Harold James O'Halloran was an American radio announcer and a singer.

Early years

O'Halloran was born in

Spooner, Wisconsin Spooner is a city in Washburn County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 2,573 at the 2020 census. The city is located mostly within the southwest corner of the Town of Spooner, with a small portion extending into the Town of Beaver ...

, and grew up in

Fond du Lac, Wisconsin Fond du Lac () is a city in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 44,678 at the 2020 census. The city forms the core of the United States Census Bureau's Fond du Lac United States metrop ...

. He began taking vocal lessons in 1924 and in 1926 moved to Chicago with plans to continue his voice studies. However, his relocation to Chicago took him into a career in radio instead.

Career

O'Halloran debuted in radio as a singer at WCFL in Chicago and later became an announcer there. In 1930, he moved to WLS, also in Chicago, working a morning shift. By October 1931, he had become WLS's chief announcer. For five years, he was master of ceremonies for the ''

National Barn Dance ''National Barn Dance'', broadcast by WLS-AM in Chicago, Illinois starting in 1924, was one of the first American country music radio programs and a direct precursor of the ''Grand Ole Opry''. ''National Barn Dance'' also set the stage for other ...

'' on WLS, with two of those years also being broadcast on NBC radio. In 1934, O'Halloran left WLS to work as an announcer at WOR radio in New York City. He returned to WLS in 1936 and became the announcer for the ''Chuck Wagon'' program. Later in the 1930s, he worked at

CKLW CKLW (800 AM) is a commercial radio station in Windsor, Ontario, serving Southwestern Ontario and Metro Detroit. CKLW has a news/talk format. It features local hosts in morning and afternoon drive times, with syndicated Canadian hosts in midd ...

Windsor, Ontario Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the souther ...

. On February 15, 1939, he began working at

WLW WLW (700 AM) is a commercial news/talk radio station licensed to Cincinnati, Ohio. Owned by iHeartMedia, WLW is a clear-channel station, often identifying itself as The Big One. WLW operates with around the clock. Its daytime signal provides ...

in Cincinnati, Ohio. He had a morning show there and was co-host of the Boone County Jamboree, a Friday evening stage show that was broadcast on WLW. In January 1946, O'Halloran became the master of ceremonies on ''Wake Up and Smile'', a Saturday morning program on the ABC radio network. In 1932, O'Halloran won a national contest for announcers. In 1933 he received the ''

Chicago Daily Times The ''Chicago Daily Times'' was a daily newspaper in Chicago from 1929 to 1948, and the city's first tabloid newspaper. It is best known as one of two newspapers which merged to form ''Chicago Sun-Times'' in 1948. For much of its existence, the ...

Most Popular Announcer in Chicago award. One of O'Halloran's specialties was children's programs. While he worked at WCFL, he was one of two speakers on ''Biographies in Bronze'', an educational series about people from history, especially those who explored and settled North America. At WLS, he became Steamboat Bill, and more than 100,000 children enrolled in a club that the station created for his character. At CKLW, his Junior Federation Club had over 200,000 members. At WLW, he was host of a weekday morning program that included children's songs and riddles and "tidy-up time", during which he encouraged young listeners to pick up their clothes and toys. Besides his work on radio, O'Halloran toured the Eastern United States with a barn dance production After he went to Cincinnati, he made personal appearances with the Boone County Jamboree. in 1949, he was a master of ceremonies on the ''

ABC Barn Dance ''ABC Barn Dance'' is an early country and Western music show on American television, a simulcast of the popular radio program ''National Barn Dance'', a title that was also sometimes used for the TV version. It also included some folk music. Th ...

'', a segment of the National Barn Dance that was broadcast on ABC-TV. O'Halloran led a musical group, Hal O'Halloran's Hooligans, whose instruments included bass, clarinet, fiddle, guitar, harmonica, jug, kazoo, and washboard. The group recorded at least six songs in 1936.

Personal life

O'Halloran was married in 1917. He and his wife had a son and a daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OHalloran, Hal Radio and television announcers Radio personalities from Wisconsin 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers People from Spooner, Wisconsin