Claude Kirchner
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Claude Kirchner (February 11, 1916 – March 8, 1993), was an American television announcer and personality whose 50-year career in radio and television included hosting popular children's programs in Chicago and New York City from 1949 until 1970. The best known of these were ''
Super Circus ''Super Circus'' is an American television program that aired live on Sunday afternoons from 5 to 6pm Eastern Time from 1949 to 1956 on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The show was produced in Chicago by WENR-TV, continuing through its call ...
'', ''Terrytoon Circus / Merrytoon Circus'' and ''Super Adventure Theater''.


Early years

Klaus von Hindenburg Kirchner was born during the middle of World War I in
Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...
, a
Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...
port city of the
German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...
. In 1925, at the age of 9, he moved with his family to the United States, settling in the Chicago suburb of
Riverside, Illinois Riverside is a suburban village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population of the village was 9,298 at the 2020 census. It is a suburb of Chicago, located roughly west of downtown Chicago and outside city limits. A significant por ...
where he was a student at
Riverside Brookfield High School Riverside Brookfield High School (RBHS) is a secondary school located directly between Riverside, Illinois, and Brookfield, Illinois, which educates grades 9-12. It serves the towns of Riverside, North Riverside, most of Brookfield, a small ...
. He grew to be , and, in 1933, at age 17, found employment at the
Century of Progress A Century of Progress International Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States, from 1933 to 1934. The fair, registered under the Bureau International des Exposit ...
Chicago World's Fair as a barker, which included an assignment at one of the fair's most famous exhibits, starring fan dancer
Sally Rand Sally Rand (born Helen Gould Beck; April 3, 1904 – August 31, 1979) was an American burlesque dancer, stripper, vedette, and actress, famous for her ostrich-feather fan dance and balloon bubble dance. She also performed under the name B ...
. After finishing school, Kirchner traveled to Europe as a member of a freighter's crew and visited in
Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
with his cousin, German actress Gefion Helmke. Planning to become a physician, he attended
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
and then
Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...
in
Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
, where he found work as a barker at another world's fair, the city's 1936
Texas Centennial Exposition The Texas Centennial Exposition was a world's fair presented from June 6 to November 29, 1936, at Fair Park, Dallas, Texas. A celebration of the 100th anniversary of Texas's independence from Mexico in 1836, it also celebrated Texas and Western ...
and, after it ended, decided on a career change, becoming an announcer at Dallas' and Texas' oldest radio station
WRR-AM KTCK (1310 kHz; "SportsRadio 1310 The Ticket") is a commercial sports AM radio station licensed to Dallas, Texas, which serves the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex (DFW). Its daytime power is 25,000 watts, which is reduced to 5,000 watts at night. ...
. He subsequently returned to Illinois, announcing at Rockford's WROK, then worked for WTMJ in
Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...
and eventually moved to Chicago's WGN. In 1943 he enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard, serving in the
South West Pacific theatre of World War II The South West Pacific theatre, during World War II, was a major theatre of the war between the Allies and the Axis. It included the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies (except for Sumatra), Borneo, Australia, its mandate Territory of New Guin ...
and rising through the ranks from seaman second class to
lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...
.


Children's TV host

Leaving military service in 1946, Kirchner was hired as a DJ and announcer at Chicago's AM station
WIND Wind is the natural movement of atmosphere of Earth, air or other gases relative to a planetary surface, planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heatin ...
. He subsequently transferred to
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
as the announcer and participant on the network's daytime talk program ''The Bob & Kay Show'', served as the announcer on the radio and television game show, ''
Ladies Be Seated ''Ladies Be Seated'' is an American old-time radio game show. It was broadcast on the Blue Network from June 4, 1943, to June 23, 1944, and on ABC from June 26, 1944, to July 21, 1950. At its peak in popularity, it was carried on 198 stations. Tw ...
'', which was carried on
American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American Commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast Television broadcaster, television and radio Radio network, network that serves as the flagship property of the Disney Entertainment division ...
until July 1950 and, with his wife, Ruth Ross, hosted another ABC daytime show ''Housewive's Holiday''. He gained national fame, however, as a result of his central role as the ringmaster and announcer on the popular hour-long Sunday afternoon children's program ''
Super Circus ''Super Circus'' is an American television program that aired live on Sunday afternoons from 5 to 6pm Eastern Time from 1949 to 1956 on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The show was produced in Chicago by WENR-TV, continuing through its call ...
'', originating from
WBKB-TV WBKB-TV (channel 11) is a television station in Alpena, Michigan, United States, affiliated with CBS, NBC, American Broadcasting Company, ABC, Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox and MyNetworkTV. Owned by Morgan Murphy Media, the station maintains st ...
and seen on ABC from 1949 until 1956. The show's renown was greatly enhanced by his co-host, baton-twirling
drum majorette A drum major or field commander is the leader of a marching band, drum and bugle corps (modern), drum and bugle corps, or pipe band, usually positioned at the head of the band or corps. The drum major is often dressed in more ornate clothing t ...
-
bandleader A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a dance band, rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhyth ...
Mary Hartline. They were both featured on the cover of the August 21, 1953 issue of ''
TV Guide Magazine ''TV Guide'' is an American biweekly magazine that provides television program listings information as well as television-related news, celebrity interviews and gossip, film reviews, crossword puzzles, and, in some issues, horoscopes. The print ...
''. In June 1955, ice-skating Jinx the chimpanzee was added as a regular participant. On December 18, a month after ''Super Circus'' moved from Chicago to New York City, Kirchner left the show and started a new ringmaster career at the city's TV station
WOR-TV WWOR-TV (channel 9) is a television station licensed to Secaucus, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York metropolitan area as the flagship of the MyNetworkTV programming service. It is owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alo ...
Channel 9. The new show — ''
Terrytoon Terrytoons, Inc. was an American animation studio headquartered in New Rochelle, New York, which was active from 1929 until its closure in December 1972 (and briefly returned between 1987 and 1996 for television in-name only). Founded by Paul T ...
Circus'' — premiered on October 22, 1956, and was seen Monday through Friday at 7 pm. Most of the daily episodes opened with Kirchner's hand puppet, Clownie, breaking through a paper hoop and announcing the host as either "CK", "Skinny Bones" or "High Pockets". Circus music would be heard, followed by Kirchner walking out, wearing a circus ringmaster's uniform and intoning, "Ladies and gentlemen and children of ohhhhhhhhhhhhh...all ages... welcome to ''Terrytoon Circus.''" He would perform brief cross-talking routines with Clownie and introduce Terrytoons as well as other cartoons. From May to September 1957 on channel 9, while continuing to host ''Terrytoon Circus'', Kirchner hosted an afternoon children's series, ''The Scrub Club'', which presented him as the leader of a children's clubhouse. Starting in September 1959, Kirchner was seen seven days a week since, in addition to continuing with ''Terrytoon Circus'', he took on the hosting duties of a Saturday and Sunday movie series, ''Super Adventure Theater'', which showcased theatrical films from the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s that were considered to be appropriate for viewing by children and adolescents. In 1962, ''Terrytoon Circus'' was advised that it no longer had permission to use the copyrighted name "Terrytoon" and, as of April 30, it was introduced under the new name "Merrytoon Circus". Also, for five and-a-half months in 1962–63, from September 22 until March 6, Kirchner took on still additional duties as a nationally seen Saturday morning personality when NBC hired him in his familiar and continuing guise as a ringmaster for the 11:30–noon children's circus series ''Marx Magic Midway''. Six months after the cancelation of ''Marx Magic Midway'', on September 20, 1963, ''Merrytoon Circus'' also came to an end. ''Super Adventure Theater'' continued on weekends for another four years until it too was canceled in 1967. A year later, on August 26, 1968, Channel 9 premiered a daily afternoon revival of ''The Scrub Club'', but it lasted only three-and-a-half months, closing on December 13. Six weeks later, Kirchner was given his final children's show assignment, once again as the ringmaster as well as the announcer and co-host, of channel 9's '' Bozo the World's Most Famous Clown'' show. His first appearance was on February 3, 1969, with the assignment ending a year later, on January 30, 1970.


Later years and death

The closing item in the April 3, 1974 column by ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' advertising writer Philip H. Dougherty mentioned that Kirchner was "very happy with the living he's making" doing commercial voice-overs. Six years later, the lead item published in the February 11, 1980, Kirchner's 64th birthday, column by ''The New York Times'' food writer
Craig Claiborne Craig Claiborne (September 4, 1920 January 22, 2000) was an American restaurant critic, food journalist and book author. A long-time food editor and restaurant critic for ''The New York Times'', he was also the author of numerous cookbooks ...
, informed that he "recently received a note from an old acquaintance, Claude Kirchner" who wrote that "My mother grew up in Russia" and "we always celebrated Russian Easter with traditional foods and customs." During the nearly forty years that Kirchner spent in the New York City media market after leaving Chicago media in late 1955, he lived in
Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich ( ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 63,518. It is the largest town on Gold Coast (Connecticut), Connectic ...
, a New York City suburb. On March 8, 1993, four weeks past his 77th birthday, he died from
lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). The name typically refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlarged lymph node ...
at a hospice in
Hawthorne, New York Hawthorne is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located in the town of Mount Pleasant in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. Its population was 4,586 at the 2010 census. History The ...
. He was divorced from his first wife, Ruth Ross, and was survived by his second wife, Marilyn Friedel Klein, son Tim and daughter Lynn who has contributed memory pieces about her father.Interview with Claude Kirchner in 1989; includes a complete 1956 episode of ''Super Circus''
/ref>


Sources


Virgintino, Michael R. ''Freedomland U.S.A.: The Definitive History'' (Theme Park Press, 2019)


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirchner, Claude 1916 births 1993 deaths People from Rostock People from Greenwich, Connecticut American television personalities American male voice actors American children's television presenters Radio and television announcers Radio personalities from New York City Television personalities from New York City Deaths from lymphoma in New York (state)