1. Mike Douglas was a "staff singer" at the Oklahoma City radio station WKY.
24 Facts About Mike Douglas
1. 2.
Kyser was responsible for giving Mike Douglas his show business name, and Mike Douglas continued to perform with the band until Kyser retired in 1951 due to health problems.
3.
In 1953, Mike Douglas was host of Showcase, a weekly program on WGN-TV in Chicago, and he sang on The Music Show on the DuMont Television Network.
4.
In 1957 Mike Douglas was one of the Band Singers on Dennis James' "Club 60" a daily talk show on NBC out of Chicago.
5.
Douglas and James remained lifelong friends, with James occasionally serving as a co-host on "The Mike Douglas Show" in Los Angeles in the 1970s.
6.
Mike Douglas next appeared in 1961 in Cleveland, where a onetime Chicago colleague hired him for $400 a week as an afternoon television talk-show host at KYW-TV.
7.
The Mike Douglas Show rapidly gained popularity, and ultimately, national syndication in August 1963 on other stations owned by KYW-TV's parent company Westinghouse Broadcasting.
8.
The Mike Douglas Show aired its first Philadelphia-based show on August 30,1965; the former KYW-TV in Cleveland, which is NBC-owned WKYC, continued to carry the program for many years afterward.
9.
The format called for Mike Douglas to invite guests to appear as co-hosts for the week; they would be on the show for all five weekdays.
10.
Little Richard, a 1950s rock and roll originator, by 1969 was on a serious comeback bid and his many appearances with Mike Douglas gave him a boost.
11.
In 1970, Mike Douglas hired rocker Bobby Darin as co-host, just after the latter radically changed his image from lounge entertainer to folk artist Bob Darin.
12.
Mike Douglas invited John Lennon and Yoko Ono on the show to co-host for a full week in 1972, and there were some awkward moments with Yoko's avant-garde art displays and with radical guests, John and Yoko's friends.
13.
Mike Douglas was replaced in January 1983 by WTBS personality Bill Tush.
14.
Mike Douglas became a local cultural icon in Philadelphia, often inviting prominent players from the city's professional sports teams to be guests on his show.
15.
Mike Douglas held a landmark interview with Dr Martin Luther King that revealed his wisdom about civil rights and his prophetic stance on the Vietnam war.
16.
Mike Douglas wrote two memoirs: My Story and I'll Be Right Back: Memories of TV's Greatest Talk Show.
17.
Mike Douglas wrote a cookbook, The Mike Douglas Cookbook, featuring recipes from him, his family, and the show's guests.
18.
The Lily Tomlin comedy The Incredible Shrinking Woman shows the dwindling Pat Kramer appearing on Mike Douglas's show, where he sings "Little Things Mean a Lot" in her honor.
19.
Mike Douglas married Genevieve, the marriage producing three daughters: Kelly and twins Michele and Christine, and he had several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
20.
Mike Douglas developed prostate cancer in 1990, but after surgery, he was cancer-free and remained in good health until almost the end of his life.
21.
Mike Douglas died unexpectedly on August 11,2006, his 86th birthday, at Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
22.
Mike Douglas claimed to be 36 years old, instead of 40, when he got his show.
23.
Mike Douglas was treated at a hospital following this episode, but he was apparently unable to recover.
24.
Mike Douglas's body was interred in Riverside Memorial Park cemetery in Martin County, Florida.