In 1961, Mel Blanc, voice of Bugs Bunny and many others, nearly died in a car accident on Dead Man's Curve in Hollywood. Mel began his career as a voice actor at KGW Portland in 1927, before moving to KEX in 1933, then KFWB Los Angeles in 1935. Born Melvin Jerome Blank in San Francisco on May 30, 1908, Mel died of of heart disease and emphysema in Los Angeles on July 10, 1989.
In 2002, Peter Gzowski passed away at the age of 67. He single-handedly gave the AM network of CBC Radio its first glimpse of daytime ratings since the advent of television. In 1971, producer Alex Frame hired Peter to host his new show, This Country in the Morning -- three hours of live radio every morning -- which debuted in October 1971. Peter's interviews dominated the program, mostly live, but pre-recorded when scheduling with the guest was otherwise impossible. In fact, though, Peter had debuted on Radio Free Friday, where he did interviews from 1969-71, as a segment of As It Happens, CBC's first ratings success, aired live in the early evening. A more complete bio of Peter can be found at http://broadcasting-history.ca/personal ... wski-peter
In 2005, CKXA-FM Brandon dropped its Hot 101 contemporary hits/hot adult contemporary format for "Continuous Country, 101.1, The Farm". The station had been approved for an AM to FM flip in 1999, but had to change call letters from CKX-AM to CKXA-FM because they also owned CKX-FM, which had signed on in 1963.
In 2007, Barbara Kelly died in London at age 82. She guest starred on episodes of Hawaii Five-O and Magnum P.I. But got her start in B.C., born in West Vancouver on October 5, 1924, on Radio as an actor, first for the CBC at age 16, then CJOR and back to the CBC. At age 17, she married actor Bernard Braden and they emigrated together to Britain in 1949. Her CCF bio is at http://broadcasting-history.ca/personal ... ly-barbara
