Leland (Lee) Hansen (born on March 26, 1944, in

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south o ...

) is an American

radio personality A radio personality 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 (North American English), radio presenter (British English) or radio jockey. Radio personali ...

and

voice actor Voice acting is the art of Acting, performing a character or providing information to an audience with one's voice. Performers are often called voice actors/actresses in addition to other names. Examples of voice work include animation, animated, ...

best known for creating the popular ''

Alien Worlds ''Alien Worlds'' is an American science fiction anthology comic that was published by Pacific Comics and then Eclipse Comics between 1982 and 1985. It was edited by Bruce Jones and his partner April Campbell.Johnston, Rich"When Diamond Comic ...

'' radio drama in the late 1970s.

Background

Hansen grew up on a farm in

Tekoa, Washington Tekoa ( ) is a rural city in Whitman County, Washington, United States. The population was 817 at the 2020 census. Based on per capita income, one of the more reliable measures of affluence, Tekoa ranks 420th of 522 areas in the state of Wash ...

Alien Worlds - San Francisco Chronicle Dateline Tribute Review
Retrieved 2018-12-18. and began his radio career at KCLX while still attending Tekoa High School. After graduation he went to

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...

to serve in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, and in 1963 he became a founding member of Armed Forces Radio Saigon (AFRS). The radio network would eventually spread and serve over 500,000 GI's, and Hansen hosted the station's very first morning show in

Saigon Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...

. After his discharge, Hansen worked as a

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...

for major Top 40 radio stations around the country, until he was hired in 1970 by Mel Blanc Audio Media. He served as both their Creative Director and Studio Operations Manager, and a year later he was appointed Director of ''The Mel Blanc School of Voice and Commercials.'' He joined Watermark Studios in 1973. He became studio manager and worked as a producer and co-producer for several syndicated radio shows. Also at Watermark, in 1977 he became best known for creating, producing, and directing the popular dramatic radio series '' Alien Worlds – On The Threshold of The Unknown''. The stories were written by Hansen and Ron Thompson with a variety of other co-writers including

Babylon 5 ''Babylon 5'' is an American space opera television series created by writer and producer J. Michael Straczynski, under the Babylonian Productions label, in association with Straczynski's Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Warner Bros. Domestic Tel ...

writer

J. Michael Straczynski Joseph Michael Straczynski, known as J. Michael Straczynski (; born July 17, 1954) is an American filmmaker and comic book writer. He is the founder of Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Studio JMS and is known as the creator of the science fiction televi ...

. The

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

drama was eventually picked up by more than 1500 stations worldwide.

Later career

''Alien Worlds'' ended in 1980 and he went on to

UCLA Film School The UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television (UCLA TFT), is one of the 12 schools within the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) located in Los Angeles, California. Its creation was groundbreaking in that it was the first time a leadi ...

. He later gained prominence with his production company “GDE” as a writer, producer and director for film and TV features centered around the

US Space Program The space policy of the United States includes the making of space policy through the legislative process and the implementation of that policy in the U.S. civilian and military space programs through regulatory agencies. The early history of U.S ...

and

Aerospace Industry Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial, and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astr ...

. Hansen is currently the CEO of Addlink, LLC, a Hollywood production firm.

Radio work

As a DJ

* KCLX in

Colfax, Washington Colfax is a city in and the county seat of Whitman County, Washington, Whitman County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The population was 2,782 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, making Colfax the second largest city in ...

* AFRS in

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

* WGBA in

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451–1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, the capital city of the U.S. state of Ohio * Columbus, Georgia, a city i ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

* WQXI in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

* KASH in

Eugene Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Gene Eugene, stage name of Canadian born actor, record producer, engineer, composer and musi ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

KENO Keno is a lottery-like gambling game often played at modern casinos, and also offered as a game in some lotteries. Players wager by choosing numbers ranging from 1 through (usually) 80. After all players make their wagers, 20 numbers (some va ...

KLUC-FM KLUC-FM (98.5 MHz) is a commercial radio station in Las Vegas, Nevada, airing a Top 40/CHR format. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station's studios are on South Tenaya Way at West Warm Springs Road in Spring Valley, using a Las Vegas address. KL ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

* KUTE FM in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

As a producer

*''

American Top 40 ''American Top 40'' (abbreviated to ''AT40'') is an internationally radio syndication, syndicated, independent song countdown radio programming, radio program created by Casey Kasem, Don Bustany, Tom Rounds, and Ron Jacobs (broadcaster), Ron Jaco ...

'' with

Casey Kasem Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem (April 27, 1932 – June 15, 2014) was an American disc jockey, actor, and radio presenter who created and hosted several radio countdown programs, notably ''American Top 40'', as well as the weekly syndicated televi ...

* ''

American Country Countdown ''American Country Countdown'', also known as ''ACC'', is a weekly internationally syndicated radio program which counts down the top 30 country songs of the previous week, from No. 30 to No. 1, according to the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard ...

'' with

Bob Kingsley Robert Gibson Kingsley (March 19, 1939 – October 17, 2019) was an American country music radio personality and a member of the National Radio Hall of Fame. He was best known as the host of two nationally syndicated radio programs: ''American Cou ...

* ''The Robert W. Morgan Special of The Week'' * ''The Elvis Presley Story'' * '' Soundtrack of the '60s'' with

Gary Owens Gary Owens (born Gary Bernard Altman; May 10, 1934 – February 12, 2015) was an American disc jockey, voice actor, announcer and radio personality. His polished baritone speaking voice generally offered deadpan recitations of total nonsense, wh ...

* ''

'' with

Linda Gary Linda Gary (born Linda Gary Dewoskin, November 4, 1944 – October 5, 1995) was an American actress. Gary was best known for her work in animated series and films, such as providing voices of several female characters in ''He-Man and the Master ...

* ''The Rock Files'' with Keith Austin

References

External links

Alien Worlds official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hansen, Lee American radio DJs American radio producers American male screenwriters American Top 40 American male voice actors Male actors from Spokane, Washington Living people 1944 births Screenwriters from Washington (state) People from Tekoa, Washington

Background

Later career

Radio work

As a DJ

As a producer

Further reading

References

External links