Doug Llewelyn (born November 26, 1938) is an American television personality, best known as the original host of the

court show A court show (also known as a judge show, legal/courtroom program, courtroom series, or judicial show) is a broadcast programming subgenre of either legal dramas or reality legal programming. Court shows present content mainly in the form of lega ...

The People's Court ''The People's Court'' is an American arbitration-based reality court show, featuring an arbitrator handling small claims disputes in a simulated courtroom set. Within the court show genre, it is the first of all arbitration-based reality st ...

'' from 1981 to 1993. Previously a news reporter, Llewelyn has also been the producer of a number of special programs including the popular ''

The Mystery of Al Capone's Vaults ''The Mystery of Al Capone's Vaults'' is a two-hour Live television, live American television special that was broadcast in Television syndication, syndication on April 21, 1986, and hosted by Geraldo Rivera. It centered on the live opening of a w ...

'' television special in 1986.

Early life and early career

Llewelyn was born in Maryland in 1938 and later moved to Lancaster, South Carolina with his family, and attended the University of South Carolina.(4 November 2007)
Fascinating adventures
'' Times-News'' (Hendersonville, North Carolina)(12 February 1988
The Stroller
''

Spartanburg Herald-Journal The ''Spartanburg Herald-Journal'' is a daily newspaper, the primary newspaper for Spartanburg, South Carolina, United States. History The origins of the paper lie with ''The Spartan'', a weekly paper reportedly first printed in about 1842� ...

'' He became an announcer at a South Carolina station while still in high school, and then moved to New York City, working as a page for

Perry Como Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an Italian-American singer, actor and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, after signi ...

, and later moving to work for

Chet Huntley Chet is a masculine given name, often a nickname for Chester, which means ''fortress'' or ''camp''. It is an uncommon name of English origin, and originated as a surname to identify people from the city of Chester, England. Chet was ranked 1,027th ...

in the news room. He also worked in New York as a producer for the ''Long John Nebel Show'' on WNBC Radio, and as a radio reporter for

Armed Forces Radio The American Forces Network (AFN) is a government television and radio broadcast service the U.S. military provides to those stationed or assigned overseas. Headquartered at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, AFN's broadcast operations, which ...

.(17 May 1961). Delivering a Message, ''

New York Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in Ta ...

'', p. 14 (photograph "Pfc. Doug Llewelyn broadcasts information about Armed Forces Day") (available via paywall at newspapers.com)(5 December 1976)
New Co-Host
''

The San Bernardino Sun ''The San Bernardino Sun'' is a paid daily newspaper in San Bernardino County. Founded in 1894, it has significant circulation in neighboring Riverside County, and serves most of the Inland Empire in Southern California, with a circulation area ...

'', TV Week, p. 18Millwood, Joey (26 July 2013)
Playhouse is Llewelyn family passion
GoUpstate.comSherill, Alice (6 September 1991). ''He's a Lancaster star, of courts'', ''The York Observer'', p. 10 (available via paywall at newspapers.com, accessed 11 September 2023)

Career

After eight years working in New York, Llewelyn moved to the

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

market, working at WDCA-TV (an

independent station An independent station is an independent radio or terrestrial television station which is independent in some way from broadcast networks. The definition of "independence" varies from country to country, reflecting governmental regulations, market ...

), and then WTOP (a CBS affiliate), as a news reporter on TV and radio. He was eventually hosting a talk show called "Nine in the Morning", and producing specials under the title "Doug's World". In 1976, he moved to KNXT (now

KCBS-TV KCBS-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside independent ...

), the Los Angeles CBS network station, and began co-hosting the show "Noontime."(26 December 1976), Doug Llewelyn (blurb), ''

Long Beach Independent The ''Press-Telegram'' is a paid daily newspaper published in Long Beach, California. Coverage area for the ''Press-Telegram'' includes Long Beach, Lakewood, Signal Hill, Artesia, Bellflower, Cerritos, Compton, Downey, Hawaiian Gardens, Ly ...

'', p. 83 (available via paywall at newspapers.com) In 1981, he was chosen to be the courtroom reporter for a new syndicated court room series, ''

''.Duffy, Mike (16 September 1981)
A Legal 'Looney Tunes' In 'The People's Court'
''

Toledo Blade ''The Blade'', also known as the ''Toledo Blade'', is a newspaper in Toledo, Ohio published daily online and printed Thursday and Sunday by Block Communications. The newspaper was first published on December 19, 1835. Overview The first issue o ...

'' Llewelyn would introduce the litigants of each case, get audience input before a verdict, and interview the litigants as they exited the courtroom. The success of the show made Llewelyn well known, including for his catchphrase at the end of every episode, "Don’t take the law into your own hands — you take 'em to court".Twomey, Steve (25 November 1981)
Real-life spats become entertainment
''Boca Raton News''Pennington, Lucinda (24 April 1982)
The People's Court: Everyone's a Winner
''Windsor Star'' However, he concluded some episodes by saying, "If someone files a lawsuit against you and yet you're convinced you've done nothing wrong, don't be intimidated. The best policy is to go to court and stand up for your rights." In 1986, Llewelyn was a producer of ''

'', which became the highest-rated ever syndicated television show at the time. Though he was a primary arranger behind the program, he did not want to host it himself, leading to the search for a "big name", and landing on

Geraldo Rivera Geraldo Rivera (born Gerald Riviera; July 4, 1943) is an American journalist, attorney, author, political commentator, and former television host. He hosted the tabloid talk show '' Geraldo'' from 1987 to 1998. He gained publicity with the liv ...

.Rumore, Kori (20 April 2023)
‘The Mystery of Al Capone’s Vaults’: Watch the highly-rated, live TV special hosted by Geraldo Rivera in 1986
''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

''(1 September 2022)
The Mystery of Al Capone’s Vaults
One Year: 1986, ''Slate'' (podcast) He also produced the ''Return to Titanic'' live special in 1987.Bates, James (24 November 1987)

''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

''Thompson, Taylor (29 June 2023)
Hendersonville's own 'People's Court' host recounts his risky submarine dive to Titanic wreckage
''

WLOS WLOS (channel 13) is a television station licensed to Asheville, North Carolina, United States, broadcasting ABC and MyNetworkTV programming to Western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, which pr ...

'' After the first run of ''The People's Court'' ended, and after doing coverage for the

O.J. Simpson trial ''The People of the State of California v. Orenthal James Simpson'' was a criminal trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court starting in 1994, in which O. J. Simpson, a former National Football League (NFL) player, broadcaster and actor, was ...

, Llewelyn helped create the

Judge Judy ''Judge Judy'' is an American arbitration-based reality court show presided over by former Manhattan Family Court Judge Judith Sheindlin. The show featured Sheindlin as she adjudicated real-life small-claims disputes within a simulated court ...

show, and was a supervising producer for its first season. Llewelyn rejoined ''The People's Court'' in the reporter role in 2016.Nickerson, John (2 July 2016)
‘People’s Court’ reporter Doug Llewelyn, now 77, returns to show
''

Stamford Advocate ''The Advocate'' is a seven-day daily newspaper based in Stamford, Connecticut. The paper is owned and operated by Hearst Communications, a multinational corporate media conglomerate with $4 billion in revenues. ''The Advocate'' circulates in S ...

Other work

Llewelyn has had cameo appearances in a number of films, TV shows, music videos, and has appeared in many commercials. He is the announcer in the 1992 music video for the

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lamp Richard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo. ...

song

In Bloom "In Bloom" is a song by American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain. It appears as the second track on the band's second album, ''Nevermind'', released by DGC Records in September 1991. The album version is the s ...

, and appears in the 1994

"Weird Al" Yankovic Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, actor and author. He is best known for creating comedy songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specifi ...

video for "

Headline News HLN is an American basic cable network. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, the network primarily carries true crime programming. The channel was originally launched on January 1, 1982 by Turner Broadcasting as CNN2 (later renamed Headline News ...

".Smith, Ernie (28 February 2017)
How Judge Wapner Launched the Phenomenon of Court Shows on Modern TV

Atlas Obscura ''Atlas Obscura'' is an American-based online magazine and travel company. It was founded in 2009 by author Joshua Foer and documentary filmmaker/author Dylan Thuras. It catalogs unusual and obscure travel destinations via user-generated conten ...

Tannenbaum, Rob and Craig Marks
I Want My MTV
p. 488 (2011) (quoting

Dave Grohl David Eric Grohl (born January 14, 1969) is an American musician. He is the founder of the rock band Foo Fighters, in which he is the lead singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter. Prior to forming Foo Fighters, he was the drummer of gru ...

as saying "we just wanted to meet Doug Llewelyn from ''People's Court''.) Other cameos include playing a parade announcer in ''

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation ''National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation'' is a 1989 American Christmas film, Christmas comedy film and the third installment in National Lampoon (magazine), ''National Lampoon'' magazine's National Lampoon's Vacation (film series), ''Vacation'' f ...

'' (1989) and store manager in '' Ice Cream Man'' (1995) (including a line where he says "by the way, you're not going to take us to court, are you?"). Away from the television screen, Llewelyn also co-created a business in 1980 called the "Electronic Press Kit" for movies. They did press kits for over 200 movies, including ''

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (or simply ''E.T.'') is a 1982 American science fiction film produced and directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Melissa Mathison. It tells the story of Elliott, a boy who befriends an extraterrestrial, dub ...

'' (1982), where director

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spi ...

would also ask Llewelyn about People's Court cases he'd seen. He later moved into doing in-house television segments for companies.Kiss, Tony (7 March 2012). ''From People's Court to Playhouse'', ''Asheville Citizen-Times''

Personal

Llewelyn has lived in

Hendersonville, North Carolina Hendersonville is a city in Henderson County, North Carolina, United States. It is south of Asheville and is the county seat of Henderson County. Like the county, the city is named for 19th-century North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Leon ...

since around 1997. He has two grown daughters with his wife, Dale.

References

External links

*
dougllewelyn.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Llewelyn, Doug 1938 births Living people American infotainers Warner Bros. Discovery people Warner Bros. people NBCUniversal people People from Hendersonville, North Carolina