Jim Ameche

Jim Ameche (August 6, 1915[1] – February 4, 1983)[2] was an American radio actor who is most notable for his role as radio's original Jack Armstrong on Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy.[3]

Jim Ameche
Jim Ameche in 1940.
Born
James Amici

(1915-08-06)August 6, 1915
Kenosha, Wisconsin
DiedFebruary 4, 1983(1983-02-04) (aged 67)
Tucson, Arizona
NationalityAmerican
OccupationActor
Years active1951–1957
Spouse(s)Betty A. Harris
Children6
Parent(s)Felice Amici
Barbara Etta Amici
RelativesDon Ameche (brother)

Career

Born James Amici in Kenosha, Wisconsin,[4] when his elder brother, Don, left his position as the host and announcer for The Chase and Sanborn Hour in the early 1940s, Jim took over for the remainder of the show's run. He also was heard as mountie Jim West on ABC's Silver Eagle (1951–55). Other shows Ameche was heard on included Grand Hotel, Hollywood Playhouse, and Big Sister. In the 1940s, he had several programs on WGN radio in Chicago.[1]

He was heard on stations in Los Angeles and Palm Springs in the late 1950s and early 60s. For many years he was a popular local radio personality in the New York City area. By the late 1960s, he was working as an announcer on New York's WHN and the TV pitchman for a Longines Symphonette Society mail-order record album featuring clips of old-time radio broadcasts. In the 1960s he also read radio advertisements for Gibson wines. For many years, he was the afternoon announcer on WQXR, the classical radio station of The New York Times, and was a familiar and beloved voice. He also recorded numerous radio ads in Phoenix, Arizona in his later years.

Film

He portrayed Alexander Graham Bell in the 1957 film The Story of Mankind, the role his brother Don had played in the film biography of Bell in 1939.

Family

Jim Ameche was married to the former Betty A. Harris of Oak Park, Illinois. The couple had six children.[1] Alan Ameche, the professional football player, was a cousin of Jim.[5]

Death

Jim Ameche died February 4, 1983, of lung cancer at Tucson Medical Center at age 67.[6]

References
  1. Ratty, Marguerite (August 22, 1948). "Telephone Call Turns Career of Jim Ameche". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  2. Cox, Jim (2008). This Day in Network Radio: A Daily Calendar of Births, Debuts, Cancellations and Other Events in Broadcasting History. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-7864-3848-8. Page 29.
  3. DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-7864-2834-2. P. 11.
  4. Cox, Jim (2007). Radio Speakers: Narrators, News Junkies, Sports Jockeys, Tattletales, Tipsters, Toastmasters and Coffee Klatch Couples Who Verbalized the Jargon of the Aural Ether from the 1920s to the 1980s--A Biographical Dictionary. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-7864-6086-1. Pp. 10-11.
  5. Ian Herbert, ed. (1981). "AMECHE, Don". Who's Who in the Theatre. 1. Gale Research Company. p. 15. ISSN 0083-9833.
  6. Staff (February 6, 1983). "Jim Ameche, radio actor for 40 years". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 22, 2016.
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