Gordon Barton McLendon was an American radio broadcaster.
34 Facts About Gordon McLendon
1.
2.
Gordon McLendon developed offshore pirate radio broadcasting to both Scandinavia and the British Isles.
3.
Gordon McLendon was born in Paris, Texas, and spent his early childhood in Oklahoma.
4.
Gordon McLendon covered sports events and broadcast commentary over the school's public address system.
5.
Gordon McLendon won a nationwide political-essay contest judged by journalists Arthur Brisbane, Henry Luce, and Walter Lippmann.
6.
Gordon McLendon fought in World War II and was commissioned as a Japanese-language intelligence officer in the Office of Naval Intelligence.
7.
Gordon McLendon was later reassigned, giving him the opportunity to extend his style of commentary to political events over a United States Armed Forces Radio Service station.
8.
Gordon McLendon was a co-founder of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers.
9.
Gordon McLendon, who nicknamed himself "The Old Scotchman", is noted in radio history as the founder of the Liberty Radio Network in the 1940s.
10.
Gordon McLendon then went silent and let the crowd's roar speak for itself.
11.
Later in 1964 Gordon McLendon shared his experience at offshore broadcasting with Don Pierson of Eastland, Texas, who created a mirror of Gordon McLendon's KLIF radio station in Dallas.
12.
One of the FM stations most instrumental in the downfall of KLIF was its former sister station KNUS, of which Gordon McLendon retained ownership after selling KLIF and revamped as a rock-oriented Top 40.
13.
The Gordon McLendon family built a communications empire that included radio stations across the United States.
14.
Gordon McLendon introduced the all-news format to Southern California through XETRA in Tijuana.
15.
Gordon McLendon was one of the originators of the "beautiful music" format on his KABL in Oakland, California, in 1959; and as the founder of the first all-news radio station in the 1960s.
16.
Gordon McLendon is credited by most broadcast historians with having established the first mobile news units in American radio, the first traffic reports, the first jingles, the first all-news radio station, and the first "easy-listening" programming.
17.
Gordon McLendon was among the first broadcasters in the United States to editorialize.
18.
In 1954, Gordon McLendon considered acquiring a share of Oklahoma City UHF station KMPT, but opted against it, finding the struggling station "too far gone".
19.
Gordon McLendon was the last owner of ABC affiliate KCND-TV in Pembina, North Dakota.
20.
In 1959, Gordon McLendon co-produced and co-starred in two sci-fi monster movies filmed in Texas, The Killer Shrews and The Giant Gila Monster.
21.
Gordon McLendon produced over 150 motion-picture campaigns for United Artists from 1963 to 1966.
22.
Gordon McLendon was the executive producer of Escape to Victory, directed by John Huston and starring Michael Caine, Sylvester Stallone, and Max von Sydow.
23.
Gordon McLendon owned McLendon Theatres, which operated more than forty movie theatres throughout the south, including many drive-ins.
24.
Gordon McLendon became an authority on precious metals and wrote a book entitled Get Really Rich in the Coming Super Metals Boom, published in 1981.
25.
Gordon McLendon authored a number of other books, including How to Succeed in Broadcasting, Correct Spelling in Three Hours, Understanding American Government, and 100 Years of America in Sound.
26.
Gordon McLendon ran on a platform of opposing the Civil Rights Act, arguing that it gave "broad and sweeping powers" to the federal government.
27.
Gordon McLendon entered the primary for the 1968 Texas gubernatorial election, but withdrew from both the election and the Democratic Party, citing President Lyndon Johnson's Vietnam War policies.
28.
Gordon McLendon was disillusioned with the negative portrayal of the agency such as in the film Three Days of the Condor.
29.
Gordon McLendon was acquainted with Jack Ruby, the killer of Lee Harvey Oswald.
30.
Ruby was both an admirer and friend of Gordon McLendon, he told the FBI that Gordon McLendon was one of his six "closest friends".
31.
Gordon McLendon allowed Ruby to advertise on his radio station, KLIF.
32.
In December 1985, Gordon McLendon was reported to have been critically wounded while cleaning his.
33.
Gordon McLendon died of cancer at his ranch home near Lake Dallas, Texas, on September 14,1986.
34.
Gordon McLendon was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1994.