Roderic George "Rod" O'Connor Sr. (January 18, 1914 – June 5, 1964) was an American radio and television announcer and occasional actor during the early years of television's golden age. O'Connor built a name for himself as the announcer for both Don McNeill's '' Breakfast Club'' and ''

The First Nighter Program ''The First Nighter Program'' was a long-running radio anthology comedy-drama series broadcast from November 27, 1930, to September 27, 1953. The host was Mr. First Nighter (Charles P. Hughes, Macdonald Carey, Bret Morrison, Marvin Miller, Don Br ...

'' at

WGN Radio WGN (720 Hertz, kHz) is a commercial radio, commercial AM radio, AM radio station in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, with radio studio, studios on the 18th floor of 303 East Wacker Drive in the Chicago Loop. WGN has a talk radio, news/talk format, ...

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

. He would leave Chicago for New York and after that, World War II. It was while serving in the army that O'Connor met comedian

Red Skelton Richard Red Skelton (July 18, 1913September 17, 1997) was an American entertainer best known for his national radio and television shows between 1937 and 1971, especially as host of the television program ''The Red Skelton Show''. He has stars ...

. The two became good friends and upon arrival back into the United States, Skelton offered O'Connor an announcing gig on his '' Raleigh Cigarette Program'' in 1945. O'Connor also stayed on when Skelton went to television with ''

The Red Skelton Show ''The Red Skelton Show'' is an American television comedy/variety show that aired from 1951 to 1971. In the decade prior to hosting the show, Richard "Red" Skelton had a successful career as a radio and motion pictures star. Although his televis ...

''. During his announcing career, O'Connor worked some of the biggest names in radio including

Art Linkletter Arthur Gordon Linkletter (born Gordon Arthur Kelly or Arthur Gordon Kelly; sources differ; July 17, 1912 – May 26, 2010) was a Canadian-born American radio and television personality. He was the host of ''House Party'', which ran on CBS radio a ...

Loretta Young Loretta Young (born Gretchen Young; January 6, 1913 – August 12, 2000) was an American actress. Starting as a child, she had a long and varied career in film from 1917 to 1953. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the fil ...

Dennis Day Dennis Day (born Owen Patrick Eugene McNulty; May 21, 1916 – June 22, 1988) was an American actor, comedian, and singer. He was of Irish descent. Early life Day was born and raised in the Throggs Neck section of the Bronx, New York City, the ...

Rudy Vallée Hubert Prior Vallée (July 28, 1901 – July 3, 1986), known professionally as Rudy Vallée, was an American singer, musician, actor, and radio host. He was one of the first modern pop stars of the teen idol type. Early life Hubert Prior Vall ...

and

Danny Thomas Danny Thomas (born Amos Muzyad Yaqoob Kairouz; January 6, 1912 – February 6, 1991) was an American actor, singer, nightclub comedian, producer, and philanthropist. He created and starred in one of the most successful and long-running si ...

Early life and career

Roderic George O'Connor was born in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

on January 18, 1914 to parents George O'Connor (May 23, 1881–December 1, 1968) and Grace (née Cover) (March 4, 1884–February 22, 1952). O'Connor's family moved to

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

when he was young and his father became an Ogden City commissioner. O'Connor had a brother; Joseph Richard O'Connor, and two sisters; Kathleen Greenelsh and Nora Deis. O'Connor began work joining the staff of KUTA Radio in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

in 1938. He then went on to announce for KSL also in Salt Lake then WCCO in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

. O'Connor finally settled at WGN in

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

where he served as the announcer for ''

Don McNeill's Breakfast Club ''Don McNeill's Breakfast Club'' was a long-running morning variety show on NBC Blue Network/American Broadcasting Company, ABC radio (and briefly on television) originating in Chicago, Illinois. Hosted by Don McNeill (performer), Don McNeill, the ...

'' and ''

''. Shortly after he finished his engagement at WGN, O'Connor met comedian

who had just been discharged from a Virginia army hospital and was soon about to return to ''

The Raleigh Cigarette Program ''The Raleigh Cigarette Program'' (alternatively known as ''The Raleigh Cigarette Program Starring Red Skelton'') was an American old-time radio comedy program that starred comedian Red Skelton. Skelton was, at the time, an up-and-coming comedian ...

'' after an 18-month hiatus. In need of a new announcer to replace Truman Bradley, Skelton came across O'Connor. O'Connor remained with Skelton until his radio show came to an end in 1953. O'Connor also went to television with Red on ''

'' in 1951. He even made a small appearance in ''

The Fuller Brush Man ''The Fuller Brush Man'' is a 1948 American comedy film starring Red Skelton as a door-to-door salesman for the Fuller Brush Company who becomes a murder suspect. Plot Success doesn't exactly stare the unfortunate street cleaner Red Jones (Red Sk ...

'', a 1948 film starring Skelton In addition to Red Skelton's radio show, O'Connor was also the announcer for the majority of the 10-year run of NBC's ''

Duffy's Tavern ''Duffy's Tavern'' is an American radio situation comedy that ran for a decade on several networks (CBS, 1941–42; NBC-Blue Network, 1942–44; and NBC, 1944–51), concluding with the December 28, 1951, broadcast. The program often featured ...

'' starring

Ed Gardner Ed Gardner (born Edward Poggenberg; June 29, 1901 – August 17, 1963) was an American comedian, comic actor, writer and director, best remembered as the creator and star of the radio's popular ''Duffy's Tavern'' comedy series. Early years ...

. O'Connor also was a part of the 25-year run of

's ''

House Party A house party is a type of party where people gather at the residence of the party's host. Organization A house party might be organized several months or just a few hours in advance. News of a party may be spread by personal invitations, ...

'' on

CBS Radio CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broadc ...

. O'Connor also announced ''

Glamour Manor ''Glamour Manor'' is an American daytime radio program that was broadcast on the Blue Network from July 3, 1944 until June 27, 1947. Cliff Arquette starred in ''Glamour Manor'', which varied in format depending on the day of the week. Mondays, Wed ...

'', a musical variety program starring

Cliff Arquette Clifford Charles Arquette (December 27, 1905 ⁠– September 23, 1974) was an American actor and comedian. Famous for his persona Charley Weaver, played on numerous television shows. Early life and career Cliff Arquette was born on Decemb ...

(Charley Weaver), during the 1945-46 radio season on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

. He was replaced the following season by Don Wilson of ''

Jack Benny Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky, February 14, 1894 – December 26, 1974) was an American entertainer who evolved from a modest success playing violin on the vaudeville circuit to one of the leading entertainers of the twentieth century with ...

'' fame.

Personal life and death

O'Connor was married twice. His first marriage to Virginia Drake ended in divorce. He remarried in

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

in 1942 to Sylvia Cannon. O'Connor was a member of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, the

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...

and the

American Federation of Television and Radio Artists The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) was a performers' union that represented a wide variety of talent, including actors in radio and television, radio and television announcers and newspersons, singers and recording ar ...

, where he served on the national board for several years. O'Connor had two sons; Dennis and Roderic George Jr., and a daughter; Pamela O'Connor. O'Connor died on June 5, 1964 in a Hollywood hospital after a battle with cancer. O'Connor was 50 years old. He was survived by his widow Sylvia, his three children, his father, two brothers and his sister. His funeral was held on June 8 at the Blessed Sacrament Church in Los Angeles. He was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in

Culver City, California Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. Founded in 1917 as a "whites only" sundown town, it is now an ethnically diverse city with what was called the "third-most d ...

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:OConnor, Rod 1914 births 1964 deaths