John Charles Daly
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John Charles Daly (full given name John Charles Patrick Croghan Daly AKA John Daly) born February 20, 1914 died February 24, 1991), a native of Johannesburg, South Africa was a journalist, game show host, radio personality, actor, and author. The son-in-law of Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren through his second wife, he was also a vice-president of ABC during the 1950s.
He was a proud alumnus of Tilton Academy in Tilton, New Hampshire. He served on the board of directors for many years and contributed to the construction or restoration of many buildings on campus. There is an award named for him given to "persons whose pursuit of excellence and deep commitment as a member of the school family resembles that of John Daly's involvement with Tilton: continuous and widely known expressions of support in word and deed, inspiring others to reach goals that common experience dictates are impossible".
As a reporter for CBS, Daly was the voice of two historic announcements. He was the first national radio correspondent to deliver the news of the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, at the start of the mid-afternoon World Today program. And he was the first to relay the wire-service announcement of the death of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1945, interrupting "Wilderness Road" to deliver the news.
Contrary to popular belief, Daly did not break into the New York Philharmonic concert broadcast to deliver the news of the Pearl Harbor attack. The "we interrupt this program" phrase often heard on that announcement was actually lifted from his FDR bulletin and then simply tacked onto the legitimate recording of the Pearl Harbor item for a post-war record album from Columbia Records, "I Can Hear It Now," in an attempt to make it more dramatic. Fellow CBS News Correspondent Bob Trout, who appeared on Daly's World Today show from London as the Pearl Harbor news started coming in, later revealed the real story during one of his National Public Radio commentaries.
During World War II, Daly was also a war correspondent in 1943 in Italy, during Gen. George Patton's infamous "slapping incident".
After the war, he was a lead reporter on CBS Radio's news program You Are There. Daly became a pioneer in television Panel shows, most notably with 17-plus years as the host on What's My Line?, also with hosting duties on Who Said That?, It's News to Me, We Take Your Word and Open Hearing, as a narrator on The Voice of Firestone and a panelist on Celebrity Time. He also had several television and movie guest appearances through the late 1940s to the mid-1960s, including an uncredited role on Bye Bye Birdie and narrating the premiere episode of Green Acres.
He began his broadcasting career as an announcer/reporter for WJSV, the local CBS affiliate in Washington, D.C. Daly became known to the national CBS audience as the network announcer for many of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's speeches. In 1941, Daly transferred to New York City where he became anchor of the regular CBS evening newscast The World Today. During World War II, he covered the news from London as well as the North African and Italian fronts.
During the 1950s, Daly became the Vice President in charge of News, Special Events and Public affairs for ABC, and won three Peabody Awards. He was also the author of over 60 papers on topics ranging from Constitutional law to foreign affairs.
After the 1960s, following a short stint with Voice of America (September 1967 to June 1968), Daly retreated from the public eye, although he did co-host a 25th anniversary program for What's My Line in 1975. He was a frequent forum moderator for the conservative think tank, The American Enterprise Institute through the 1980s. He died in Chevy Chase, Maryland of cardiac arrest.
External links
- Biography on TvTome (http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/PersonDetail/personid-8545/)
- Scan of Obituary (http://home.comcast.net/~s.astorino/Daly-obit-sm.jpg)
