Bill Welsh (April 25, 1911 – February 27, 2000) was a radio and television announcer.

Early years

Welsh born in Greeley,

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

, the son of Mr. and Mrs. W.H. Welsh. He attended the Colorado State College of Education.

Career

Welsh's career in broadcasting began with a part-time job at radio station

KFKA KFKA ("NoCo's Home for News, Sports and Talk") on 1310 AM is a radio station licensed to Greeley, Colorado that serves the Fort Collins-Greeley area. It is the flagship station for the University of Northern Colorado Bears football and basketball ...

in Greely. Beginning as a disk jockey and announcer, he expanded his work into gathering news and giving evening newscasts. His coverage of the murder of a police sergeant caught the attention of executives at

KFEL KFEL (970 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a Catholic radio format. Licensed to Pueblo, Colorado Pueblo () is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Pueblo County, Colorado, United Sta ...

radio in Denver, and he went to work there next, staying at that station from 1935 to 1942. Welsh's television debut came in the broadcast of a hockey game on

KTLA KTLA (channel 5) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of The CW. It is the largest directly owned property of the network's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, and is the seco ...

in Los Angeles. His broadcasting of sporting events included the first telecast of a

Rose Bowl Game The Rose Bowl Game is an annual American college football bowl game, usually played on January 1 (New Year's Day) at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on Monday, January 2. The Rose ...

, in addition to coverage of football games of southern California colleges and games of the

Los Angeles Dons The Los Angeles Dons were an American football team in the newly formed football league the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) from 1946 to 1949, and played their home games in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The Dons were the first pr ...

of the

All-America Football Conference The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the ...

. Over the course of his career, he broadcast 49

Rose Parade The Rose Parade, also known as the Tournament of Roses Parade (or simply the Tournament of Roses), is an annual parade held mostly along Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, California, United States, on New Year's Day (or on Monday, January 2 if N ...

s. In 1949, Welsh and fellow KTLA newsman Stan Chambers were on the air for 27.5 hours as they provided live coverage of attempts to rescue

Kathy Fiscus Kathryn Anne Fiscus (August 21, 1945 – April 8, 1949) was a three-year-old girl who died after falling into a well in San Marino, California. The attempted rescue, broadcast live on KTLA, was a landmark event in American television history. Bi ...

, a child who had fallen down a well in San Marino. During World War II, Welsh worked for the

Office of War Information The United States Office of War Information (OWI) was a United States government agency created during World War II. The OWI operated from June 1942 until September 1945. Through radio broadcasts, newspapers, posters, photographs, films and other ...

for four years. In addition to his work as a broadcaster, Welsh was general manager of Allied Advertising Agency.

Community involvement

From 1980 to 1990, Welsh was president of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. His obituary in the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

''.called him "a key force" in obtaining the Los Angeles City Council's approval of a redevelopment plan in 1986. "It was Welsh", the article said, "who raised $150,000 in 1983 for a crucial feasibility study, and Welsh who called Mayor Tom Bradley and other community leaders together at a Brown Derby lunch to convince them that redevelopment could -- and should -- happen".

Personal life

Welsh was married to Lucinda Pennington.

Death

On February 27, 2000, Welsh died of an aortic aneurysm at his home in

Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks is the second-largest city in Ventura County, California, United States. It is in the northwestern part of Greater Los Angeles, approximately from the city of Los Angeles and from Downtown. It is named after the many oak tree ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Recognition

For his work on TV, in 1980, he received a star on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Californ ...

. In 1949 and 1950, Welsh was runner-up for the

Los Angeles Emmy Award The Los Angeles Emmy Awards are presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS) in recognition of excellence in the local programming of the Greater Los Angeles area. They are the only regional Emmys presented directly by the ATAS; ...

for top television personality on the West Coast. In 1991, he received the Los Angeles Area Governors Emmy Award.

Filmography

1951: Storm Warning - he played a tv announcer. *''

The Day the Earth Stood Still ''The Day the Earth Stood Still'' (a.k.a. ''Farewell to the Master'' and ''Journey to the World'') is a 1951 American science fiction film from 20th Century Fox, produced by Julian Blaustein and directed by Robert Wise. It stars Michael Renn ...

'' (1951) Appeared as a radio newscaster (uncredited) in the 1951 classic. *'' The Las Vegas Story'' (1952) "Mr. Martin" *''

The Rose Bowl Story ''The Rose Bowl Story'' is a 1952 American romance film directed by William Beaudine and starring Marshall Thompson, Vera Miles and Richard Rober, featuring a young Natalie Wood. The film was made in Cinecolor. It follows the relationship between ...

'' (1952) Played himself in the film. *'' Just This Once'' (1952) uncredited. *''

Savage Intruder ''Savage Intruder'', later released as ''Hollywood Horror House'', is a 1970 American psychological horror film directed by Donald Wolfe and starring Miriam Hopkins, John David Garfield and Gale Sondergaard.Nissen p.202 Plot An ageing and reclusi ...

'' (1970) as a TV announcer

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Welsh, Bill 1911 births 2000 deaths Television personalities from California Radio and television announcers People from Thousand Oaks, California People of the United States Office of War Information