Walter Phillips (July 7, 1925 – March 26, 2008) was 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 ...

best known for hosting WGN's morning

radio show A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production, or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode. Radio netw ...

from

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

for 21 years from January 1965 until July 1986, and was number one in the morning slot from 1968 until he left for an afternoon radio slot in 1986. A pioneer of the radio call-in

talk show A talk show is a television programming, radio programming or podcast genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show', pp.3-4Erler, Robert (201 ...

format, Phillips delighted in a form now banned by the

FCC The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains ju ...

: putting people on the air without their knowledge.

Early life

Phillips was born in

Portsmouth, Ohio Portsmouth is a city in Scioto County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Located in southern Ohio south of Chillicothe, Ohio, Chillicothe, it lies on the north bank of the Ohio River, across from Kentucky and just east of the mouth of th ...

. Six years later, after his father's death from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

, his family (including three siblings) moved to

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

. Phillips later dropped out of high school to join the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, but he ended up in

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 ...

in a tow target squadron assigned to fly practice targets for fighter pilots and

anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-ba ...

artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

. After the end of World War II, he attended

drama school A drama school, stage school, or theatre school is an undergraduate and/or graduate school or Academic department, department at a college or university, or a free-standing institution (such as the drama section at the Juilliard School) that ...

for a while and then became 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 ...

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

. A year after beginning his DJ career he returned to Cincinnati.

Radio career

Cincinnati

Phillips expanded his career as a radio personality at

WLW WLW (700 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial radio, commercial news/talk radio station city of license, licensed to Cincinnati, Ohio. Owned by iHeartMedia, WLW is a clear-channel station, often identifying itself as "The Big One". Its studios ...

in Cincinnati where he established his call-in format and his trademark style of remixing prerecorded interviews as a comedy piece. He was eventually fired after he inserted a phony item into a newscast. Discussing this piece in a 1976 interview with the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'', Phillips said,

''"I wrote, 'All members of infantry company so-and-so report immediately to your draft board,' and I described an insurrection in some phony country. He read it on the air. Hell, they even had the
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
all over the station."''

Chicago

Later, Phillips moved to

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

along with staff announcer, and future ''

Bozo the Clown Bozo the Clown, sometimes billed as "Bozo, The World's Most Famous Clown", is a clown character created for children's entertainment, widely popular in the second half of the 20th century. He was introduced in the United States in 1946, and to tel ...

'' star, Bob Bell. The two started at

WGN (AM) WGN (720 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Chicago, Illinois, featuring a talk radio format. WGN's studios are in the Chicago Loop, while the transmitter is in Elk Grove Village. WGN also features broadcasts of Chicago Blackhawks hoc ...

in 1956 after being introduced as "comedians from Cincinnati". His WGN morning show was consistently top-rated in Chicago, and led to his being labeled "the king of morning radio". At the height of his popularity, Phillips attracted nearly 1.5 million listeners, a now unheard-of 50%

market Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: *Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand *Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market *Marketing, the act of sat ...

share.

Innovations

Phillips was one of the first broadcasters to routinely use humorous and offbeat phone calls in his show, including prank phone calls. Sometimes, he called random

payphone A payphone (alternative spelling: pay phone or pay telephone or public phone) is typically a coin-operated public telephone, often located in a telephone booth or in high-traffic public areas. Prepayment is required by inserting coins or tel ...

s to see who would answer. For example, he called a

pet cemetery A pet cemetery is a cemetery for pets. Although the veneration and burial of beloved pets has been practiced since ancient times, burial grounds reserved specifically for animals were not common until the late 19th century. History Many hum ...

to arrange a funeral for his mouse, and on another occasion he tracked down Benjamin Gingiss, founder of Gingiss Formal Wear, while the man was on vacation in the

Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of its population. ...

to ask him where the fire extinguishers were kept in the store. Another time, Phillips called

Ipanema Ipanema () is a neighbourhood located in the South Zone (Rio de Janeiro), South Zone of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, between Leblon, Rio de Janeiro, Leblon and Arpoador. The beach at Ipanema became known internationally with the populari ...

, a neighborhood located on the southern region of the city of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, and inquired whether there were any women there who were " tall and tan and young and lovely". He tried to order pizza from

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

and even tried to return a natural

Christmas tree A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen pinophyta, conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, associated with the celebration of Christmas. It may also consist of an artificial tree of similar appearance. The custom was deve ...

weeks into the new year because it had browned and lost all its needles. On one occasion, he managed to obtain

Luciano Pavarotti Luciano Pavarotti (, , ; 12 October 19356 September 2007) was an Italian operatic tenor who during the late part of his career crossed over into popular music, eventually becoming one of the most acclaimed tenors of all time. He made numerou ...

's hotel room number, and called to ask if the singer would give Phillips opera lessons and "teach hillipsto sing flat, like you do." Phillips was the first to offer a $1 million prize to listeners—as a part one of his most famous and longest-running promotions in which he would debunk self-proclaimed

psychic A psychic is a person who claims to use powers rooted in parapsychology, such as extrasensory perception (ESP), to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance; or who performs acts that a ...

s on the air. Listeners were invited to guess what celebrity name was written inside "Wally's Black Box". No one ever successfully guessed the name. He eventually revealed the note bearing the name of

Jean Rogers Jean Rogers (born Eleanor Dorothy Lovegren; March 25, 1916 – February 24, 1991) was an American actress who starred in serial films in the 1930s and low–budget feature films in the 1940s as a leading lady. She is best remembered for ...

, a movie heroine Phillips admired for her role as Dale Arden in several

Flash Gordon Flash Gordon is the protagonist of a space adventure comic strip created and originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by, and created to compete with, the already established ''Buck Rogers'' ...

film serials A serial film, film serial (or just serial), movie serial, or chapter play, is a film, motion picture form popular during the first half of the 20th century, consisting of a series of short subjects exhibited in consecutive order at one theater ...

. Another unique aspect of Phillips' show was a large library of sound bites, each just a few seconds in length, which could be played on short notice in response to something that was said. A mundane example would be an announcement by Phillips followed by

Groucho Marx Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx (; October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977) was an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer who performed in films and vaudeville on television, radio, and the stage. He is considered one of America's greatest comed ...

's voice (from a line in '' Duck Soup'') saying, "Make a note of that!" Instead of using carts or reels, Phillips' engineers found it more convenient to cut a disk with a transcription lathe to keep everything at the ready. WGN was still using the devices strictly for the Phillips show as late as 1985, costing the station more than $20,000 yearly.

Retirement

In 1998, he retired from WGN radio after 42 years, twelve years after giving up the morning show where he was succeeded by Bob Collins, who continued the format and the high ratings. Phillips then hosted a two-hour Saturday morning radio show on WAIT in

Crystal Lake, Illinois Crystal Lake is a city in McHenry County, Illinois, United States. Named after a lake southwest of the city's downtown, Crystal Lake is northwest of Chicago. The population was 40,269 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Crystal L ...

for some years afterward. Phillips was inducted into the

National Radio Hall of Fame The Radio Hall of Fame, formerly the National Radio Hall of Fame, is an American organization created by the Emerson Radio Corporation in 1988. Three years later, Bruce DuMont, founder, president, and CEO of the Museum of Broadcast Communicati ...

, in the

Museum of Broadcast Communications The Museum of Broadcast Communications (MBC) is an American museum that showcases historic and contemporary radio and television content. It is headquartered in Chicago. Museum locations (1987–present) The Museum of Broadcast Communications wa ...

in 1993 and into the

National Association of Broadcasters The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is a Industry trade group, trade association and lobbying, lobby group representing the interests of commercial and non-commercial over-the-air radio and television broadcasting, broadcasters in th ...

Hall of Fame in 1997, marking his 50th year in radio. On October 21, 2004, the street corner of Rush Street and Delaware Street in Chicago was designated as ''Honorary Wally Phillips Way''.

Personal life

In 1969, Wally Phillips founded the Neediest Kids Fund, which has since raised $35 million for charity. Phillips was married three times – all to the same woman, Barbara. He had two daughters Holly and Jennifer, and a son, Todd. He died in

Naples, Florida Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 19,115, down from 19,539 at the 2010 census. Naples is a principal city of the Collier County, Florida, Naples–Marc ...

on March 26, 2008, after suffering from

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

for the previous five years.

References

External links

WGN's summary of Phillips' career
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Wally 1925 births 2008 deaths Radio personalities from Chicago United States Army Air Forces officers Mass media people from Grand Rapids, Michigan People from Portsmouth, Ohio People from Naples, Florida Deaths from dementia in Florida Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in Florida United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II American talk radio hosts Radio personalities from Cincinnati People from Crystal Lake, Illinois Military personnel from Illinois Military personnel from Michigan