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Paul Newman and Radio Personalities

E

Element9

Don't think anybody would argue with the premise that Paul Newman was one of the great actors of our time, up there with Brando and Stewart, though not quite as good as Elvis. While reading Newman's obituary, a quote from this superb actor and gentleman struck a chord as it might relate to radio and TV performers.

"I'm not able to work anymore as an actor at the level I would want to. You start to lose your memory, your confidence, your invention. So that's pretty much a closed book for me."

The quote brought to mind guys like Irv, Clint, Danny and Tommy, but given that Harv Moor recently was shown the door at WECK, I wondered how it might apply to the current generation of stars on radio and TV, such as Don Postles and Larry Norton.

Perhaps not for a few more years. Perhaps not at all. Perhaps sooner than any might guess.
 
Irv, Danny and Tommy can be said, accurately I think, to have stayed close to the top of their game right to the end.

A lot was said about Clint Buehlmann's departure from WBEN within a year or so after it happened. The story that circulated inside WBEN's halls back in 1978 was that he hit 65, the Buffalo News company's mandatory retirement age, early in 1977, before the sale to Algonquin went through. He didn't want to go, and in the fall of 1976 let Paul Butler, manager at the time, know he wanted to stay on the air at least another year or two and pick his own time to retire. At first they considered it, but a couple things got in the way. First, it became clear that to settle the News owners' estate, all the properties would have to be sold. Second, Clint came across as rather cross and crotchety on the air during the Blizzard of '77, while up the dial at 1520, Danny Neaverth had a truly shining, and defining, moment that endeared him to Buffalo for the next 25 years...and Jeff Kaye, handling afternoons at 'BEN at the time, turned in a similarly strong, calm and friendly performance during the city's biggest emergency. So they knew a change was needed. Shortly afterward, without spelling out the reasons why, the brass at WBEN told Clint he'd have to retire on his original schedule.

Clint was angry. He turned down a sendoff that would have been historic. WBEN wanted to rent Rich Stadium and hold a huge free community-wide retirement party with an open buffet for Clint as their way of saying "thanks for the memories." He turned it down, and signed off for the last time without any station retirement party at all. All this happened before Larry Levite's offer for the WBEN stations had been accepted, and almost a year before the deal closed in the late winter of 1978. But the memories and the stories were still fresh when we got there as part of the new Algonquin crew's newsroom expansion.

Eventually, about the end of 1978, Larry and programmer Bob Wood reached out to Clint, and brought him back for a Sunday morning show a lot like the weekday show he'd left in 1977. Meanwhile Jeff Kaye took over mornings at WBEN and became the city's new #1 morning man with a show that fit the new full-service AC format really well. I don't think Clint could have made the transition that WBEN needed to connect with the 25-54 core it needed to reach...but Jeff did it well. And in the end, Clint did his Sunday show for a few years, then decided on his own to completely retire. He did get to step away from the mike completely the way he wanted, at a time of his own choosing. It all worked out well for everyone in the end...
 
I've always said that broadcasting is the poor third cousin of show business.

From the prospective of someone who was in the news end of broadcasting, I never felt that reporters should be "stars or personalities." Our job was just to gather facts and report the news...period. I totally disagree when reporters or anchors inject their own opinions into a story.

My advise to these people is that if you want to offer opinions, then change jobs and become a commentator or a talk show host.
 
Heading Toward the Old Corral

I think that Marv Levy hit it right on the head when he said something like "when you start thinking about retirement, you've already retired". Sometimes, people get by mailing it in because they've developed a schtick that listeners have grown so comfortable with. I think that most people are far from the "top of their game" by the time they willingly - or grudgingly - hang up their headphones. We just don't notice the gradual decline.

Paul Newman's honest assessment of his abilities may be singular among the glitterati. As an actor, he had the option of taking smaller, but pivotal roles that allowed him to make the best use of his gifts within the limitations of diminished capabilities. It's tougher to do that in radio, where few people go from a central role to a bit part. I can't think of anybody who's gone from star to second banana successfully.

As far as news people are concerned, I agree with Mr. Giardina's assessment of the role that news people play. I do not agree that everyone does the job equally as well, or can give stories the correct context and weight. There are news people who have the intellect, experience, integrity, delivery, and talent to rise above the rest without injecting themselves into the story.

There's something to be said for knowing how to pursue a story, how to get beyond the press release or sound bite. I don't think that there are many Murrows or Cronkites, who became stars in their own right without injecting opinion into their reports.
 
While reading Newman's obituary, a quote from this superb actor and gentleman struck a chord as it might relate to radio and TV performers.

"I'm not able to work anymore as an actor at the level I would want to. You start to lose your memory, your confidence, your invention. So that's pretty much a closed book for me."

A few years ago a Rochester radio personality was acting very strange both on and off the air. At first it was thought it was just getting used to the computer age and the new technology. This person had a reputation as being a very professional and nice individual. The station management became worried about this person's behavior and contacted the family. It turned out this person had advanced Alzheimer's and wasn't even 50 yet. This person was admitted to a nursing home and died soon after.

I am an aging boomer and still hanging in the radio biz. I have been noticing some mistakes I have been making lately. One, recently did cost the station some money. Not a lot, not a big deal but..... The management did not make a big thing out of it because they respect the work I do. However, I have been upset about it. Number one, letting down the people I work for, which I like and respect (how many radio people can say that now days?) and number two, worrying that maybe I am getting a little more forgetful and it is affecting my overall professionalism. I have had some recent tough times which I suppose that could effect my overall state of mind. On the plus side I come from great genes and there seems to be no nothing like Alzheimer in the family. But as I age I do wonder how long it will be before I know it is time to hang up the headphones. Paul Newman's words sure mean a lot more to me now days than they would have 20 years ago.
 
But how many don't "hang up their headphones" because they can't afford to? It's not like the radio biz has a long history of generous retirement packages.
 
MikeSmithWNYR said:
But how many don't "hang up their headphones" because they can't afford to? It's not like the radio biz has a long history of generous retirement packages.
Click to expand...
Your statement rings true. However there are people still working in this industry who can afford to put money aside into an IRA. Back when IRA first came out that's what I did.

Fortunately WXXI offered a very nice retirement program in which the station contributed 3% of my total salary to TIAA-CREF. Then what I did is put my yearly raises, when I got one, into my retirement plan. By the time I left WXXI I was contributing a total of 15% of my pay to my retirement. I then rolled over that into my own personal retirement plan.

Also remember that some people don't hang up their microphones because they enjoy what they are doing. Perhaps that is why you see more and more people staying in smaller market stations rather than trying to move up the ladder.

Trust me when I say that it's not a pleasant experience getting up every weekday going to a job rather than doing something one really enjoys. I learned that lesson the hard way.
 
Op Cit

MikeSmithWNYR said:
Mark_Giardina said:
Perhaps that is why you see more and more people staying in smaller market stations rather than trying to move up the ladder.
Click to expand...

Hmmm...

I can't of anyone like that.
Click to expand...

See? Some people have already lost the ability to "think"! ;D
 
Mavis Beacon Teaches _ _ _ _ _ ?

MikeSmithWNYR said:
Old age and poor typing skills are a bad combination ;)
Click to expand...

"Typing"? ROTFL!!!

It's now known as "keyboarding" - or so the young whippersnappers I deal with tell me. Got to keep up!
 
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