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Clem McCarthy (September 9, 1882 – June 4, 1962)DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 173. was an American sportscaster and
public address A public address system (or PA system) is an electronic system comprising microphones, amplifiers, loudspeakers, and related equipment. It increases the apparent volume (loudness) of a human voice, musical instrument, or other acoustic sound sou ...
announcer. He also lent his voice to
Pathe News Pathe or Pathé may refer to: * Pathé, a French company established in 1896 * Pathé Exchange, U.S. division of the French film company that was spun off into an independent entity * Pathé News, a French and British distributor of cinema newsr ...
's RKO newsreels. He was known for his gravelly voice and dramatic style, a "whiskey tenor" as sports announcer and executive David J. Halberstam has called it.


Early years

McCarthy was born Charles Louis McCarthy in East Bloomfield, New York. His father's work as a dealer and auctioneer of horses gave the young McCarthy frequent access to horse fairs and race tracks across the United States. Although he wanted to be a jockey, he grew too big and instead began reporting on horse writing in Southern California in the 1920s.


Career

As Halberstam's book ''Sports on New York Radio'' notes, McCarthy is considered one of
horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...
's great callers, setting the stage for well-known voices from
Cawood Ledford Cawood Ledford (April 24, 1926 – September 5, 2001) was a radio play-by-play announcer for the University of Kentucky basketball and football teams. Ledford's style and professionalism endeared himself to many sports fans in the Commonwealth of ...
to Dave Johnson. He was the first public-address announcer at a major American racetrack,
Arlington Park Arlington International Racecourse (formerly Arlington Park, the name was Arlington Park Jockey Club from as soon as 1948 up to 1955) was a horse race track in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, Illinois. Horse racing in the Chicago re ...
in Arlington Heights, Illinois. Installation of a public address system there in 1927 provided that opportunity. In addition to being a race caller for racetracks and NBC Radio, he was a top boxing announcer, too. His most often replayed boxing sportscast is probably his NBC radio call of the 1938
Joe Louis Joseph Louis Barrow (May 13, 1914 – April 12, 1981) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1934 to 1951. Nicknamed the Brown Bomber, Louis is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential boxers of all time. He re ...
-
Max Schmeling Maximilian Adolph Otto Siegfried Schmeling (, ; 28 September 1905 – 2 February 2005) was a German boxer who was heavyweight champion of the world between 1930 and 1932. His two fights with Joe Louis in 1936 and 1938 were worldwide cultural ev ...
rematch at
Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the orig ...
: :''Louis, right and left to the head, a left to the jaw, a right to the head, and eferee ArtDonovan is watching carefully. Louis measures him. Right to the body, a left up to the jaw, and Schmeling is down! The count is five! Five, six, seven, eight -- the men are in the ring! The fight is over, on a technical knock out. Max Schmeling is beaten in one round! Later that same year he called the famous Seabiscuit / War Admiral match race, including this phrase in the final stretch run, as Seabiscuit shocked the horse racing world by outrunning the heavily favored War Admiral: McCarthy is also known for having mis-called the 1947
Preakness Stakes The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held on Armed Forces Day which is also the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Graded stakes race, Grade I race run over a distance of ...
when a crowd standing on a platform blocked his view of the far turn, just as two horses with similar silks switched places. (
Chic Anderson Charles David "Chic" Anderson (December 17, 1931 – March 24, 1979) was an American sportscaster and public address announcer specializing in Thoroughbred horse racing. He was one of American sports' most famous PA voices, and remains among its ...
, one of McCarthy's most famous descendants as a track announcer, made a similar mistake in the 1975
Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-yea ...
.) As with Anderson later, McCarthy's quick and humble admission of the mistake helped the criticism eventually blow over. Years after McCarthy's death, sports film maker
Bud Greenspan Jonah J. "Bud" Greenspan (September 18, 1926December 25, 2010) was an American film director, writer, and producer known for his sports documentaries. His distinctive appearance in later years included wearing his large, dark-framed glasses atop ...
compared the audio of the race call with newsreel film of the race, and discovered that McCarthy had stated, "...and the crowd blocks me for a moment..." at the exact point where the two horses had switched places. McCarthy's career also included work at local radio stations, beginning at KYW in Chicago in 1928. From there, he went to WMCA in New York City.


Personal life

In 1929, McCarthy married vaudeville actress Vina Smith. They had no children, and they remained married until her death in 1954. He suffered serious injury in an automobile accident in 1957, and in his final years he had Parkinson's disease.


Death

McCarthy died on June 4, 1962.


Recognition

The
National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association The National Sports Media Association (NSMA), formerly the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association, is an organization of sports media members in the United States, and constitutes the American chapter of the International Sports P ...
inducted McCarthy into its Hall of Fame in 1970. In 1987, McCarthy was inducted into the
American Sportscasters Association The American Sportscasters Association (ASA) was founded in 1979 by broadcaster Dick London (Hanna) and associate attorney Harold Foner as a non-profit association to represent sportscasters by promoting and supporting the needs and interests of ...
Hall of Fame along with veteran ABC Sports announcer Jim McKay.


In popular culture

Comedian Doodles Weaver mimicked McCarthy in his 1948 novelty recording (with Spike Jones) of the "
William Tell Overture The ''William Tell'' Overture is the overture to the opera '' William Tell'' (original French title ''Guillaume Tell''), whose music was composed by Gioachino Rossini. ''William Tell'' premiered in 1829 and was the last of Rossini's 39 operas, a ...
".


Recording

''Clem McCarthy, the Voice of American Sports'', an
LP record The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of   rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; an ...
, was produced in 1962.


References


External links


Sportscasters Hall of Fame
* ttp://colinsghost.org/2016/05/the-incredible-story-behind-clem-mccarthys-first-kentucky-derby-broadcast.html The incredible story behind Clem McCarthy's first Kentucky Derby broadcast {{DEFAULTSORT:McCarthy, Clem 1882 births 1962 deaths American horse racing announcers American sports announcers Boxing commentators Sportspeople from Rochester, New York