Franklyn MacCormack (March 8, 1906 – June 12, 1971) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

radio personality in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, from the 1930s into the 1970s."Franklyn MacCormack, WGN Chicago Radio Personality''
/ref> After his death, Ward Quaal, the president of the last company for which MacCormack worked, described him as "a natural talent and one of the truly great performers of broadcasting's first 50 years."

Early years

MacCormack was born Franklin H. McCormick on March 8, 1906, in Waterloo, Iowa, and had four siblings. He attended the University of Iowa.

Radio

MacCormack began his radio career in South Bend, Indiana, and in 1930 had his first large-market job with

WIL Wil () is the capital of the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Wil in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. Wil is the third largest city in the Canton of St. Gallen, after the city of St. Gallen and Rapperswil-Jona, a twin city that merged in ...

in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1933, he moved to WBBM in Chicago, Illinois, where he was "an actor, announcer and producer." His obituary in the Chicago Tribune said, "He developed his technique of lacing music with poetry while announcing in his native Waterloo, Ia." MacCormack was the announcer of the long-running

old-time radio The Golden Age of Radio, also known as the old-time radio (OTR) era, was an era of radio in the United States where it was the dominant electronic home entertainment medium. It began with the birth of commercial radio broadcasting in the early ...

serial ''

Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy ''Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy'' was a radio adventure series which maintained its popularity from 1933 to 1951. The program originated at WBBM (AM), WBBM in Chicago on July 31, 1933, and was later carried on CBS, then NBC and finally Cita ...

''. He was also the announcer for ''

Easy Aces ''Easy Aces'' is an American serial radio comedy (1930–1945). It was trademarked by the low-keyed drollery of creator and writer Goodman Ace and his wife, Jane, as an urbane, put-upon realtor and his malaprop-prone wife. A 15-minute program, ...

'', ''Hymns of All Churches'', '' Myrt and Marge'', ''The Story of Joan and Kermit'', ''The Wayne King Show'', ''Woman in White'',Cox, Jim (2007). ''Radio Speakers: Narrators, News Junkies, Sports Jockeys, Tattletales, Tipsters, Toastmasters and Coffee Klatch Couples Who Verbalized the Jargon of the Aural Ether from the 1920s to the 1980s--A Biographical Dictionary''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . Pp. 177-178. ''Bouquet for You'',Terrace, Vincent (1999). ''Radio Programs, 1924-1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 49. ''Caroline's Golden Store'', ''The Curley Bradley Show'' and ''Dot and Will''. Beginning November 9, 1936, MacCormack (poetry reader) and Jack Fulton (tenor) starred on ''Poetic Melodies''. The program was carried on

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 ...

. On WCFL in Chicago, he was host of ''A Great Day for Music'',Sies, Luther F. (2014). ''Encyclopedia of American Radio, 1920-1960, 2nd Edition''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 275. and for many years he was the overnight broadcaster on two of Chicago's well-known clear-channel radio stations, first on WBBM and then on WGN, and thus was heard by listeners hundreds of miles from Chicago. In contrast to the primary sports-and-talk formats of WBBM and WGN, MacCormack read romantic and sentimental poetry and played classical,

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...

and

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

music. One poem, "Why Do I Love You?" became his signature, the first line of which he would typically use to begin his program: :''I love you not only for who you are, but for what I am when I am with you.'' MacCormack's ''sotto voce'' style of reading these poems inspired the ''

Bob and Ray Bob and Ray were an American comedy duo whose career spanned five decades, composed of comedians Bob Elliott (1923–2016) and Ray Goulding (1922–1990). The duo's format was typically to satirize the medium in which they were performing, such ...

'' character Charles the Poet, who can never get through one of his overly sentimental poems without breaking up into laughter. In his final stint on radio, MacCormack hosted ''The All Night Showcase'' on WGN from 1959 until the day he died in 1971.DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 173-174. The program was syndicated in addition to its broadcasts on WGN. The show originated at Uphoff's Rotunda Motel and Restaurant in

Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin Wisconsin Dells is a city in Wisconsin, straddling four counties: Adams, Columbia, Juneau, and Sauk. A popular Midwestern tourist destination, the city forms an area known as "The Dells" with the nearby village of Lake Delton. The Dells is ho ...

for two weeks every summer, through the courtesy of local waterski show impresario

Tommy Bartlett Thomson "Tommy" Bartlett (July 11, 1914 – September 6, 1998) was an American showman and entertainment mogul from Wisconsin. He is most often associated with the water skiing thrill show based in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, known as Tommy Bartl ...

. An article in the June 27, 1965, issue of the Chicago Tribune reported, "These remote pickups ... are bigger nightly draws these summer nights than the city's biggest night clubs." Columnist Larry Wolters added, "People come from Madison, LaCrosse, Dubuque, Milwaukee, Chicago, and other places to watch Franklyn read his poetry, hear popular and familiar music, to hear him philosophize, and give out information on a variety of subjects."

Books and recordings

MacCormack edited the 245-page ''Why I Love You and Other Poems from My Old Book of Memories'' (John C. Winston Company, 1948), and a paperback edition was published in 1963 by Chicago's Carl Mack Books. In 1958, MacCormack recorded an

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

for

Liberty Records Liberty Records was a record label founded in the United States by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Al Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous revival ...

. The album, ''The Torch Is Burning'', consisted of spoken-word interpretations of classic

era popular songs, backed by a string orchestra arranged and conducted by Russ Garcia.

Personal life

MacCormack was married earlier in his life to Vi Johnstone. In 1943, he and his wife were sued by Elenor Yorke, a poet living in Chicago, for copyright infringement. The suit was dismissed in February 1944 after the judge ruled Yorke was unable to prove her cause of action. In 1961 he married Barbara Carlson, his secretary.

Behind the microphone

MacCormack was an enigma to his listening audience, a manifestation of the magic of radio. While some perceived him as an aloof, effete romantic, his real-life personality was a gregarious ordinary beer drinking Joe who could walk the streets of Chicago blending in with every other blue collar man (despite owning one of the shiniest black Cadillacs in town, a self-earned perk). Due to the immense power and reach of clear channel WGN his all night radio show, sponsored by the everyday man's Meister Brau beer, had a huge following of long haul truckers who tuned in his show because they could cross several state lines without having to change stations once. MacCormack often incongruously interspersed romantic on-air poetry readings with talk of running down to the corner to buy the early edition of the morning paper which he would read while munching down a corned beef sandwich (listeners recall that his long-time engineer, who was with him the night he died while a record was playing in the first hour of the show commented on-air that MacCormack died after choking on a corned beef sandwich). Late in his career MacCormack teamed up with recently widowed Nelson Eddy for a live concert in Chicago, leaving his flowing toupee at home and letting his fans see him as the simple radio announcer "behind the curtain" that he really was.

Death

MacCormack became ill during the broadcast of June 12, 1971, and was quickly taken to a hospital. He had, in fact, suffered his second heart attack in a nine-month period, this time fatally, as he died Saturday afternoon. His time slot was initially filled by occasional guest host and staff newscaster Clif Mercer. 2,500 people gathered two days later to honor his passing. MacCormack is cited as a member of the eclectic (and fictional) "orchestra" in The

Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band (also known as The Bonzo Dog Band or The Bonzos) was created by a group of British art-school students in the 1960s. Combining elements of music hall, trad jazz and psychedelia with surreal humour and avant-garde art, ...

's recording, ''

The Intro and the Outro "The Intro and The Outro" is a recording by the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. It appears on their debut album, ''Gorilla'' ( 1967). It is not so much a song as a comic monologue in which the speaker introduces the musicians who ostensibly appear on the ...

'', where he is credited with playing the

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

Legacy

In 1971, the Franklyn MacCormack Music Library was established at the Dixon State School in Dixon, Illinois.

References

Listen to

Franklyn MacCormack readings

External links

Franklyn MacCormack tribute pageLive365.com Franklyn MacCormack broadcast
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maccormack, Franklyn Radio personalities from Chicago MGM Records artists 1906 births 1971 deaths People from Waterloo, Iowa Radio personalities from Iowa University of Iowa alumni