HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Joe Pyne (December 22, 1924 – March 23, 1970) 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 transmi ...
and television talk show
host A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it. Host may also refer to: Places * Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County People *Jim Host (born 1937), American businessman * Michel Host ...
, who pioneered the confrontational style in which the host advocates a viewpoint and argues with guests and audience members. He was an influence on other major talk show hosts such as Bill O'Reilly, Glenn Beck,
Wally George Wally George (born George Walter Pearch; December 4, 1931 – October 5, 2003) was an American conservative radio and television commentator. Calling himself the "Father of Combat TV," he was a fixture on Southern California television for ...
,
Alan Burke Alan S. Burke (September 15, 1922 – August 25, 1992) was an American conservative television and radio talk show host who was on the air primarily in New York City from 1966 to 1969 on WNEW-TV. Life He was born in Richmond, Virginia, in 192 ...
, Chris Matthews,
Morton Downey Jr. Sean Morton Downey Jr. (December 9, 1932 – March 12, 2001) was an American television talk show host and actor who pioneered the "trash TV" format in the late-1980s on his program ''The Morton Downey Jr. Show''. Early life Downey's parents we ...
, Bob Grant, and
Michael Savage Michael Alan Weiner (born March 31, 1942), known by his professional name Michael Savage, is a far-right author, conspiracy theorist, political commentator, activist, and former radio host. Savage is best known as the host of '' The Savage Na ...
.


Biography

Joseph Pyne was born in
Chester, Pennsylvania Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located within the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area, it is the only city in Delaware County and had a population of 32,605 as of the 2020 census. Incorporated in 1682, Chester i ...
. His father, Edward Pyne, was a bricklayer; his mother, Catherine, was a housewife. Pyne graduated from Chester High School in 1942 and immediately enlisted in the
United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...
. He saw combat in the South Pacific, where he earned three battle stars. In 1943, during a Japanese bombing attack, he was wounded in the left knee; he earned a
Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...
as a result of his injuries. In 1955, he lost the lower part of that leg due to a rare form of cancer."Acid-Tongued Joe Pyne Dies." ''Delaware County Times'' (Chester PA), 3/25/70, p. 1.


Radio

Discharged from the Marines at the end of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, Pyne attended a local drama school to correct a speech impediment. While studying there, he decided to try radio. He worked briefly in
Lumberton, North Carolina Lumberton is a city in Robeson County, North Carolina, United States. As of 2020, its population was 19,025. It is the seat of Robeson County's government. Located in southern North Carolina's Inner Banks region, Lumberton is located on the Lu ...
, before he was hired at a new station,
WPWA WPWA (1590 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a Spanish religious format. Licensed to Chester, Pennsylvania, it serves the Philadelphia area. The station is currently owned by Mount Ocean Media, L.L.C. History WPWA was authorized in 1947. The ...
, in Brookhaven, Pennsylvania. After an argument with the owner he was fired.Don Murdaugh. "Joe Pyne Saw Tobacco Juice Fly." ''Chester Daily Times'', 4/22/59, p. 19. Next, he got a job at radio station
WILM (AM) WILM (1450 kHz) is a news/talk AM radio station broadcasting in Wilmington, Delaware, United States. The station is owned by iHeartMedia. WILM is known as the station where radio and television talk show Joe Pyne developed the confrontational ...
in
Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington (Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...
, the first of three times he would work at that station. He moved to WVCH, a new station in Chester, which went on the air in March 1948. Seeing little chance to advance his career in Chester, Pyne left after a year and a half. He moved to
Kenosha, Wisconsin Kenosha () is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the seat of Kenosha County. Per the 2020 census, the population was 99,986 which made it the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Kenos ...
, where he was hired at
WLIP WLIP (1050 AM) is a radio station located in Kenosha, Wisconsin, United States, serving the Chicago-Milwaukee metropolitan region along the west shore of Lake Michigan with 250 watts, and also streaming worldwide at www.wlip.com. The station is ...
, owned by local station owner William Lipman (hence the
call letters In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...
). After six months of hosting innocuous programs such as ''Meet Your Neighbor'' from various grocery stores, he quit during a confrontation with WLIP management in which he threw Lipman's typewriter against a wall. Pyne worked at several stations in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and began to change his style of broadcasting.


Call-in

Pyne gradually tired of being a disc jockey who made comments about politics and current events. He developed his on-air persona as an opinionated host who knew something about everything. He returned to WILM, where he debuted as a talk show host in 1950. He would later tell reporters that he first experimented with two-way talk during his time in Kenosha.Don Page. "Pyne Answers Final Call on Two-Way Radio." ''Los Angeles Times'', 21 February 1969, p. J1. His new show was unique. He named it ''It's Your Nickel'', a popular idiomatic phrase when a call from a pay phone cost five cents. The format was Pyne expressing his opinions on various topics. Listeners would call to ask questions, offer their own opinions, or raise new topics. At first, Pyne didn't put callers on the air; he paraphrased for the audience what they had said. Soon the callers and his interaction with them became the heart of the show. Pyne became famous for arguing with or insulting those with whom he disagreed. One of his trademark insults was "Go gargle with razor blades.""Killer Joe." ''Time'' magazine, 29 July 1966, p. 30.


Television

By the early 1950s, television was replacing radio as America's main medium. In 1954, Pyne moved to television with ''The Joe Pyne Show'', broadcast by WDEL-TV in Wilmington. In 1957, he moved to
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 ...
. His initial show was unsuccessful, and he returned to Wilmington. He hosted a TV talk show on WVUE, which was also seen in
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
, and received positive reviews from critics. In the late 1950s the local black press generally praised him for inviting black newsmakers on his show to discuss issues of concern to their community. One of his regular guests was a member of the editorial staff of the area's black newspaper, the ''
Philadelphia Tribune ''The Philadelphia Tribune'' is the oldest continuously published African-American newspaper in the United States. The paper began in 1884 when Christopher J. Perry published its first copy. Throughout its history, ''The Philadelphia Tribune' ...
'', usually a columnist or the newspaper's publisher."Tribune Comptroller Scores on TV Show." Philadelphia Tribune, 8 July 1958, p. 2 Pyne continued this program until late 1959, when he returned to Los Angeles. This time, he was more successful. By 1960, he was hosting a radio show on
KABC (AM) KABC (790 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Los Angeles, California, and serving the Greater Los Angeles area. The station is owned by Cumulus Media and broadcasts a talk radio format. The studios are located in the Los Angele ...
. The acerbic Bob Grant took over Pyne's show in 1964, and Pyne continued on
KLAC KLAC (570 AM) is a commercial sports radio station licensed to Los Angeles, California, serving Greater Los Angeles and much of surrounding Southern California. Owned by a joint venture between iHeartMedia, Inc. and the Los Angeles Dodgers b ...
. This led to a television show on
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 ou ...
. In 1965, during the Watts Riots in Los Angeles, Pyne was interviewing a black militant on his TV show. At one point, Pyne opened his coat to reveal that he was carrying a handgun. His guest did likewise. The station suspended Pyne for one week as a result of this stunt, which led to both the
FCC The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdictio ...
considering pulling KTTV's license ''and'' syndication companies looking at distributing Pyne's show nationally. Later that year, "The Joe Pyne Show" went into wide syndication, carried by as many as 85 television stations (and 250 radio stations) at its peak. At the height of his fame, he was making $200,000 annually. At the beginning of each show he was introduced by an announcer as "the loveable, but opinionated Joe Pyne!" In 1966,
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
gave Pyne a daytime game show called ''Showdown''. Its distinguishing feature was that contestants who missed a question would fall to the floor in a breakaway chair. ''Showdown'' lasted only three months and was replaced by ''
The Hollywood Squares ''Hollywood Squares'' (originally ''The Hollywood Squares'') is an American game show in which two contestants compete in a game of tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The show Television pilot, piloted on NBC in 1965 and the regular series debut ...
'', which aired for 14 years until 1980.


Confrontations and controversy

Pyne spoke out against
racial discrimination Racial discrimination is any discrimination against any individual on the basis of their skin color, race or ethnic origin.Individuals can discriminate by refusing to do business with, socialize with, or share resources with people of a certain g ...
and supported the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
. He ridiculed hippies (a favorite target),
homosexuals Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...
, and
feminists Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male poi ...
. Though generally a conservative, Pyne spoke in favor of
labor unions A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (su ...
. His tendency toward insult and vitriol offended most critics, who called him "outrageous," "belligerent," and "self-righteous."Lawrence Laurent. "Joe Pyne is Outrageous." ''Washington Post'', 22 July 1966, p. C7. Groups such as the Anti-Defamation League accused him of catering to
bigots Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, reli ...
. There are many documented cases of Pyne getting into altercations with people on his show. He preferred controversial guests such as Anton Szandor Lavey,
Sam Sloan Samuel Howard Sloan (born September 7, 1944) is an American perennial candidate and former broker-dealer. In 1978, he won a case ''pro se'' before the United States Supreme Court, becoming the last non-lawyer to argue a case in front of the cour ...
and invited members of the Ku Klux Klan, the
American Nazi Party The American Nazi Party (ANP) is an American far-right and neo-Nazi political party founded by George Lincoln Rockwell and headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. The organization was originally named the World Union of Free Enterprise Nation ...
, and followers of murderer Charles Manson. Pyne argued this was educational, since it exposed these violent groups to the public eye.Bob Rose. "Pyne Sneers All the Way to the Bank." ''Corpus Christi Caller-Times'', 8/20/67, p. 19. ''The Joe Pyne Show'' was not only verbally confrontational: at times the conflict became physical, with chairs being thrown at Pyne by the interviewee. If the "discussion" got too heated, the guest would often walk off, or Pyne would himself throw the guest off the show, with the parting comment, "take a hike." Still, Pyne once described himself as an "overly compensating introvert." A notorious story of a confrontation on Pyne's television show involves guest
Paul Krassner Paul Krassner (April 9, 1932 – July 21, 2019) was an American author, journalist, and comedian. He was the founder, editor, and a frequent contributor to the freethought magazine ''The Realist'', first published in 1958. Krassner became a key ...
, the editor of ''
The Realist ''The Realist'' was a Humor magazine, magazine of "social-political-religious criticism and satire", intended as a hybrid of a grown-ups version of Mad (magazine), ''Mad'' and Lyle Stuart's anti-censorship monthly ''The Independent.'' Edited and ...
''. Pyne made insulting remarks about Krassner's acne scars. Without missing a beat, Krassner asked Pyne if his wooden leg caused any difficulty in having sex with his wife. Pyne was bewildered, so he sought comments from his audience, which, at this point in his career, was made up of whomever KTTV could bring in from
Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It begins in the east at Sunset Boulevard in the Los Feliz district and proceeds to the west as a major thoroughfare through Little Armenia and Thai Town, Hollywoo ...
. The audience happened to include musician and activist Phil Ochs, whom Krassner had brought along to the studio. Ochs very calmly remarked, "What Paul Krassner has just done is in the finest tradition of American journalism." No video of this incident survives; Krassner insists that it occurred, but was edited out of the broadcast. A similar exchange reportedly occurred with Frank Zappa: Pyne is reported to have said "I guess your long hair makes you a woman", to which Zappa responded "So I guess your wooden leg makes you a table."
Maulana Karenga Maulana Ndabezitha Karenga (born Ronald McKinley Everett, July 14, 1941), previously known as Ron Karenga, is an American activist, author, and professor of Africana studies, best known as the creator of the pan-African and African-American holi ...
, a black author, political activist, and creator of
Kwanzaa Kwanzaa () is an annual celebration of African-American culture from December 26 to January 1, culminating in a communal feast called '' Karamu'', usually on the sixth day. It was created by activist Maulana Karenga, based on African harvest ...
, was a frequent guest on the show, as was
Robert Dornan The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...
(" B-1 Bob"), who became a congressman from Orange County. Gay activists Harry Hay and
John Burnside John Burnside FRSL FRSE (born 19 March 1955) is a Scottish writer. He is one of only three poets (the others being Ted Hughes and Sean O'Brien) to have won both the T. S. Eliot Prize and the Forward Poetry Prize for the same book (''Black C ...
—who were a couple from 1962 until Hay's death in 2002—appeared on Pyne's show in 1967.


Movies

In the 1966 film '' Unkissed Bride'' (aka ''
Mother Goose A Go-Go ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of gesta ...
'') Pyne appears as himself hosting a portion of his radio show discussing psychiatrists, and then later in a car with his wife out for dinner, and including a chauffeur who answers a car phone call from someone calling him as if he's still hosting the phone-in radio show. The 1969 film ''
Midnight Cowboy ''Midnight Cowboy'' is a 1969 American drama film, based on the 1965 novel of the same name by James Leo Herlihy. The film was written by Waldo Salt, directed by John Schlesinger, and stars Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight, with notable smaller ...
'' includes a brief clip of a fictional TV talk show similar to Pyne's, with screenwriter
Waldo Salt Waldo Miller Salt (October 18, 1914 – March 7, 1987) was an American screenwriter who won Academy Awards for both ''Midnight Cowboy'' and '' Coming Home''. Early life and career Salt was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Winifred (n ...
appearing in a cameo as the host.


Death

Pyne developed
lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...
from his smoking habit, and died in
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 ...
on March 23, 1970, at age 45 and was cremated.


References


External links


TV Party: Joe PyneJoe Pyne video clips
*
''The Joe Pyne Show'' at IMDB
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pyne, Joe 1924 births 1970 deaths 20th-century American musicians American amputees American conservative talk radio hosts American game show hosts American radio DJs American talk radio hosts American television talk show hosts United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II Chester High School alumni Deaths from lung cancer in California People from Chester, Pennsylvania Radio personalities from Los Angeles Radio personalities from Philadelphia United States Marines