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JAMES WALLINGTON — NBC Announcer
tpOR eight months James Wallington, as announcer for WGY in Schenectady, read messages and news which were broadcast by short wave to the men confined on the ice of Little America. He was aboard the S.S. Relief, which carried a broadcasting group nearly a hundred miles to sea to send to a waiting world a word picture of the expedition’s approach to New York. Born in Rochester, Wallington attended the public schools there and later went to the University of Rochester for three years. He began his public career during school days as a singer, being a member of the high school glee club and baritone in a number of Rochester churches. In the university he sang with the glee club and organized a quartet which appeared locally and in many Eastern cities. The quartet sang in Ned Wayburn’s “Chatterbox Revue” at the annual Society Show in Rochester. Wallington also studied at the Eastman School of Music. He soon decided that he never could be more than a mediocre singer. Before entering college he had gone to Auburn Theological Seminary, but two months there convinced him that he was not destined for the ministry. He next began a pre-medical course, but that lost its interest, and he decided to major in English and music. During his last year at Rochester University he sang with the Rochester American Opera Company, the first opera company to sing entirely in English. Next he completed his college course at Union College and then became a traveling salesman for a furniture firm. While in Schenectady he was told that the General Electric Company was looking for a radio mechanic. As radio had interested him, he applied. An announcer was wanted, not a mechanic, so lie asked for the announcer’s position. After an audition and three weeks of coaching Wallington appeared as a staff member. New York had always been Wallington’s goal. He obtained an audition at the NBC studios, passed it and was taken on the staff. He quickly jumped into the spot¬ light. Wallington is only twenty-three years of age but appears to be older. He is over six feet tall, has blue eyes and light brown hair.
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