Chuck Niles (born Charles Neidel; June 24, 1927 – March 15, 2004) was a well-known

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...

who became the only jazz DJ to be 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 ...

Biography

Niles was born in

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...

, and first gained notoriety on Los Angeles commercial jazz station

KNOB-FM KNOB is a commercial radio station in Healdsburg, California, broadcasting to the Santa Rosa, California, area on 96.7 FM. The station airs an adult hits format and is branded as "Bob FM". History KNOB previously aired an alternative rock forma ...

in 1957. In 1965, he moved to KBCA-FM (later

KKGO KKGO (105.1 FM, "Go Country 105") is a commercial radio station that is licensed to Los Angeles, California, United States and serves the Greater Los Angeles area. The station is owned by Mount Wilson FM Broadcasters and airs a country music for ...

). After that station switched formats, he took over the afternoon drive slot at the non-commercial, publicly supported KLON-FM (now KKJZ) on the campus of

Cal State Long Beach California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) is a public research university in Long Beach, California. The 322-acre campus is the second largest of the 23-school California State University system (CSU) and one of the largest universities i ...

. Chuck Niles was a DJ for KKJZ from 1990 until his death in

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...

in 2004.https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Other-Documments/LA-Radio-Guide/LA-Radio-Guide-1996-05-06.pdf

Horace Silver Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silver (September 2, 1928 – June 18, 2014) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, particularly in the hard bop style that he helped pioneer in the 1950s. After playing tenor saxophone and piano at sch ...

("The Hippest Cat in Hollywood'),

Louie Bellson Louie Bellson (born Luigi Paulino Alfredo Francesco Antonio Balassoni, July 6, 1924 – February 14, 2009), often seen in sources as Louis Bellson, although he himself preferred the spelling Louie, was an American jazz drummer. He was a composer, ...

("Niles Blues"), and

Bob Florence Bob Florence (May 20, 1932 – May 15, 2008) was an American pianist, composer, arranger, and big band leader. Career A child prodigy, Florence began piano lessons before he was five years old and at seven gave his first recital. Although hi ...

("Bebop Charlie", "Nilestones"), and others have written tunes for "Carlitos Niles". He also appeared in small parts in several films. In 1958, he appeared as Ivan the Zombie in the

Jerry Warren Jerry Warren (March 10, 1925 – August 21, 1988) was an American film director, producer, editor, screenwriter, cinematographer, and actor. Warren grew up wanting to get into the film business in Los Angeles, California. He appeared in s ...

cult film ''

Teenage Zombies ''Teenage Zombies'' is a 1959 science fiction horror film written, produced, edited and directed by Jerry Warren, and starring Katherine Victor, Don Sullivan, Chuck Niles and Warren's then-wife and production manager Brianne Murphy. Warren wrote ...

''. He later said of the film, "I was just walking around like Frankenstein, that's all, no lines, just 'gluergugluergu,' and I'm pretty good at that... the movie was just terrible". In 2004, at the age of 76, Niles died of complications from a stroke.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Niles, Chuck 1927 births 2004 deaths American radio DJs Jazz radio presenters 20th-century American musicians