Donald J. Kennedy (born March 2, 1930) is an American radio and television personality and voice talent, whose career began in the late 1940s with a radio announcer spot on Pennsylvania station

WPIC WPIC (790 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Sharon, Pennsylvania and serving the Youngstown metropolitan area. The station is owned by Cumulus Media and has a talk radio format. WPIC is powered at 1,000 watts by day. To avoid int ...

. In the mid-1950s, Kennedy was a contributor to the

NBC Radio Network The NBC, National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (known as the NBC Red Network prior to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in operation from 1926 through 2004. Along with the Blue Network, NBC Blue Network it was ...

weekend show "

Monitor Monitor or monitor may refer to: Places * Monitor, Alberta * Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States * Monitor, Kentucky * Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States * Monitor, Washington * Monitor, Logan County, West Vir ...

," where he developed several features, including one about a local character known as the Goat Man. Kennedy is remembered as Officer Don, the host of the long-running Atlanta children's TV show ''The

Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar.WSB-TV WSB-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is the flagship television property of locally based Cox Media Group, which has owned the station since its inception, and is sister to rad ...

from 1956 to 1970. During his time at the Popeye Club, Kennedy established 96.1 WKLS (now

WWPW WWPW (96.1 FM) – branded as Power 96-1 – is a commercial contemporary hit radio station licensed to Atlanta, Georgia. Owned by iHeartMedia, the station serves the Atlanta metropolitan area and is the Atlanta affiliate for ''American Top 40 ...

), an Atlanta FM radio station, serving as station President and General Manager. The "K" in the

call sign 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 ...

was for his last name. Kennedy later did movie voicework, playing Tansit in ''

Space Ghost Coast to Coast ''Space Ghost Coast to Coast'' is an American adult animation, adult animated comedy talk show created by Mike Lazzo for Cartoon Network and hosted by a re-imagined version of the 1960s Hanna-Barbera cartoon character Space Ghost. In contrast t ...

'', and several characters on ''

The Brak Show ''The Brak Show'' is an American Adult animation, adult animated sitcom created by Andy Merrill, Jim Fortier, and Pete Smith for Cartoon Network's late-night programming block, Adult Swim. ''The Brak Show'' serves as a Spin-off (media), spin-off ...

'' and ''

Aqua Teen Hunger Force ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' (also known by various alternative titles), sometimes abbreviated as ''ATHF'' or ''Aqua Teen'', is an American adult animated television series created by Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro for Cartoon Network's late ni ...

''. In 1986, he began hosting "Big Band Jump," an internationally syndicated radio show devoted to music from the

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 ...

era. He later added a second syndicated program, the self-titled "Don Kennedy Show," that featured general pop vocals and instrumentals from the 1940s through the 1970s, as well as modern renditions from the

Great American Songbook The Great American Songbook is the loosely defined canon of significant early-20th-century American jazz standards, popular songs, and show tunes. Definition According to the Great American Songbook Foundation: The "Great American Songbook" is ...

. He was also the voice of a

kiddie ride A kiddie ride - or kids' ride - is a coin-operated amusement ride for young children. Kiddie rides are commonly available in amusement parks, arcades, malls, hotel game rooms, outside supermarkets and discount department stores. Less commonly ...

based on '' Superman: The Animated Series'' made by British manufacturer Jolly Roger, providing a newly-recorded version of the classic ''Superman'' radio show intro narration. Kennedy is the recipient of several awards including the Silver Circle Award, two

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

s, awards from Pioneer Broadcaster and Georgia Broadcaster’s Hall of Fame, and honorary membership in the Di Gamma Kappa Broadcast Fraternity at the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

. Kennedy has supported several causes including serving as President of the Georgia Chapter of

Muscular Dystrophy Muscular dystrophies (MD) are a genetically and clinically heterogeneous group of rare neuromuscular diseases that cause progressive weakness and breakdown of skeletal muscles over time. The disorders differ as to which muscles are primarily affe ...

, treasurer of the Atlanta Humane Society, board member of the Atlanta chapter of the

American Cancer Society The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer. Established in 1913, the society is organized into six geographical regions of both medical and lay volunteers operating in more than ...

, as well as volunteering as a reader for the Georgia Radio Reading Service for the Blind. During the summer of 2013, Don Kennedy announced that he would be retiring from radio, ending his work on the syndicated "Big Band Jump" and "Don Kennedy Show." The final broadcasts of both programs took place on the weekend of September 28–29, 2013. Television character actor

Don Kennedy Donald J. Kennedy (born March 2, 1930) is an American radio and television personality and voice talent, whose career began in the late 1940s with a radio announcer spot on Pennsylvania station WPIC. In the mid-1950s, Kennedy was a contributo ...

(also known as Derrick Slaugenhaupt, born 1921) is often confused with radio personality Don Kennedy above. Their information and credits are intertwined on th
Internet Movie Data Base
The character actor appeared in many television shows in the 1950s and 1960s such as ''

The Rifleman ''The Rifleman'' is an American Western television program starring Chuck Connors as rancher Lucas McCain and Johnny Crawford as his son Mark McCain. It was set in the 1880s in the fictional town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory. The show wa ...

''.

Partial filmography

* ''

'' (various episodes, 2001–2010) (TV) as Assisted Living Dracula, Vegetable Man & Rubberman (Lance Potter) * ''

'' (2001–2003) (TV) as

Morlun Morlun () is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by J. Michael Straczynski and John Romita Jr., the character first appeared in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' vol. 2 #30 (June 2001). Morlun i ...

, Poppy * ''

'' (various episodes, 1994–1999) (TV) as Tansit,

Bill Manspeaker Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

* ''Acme Radio Hour'' (1995) (TV)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Don 1930 births Living people American male voice actors American radio personalities People from Beaver, Pennsylvania