Ted Steele (July 9, 1917 – October 15, 1985)[1] was an American bandleader and host of several radio and television programs. He also held administrative positions at radio stations and had his own media-related businesses.
Early years
editSteele grew up on a dairy farm in Belmont, Massachusetts.[2] When he was 7 years old, he received a scholarship to the New England Conservatory of Music; three years later, he presented piano concerts. At 13, he was expelled because he formed a dance band. In an article in the March 24, 1946, issue of Radio Life, Steele recalled, "They tried to make a child prodigy out of me, but they didn't succeed. I didn't take it seriously — and how I hated to practice!"[3]
Steele attended Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, paying his way with work in theaters and nightclubs.[4]
Radio
editSteele was described in The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present as "a versatile young (31) musician who had a blossoming career on radio in the 1940s."[5] After first working as a page boy at NBC's New York City facilities, he moved up to sales promotion. His opportunity to work on the air came via his talent for playing a Novachord synthesizer, as he began to play themes and background music on up to 20 shows per week.[6]
Networks
editSteele had The Ted Steele Show on NBC in 1942 and Ted Steele's Novatones on NBC in 1939.[7]: 327 He directed the orchestra on the 1947-1948 version of The Chesterfield Supper Club.[7] He also was the host of Easy Does It, a 1946-1947 variety show on Mutual[7]: 106 and was the organist for Lora Lawton[7]: 206 and Society Girl.[8] In 1941, Steele played himself on Boy Meets Band on the Blue Network. An item in the trade publication Broadcasting described the program as the "[d]ramatization of the growth of a fictional jazz band ... the trials of its leader with some general home life scenes of its members."[9]
In the mid-1950s, Steele had his own program on Mutual.[4] Later in his career, he returned to network radio as one of the hosts of NBC's Monitor weekend program.[10]
Transcriptions
editSteele and Grace Albert were co-hosts of one series of Time Out for Fun and Music, a transcribed 15-minute music program.[11] He directed the orchestra on The M-G-M Screen Test.[7]: 228
Local radio
editSteele joined KMPC in Los Angeles, California, as an announcer and producer in 1937.[12]
On December 4, 1939, Steele began a 13-week series, Home Harmonies, on WMCA in New York City; the 15-minute programs featured Steele playing the Novachord.[13] In 1940, he had a program using just his own name as the title, Ted Steele, on WFIL in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[14] He was on WOR in New York City in 1943, playing the Navachord and leading his orchestra in tunes from the 1920s.[15]
In 1947, Steele had a daily half-hour morning farm program on KYW in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The show contained a mix of recorded music and farm news.[16] He was also KYW's farm director.[17]
Beginning November 17, 1947, Steele had a six-day-a-week disc jockey program on WMCA.[18] He returned to WMCA in 1958, signing a three-year contract that allowed him to continue doing his television program on WOR-TV.[19]
In a departure from his usual musically oriented programs, Steele co-starred on Hollywood Dreams, a dramatic serial, on WABC in New York City.[20]
Beginning in 1949, he and his wife, Doris, were co-hosts of Mr. and Mrs. Music, a combination talk-disc jockey program, on WMCA.[14]: 332-333
On December 31, 1962, Steele returned to the airwaves in New York City as host of At Your Service, a daily afternoon "women's appeal" program on WCBS.[21]
In 1967, he began working on WPEN in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with a morning program.[10] In 1970, he had a morning show on WBAL in Baltimore, Maryland.[22]
Television
editNetworks
editOn network television, Steele was host of The Ted Steele Show, a variety program that was broadcast on NBC in 1948, on the DuMont Television Network in 1949 and on CBS in 1949-1950.[23][24] He was also one of four hosts on Cavalcade of Bands on DuMont in 1950-1951.[23]: 169
Local stations
editSteele's first television program was the weekly Piano Patter in 1948 on WPTV in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[25] In the 1950s, he had daytime programs on local television in New York City, first on WPIX-TV[26] and later on WOR-TV.[27] The WOR-TV program, which began July 5, 1954, was reported to include a contract with Steele for more than $1 million for five years.[28] In 1959, he was the host of Dance Party, described as "an adult version of the teenage record hop programs," on WNTA in Newark, New Jersey.[29] He also was host of Don't Call Us on WNTA.[30]
Media administration
editIn 1942, Steele was named director of programs for the Atlantic Coast Network, a group of 10 stations.[31] He also was music director at KPMC, beginning January 1, 1946.[32] During his tenure in that position, he was the focal point of a controversy related to the station's decision to ban Bebop music.[33] He resigned effective June 1, 1946, to go on tour with his orchestra.[34]
Steele was executive producer at WPIX 1950-1954.[21] In 1955, he was named musical director at WOR-AM-TV in New York City.[35] In 1960, he became general manager of WNTA-AM-FM, in Newark, New Jersey,[36] and in 1961 he went to WINS, New York City, to be general manager.[37]
Business
editSteele owned Ted Steele Radio Productions in New York City in 1941. The company, located in Rockefeller Plaza, produced programs and commercials.[38] From 1946 to 1948, He was director of the radio-television division of the John C. Dowd Advertising Agency in Boston, Massachusetts.[37] In 1957, he formed his own business, Ted Steele Radio & Television Station Representatives, in New York City. An article in Broadcasting said that Steele would continue his daily television program on WOR.[39]
Personal life
editSteele married actress Marie Windsor on April 21, 1946, in Marysville, Utah.[40] Their marriage ended in an annulment in 1953.[41]
He was also married to the former Doris Brooks; they had two daughters, Sally and Sue. The couple had a farm outside of New Hope, Pennsylvania, on which they raised Guernsey cattle.[6]
In 1956 his third marriage was to Ceil Loman, who later changed her first name and became Alison Steele, "one of the first female disc jockeys on radio."[42] That marriage ended in divorce.[43]
References
edit- ^ DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-7864-2834-2. P. 251.
- ^ "Golden Boy Ted Steele". Radio and Television Mirror. 30 (2): 4. July 1948. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
- ^ Hammer, B.J. (March 24, 1946). "Boy Meets Station" (PDF). Radio Life. p. 8. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
- ^ a b "Mr. Matinee". TV Radio Mirror. 44 (4): 14–15. September 1955. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
- ^ Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F. (2009). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present. Random House Publishing Group. p. 1362. ISBN 9780307483201. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
- ^ a b "A Place Called Home". Radio and Television Mirror. 32 (4): 54–55, 90. September 1949. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
- ^ a b c d e Terrace, Vincent (1999). Radio Programs, 1924-1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-7864-4513-4. Pp. 73-74.
- ^ Buxton, Frank and Owen, Bill (1972). The Big Broadcast: 1920-1950. The Viking Press. SBN 670-16240-x. P. 220.
- ^ "Growth of a Jazz Band" (PDF). Broadcasting. July 7, 1941. p. 32. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
- ^ a b "Programing" (PDF). Broadcasting. March 6, 1967. p. 70. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
- ^ NBC Radio Recording Division advertisement (PDF). Broadcasting Publications Inc. 1943. p. 229. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
- ^ "(untitled brief)" (PDF). Broadcasting. November 15, 1937. p. 44. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
- ^ "Utilities Use Air" (PDF). Broadcasting. December 15, 1939. p. 71. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
- ^ a b Sies, Luther F. (2014). Encyclopedia of American Radio, 1920-1960, 2nd Edition. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-7864-5149-4. P. 683.
- ^ "Behind the Mike" (PDF). Broadcasting. February 8, 1943. p. 29. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
- ^ "Musician to Farmer" (PDF). Broadcasting. September 15, 1947. p. 238. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
- ^ "News" (PDF). Broadcasting. November 10, 1947. p. 57. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
- ^ "Production" (PDF). Broadcasting. November 17, 1947. p. 68. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
- ^ "D.J. Ted Steele Signs with WMCA" (PDF). Broadcasting. June 2, 1958. p. 80. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
- ^ "Radio Advertisers" (PDF). Broadcasting. July 1, 1940. p. 55. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
- ^ a b "New WCBS show" (PDF). Broadcasting. December 31, 1962. p. 49. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
- ^ "(WBAL ad)" (PDF). Broadcasting. September 14, 1970. p. 33. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
- ^ a b Terrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-7864-6477-7. P. 1057.
- ^ Cassidy, Marsha F. (2005). What Women Watched Daytime Television in the 1950s. University of Texas Press. pp. 39–40. ISBN 978-0-292-70626-2.
- ^ "Production" (PDF). Broadcasting. May 10, 1948. p. 74. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
- ^ "(untitled brief)". Billboard. October 7, 1950. p. 71. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
- ^ Singer, Jack (August 7, 1954). "Ted Steele Show (TV)". Billboard. p. 45. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
- ^ "(photo caption)" (PDF). Broadcasting. June 28, 1954. p. 61. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
- ^ "(untitled)" (PDF). Broadcasting. October 26, 1959. p. 96. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
- ^ "Week's Headliners" (PDF). Broadcasting. February 27, 1961. p. 10. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
- ^ Kay, E. (November 21, 1942). "Announcer Hicks Returns from Convoy Duty ... Daddy's Son a Hero" (PDF). Movie-Radio Guide. p. 9. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
- ^ Wilk, Ralph (May 23, 1946). "Los Angeles" (PDF). Radio Daily. p. 4. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
- ^ "To "Be-Bop" or Not" (PDF). Radio Life. March 31, 1946. p. 9. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
- ^ "Production" (PDF). Broadcasting. May 27, 1946. p. 65. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
- ^ "(untitled brief)" (PDF). Broadcasting. May 9, 1955. p. 87. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
- ^ "Week's Headliners" (PDF). Broadcasting. August 1, 1960. p. 10. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
- ^ a b "Week's Headliners" (PDF). Broadcasting. June 19, 1961. p. 10. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
- ^ Alicoate, Jack, Ed. (1941). The 1941 Radio Annual. New York City: Radio Daily Corp. p. 669. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "'Quality Stations' Rep Firm Formed by WOR-TVs Ted Steele" (PDF). Broadcasting. December 9, 1957. p. 90. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
- ^ "Marie Bertelsen Is Wed To Coast Band Leader". The Salt Lake Tribune. Utah, Salt Lake City. June 2, 1946. p. 41. Retrieved June 5, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Campbell, Lilian (August 14, 1953). "Today's Grab Bag". The Freeport Facts. Texas, Freeport. Central Press. p. 2. Retrieved June 5, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ PhD, Wayne Winterton (18 November 2015). Stories from History's Dust Bin. Xlibris Corporation. p. 2015. ISBN 9781514419786. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
- ^ Stout, David (September 28, 1995). "Alison Steele, Disk Jockey, Dies; The Pioneer 'Nightbird' Was 58". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
External links
editTed Steele at IMDb