Indiana
Radio personalities from Indiana