Richard Paul Beebe (December 5, 1929 – August 29, 1998) was an American radio personality who was on the air for five decades in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

and won two

Golden Mike Award The Golden Mike Award is a broadcast journalism award presented by the Radio and Television News Association (RTNA) of Southern California. Awards are given in the categories of television news and radio news. Eligibility is limited to a select gr ...

s. A journalist at

KRLA 1110 KRDC (1110 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles as a full-time simulcast of ESPN Radio affiliate KSPN. The station is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company and is the onl ...

, he became a founding member of

The Credibility Gap The Credibility Gap was an American satirical comedy team active from 1968 through 1979. They emerged in the late 1960s delivering comedic commentary on the news for the Los Angeles AM rock radio station KRLA 1110, and proceeded to develop more ela ...

. His experience and wit were key to most versions of the group. He became the link between the original and more famous later lineups when we was joined by

Harry Shearer Harry Julius Shearer (born December 23, 1943) is an American actor, comedian, writer, musician, radio host, director and producer. Born in Los Angeles, California, Shearer began his career as a child actor. From 1969 to 1976, Shearer was a membe ...

, David L. Lander, and

Michael McKean Michael John McKean (; born October 17, 1947) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, composer, singer, and musician known for various roles in film and television such as Lenny Kosnowski in ''Laverne & Shirley'', David St. Hubbins in '' ...

, all much younger than he. He left the Gap in 1975. Some of their early work can be heard at

The Paley Center for Media The Paley Center for Media, formerly the Museum of Television & Radio (MT&R) and the Museum of Broadcasting, founded in 1975 by William S. Paley, is an American cultural institution in New York with a branch office in Los Angeles, dedicated to ...

in Los Angeles and New York City. Beebe performed the voice of

Dewey Phillips Dewey Phillips (May 13, 1926 – September 28, 1968) was one of rock and roll's pioneering American disc jockeys, along the lines of Cleveland's Alan Freed, before Freed came along. Early life Phillips was born in Crump, Tennessee, but spent ...

on the ''

Pop Chronicles The ''Pop Chronicles'' are two radio documentary series which together "may constitute the most complete audio history of 1940s–60s popular music." They originally aired starting in 1969 and concluded about 1974. Both were produced by John ...

'' documentary. He returned to

in 1991.https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1991/BC-1991-11-04.pdf An Air Force veteran, he died of lung cancer in 1998.

Discography

*''An Album Of Political Pornography'', with

Lew Irwin and the Credibility Gap The Credibility Gap was an American satirical comedy team active from 1968 through 1979. They emerged in the late 1960s delivering comedic commentary on the news for the Los Angeles AM rock radio station KRLA 1110, and proceeded to develop more ela ...

(

Blue Thumb Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obse ...

, 1968) * ''Woodshtick and More'' (1971) * ''A Great Gift Idea'' (

Reprise In music, a reprise ( , ; from the verb 'to resume') is the repetition or reiteration of the opening material later in a composition as occurs in the recapitulation of sonata form, though—originally in the 18th century—was simply any repe ...

, 1974) * ''The Bronze Age of Radio'' ( Waterhouse, 1977)

External links

Los Angeles Radio People B

References

1929 births 1998 deaths American radio personalities People from Pasadena, California People from the San Gabriel Valley United States Air Force airmen Comedians from California 20th-century American comedians Deaths from lung cancer in California {{US-comedian-stub