Richard Bernard "Red" Skelton (July 18, 1913 – September 17, 1997)

Skelton was known as a TV clown who portrayed many comical characters
such as Clem Kadiddlehopper and Freddie the Freeloader. He was a long-
time national radio and television star for 34 years. Following the death of
his father, Red first started work at the age of seven as a newspaper boy
and later auditioned at the age of 10 for a role in a medicine show.

1953

A painting by Red Skelton, the artist.

At the time of his death, his art dealer believed that Skelton had
earned more money through his paintings than from his television
work.

Richard Augustus Wagstaff "Dick" Clark Jr.
(November 30, 1929 – April 18, 2012)

In 1952, WFIL-TV in Philadelphia began airing a show called Bob Horn’s
Bandstand. Dick Clark had a similar show on the company’s radio station
(WFIL) and served as a regular substitute host when Bob Horn went on
vacation. After a drunk driving arrest in 1956, Horn was dismissed and
a 26-year-old Clark then became Bandstand’s permanent host. The
show was picked up by the ABC television network, renamed American
Bandstand, and debuted nationally on August 5, 1957.

The Bandstand podium (above) was donated
to the Smithsonian Institution in 1981.

Carl Hilding "Doc" Severinsen was born in Arlington, Oregon.

Severinsen is best known for leading the NBC Orchestra on The
Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson beginning in 1962. The
group became the most visible big band in America. He made
his broadcasting debut playing live popular music on KODL
radio in The Dalles, Oregon.

Severinsen, Ed McMahon, and Johnny Carson, about 1974.

Vic and Sade rehearsal; from left: Art Van Harvey (Vic), Bernardine Flynn,
(Sade), Paul Rhymer and Bill Idelson.

The sitcom Vic and Sade was created and written by Paul Rhymer. It was aired 
regularly on NBC radio from 1932 to 1944, then intermittently until 1946, and
was briefly adapted to television in 1949 and again in 1957.

During its 14-year run on radio, Vic and Sade became one of the most popular
series of its kind, earning critical and popular success: according to Time, the
program  had 7,000,000 devoted listeners in 1943. For the majority of its span
on the air, Vic and Sade was heard in 15-minute episodes without a continuing
storyline.

The central characters, known as "radio’s home folks", were accountant Victor 
Rodney Gook (Art Van Harvey), his wife Sade (Bernardine Flynn) and their
adopted son Rush (Bill Idelson).

Adapted from radio to television, The Amos ‘n Andy Show was produced
from June 1951 to April 1953 with 78 filmed episodes, sponsored by the
Blatz Brewing Company.

The CBS television series used black actors in the main roles, although
the actors were instructed to keep their voices and speech patterns close 
to those of the radio shows stars Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll.

Produced at the Hal Roach Studios, the show was among the first to be
filmed with a multi-camera setup, four months before the I Love Lucy
series used the same technique.

The original radio show was popular from the 1920s through the
1950s. It was created, written, and voiced by two white actors, 
Gosden and Correll (above).