Some are household names, others worked behind the scenes to bring household names to life. All have had distinguished careers and made significant contributions to television broadcasting. The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Silver Circle honors those who have been actively engaged in television broadcasting for 25 years or more. The Gold Circle honors individuals who have been actively engaged in television broadcasting for 50 years or more. At least half of their time was spent in the NATAS Northern California Chapter.
Here are some of the honorees. Click on the names for more.
Nancy Besst: “Miss Nancy” was the beloved host and teacher on “Romper Room,” beginning in the1950s on KGO-TV and later moving to KTVU. With a gentle manner, she read stories, sang songs and demonstrated simple exercises to her entranced young viewers.
Lucille Bliss: Kids of a certain age and their parents could both appreciate the wry humor of the cartoon show “Crusader Rabbit.” The voice belonged to the voice actress Lucille Bliss, but there was so much more. She gave voice to Smurfette, as well as characters in Walt Disney’s “Cinderella,” “The Jetsons,” and “The Flintstones,” among others.
Belva Davis: She was the Bay Area’s first African-American female television news anchor and first on the West Coast, covering race, gender, and politics, including nationally high-profile stories.
James Gabbert: An FM radio pioneer, he brought high fidelity stereo sound to the Bay Area airwaves. He purchased UHF channel 20, naming it KOFY-TV, and introduced a locally popular dance party show.
Roger Grimsby: He held forth as a television news anchor for 18 years on the ABC flagship station WABC in New York, But before that he was a powerhouse journalist at KGO-TV, giving KPIX a run for the money. While in New York, he was an innovator of the “Happy Talk” news format, though he disliked the term.
Jack La Lanne and Elaine La Lanne: At KGO-TV, Elaine Doyle booked talent for the Les Malloy show, hosting the show once a week with Freddie Jorgenson. That’s where she met Jack La Lanne. His televised workout programs and nutritional advice were the precursor to the modern exercise and health movement. He didn’t believe in sitting still.
Dave McElhatton: His legendary career began in 1951 at KCBS radio, where he hosted “Music ‘Til Dawn” and “McElhatton in the Morning”. Later, at KPIX, he was the anchor of “Eyewitness News,” the longest-tenured anchorman in the station’s history, and among the most recognizable faces on Bay Area televsion.
Bob March: The unforgettable “Captain Satellite” at KTVU, March captivated children on weekday afternoons. He not only played the part, he created the program. March also was an announcer and director, and he taught broadcasting at San Francisco State. Kevin Wing, who wrote the original Silver Circle profile in 1990, writes about revisiting March nearly 10 years later here.
Charles Schulz: It would be hard to find a newspaper reader or television viewer who didn’t know of Charles Schulz. If they didn’t, they surely knew of his unforgettable characters in the “Peanuts” gang. His comic strips and television adaptations are deeply ingrained in the popular culture.
Bruce Sedley: “Skipper Sedley” was host of the “Popeye Show” on KRON in the 1950s. In the ’60s, “Sir Sedley” held forth with his puppets on the “New Three Stooges.” Bruce Sedley is credited with inventing the Talking Storybooks used at Children’s Fairyland in Oakland.
Harry Sweet: The first television cameraman hired in the Sacramento Valley, Sweet later became chief photographer at KCRA Channel 3, where he stayed for 33 years. He donated millions of feet of film for archiving and donated thousands of hours of his time to help catalog the collection.
Fred Van Amberg: Known simply as “Van Amberg” on air, he was perhaps the most well-known anchor in Bay Area broadcasting history. Van Amberg and co-host Jerry Jensen scored phenomenal ratings. They teamed with meteorologist Pete Giddings and sports director John O’Reilly in their wildly popular “Happy Talk” format.