Raymond Storrs Morgan (May 5, 1914 – January 5, 1975) was an American radio and television announcer.

Early life

Morgan was born on May 5, 1914 in

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.Oak Park, Illinois Oak Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, adjacent to Chicago. It is the 29th-most populous municipality in Illinois with a population of 54,583 as of the 2020 U.S. Census estimate. Oak Park was first settled in 1835 and later incorporated in ...

and graduated from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

in 1935. On June 26, 1937 he married Ruie Rideout in

Englewood, New Jersey Englewood is a city in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, which at the 2020 United States census had a population of 29,308. Englewood was incorporated as a city by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from por ...

. Morgan’s father officiated the services. Prior to going into radio, Morgan worked for

McGraw Hill McGraw Hill is an American educational publishing company and one of the "big three" educational publishers that publishes educational content, software, and services for pre-K through postgraduate education. The company also publishes referenc ...

Career

Radio

Morgan began his radio career in 1939 at WPG in

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497.

. He then worked at WCOP in Boston and

WBAB WBAB (102.3 FM) is a classic rock radio station licensed to Babylon, New York and owned by Cox Radio. The station is also simulcast on WHFM (95.3 FM) licensed to Southampton, New York and serving eastern Long Island. History WBAB first went o ...

in Atlantic City before moving to WINX in Washington D.C. in 1941. During

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 opposin ...

he worked for the

United States Office of War Information The United States Office of War Information (OWI) was a United States government agency created during World War II. The OWI operated from June 1942 until September 1945. Through radio broadcasts, newspapers, posters, photographs, films and other ...

. After the war he joined

WWDC The Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is an information technology conference held annually by Apple Inc. The conference is usually held at Apple Park in California. The event is usually used to showcase new software and technologies in t ...

, where he hosted ''Open House'' a daily program that aired from 10-11 a.m. He left the show in 1947 to become the secondary announcer for the Washington Senators alongside

Arch McDonald Arch Linn McDonald Sr. (May 23, 1901 – October 16, 1960) was an American radio sportscaster who served as the play-by-play voice of Major League Baseball's Washington Senators from 1934 to 1956, with the exception of 1939, when he broadcas ...

. Morgan continued to cover sports for WWDC until 1958. Nationally, Morgan appeared on ''

Gang Busters ''Gang Busters'' is an American dramatic radio program heralded as "the only national program that brings you authentic police case histories." It premiered on January 15, 1936, and was broadcast over 21 years through November 27, 1957. Histo ...

'', '' Counterspy'', ''

When a Girl Marries ''When a Girl Marries'' is an American daytime radio drama that was broadcast on three major radio networks from 1939 to 1957. Created by Elaine Sterne Carrington (who also was responsible for ''Pepper Young's Family'' and ''Rosemary''), it was th ...

'', and ''

We the People The Preamble to the United States Constitution, beginning with the words We the People, is a brief introductory statement of the Constitution's fundamental purposes and guiding principles. Courts have referred to it as reliable evidence o ...

''.

Television

From 1948 to 1949, Morgan was the announcer for ''

The Roar of the Rails ''The Roar of the Rails'' is an American children's television series that aired on CBS from October to December 1948, and in October to December 1949. Each episode is 15 minutes long and includes commercials for the toy manufacturer A. C. Gilbert ...

'', a

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 Entertainm ...

television program designed to sell

American Flyer American Flyer is a brand of toy train and model railroad manufactured in the United States. The Chicago era, 1907–1938 Although best remembered for the S gauge trains of the 1950s that it made as a division of the A. C. Gilbert Compan ...

toy trains. From 1948 to 1949 he also hosted ''I'd Like to See'', an

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

program where viewers would write in to suggest places or things for the show to feature. The format was later adapted by the

DuMont Network The DuMont Television Network (also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont Television, simply DuMont/Du Mont, or (incorrectly) Dumont ) was one of America's pioneer commercial television networks, rivaling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being ...

’s ''

You Asked for It ''You Asked for It'' is a human interest television show created and hosted by Art Baker. Initially titled ''The Art Baker Show'', the program originally aired on American television between 1950 and 1959. Later versions of the series were see ...

''. From 1951 to 1952 he hosted, '' American Inventory'', an NBC educational program produced in conjunction with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation that featured panel discussions in an attempt to create a "living newspaper". Morgan also announced for ''

Toast of the Town ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the '' CBS Sunday Night ...

'', '' Studio One'', ''

Kraft Music Hall ''The Kraft Music Hall'' was a popular old-time radio variety program, featuring top show business entertainers, which aired first on NBC radio from 1933 to 1949. Radio ''The Kraft Program'' debuted June 26, 1933, as a musical-variety progra ...

'', ''

Robert Montgomery Presents ''Robert Montgomery Presents'' is an American dramatic television series which was produced by NBC from January 30, 1950, until June 24, 1957. The live show had several sponsors during its eight-year run, and the title was altered to feature the ...

'', '' The Ted Mack Amateur Hour'' and acted on ''

The Magic Clown ''The Magic Clown'' is an NBC TV series which ran from 1949 to 1954. The final NBC broadcast was on June 27, 1954. The show then moved to WABD where it stayed until 1958. After that, it was renamed ''Bonomo, The Magic Clown'' and was broadcast on ...

''.

Wrestling

In 1958, Morgan became sports director of

WTTG WTTG (channel 5) is a television station in Washington, D.C., airing programming from the Fox network. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside MyNetworkTV outlet WDCA (channel 20). WTTG and WDCA share ...

in Washington D.C. Soon thereafter he became the announcer for

Capitol Wrestling Corporation Capitol Wrestling Corporation Ltd. was an American sports promotion company. It was run by Vincent J. McMahon from 1953 to 1982. Operating as the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC), the company was originally a professional wrestling and boxing p ...

's (forerunner to the

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

) '' Heavyweight Wrestling From Washington''. In 1966, Morgan left WTTG when the wrestling program moved from WTTG to

WDCA WDCA (channel 20), branded on-air as Fox 5 Plus, is a television station in Washington, D.C., airing programming from MyNetworkTV. It is owned-and-operated station, owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alongside Fox Broadcasting Company ...

. In 1971, CWC promoter

Vincent J. McMahon Vincent James McMahon (July 6, 1914 – May 24, 1984), sometimes referred to as Vince McMahon Sr., was an American professional wrestling promoter. He is best known for running the Capitol Wrestling Corporation, which was later renamed WWWF (World ...

moved his television broadcasts from D.C. to

Hamburg, Pennsylvania Hamburg (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania German: ''Hambarig'') is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Berks County, Pennsylvania, Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 4,270 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 ...

. The following year, Morgan requested a pay raise to compensate for having to travel to Pennsylvania. McMahon instead chose to replace Morgan with his son, Vince K. McMahon.

Death

On January 5, 1975, Morgan died of cancer at Englewood Hospital in Englewood, New Jersey. At the time of his death, Morgan was residing in

Tenafly, New Jersey Tenafly () is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 census the borough had a population of 15,409,

. He was survived by his wife and daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Ray 1914 births 1975 deaths Dartmouth College alumni Deaths from cancer in New Jersey People from Oak Park, Illinois Radio and television announcers People from Tenafly, New Jersey Professional wrestling announcers Washington Senators (1901–1960) announcers