Jim, Jimmy, or Jimmie Wilson may refer to:

Sports[link]

• James B. Wilson (1896–1986), American football player and coach
• Jim Wilson (first baseman) (born 1960), American Major League Baseball player
• Jim Wilson (pitcher) (1922–1986), American pitcher in Major League Baseball, 1945–1958
• Jim Wilson (soccer), Canadian international soccer player
• Jim Wilson (wrestler) (1942–2009), American football player, professional wrestler
• Jimmie Wilson (1900–1947), American baseball player and manager and professional soccer player
• Jimmy Wilson (footballer born 1924) (1924–1987), English footballer
• Jimmy Wilson (footballer born 1942), Scottish footballer
• Jimmy Wilson (American football) (born 1986), American football cornerback

Politicians[link]

• Jim Wilson (Canadian politician) (born 1963), politician in Ontario, Canada
• Jim Wilson (Oklahoma politician) (born 1947), Oklahoma state senator
• Jim Wilson (UK politician) (born 1941), former member of the Northern Ireland Assembly
• Jim Wilson (Los Angeles) (1872–1956), banker and City Council member
• Jimmy Wilson (1931–1986), Louisiana politician

Entertainment[link]

• Jim Wilson (comics), fictional character, friend of the Incredible Hulk and Rick Jones who later dies of AIDS
• Jim Wilson (guitar player), guitar player for rock band Mother Superior and former guitar player for the Rollins Band
• Jim Wilson (producer), American movie producer

Other[link]

• Jimmy Wilson (handyman), African-American handyman who was convicted of robbery and sentenced to death for stealing $1.95

See also[link]

• James Wilson (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles about people with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Pearl Aday
Born	1975 (age 36–37)
Nationality	American
Parents	Meat Loaf & Leslie Aday

Pearl Aday (born 1975) is an American female singer and adopted daughter of Meat Loaf and his wife Leslie Aday. Pearl, whose biological father was the drummer for Janis Joplin’s band, Full Tilt Boogie, was adopted by Meat Loaf after he married her mother. She toured as a backing singer in Meat Loaf's touring band for nine years, Neverland Express. She has appeared on numerous albums and in various tours and television performances with her father, both as backing singer and in a duet. She has also been a backing singer for Mötley Crüe. She is currently the lead singer of her own band "Pearl" and has released her debut album on Megaforce/RED/Sony Music on January 19, 2010. Pearl has a half sister named Amanda Aday by her mother's side of the family.

History[link]

Aday went to Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts, majoring in creative writing, but shortly thereafter began a music career.

In 1994, she was a backing singer for Meat Loaf's 1994 Bat out of Hell II summer tour, as well as the follow-up tour in 1996, Born to Rock. She was a member of her father's backing band when they performed at the inaugural ball in 1997 for Bill Clinton. She became a full-fledged member of Neverland Express, Meat Loaf's touring band, from 1998-2003. In 2003, she sang on Meat Loaf's album Couldn't Have Said It Better on the duet "Man of Steel." Pearl supported Meat Loaf for an Oct 31, 2007 concert on his Seize the Night tour.

She was portrayed in the 2000 TV movie To Hell and Back by Elisabeth Lund.

She was featured on an album by the band Filter and was a backup singer for Mötley Crüe on their "Maximum Rock" tour, featured on the DVD release of the tour, "Lewd, Crued, and Tattooed." She was also with a Los Angeles-based band named Stella, fronted by Nancy Hower (Star Trek: Voyager), which broke up before releasing an album. She currently releases music with Pearl, a band in which she is the lead singer. The other musicians in the band are Mother Superior, best known for their work in The Rollins Band with Henry Rollins.

Aday is married to Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian. ^[1] Her photographs appeared on Music of Mass Destruction: Live from Chicago released by Anthrax in 2004.

Aday now fronts the band Pearl which also features her husband Scott on guitar. In March 2008, they opened for Velvet Revolver in the UK.

Pearl opened for Meat Loaf's Casa de Carne Tour on July 4, 2008 (Bath, UK), July 11, 2008 (Castle Howard, York, UK), July 13, 2008 (Blickling Hall, Norfolk, UK), July 21, 2008 (Zitadelle Berlin, Germany) and on July 23, 2008 (Stadtpark Hamburg, Germany). In May 2009, she appeared on the FOX game show "Don't Forget the Lyrics" along with her father Meat Loaf and his duet partner Patti Russo. They won $500K for charity. She headlined her own 13-date 2010 U.S. tour before rejoining Meat Loaf as an opening act in support of the Hang Cool Tour in 2010. In support of her first album, she also appeared on the January 21, 2010 episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live. Both she and her husband scheduled downtime from their musical careers, as the couple had a son named Revel Young Ian on June 19, 2011.

Discography[link]

Pearl[link]

• Little Immaculate White Fox (2010)
• The Swing House Sessions (Live & Acoustic) (2011)

Pearl Aday has been featured on many different albums and compilations by various artists.

Meat Loaf[link]

• Welcome to the Neighborhood (backup vocals)
• Live Around the World (backup vocals)
• The Very Best of Meat Loaf (backup vocals)
• VH1 Storytellers (backup vocals)
• Couldn't Have Said It Better (backup vocals, duet on "Man of Steel," which was also a UK single release)

Filter[link]

• Title of Record (backup vocals)

Mother Pearl[link]

• Broken Thorny Crown (lead vocals)

Ace Frehley[link]

• Anomaly (backup vocals)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Pearl's Official Website www.cheersloverock.com.
• An interview with Meat Loaf and Pearl Aday, from the Times in the UK.
• Pearl Aday multimedia — News, multimedia clips, biography
• Allmusic.com article on Pearl Aday

Christine "Chris" Bath (born 13 May 1967 in Auburn, New South Wales)^[1] is an Australian journalist and television personality.

Bath is currently the weeknight presenter of Seven News Sydney and presenter of Seven's current affairs program Sunday Night.

Personal life[link]

Bath was born and raised in Sydney's working-class western suburbs Born in Auburn and raised in South Wentworthville, she attended Holroyd High School. Later, she enrolled at Sydney University where, in 1985, she studied English, psychology, German and legal institutions for two months before deciding it was not for her. Harbouring no ambitions to be a journalist, she started working at a restaurant in Surry Hills and became a trainee manager at Kmart Merrylands - a position which she reportedly left because they would not let her make jokes while announcing red light specials.^[2]

In 1997, Bath married composer Denis Carnahan and in late 2000 Bath gave birth to son Darcy.

In 2008, after 10 years of marriage Bath and Carnahan separated.

In January 2012, Bath married Seven News Sport presenter and reporter Jim Wilson.

Career[link]

On the advice of The Sydney Morning Herald columnist Peter Bowers, Bath applied to study communications at Mitchell College (now Charles Sturt University) in Bathurst. Not only was she accepted into the course, she also won a scholarship, and majored in politics. During her studies she was a broadcaster with the on-campus community radio station 2MCE-FM. In 1988, half-way through the last year of her three-year course, she was offered a job at Sydney AM radio station 2UE as a cadet reporter and newsreader.

Her second job came a year later, after a friend encouraged her to apply for a job with a regional television station in Albury. She moved to Albury-Wodonga, where she spent the next 20 months working at Prime Television station AMV-4 and spending her weekends in Melbourne. At AMV-4, she started reporting, was the weather presenter for a while, then finished off as the full-time newsreader.

In 1991, at 23, she joined Newcastle's NBN Television, where she stayed for the next five years as a reporter and host to the evening local news broadcast. Originally she thought she was going there as just a reporter, but the newsreader resigned and they offered the vacant position to her. She resigned from NBN Newcastle in late 1995 after being offered a job by Seven in Sydney. NBN took Bath to the Supreme Court to delay her appearance on Seven. The court granted an injunction against her appearing on Seven before 1 February 1996.^[3]

Seven Network[link]

Before becoming presenter for Seven's Morning News, Bath has previously had numerous presenting roles with the network over the years.

In 1996 until early 1997 she co-hosted the 6am news bulletin with Peter Ford (which later became Sunrise). In 1997, she became host of the network's Sunday morning political interview show, Face to Face, and presenter Seven's Late News. (The Late News was subsequently axed in August 2003).

For three weeks in mid 1997, Bath was working 18 hour days, filling in as host of 11AM, presenting the afternoon news updates, recording the news bulletin shown on Ansett flights and presenting the 11pm Late News bulletin.^[4]

In 1998, Bath was a reporter for Witness, the network's flagship current affairs program, until it was axed later that year. Seven then asked Bath to co-host its new current affairs show, Dateline, with Stan Grant. She declined and was given the role of presenting the Sydney 6pm news over summer.^[5][6]

In 1999, she returned to the Late News, as well as reading afternoon news bulletins on Sydney radio station 2WS from May.^[7] In July, she did a now infamous interview with Sydney newspaper The Daily Telegraph which did not sit well with management. Among other things, she said she'd "refused to work on" Today Tonight and was the "only presenter" at Seven writing her own updates. Outside the news, she appeared as a guest panelist on Geoffrey Robertson's Hypotheticals in October,^[8] and on 31 December she hosted the networks New Year's Eve coverage.^[9]

In 2000, Bath was part of Seven's host team for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, including a spot on Olympic Sunrise. In August, she carried the Olympic Torch in Newcastle. Bath was then given the honour of co-hosting the prelude to the Opening Ceremony live on stage at the Olympic Stadium, while seven months pregnant with her first child.

After having son Darcy in late 2000, she returned to political interviewing in 2001 as presenter of Sunday Sunrise and stayed for three years, as well as presenting Sydney's weekend 6pm news bulletin until 2004 (including an extended bulletin live from Bali on 12 October 2003). In 2001 she also co-hosted part of the networks Federal Election coverage on 10 November.

In 2004, she began presenting Seven Morning News where she replaced Chris Reason.

In 2005, Bath was a contestant in the third Australian series of Dancing with the Stars. In seven out of the ten weeks of the series she obtained the highest score from the judges, including the semi final and grand final. However when the votes were combined with those of the viewers, Chris Bath finished second to Home and Away actor Ada Nicodemou for the title of Dancing with the Stars Champion.

From 12 December 2005, Bath presented Seven News Sydney until the end of 2005. She then returned Seven Morning News on Wednesday to Friday and did the Seven News Sydney weekend news until mid January 2006. She also presented the summer breakfast show on Sydney radio station WSFM 101.7 from 12 December until 13 January.

On 7 December 2005, Sydney newspaper The Daily Telegraph printed that Bath had been in talks with the Nine Network to become the host of the Today breakfast show in 2006. However, Seven insiders say Bath was contracted to Seven until 1 December 2006 at the time and the Nine Network denied approaching her. The Herald Sun reported Bath turned down the position because she could not cope with the early starts and she wanted to honour her contract with Seven. The role eventually went to now former Ten News Sydney presenter, Jessica Rowe (who was also eventually replaced by Lisa Wilkinson less than 18 months later).

In 2006, Bath began presenting Seven Morning News on Monday to Thursday and the Sydney evening news on Fridays. From May, Bath swapped roles with Ann Sanders to present the weekend evening news in Sydney as well as Fridays. Ann took over the Morning News. Later that year, Bath also presented a new employment based reality series for the Seven Network titled You've Got The Job.

During 2007 and 2008, Bath often presented the Seven Late News updates and Seven 4.30 News on Fridays. This continued into 2009, with Bath replacing Monique Wright as the Friday presenter of Seven 4.30 News.

In January 2009, Bath was appointed presenter of Seven's new current affairs program, Sunday Night.

Later in the year, the network confirmed that Bath would become the weeknight presenter of Seven News Sydney when Ian Ross retires. Bath took over the role on Monday 30 November 2009.^[10]

Other[link]

Outside the Seven Network, Bath's standing in the industry was acknowledged in 2004 when she was asked to judge entries for the TV current affairs reporting and camera category of the prestigious Walkley Awards for journalism.^[11]

Bath is also a master of ceremonies, having MC'ed a number of events including the Jeans for Genes Day Art Auction in Sydney on 12 July 2007 and 20 July 2006.

Bath also enjoys motivational speaking, and in 2003 she took a large role in the "Step to the future" youth leadership forum for school students in Sydney.^[12][13] On 24 July, Chris is to speak at the "Empowerment through Inspiration" Summit in Queensland where she will address her experiences and challenges in becoming a leader, building a team and networking.^[14][15]

Bath is also a Celebrity Ambassador for the Petrea King Quest for Life Foundation.^[16]

Other works[link]

Other than Seven News, Chris Bath has appeared on a number of television programs and a film including:

• The Man Who Sued God (2001) as Newsreader
• All Saints
  • Episode 4.01 "The Heat is On" (13 February 2001) as Newsreader
  • Episode 4.32 "Wild Justice" (4 September 2001) as Newsreader
  • Episode 5.01 "Opening Night" (5 February 2002) as Newsreader
  • Episode 5.02 "The Show Must Go On" (12 February 2002) as News Reporter
  • Episode 8.27 "Frozen Moments" (16 August 2005) as Newsreader
  • Episode 9.32 "Happy Returns" (26 September 2006) as Newsreader
  • Episode 10.12 "Choices of the Heart" (8 May 2007) as Newsreader
  • Episode 11.02 "The Simple Things" (19 February 2008) as Newsreader
• Season 3 of Dancing with the Stars (September–November 2005) as herself and where she was runner-up in the program. Ada Nicodemou won.
• headLand episode 1.27 (4 January 2006) as Newsreader
• True Stories Episode 2.02 "Sophie's Story" (16 July 2006) as Host
• You've Got the Job 13 episodes (November 2006) as Host

External links[link]

• Chris Bath's website
• Profile at the Seven Network website
• Bath's profile at the Ovations website
• Chris Bath at the Internet Movie Database

References[link]

• De Brito, Kate (3 July 1999). "Equality - People in Media". The Daily Telegraph.

Morton Downey, Jr. (December 9, 1932 – March 12, 2001) was an American singer, songwriter and later a television talk show host of the 1980s who pioneered the "trash TV" format on his program The Morton Downey Jr. Show.^[1]

Legally named Sean Morton Downey, Jr.,^[2] he dropped "Sean" from his stage name, as his father, Morton Downey had.

The film company Ironbound Films produced a biopic about Downey entitled Évocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie, which premiered April 19, 2012 at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival.

Career[link]

Downey attended New York University. He was a program director and announcer at a radio station in Connecticut in the 1950s, and later worked in various markets around the U.S., including Phoenix (KRIZ), Miami (WFUN) and Seattle (KJR). Like his father, Downey pursued a career in music, recording in both pop and country styles. He sang on a few records and then began to write songs, several of which were popular in the 1950s and 1960s. He joined ASCAP as a result.^{[citation needed]} In 1958, he recorded "Boulevard Of Broken Dreams", which he sang on national television on a set that resembled a dark street with one street light. In 1981, "Green Eyed Girl" charted on the Billboard Magazine country chart, peaking at #95.

In the 1980s, Downey was a talk show host at KFBK-AM in Sacramento, California,^[3] where he established his abrasive and much imitated right wing, populist style, relentlessly deriding anyone who disagreed with him or had a liberal point of view. Downey's success laid the groundwork for more aggressive, opinion-based talk radio.

Downey was fired in 1983 for cracking "an ethnic joke about a member of the city council out there who was of Asian descent, and he refused to apologize [for it];"^[4] he was replaced on KFBK by Rush Limbaugh, who has held the time slot ever since, later via his national syndication. Downey also had a stint on WMAQ-AM in Chicago where he unsuccessfully tried to get other on air radio personalities to submit to drug testing.^{[citation needed]} Downey's largest effect on American culture came from his popular, yet short-lived, syndicated late 1980s television talk show, The Morton Downey Jr Show.^[1]

Television[link]

Downey headed to Secaucus, New Jersey, where his highly controversial television program The Morton Downey Jr. Show was taped. Starting as a local program on New York-New Jersey superstation WWOR-TV in the fall of 1987, it expanded into national syndication in early 1988. The program featured screaming matches among Downey, his guests, and audience members. Using a large silver bowl for an ashtray, he would chainsmoke during the show and blow smoke in his guests' faces. Downey's fans became known as "Loudmouths," patterned after the studio lecterns decorated with gaping cartoon mouths, from which Downey's guests would go head-to-head against each other on their respective issues.^{[citation needed]}

Downey's signature phrases "pablum puking liberal" (in reference to left-liberals) and "zip it!" briefly enjoyed some popularity in the contemporary vernacular. He particularly enjoyed making his guests angry with each other, which on a few occasions resulted in physical confrontations.^[1] One that occurred on a 1988 show taped at the Apollo Theater, involving Al Sharpton and CORE National Chairman Roy Innis. The exchange between the two men culminated in Innis shoving Sharpton into his chair, knocking him to the floor and Downey intervening to separate the pair.^{[citation needed]}

Because of the controversial format and content of the show, distributor MCA Television had problems selling the show to a number of stations and advertisers. Even Downey's affiliates, many of which were low-rated independent television stations in small to medium markets, were so fearful of advertiser and viewer backlash that they would air one or even two local disclaimers during the broadcast.^{[citation needed]}

During one controversial episode Downey introduced his gay brother, Tony Downey, to his studio audience and informed them Tony was HIV positive. During the episode Downey stated he was afraid his audience would abandon him if they knew he had a gay brother, but then said he did not care.^[5]

The Washington Post wrote about him, "Suppose a maniac got hold of a talk show. Or need we suppose?" David Letterman said, "I'm always amazed at what people will fall for. We see this every ten or twelve years, an attempt at this, and I guess from that standpoint I don't quite understand why everybody's falling over backwards over the guy."^[6]

Celebrity, cancellation, and bankruptcy[link]

The success of the show made Downey a pop culture celebrity, leading to an appearance on Saturday Night Live in 1988,^[7] WrestleMania V in 1989 in which he traded insults with Roddy Piper and Brother Love on Piper's Pit, and later roles in movies such as Predator 2 and Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation.^[1] He was also cast in several television roles, often playing tabloid TV hosts or other obnoxious media types.^[1]

In 1988, Downey recorded an album of songs based on his show, entitled Morton Downey Jr Sings (released in 1989).^[8] The album's only single, "Zip It!" (a catch-phrase from the TV show, used to quiet an irate guest), became a surprise hit on some college radio stations.

Over the course of the 1988-89 television season, his TV show suffered a decline in viewership, resulting in many markets downgrading its time slot; even flagship station WWOR moved Downey's program from its original 9:00 PM slot to 11:30 PM in January 1989, where it was followed by the then-new Arsenio Hall Show. However, following Hall's strong early ratings, the two series swapped time slots several weeks later, thus relegating Downey to 12:30 AM in the number-one television market.

In late April 1989, he was involved in an incident in a San Francisco International Airport restroom in which he claimed to have been attacked by neo-Nazis who painted a swastika on his face and attempted to shave his head.^[9] Some inconsistencies in Downey's account (e.g., the swastika was painted in reverse, suggesting that Downey had drawn it himself in a mirror), and the failure of the police to find supportive evidence,^[10] led many to suspect that the incident was a hoax and a plea for attention.^[11][12]

In July 1989 his show was cancelled, with the owners of the show announcing that the last show had been taped on June 30, and that no new shows would air after September 15.^[13] At the time of its cancellation, the show was airing on a total of 30 stations across the country (including WPHL in Philadelphia), and its advertisers had been reduced primarily to "direct-response" ads (such as 900 chat line and phone sex numbers).^[14]

In February 1990, Downey filed for bankruptcy in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey.^[15]

Later career[link]

In 1990, Downey resurfaced on CNBC with an interview program called Showdown, which was followed by three attempted talk radio comebacks: first in 1992 on Washington, D.C. radio station WWRC; then in 1993 on Dallas radio station KGBS, where he would scream insults at his callers.^[16] He was also hired as the station's VP of Operations.^[3] The following year he returned to CNBC with a short-lived television show, Downey, that was similar in theme to his earlier, more popular show.^[17] In one episode, Downey claimed to have had a psychic communication with O.J. Simpson's murdered ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson.^[11]

His third - and final - attempt at a talk radio comeback occurred in 1997 on Cleveland radio station WTAM in a late evening time slot.^[18] It marked his return to the Cleveland market, where Downey had been a host for crosstown radio station WERE (1300 AM) in the early 1980s prior to joining KFBK.^[19] This stint came shortly after the surgery for lung cancer that removed one of his lungs.

On August 30, 1997, Downey quit his WTAM radio talk show to focus on pursuing legal action against Howard Stern. Downey had accused Stern of spreading rumors that he resumed his smoking habits, to which publicist Les Schecter retorted, "He hasn't picked up a cigarette."^[20] His replacement was former WERE (1300 AM) host Rick Gilmour.^[21]

Following his death, news reports and obituaries incorrectly (according to the Orange County Register)^[22] credited him as the composer of "Wipe Out."^[12] As of 2008, Downey's official website (and others) continue to make this claim.^[23] Prior to Downey's death, Spin in April 1989 had identified the "Wipe Out" authorship as a myth.^[24]

Controversies[link]

In 1984, at KFBK radio, Downey used the word "Chinaman" while telling a joke.^[25] His use of the word upset portions of the sizable Asian community in Sacramento. One Asian-American city councilman called for an apology and pressured the station for Downey's resignation. Downey refused to apologize and was forced to resign, with Rush Limbaugh taking his place.^[26]

Downey was sued for allegedly appropriating the words and music to his theme song from two songwriters.^[27] He was sued for $40 million after bringing a stripper onto the show and calling her a "slut," a "pig," a "hooker," and a "tramp," claiming that she had venereal diseases, and banging his pelvis against hers.^[28]

At one point, he was arraigned on criminal charges for allegedly attacking a gay guest on his show, in a never-aired segment.^[29] In another lawsuit, he was accused of slandering a newscaster (a former colleague), and of indecently exposing himself to her and slapping her.^[30] Downey punched Stuttering John during an interview done for The Howard Stern Show.^[31]

In various interviews, he expressed remorse for some of the extreme theatrics of his TV show, saying he had taken things too far. He added that he had been a "bastard."^[12] However, he also claimed that his show was of a higher quality and not as "sleazy" as Jerry Springer's.^[11]

Personal life[link]

Morton Downey, Jr.'s parents were also in show business; his father, Morton Downey, was a popular singer, and his mother, Barbara Bennett, was a singer and dancer. His aunts included Hollywood film stars Constance and Joan Bennett, from whom he was estranged, and his maternal grandfather was the celebrated matinée idol Richard Bennett. Born into a life of luxury, he was raised next door to the Kennedy compound at Hyannis Port, Massachusetts.^[11]

Downey was married four times and had four children from three of those marriages.^[11] With wife Helen he had Melissa, with Joan he had daughters Tracey and Kelli, and with fourth wife and widow Lori he had a daughter. He and Lori met when she appeared as a dancer in a show he attended in Atlantic City.^[1]

According to Terry Pluto's book, Loose Balls, Downey was one of the owners of the New Orleans Buccaneers basketball team in the American Basketball Association in the late 1960s.

Downey was also president and co-founder of the proposed World Baseball Association in 1974.[1] The WBA proposed a number of rule changes, including the use of five designated hitters to replace defensive players who would remain in the game; the use of one designated runner per game; the pitcher would be required to throw a pitch within 20 seconds; a walk would be on three balls instead of the usual four; and stealing home after the sixth inning would count as two runs. The WBA never played a game.

In the Super Mario Bros. video game series, the character, Morton Koopa, Jr. was named after him.^[32]

Death[link]

In 1996, Downey was diagnosed with lung cancer and had one of his lungs removed. He did a complete about-face on the issue of tobacco use, going from a one-time member of the National Smokers Alliance to a staunch anti-smoking activist.^[33] He continued to speak against smoking until his death from lung cancer in 2001.^[34]

After being diagnosed with lung cancer, he commented, "I had spawned a generation of kids to think it was cool to smoke a cigarette. Kids walked up to me until a matter of weeks ago, they'd have a cigarette in their hand and they'd say, 'Hey, Mort,' or, 'Hey, Mouth, autograph my cigarette.' And I'd do it."^[1] He also blamed tobacco companies for lying to consumers about cigarettes, although congressman Ron Paul (also a physician) had advised him, in 1988, while on his show, that smoking was highly unhealthy and responsible for a huge number of deaths every year.^[1]

[edit] Évocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie

Due for release in 2012, the biopic Évocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie will touch upon Downey's upbringing and formative years in radio and politics before launching into the history of The Morton Downey Jr. Show and Downey's influence on trash TV.^[35] The film will also look at Downey's relationship with Al Sharpton and other important 80's figures,^[36] as well as Downey's role as a predecessor for conservative commentators like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh.^[37]

Notes[link]

External links[link]

Biography portal

• Official Morton Downey, Jr. Web Site
• Morton Downey, Jr. at the Internet Movie Database
• Morton Downey, Jr. at Find a Grave

Morton Downey (November 14, 1901 – October 25, 1985) was a singer popular in the United States, enjoying his greatest success in the 1930s and 1940s. Downey was nicknamed "The Irish Nightingale".^[1]

Early years[link]

Sean Morton Downey^[2] was born in Wallingford, Connecticut, the child of James and Bessie (Cox) Downey.^[1] He later dropped his first name in favor of his middle name as his professional name

Music[link]

For a time in the 1920s, Downey, a tenor, sang with Paul Whiteman's Orchestra. He first recorded in 1923 for Edison Records under the pseudonym Morton James; the following year he recorded for Victor with the S.S. Leviathan Orchestra. In 1925 he began 4 years of recording for Brunswick Records. In 1926 he had a hit in the show Palm Beach Nights.^[1]

He toured London, Paris, Berlin, New York City and Hollywood. He also began appearing in motion pictures, including Syncopation (1929), the first film released by RKO Radio Pictures.

Downey was also a songwriter whose most successful numbers include "All I Need is Someone Like You", "California Skies", "In the Valley of the Roses", and "Now You're in My Arms", "Sweeten Up Your Smile", "That's How I Spell Ireland", "There's Nothing New", and "Wabash Moon". He joined ASCAP in 1949.^[1]

Radio[link]

In 1930, Downey began making national radio broadcasts after opening his own nightclub (The Delmonico) in New York. He was voted America's "Radio Singer of the Year" in 1932. At the time, Downey was featured nightly on the Camel Quarter Hour radio broadcast.^[3] In the 1930s he recorded for ARC, Hit of the Week, and Decca Records, and in the 1940s made records for Columbia.^[1]There is also a personal recollection that in the 1940s he had a 15-minute daytime program wherein he sang Irish ballads and read letters of inspiration sent in by listeners.

Television[link]

Starting in 1949, Morton Downey began appearing on television. From 1950 to 1952, he co-hosted the CBS Television show Star of the Family.

Personal life[link]

Morton Downey was the father of the right-wing television personality Morton Downey, Jr., by his first wife, actress Barbara Bennett (1906–1958), the sister of actresses Constance and Joan Bennett, and with whom he ultimately had five children, four sons and a daughter: Michael, Sean (Morton Downey, Jr), Lorelle, Anthony and Kevin. Her early promise as a dancer and actress gave way to her turbulent marriage with Downey. The couple married in 1929, and divorced in 1941. She would marry singing cowboy actor Addison Randall shortly afterward. Downey's second wife was Margaret Boyce Schulze (1922—1964), the former wife of Prince Alexander zu Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen and the granddaughter of Colorado mining industralist William Boyce Thompson.

Downey owned a house in Hyannis, Massachusetts next to Joseph P. Kennedy's. This house was used by John F. Kennedy as his summer White House.

Downey's third wife was Ann Trainer, the widow of Howell Van Gerbig and the former wife of John Kevin Barry; they married in 1970. Downey died from a stroke in Palm Beach, Florida, aged 83.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Morton Downey, Jr. at the Internet Movie Database
• Morton Downey at Find a Grave