M
mikekav
Guest
Former CBS Network and WCBS Radio theatre critic Lee Jordan has died in his hometown of Hawkinsville Georgia today. Not sure of his exact age (his family has not released all his information yet), but Lee was close to 80 years old. Lee Jordan worked at CBS and then WCBS in the 1950’s and perhaps in the 60's (see below). Jordan began his career at WSB Radio in Atlanta and the following comes from the web site www.wsbhistory.com
Lee grew up in Hawkinsville Georgia and attended Emory University. He was a classmate and fraternity brother with a young man we now know as the University of Georgia’s Dr. Worth McDougald (former director of the Peabody awards). Lee Jordan had an absolutely "golden" voice amd worked as an announcer during the 1944-1948 era and was among the first to be chosen, along with Elmo Ellis, to move to WSB-TV when it opened in fall 1948as WSB Channel 8.
WSB-TV originally went on the air on Channel 8 from what is now the small engineering building behind the White Columns site in Atlanta. Lee did a variety of jobs including basic booth announcing, and may well have been the first 'weather man' in the South. Not sure, but we think the sponsor was Eastern Air Lines and most of the graphics were done on a felt-board with little felt cut-outs. He was not weather-trained but got daily briefings from the weather guys at Atlanta Airport (Hartsfield-Jackson) He appeared on a variety of programs on the station, and in many remote broadcasts they did. I do not recall him ever coming back to WSB radio.
One of the more popular TV programs was one called Strictly For The Girls. He and WSB-AM morning show legend Bob Van Camp shared duties on that TV program which aired at 1pm on Fridays. That early show is mentioned in notes on a website http://atlantatv.blogspot.com.
At some point (I believe it would have been around 1953 or 1954) he went to New York to work for CBS-Television and Radio and became a drama-film critic on the air. Later, this evolved into a daily (?) stint on WCBS Radio, and he became quite well known in the theater district at that time for his reviews. I'm not sure how long Lee worked for CBS/WCBS, but a review of the CD release of the 1966 original cast of Sweet Charity contains an interview done by a Lee Jordan at that time of Broadway musicians Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields. Perhaps veterans of the radio scene who knew Lee can comment more on his contributions to New York radio and to the New York theater scene.
In recent months, he and his wife Patti returned to live in Hawkinsville, Georgia. Lee was on hand for the first WSB Oldtimers reunion in 2003. I have a picture of Lee and other historic radio figures which I will be posting soon at www.wsbhistory.com
Visitation for the late Lee Jordan will be at Clark Funeral Home in Hawkinsville Georgia Friday night 5-7, funeral services Saturday the 26th at 2PM at Hawkinsville First Methodist Church.
Thanks to WSB radio great Mike McDougald (yes, brother of Dr. Worth) for the historical information on Lee Jordan.
Mike Kavanagh
Curator for www.wsbhistory.com
<P ID="signature">______________
Mike Kavanagh</P>
Lee grew up in Hawkinsville Georgia and attended Emory University. He was a classmate and fraternity brother with a young man we now know as the University of Georgia’s Dr. Worth McDougald (former director of the Peabody awards). Lee Jordan had an absolutely "golden" voice amd worked as an announcer during the 1944-1948 era and was among the first to be chosen, along with Elmo Ellis, to move to WSB-TV when it opened in fall 1948as WSB Channel 8.
WSB-TV originally went on the air on Channel 8 from what is now the small engineering building behind the White Columns site in Atlanta. Lee did a variety of jobs including basic booth announcing, and may well have been the first 'weather man' in the South. Not sure, but we think the sponsor was Eastern Air Lines and most of the graphics were done on a felt-board with little felt cut-outs. He was not weather-trained but got daily briefings from the weather guys at Atlanta Airport (Hartsfield-Jackson) He appeared on a variety of programs on the station, and in many remote broadcasts they did. I do not recall him ever coming back to WSB radio.
One of the more popular TV programs was one called Strictly For The Girls. He and WSB-AM morning show legend Bob Van Camp shared duties on that TV program which aired at 1pm on Fridays. That early show is mentioned in notes on a website http://atlantatv.blogspot.com.
At some point (I believe it would have been around 1953 or 1954) he went to New York to work for CBS-Television and Radio and became a drama-film critic on the air. Later, this evolved into a daily (?) stint on WCBS Radio, and he became quite well known in the theater district at that time for his reviews. I'm not sure how long Lee worked for CBS/WCBS, but a review of the CD release of the 1966 original cast of Sweet Charity contains an interview done by a Lee Jordan at that time of Broadway musicians Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields. Perhaps veterans of the radio scene who knew Lee can comment more on his contributions to New York radio and to the New York theater scene.
In recent months, he and his wife Patti returned to live in Hawkinsville, Georgia. Lee was on hand for the first WSB Oldtimers reunion in 2003. I have a picture of Lee and other historic radio figures which I will be posting soon at www.wsbhistory.com
Visitation for the late Lee Jordan will be at Clark Funeral Home in Hawkinsville Georgia Friday night 5-7, funeral services Saturday the 26th at 2PM at Hawkinsville First Methodist Church.
Thanks to WSB radio great Mike McDougald (yes, brother of Dr. Worth) for the historical information on Lee Jordan.
Mike Kavanagh
Curator for www.wsbhistory.com
<P ID="signature">______________
Mike Kavanagh</P>