Dick Whittington (DJ)

"Sweet" Dick Whittington (born 1934) is a long-time Los Angeles disc jockey who has also appeared as an actor in movies and on television.

Not to be confused with the stage character, Dick Whittington, or Dick Whittinghill, actor.
Dick Whittington
Born1934 (age 88–89)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Career
Station(s)KROW, KSFO, KGIL, KABC, KFI, KIEV
StyleDisc jockey
CountryUnited States

Career

Prior to his arrival in Southern California, Whittington was a popular radio personality in the San Francisco Bay area at Oakland's KROW (960 AM), where he hosted the Night Watchman overnight program, and, later, a weekday afternoon show, from 1955 to 1958. In the fall of 1958, he moved to KSFO (560 AM) in San Francisco, as host of the 9 p.m. to midnight program. He began his stint in Los Angeles at KABC 790 AM, doing a one-hour talk show weekdays and a 3-hour Sunday talk show from 1965 to 1969.

His greatest fame in the Los Angeles market came after he moved in 1969 to the morning drive time slot at KGIL AM 1260 in the "Sin Fernando Valley".[1] For a brief time, he left KGIL to do the evening drive time slot at KFI AM 640. He was briefly heard in the late 1980s on KIEV (870 AM) and, for a few months in 1989, was back at KABC AM.[2]

Many people regard his broadcast style as being ahead of its time. Rather than the "happy morning to you" type of radio personality, he often spoke on the air about things that bothered him and foreshadowed the Howard Stern era of speaking your mind.[3] At stations where he was still spinning records, he would many times interrupt a song midway through saying, "I like it up to that point, then I get bored."

He was an ensemble member of the top-rated TV series Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1968-69 season). One of Whittington's notable film roles was as the disc jockey in the TV movie Duel, Steven Spielberg's directorial debut. He can also be seen briefly as a ring announcer in Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull.[4]

Radio credits

Television and film credits

References
  1. Lycan, Gary (September 1, 2011). "'Sweet Dick' Whittington: An unpredictable talent". Orange County Register.
  2. Wharton, David (October 23, 1986). "'Sweet' Dick Whittington Back Where He Belongs—on the Air". Los Angeles Times.
  3. McCullaugh, Jim (March 4, 1978). "Dick Whittington—He Bucks Whittinghill". Billboard. p. 17. ISSN 0006-2510.
  4. Raging Bull (1980 film) at IMDb
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