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HARRY VON ZELL — CBS Announcer
LJARRY VON ZELL was born on July 11, 1906, in Indianapolis, Ind. From there the von Zells moved to Chicago, later to Sioux City, la., back to Chicago again, and finally to Hollywood, where Harry finished high school. He entered with the class of ’27 at the Los Angeles branch of the University of California. Later while he was working in the office of a railroad company some friends told him that they were going to take him to watch Charlie Wellman, a Pacific coast announcer, perform as master of ceremonies at a sort of Saturday afternoon radio jamboree. After he arrived in the studios Harry discovered that the gathering was not what it bad been pic¬ tured. Instead it was an audition, and he found himself further surprised when his name was read out and he was called upon to perform. His singing proved effective and he was engaged by the station, KFWB of Los Angeles, to sing and play his ukulele in the evenings. Later he joined the staff of KMIC, Englewood, California, as a singer. His announcer failed to show up one night, and, at the last minute, he was given a script and told to announce himself. This led to his leaving the railroad and working steadily there. His chance for national fame came when Paul Whiteman and his Old Gold Hour arrived on the coast for the making of “The King of Jazz.” From 250 candidates who answered the call for auditions, it was Harry who was called upon to fill the shoes of Ted Husing. When Whiteman returned to the coast in 1930 Harry again announced the program, and finally in May, when Whiteman started for New York, Columbia offered Harry a position at WABC and he came back with the orchestra. He is typically an athlete ... in school he starred at football, track, and boxing ... as an amateur lightweight boxer on the coast he had an extremely successful record, being defeated but once . . . now he goes in strenuously for swimming, horseback riding, and tennis ... is fond of taking long drives through the country . . . also reads a lot and tries his hand at writing.
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