Alexander M. Dreier (June 26, 1916 – March 11, 2000) was an American news reporter and commentator who worked with NBC Radio during the 1940s, and later with the ABC Information Radio network in the 1960s and early 1970s. Dreier then became an actor and appeared in a number of TV series and films.

Early years

Born in

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the islan ...

, Dreier attended Stanford University, graduating in 1939. He then went into journalism, and was covering

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

for United Press when he joined NBC in 1941. During his year in Berlin he was under surveillance by the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one or ...

, and he left the city one day before the

Pearl Harbor attack The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, ...

. His commentary aired on NBC on Saturdays from 1942 to 1945 and weekdays from 1951 to 1956. Known as Chicago's "Man on the Go," Dreier was the city's top TV anchor during his years on NBC-owned WNBQ-TV, serving as a news reporter and anchor. He also handled news for NBC-TV's ''

Today on the Farm ''Today on the Farm'' was an American television program broadcast on NBC-TV from October 1, 1960–December 26, 1961. Hosted by country musician Eddy Arnold, the weekly series included a variety of features such as agricultural and farm news ...

'' from 1960–61. He was replaced as WMAQ anchor by Floyd Kalber in 1962; he then moved to ABC owned-and-operated WBKB-TV. From 1959 to 1964, Dreier also co-hosted the television program ''Championship Bridge'' with Charles Goren. These can still be seen on the Arts Channel of TV4U.com.

Later years

Dreier moved to California in 1967, where he worked in Los Angeles for

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 ...

and also began a career as an actor in many films such as '' The Boston Strangler'' (1968), '' Chandler'' (1971), '' The Carey Treatment'' (1972), '' The Loners'' (1972), '' Lady Cocoa'' (1975) and '' The Astral Factor'' (1978), and TV shows, including ''

Mannix ''Mannix'' is an American detective television series that ran from 1967 to 1975 on CBS. It was created by Richard Levinson and William Link, and developed by executive producer Bruce Geller. The title character, Joe Mannix, is a private in ...

'', '' Kojak'', '' Land of the Giants'', '' Hart to Hart'' and '' Love, American Style'' between 1968 and 1979. He served as chairman of the board for the Annenberg Center for Health Sciences and as a board member of the

Eisenhower Medical Center The Eisenhower Medical Center (EMC) is a not-for-profit hospital based in Rancho Mirage, California, serving the Coachella Valley region of Southeastern California. It was named one of the top one hundred hospitals in the United States in 2005. ...

. In 1989, he was inducted into the Illinois Broadcasters Hall of Fame.Alexander Dreier, 83, Broadcast Journalist Who Won 7 Emmys. New York Times. March 16, 200

/ref>

Philanthropy

Dreier served on the boards of trustees of institutions including

Shimer College Shimer Great Books School (pronounced ) is a Great Books college that is part of North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. Prior to 2017, Shimer was an independent, accredited college on the south side of Chicago, with a history of bein ...

and the

Death

Dreier died on March 11, 2000, in

Rancho Mirage, California Rancho Mirage is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. The population was 17,218 at the 2010 census, up from 13,249 at the 2000 census, but the seasonal (part-time) population can exceed 20,000. Incorporated in 1973 and located ...

.Palm Springs Cemetery District, "Interments of Interest"
/ref>Alex Dreier on the Internet Movie Database
/ref> He is buried in Desert Memorial Park in

Cathedral City, California Cathedral City, colloquially known as "Cat City", is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. Situated between Palm Springs and Rancho Mirage, the city has the second lar ...

Filmography

References

External links

Reaction of children listening to Alex Dreier during WWII
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dreier, Alex American broadcast news analysts Stanford University alumni 1916 births 2000 deaths Burials at Desert Memorial Park