How sad, especially for those of you having grown up in Southern California. I
heard him a couple of times but couldn’t quite get over the funny name he chose
to broadcast under. I better remember Charlie Van Dyke who did time at KHJ and
KFRC.
Linda G.
From: ourplace-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ourplace-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Rosemarie Chavarria
Sent: Monday, February 29, 2016 3:07 PM
To: ourplace@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ourplace] Re: charlie tuna has passed away
Hi, Marty,
This is very sad news. I remember listening to him from time to time on K H J.
Rosie
On 2/29/2016 3:01 PM, Marty Rimpau wrote:
Hi all, this is for those of us who grew up, partially, or fully in southern
california, I just got this from one of the people on my oldies list, that long
time disc jockie, charlie tuna has passed away, and I was in southern california
on November twenty-third, 1967 when he did his first show on khj in Los Angeles,
though I don't remember him saying it was his first day there.
Longtime L.A. radio personality CHARLIE TUNA has died at the age of 71, passing
away "peacefully in his sleep," while at home in TARZANA, CA, the city for which
he served as honorary Mayor since 1977.
The KEARNY, NEBRASKA native, whose real name was ART FERGUSON, was part of the
legendary KHJ BOSS JOCK lineup, starting at both KROQ and KIIS and serving as
both PD and morning man for KIIS AM and FM.
TUNA worked as a morning drive radio personality for more stations and formats
than anyone in L.A. radio history: Top 40, AC, Hot AC, Oldies, Talk, Sports Talk
and Country.
TUNA began working at his hometown radio station, KGFW, at the age of 16. He
went to take a job at KLEO in WICHITA, KANSAS, for a year using the air name
"BILLY O'DAY." He then worked for KOMA in OKLAHOMA CITY in 1966, where he took
over the "CHARLIE TUNA" alias from CHUCK RILEY, who had used it for one show the
week prior to TUNA's arrival. CHARLIE then moved on to WMEX BOSTON for the first
nine months of 1967.
In late 1967, KHJ LOS ANGELES offered him the 9 to noon slot, where he debuted
on THANKSGIVING 1967. On FEBURARY 9th, 1971, he had just commenced his morning
show at 6a when the SAN FERNANDO earthquake occurred. In 1972 he became one of
the original DJs at KROQ AM, a new Top 40 station (formerly Country KBBQ). In
1973 be moved to KKDJ as PD and morning personality. He presided over its 1975
call-letter change to KIIS-AM, and broadcast the first show at KIIS-FM as it
began its AM-FM simulcast. He also worked at KTNQ, KHTZ (later KBZT), KRLA, KODJ
(later KCBS-FM), KMPC, KIKF, and KLAC.
CHARLIE TUNA worked at KBIG (104.3), where he hosted a long-running morning show
"CHARLIE TUNA IN THE MORNING," which aired from 5 to 10a. His last full-time
morning show aired on SEPTEMBER 17th, 2007, when the station flipped to a
non-rhythmic-based AC format, as 104.3 (MY FM). He returned to radio FEBRUARY
9th, 2008, when he became the weekend personality on CBS L.A. oldies station
KRTH (K-EARTH 101). On AUGUST 27th, 2015, when CBS began downsizing their
stations in L.A., CHARLIE moved on to expand his syndicated radio business with
CharlieTunaSyndication.com <http://CharlieTunaSyndication.com/> .
TUNA was inducted into the NEBRASKA BROADCASTERS ASSOCIATION HALL OF FAME in
1999, and was honored with a star on the HOLLYWOOD WALK OF FAME in 1990.
In 1997, CHARLIE was voted one of the Top 10 L.A. Radio Personalities Of All
Time by readers of the LOS ANGELES RADIO PEOPLE.
In 2007 and again in 2013, CARLIE was elected by his LARadio.com
<http://LARadio.com/> broadcast peers as one of the Top 10 L.A. Radio
Personalities.
He was heard around the world daily on the ARMED FORCES RADIO NETWORK for a
25-year 6,000-show run from 1971 to 1996, as well as on numerous nationally
syndicated radio shows, since the early '70s
He could also be heard across the U.S., CANADA and internationally on his
syndicated five-hour daily and weekend shows, plus a daily HOLLYWOOD MINUTE
entertainment feature.
TUNA was the announcer for the television game show "Scrabble," which ran for
seven years on NBC, and a dozen other TV shows ranging from "THE MIKE DOUGLAS
SHOW" and "THICKE Of The Night," to "AMERICA'S TOP 10 WITH CASEY KASEM." He
hosted "Cinema, Cinema, Cinema" for 30 years, an internationally syndicated TV
show featuring the top movies in the U.S. each week, with clips from the films.
He also hosted the international TV show "Inside HOLLYWOOD" for three years.
TUNA appeared in two movies, "Rollercoaster" in 1977 and "Racquet" in 1979, as
well as hundreds of TV and radio commercials. VH1 used CHARLIE’s "Celebrity
Interview Archives," he sported dozens of radio station voice-imaging clients,
narrated the U.S. AIR FORCE’s 50th Anniversary CD, and served as a musical
network TV consultant.
CHARLIE hosted the red carpet and emceed the REVLON RUN/WALK for five years, and
served as master of ceremonies for the annual 4th OF JULY WARNER PARK in
WOODLAND HILLS celebration, which attracts annual crowds of over 50,000
spectators.
Reach out to send your condolences at www.charlietuna.com
<http://www.charlietuna.com/> .
Memorial donations may be made to CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL LOS ANGELES, for which he
raised more than $2.5 million over the years with his annual 'TUNATHON."
- See more at:
http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/151021/longtime-l-a-radio-legend
-charlie-tuna-71-passes?ref=mail_bulletin#sthash.H5ruMoKb.dpuf
Marty
