Bill Shirk (born May 3, 1945 in

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of U.S. state and territorial capitals, state capital and List of U.S. states' largest cities by population, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat, seat of ...

) is an American

escape artist Escapology is the practice of escaping from restraints or other traps. Escapologists (also classified as escape artists) escape from handcuffs, straitjackets, cages, coffins, steel boxes, barrels, bags, burning buildings, fish-tanks, and oth ...

radio personality A radio personality (American English) or radio presenter (British English) is a person who has an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality who hosts a radio show is also known as a radio host, and in India and Pakistan as a rad ...

, broadcast

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...

and

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), l ...

Biography

Radio broadcasting

Shirk graduated from Ball State University in 1967 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Education. Shirk has owned and started radio stations in

Muncie Muncie ( ) is an incorporated city and the seat of Delaware County, Indiana. Previously known as Buckongahelas Town, named after the legendary Delaware Chief.http://www.delawarecountyhistory.org/history/docs/lenape-villages.pdf It is located in ...

, Indianapolis, Cloverdale and

Lebanon, Indiana Lebanon (/ˈlɛbnən/) is a city in and the county seat of Boone County, Indiana, United States. The population was 15,792 at the 2010 census. Lebanon is located in central Indiana, approximately northwest of downtown Indianapolis and south ...

. Shirk was the Station Manager, Sales Manager, Program Director, Production Manager and Afternoon Disc Jockey on

WERK Werk may refer to: * Elliot Werk (born 1957), Democratic politician from Boise, Idaho * Nicholas Werk (born 14th-century), English politician * colloquial name for Třinec Iron and Steel Works in the Czech Republic * WERK, a radio station in Mun ...

Radio, in Muncie, Indiana from 1968 to 1972. Shirk became the General Manager and a DJ at

WXLW WXLW (950 AM) is a commercial radio station in Indianapolis, Indiana. It is owned by Pilgrim Communications LLC. Along with sister station 95.9 WFDM-FM, it simulcasts a talk radio format, known as "Freedom 95." The radio studios and offices ...

in Indianapolis in 1972 and then became the owner in 1974 and in 1991 added

WHHH WHHH (100.9 FM, "Hot 100.9") is a radio station licensed to Speedway, Indiana. Owned by Urban One, it broadcasts an urban contemporary format serving the Indianapolis metropolitan area. Its studios are co-located with its sister stations a ...

-FM, Hot 96.3 as owner and DJ. Currently, he is the President and CEO of Hoosier Broadcasting Corporation.

Escape artist

While playing a major role in Indianapolis radio during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s and early 2000s, Shirk was also making his mark in the

industry. Between 1976 and 1980, Shirk set eight

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book '' Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizati ...

s, including the fastest time to escape from a strait jacket (4.53 seconds) and worlds fastest jail break. In 1977, Shirk was buried alive for 79 hours with a ten-foot python, two tarantulas and a rattle snake, which received world wide coverage and a donation from President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 19 ...

. He raised $10,000 for the Marion County Association for Retarded Citizens. In 1983, Shirk starred as himself in the movie ''The Escapist''. The film revolved around his fictionalized efforts to save his radio station from a greedy corporation and featured several of his highly publicized stunts, including straight jacket escape while hanging upside down from a helicopter 1600 feet in the air. In 1992, Shirk was buried alive under seven tons of dirt and cement in a

Plexiglas Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) belongs to a group of materials called engineering plastics. It is a transparent thermoplastic. PMMA is also known as acrylic, acrylic glass, as well as by the trade names and brands Crylux, Plexiglas, Acryli ...

coffin, which collapsed and almost took Shirk's life. This was performed on the 66th anniversary of

Harry Houdini Harry Houdini (, born Erik Weisz; March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was a Hungarian-American escape artist, magic man, and stunt performer, noted for his escape acts. His pseudonym is a reference to his spiritual master, French magician ...

's death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shirk, Bill 1945 births Living people American magicians American performance artists American radio executives Ball State University alumni Escapologists People from Putnam County, Indiana Radio personalities from Indiana