Noral Edwin "Dick" Whittinghill (March 5, 1913 – January 24, 2001) was an American film and television actor, recording artist and radio DJ in the United States. His early music career included membership in

The Pied Pipers The Pied Pipers is an American popular singing group originally formed in the late 1930s. They had several chart hits through the 1940s, both under their own name and in association with Tommy Dorsey and with Frank Sinatra. Origins Originally ...

vocal group which sang with

Tommy Dorsey Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-toned trombo ...

's big band. Beginning in 1950, Whittinghill was for three decades the popular morning drive disc jockey at radio station

KMPC KMPC (1540 AM, "Radio Korea", 라디오코리아) is a commercial radio station in Los Angeles, California. It is owned by P&Y Broadcasting Corporation. Radio Korea is a division of the Radio Korea Media Group. The station airs Korean– ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. During KMPC's heyday in the 1950s and 1960s, his fellow announcers included Ira Cook, Roger Carroll, Johnny Grant,

Gary Owens Gary Owens (born Gary Bernard Altman; May 10, 1934 – February 12, 2015) was an American radio announcer, personality, disc jockey and voice actor. His polished baritone speaking voice generally offered deadpan recitations of total nonsense, wh ...

, Johnny Magnus and

Geoff Edwards Geoffrey Bruce Owen Edwards (February 13, 1931 – March 5, 2014) was an American television actor, game show host, and radio personality. Starting in the early 2000s, he was also a writer and broadcaster on the subject of travel. Background P ...

. After his retirement, he was heard on a recorded Sunday program on KMPC, and later as afternoon drive personality at

KPRZ KPRZ (1210 kHz "K-Praise 106.1 and 1210") is a commercial AM radio station licensed to San Marcos-Poway, California and serving the San Diego metropolitan area. It is owned by the Salem Media Group and broadcasts a Christian talk and teachi ...

, Los Angeles, reversing his traditional KMPC role, as former KMPC afternoon DJ Gary Owens was then KPRZ morning man. Among the features of his program were the "story records," sent in by listeners, in which a short anecdote was completed with a line from a song. For example, the

spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

told Little Miss Muffet, "You can keep the

curds Curd is obtained by coagulating milk in a sequential process called curdling. It can be a final dairy product or the first stage in cheesemaking. The coagulation can be caused by adding rennet or any edible acidic substance such as lemon ...

but give me...''All the Way'' (

whey Whey is the liquid remaining after milk has been curdled and strained. It is a byproduct of the manufacturing of cheese or casein and has several commercial uses. Sweet whey is a byproduct resulting from the manufacture of rennet types of har ...

). (using Frank Sinatra's song). Whittinghill had a minor national chart record. His narration "The Square" reached #144 on the Record World chart in May, 1965.

Helen Trump

Whittinghill also spoofed the long-running radio serial, "

The Romance of Helen Trent ''The Romance of Helen Trent'' was a radio soap opera which aired on CBS from October 30, 1933 to June 24, 1960 for a total of 7,222 episodes. The show was created by Frank and Anne Hummert, who were among the most prolific producers during the r ...

" with "The Romance of Helen Trump", written and narrated by Whittinghill and

Foster Brooks Foster Brooks (May 11, 1912 – December 20, 2001) was an American actor and comedian best known for his portrayal of a lovable drunk in nightclub performances and television programs. Early life Brooks was born in Louisville, Kentucky on ...

. "Helen Trump" was ''"The story that asks the question 'Can a woman of 35?... 'Find love and romance with a man twice her age?'"'' One of Helen's suitors was a politician named C. Dewey Detterwick, with whom, Whittinghill said, Helen doesn't drive any more, because when C. Dewey drives, he sees spots—lonely spots.

Television appearances

Whittinghill made television appearances as well, including a number of appearances on '' Dragnet'' in the 1960s, once as himself. A favorite of producer Jack Webb, he also appeared in a 1971 episode of Webb's Adam-12. He always signed off from his morning show with "I'm walkin' out the door, with you on my mind..." from the

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...

record, "Walkin'". A sly punster and a master of double-entendre, longtime listeners knew that Montana-born Whittinghill was really ''"walkin' out the door with ''ewe'' on ismind"''. His morning traffic reporter was Paul Pierce. Dick nicknamed him Panther Pierce. Whittinghill made great use of Freddy Fill and his Orchestra to fill the last few seconds of air time before news broadcasts. Upon his retirement from KMPC in August 1980, he was succeeded in morning drive by another legendary

radio voice,

Robert W. Morgan Robert Wilbur Morgan (July 23, 1937 – May 22, 1998) was an American radio personality best known for his work at several stations in Los Angeles, California, in particular KHJ-AM. Morgan also did morning drive at KMPC-AM, KIQQ-FM and KMG ...

. Whittinghill was inducted into the

Radio Hall of Fame The Radio Hall of Fame, formerly the National Radio Hall of Fame, is an American organization created by the Emerson Radio Corporation in 1988. Three years later, Bruce DuMont, founder, president, and CEO of the Museum of Broadcast Communicati ...

as of November 8, 2008.

Discography

* ''The Romance of Helen Trump (A Soap Opera)'' (Dobre Records DR1062, 1978)

Filmography

External links

Radio Hall of Fame website

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Whittinghill, Dick Male actors from Montana American male film actors Radio personalities from Los Angeles American male television actors 1913 births 2001 deaths 20th-century American male actors The Pied Pipers members