What was his home town/state?
I'd imagine that Art Carlson would have been 40 or 42 at the time of the TV show. It would have been fun to see his reaction.
I wonder if he was ever called Big Guy, even before the TV show. Probably was.
No doubt, he was called that a lot after Gordon Jump (who passed at 71 himself) was given the handle.
I did news for a short while at a Susquehanna station. Never met Art Carlson personally. But the station (and seemingly the chain) was run as though it were immune from the financial fluctuations by which many other networks were fraught. Except for Miami, there was not really a major-market station in the group. Yet, being emplyed by Susquehanna was like working for Mount Rushmore.
God bless, Arthur Carlson.