Dick Joy (December 28, 1915 – October 31, 1991) was an American

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

and

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

announcer An announcer is a voice artist who relays information to the audience of a broadcast media programme or live event. Television and other media Some announcers work in television production, radio or filmmaking, usually providing narrations, ...

. A journalism major at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

, he went on to become well known on network radio and television.

Early years

Joy's involvement with radio at the local level began when, while a student at USC, he worked part-time for radio stations in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

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 ...

. His first job after graduation was at KEHE, and he later joined the announcing staff of KNX.

Radio career

At age 21, Joy moved up from the local level to

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

, becoming that network's youngest staff announcer in history. By 1937, he was involved with ''Kathryn Cravens' News Through a Woman's Eye'', ''Good Afternoon Neighbors'', ''Thomas Conrad Sawyer Series'' ''Goodyear Sun-up News'', and ''The Newlyweds''. In the following three years, he added to his achievements work on ''My Secret Ambition'', ''Hollywood in Person'', ''Road of Life'', ''I Want a Divorce'', ''College of Musical Knowledge'', ''

Burns and Allen Burns and Allen was an American comedy duo consisting of George Burns and his wife, Gracie Allen. They worked together as a successful comedy team that entertained vaudeville, film, radio, and television audiences for over forty years. The duo ...

'', and ''The Beauty Explorer''. Joy went on to be the announcer for numerous network radio programs including '' The Adventures of Bill Lance'', ''

The Danny Kaye Show ''The Danny Kaye Show'' was an American variety show, hosted by the stage and screen star Danny Kaye, which aired on Wednesday nights from September 25, 1963, to June 7, 1967, on the CBS television network. Directed by Robert Scheerer, it premier ...

'', ''

Forever Ernest ''Forever Ernest'' is an American old-time radio situation comedy. It was broadcast on CBS from April 29, 1946, to July 22, 1946, replacing ''Vox Pop'' on the CBS schedule. It was also carried on CFRB in Canada. Ernest, the title character, is a ...

'', ''The Sad Sack'', ''Vox Pop'',Buxton, Frank and Owen, Bill (1972). ''The Big Broadcast: 1920–1950''. The Viking Press. SBN 670-16240-x. Pp. 66, 89, 206, 251. ''

The Adventures of Sam Spade ''The Adventures of Sam Spade, Detective'' was a radio series based loosely on the private detective character Sam Spade, created by writer Dashiell Hammett for '' The Maltese Falcon''. The show ran for 13 episodes on ABC in 1946, for 157 episod ...

'', ''

Blue Ribbon Town ''Blue Ribbon Town'' is a comedy-variety radio series starring Groucho Marx, sponsored by Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer, and broadcast on CBS from March 27, 1943, to August 5, 1944. The 30-minute series was heard Saturday nights at 10:30 p.m. unti ...

'', ''Dr. Kildare''.Dunning, John. (1976). ''Tune in Yesterday: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio, 1925–1976''. Prentice-Hall, Inc. . Pp. 13, 81, 165. ''Nelson Eddy Show'', ''Those We Love'', '' Silver Theatre'', ''New Old Gold Show'', ''Jackie Coogan Show'', ''

The Saint The Saint may refer to: Fiction * Simon Templar, also known as "The Saint", the protagonist of a book series by Leslie Charteris and subsequent adaptations: ** ''The Saint'' (film series) (1938–43), starring Louis Hayward, George Sanders an ...

'', and ''The Danny Thomas Show''.Sies, Luther F. (2014). ''Encyclopedia of American Radio, 1920-1960, 2nd Edition, Volume 1''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 177 The 1946 edition of Radio Annual reported, "Dick Joy and Donald C. McBain have opened their new station, KCMJ, at Palm Springs." Thus, Joy began his first venture into ownership of a station while continuing to work on network radio. His entry in the "Announcers" section of the 1947 Radio Annual listed 10 network entertainment programs in addition to newscasts. He sold KCMJ in 1950.

Television career

Like many artists from radio, Joy moved to television as that medium grew in popularity. TV programs for which he was the announcer included ''

December Bride ''December Bride'' is an American sitcom that aired on the CBS television network from 1954 to 1959. It was adapted from the original CBS radio network series of the same name that aired from June 1952 through September 1953. Overview ''Dec ...

'', ''

Perry Mason Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a cli ...

'', '' Have Gun - Will Travel'', ''

Daktari ''Daktari'' ( Swahili for "doctor") is an American family drama series that aired on CBS between 1966 and 1969. The series is an Ivan Tors Films Production in association with MGM Television starring Marshall Thompson as Dr. Marsh Tracy, a veter ...

'', ''

Lost in Space ''Lost in Space'' is an American science fiction television series, created and produced by Irwin Allen, which originally aired between 1965 and 1968 on CBS. The series was inspired by the 1812 novel ''The Swiss Family Robinson.'' The series fo ...

'', '' Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C.'', ''

Playhouse 90 ''Playhouse 90'' was an American television anthology series, anthology drama series that aired on CBS from 1956 to 1960 for a total of 133 episodes. The show was produced at CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California. Since live anthology dr ...

''. and ''

Sheriff of Cochise ''The Sheriff of Cochise'' is an American police crime drama television series of 79 black-and-white episodes broadcast from 1956 to 1958. The show has two seasons of 39 episodes, and there is an additional standalone episode. Each episode runs ...

''. Radio/television columnist Glen Stadler reported that Joy eventually left television to return to radio "because he refused to act like the advertiser demanded ... using the shove-em-at-you technique." Joy told Stadler, "I don't want any more ntilthe advertiser ... admits that the buyer has intelligence." Returning to local radio in 1951, Joy became news director at KFAC in Los Angeles. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' magazine reported that, in addition to being news director, Joy would "handle all morning newscasts and some early afternoon shows." Joy also worked at two Los Angeles television stations,

KTTV KTTV (channel 11) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of the Fox network. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside MyNetworkTV outle ...

and KNXT. He retired in 1969.

Family

Joy had a wife, Cecelia, two daughters, and three grandchildren.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joy, Dick 1915 births 1991 deaths American male radio actors Radio and television announcers American radio personalities 20th-century American male actors