WNEW-AM Host Ted Brown Died

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Dennis Hart was posted on the New York Radio Message Board:

I am sorry to report the passing of Ted Brown, certainly one of New York's greatest radio personalities.

Mr. Brown passed away Sunday morning, peacefully in his sleep. He had been ill for several years.

His funeral will be on Tuesday, March 22, at 11:15 a.m. at the Riverside Memorial Chapel, 331 Amsterdam Avenue (between 75th and 76th streets) in NYC.

Ted became a broadcasting giant during his days on WNEW-AM and WNBC -- and he also hosted NBC Radio's "Monitor" on Sunday afternoons for several years in the early '70s.

His on-air wit and humor are sorely missed.

The aircheck of Ted Brown is on the Classic Top 40 Airchecks board.

[musicradio77]

Scott Fybush had this article in the Northeast Radio Watch:

*One of the iconic voices of NEW YORK radio has died. Ted Brown (along with his then-wife, "the Redhead") was the morning voice on WMGM (1050) from 1950 until 1962, when the station returned to its former calls of WHN. Brown soon headed up the dial to WNEW (1130) and afternoons (mornings at that point still being the domain of Klavan and Finch), where he'd remain for most of the decade, becoming known for his wry humor and for on-air stunts that included getting drunk on the air at holiday time (with a police officer present) to illustrate the dangers of drunk driving.

In 1970, Brown moved to afternoons on WNBC (660) and went nationwide as one of the "communicators" on NBC's weekend Monitor. He returned to WNEW's afternoon drive in 1972, moving to mornings in 1978 upon Gene Klavan's retirement and remaining there until his own retirement a decade later. Brown returned to WNEW's airwaves on the station's final day in 1992, becoming one of the last voices heard there before WNEW signed off for good.

In later years, Ted was heard on WRIV (1390 Riverhead) and on WVNJ (1160 Oakland NJ). He suffered a stroke in 1996 that left him incapacitated. Brown died in his sleep Sunday morning (Mar. 20) at his New York home. A memorial service will be held Tuesday morning (Mar. 22) at the Riverside Memorial Chapel, 331 Amsterdam Avenue, at 11:15 AM.

[musicradio77]

Don Mini Minichino posted on the New York Radio Message Board:

Everyday on my studio wall I see a promo picture of Teddy with the words he wrote; To Don, "Stay off the morning shift" Good Luck Ted. Well, for only about a year I worked with Teddy on that morning shift splitting my time between him and the newsroom either carting up comedy pieces, making calls and even being a few characters on the phone in's. Tiny from the ASPCA was his favorite that I did for the show. I remember one call in I did I said that Bob Harris's voice puts my dogs into heat. Harris had a hard time delivering that weather report because he was laughing so hard.

One year working with Ted has given me a lifetime of memories. Whenever I hear a Pat Cooper, Cosby, a Battering Bickersons comedy cut or the "Stripper song" a smile comes to my face and I get a good feeling inside.

During my short time at the Big W I gathered many memories with Ted from him wearing his good luck red socks to the funny bits with him and Bo Bo Harris (Bob Harris). A few: I recorded Bob Harris without him knowing...Right before we go live to Bob I punched up the cart of Harris singing along with Elvis's It's Now or Never". Millions from that moment on knew that Bob was more of a weatherman than a singer. HAHA!!. Remember that Bob? I had sensed a little tension between the 2 in the beginning and had to come up with something that would break the ice and it worked. The on air dialogue between the 2 was good radio. Ted also aired more of my secret recordings of Bob Harris of him singing and playing the piano. I had asked Bob to record the WNEW-AM theme song in which Ted would use on the show prior to Bob's intro or use it as a music bed. From what Bob told me, he got a few gigs from that exposure and I'm still waiting for my 10%!

When my oldest daughter MarieRose was born in Feb. 1980 the first call I made was to Ted at around 6:30am and we did a live chat on the birth. He also sent a beautiful flower display to the hospital.

I remember one time I had Teddy call my wife Marie at home me knowing her routine, she'd just came out of the shower. She didn't know it was Ted on the phone because he was using one of his many voices. She was caught totally off guard and well, all of you knew his sense of timing and humor! Stuff like that is what Ted was known for. Entertaining, great clean-fun, spontaneous radio. Where has it gone!.

The memories I have of Teddy, Willie B. Jim Gordon, Fats Muni, Big John K, Bob Hagen, Bob Fitz, Charles Scott King that all are at a Greater radio station will linger on in me for my lifetime and continue to put a smile on my face when my clouds are gray.

Thanx Teddy! God Bless! Rest in Peace!

Don Mini

[musicradio77]

This is from the New York Times:

Ted Brown, Talk Show Host and New York Radio D.J., Is Dead

By CHRISTOPHER LEHMANN-HAUPT

Ted Brown, a disc jockey and radio talk-show host who broadcast for more than 40 years on the New York City radio stations WMGM, WNEW and WNBC, died on Sunday at the Hebrew Home for the Aged, in the Bronx. He was in his 80's.

The cause was complications of a stroke he had in 1996, his daughter Samantha Brown said. She would not reveal his age, saying he always kept it private.

Mr. Brown broadcast in the 1950's and 60's, during what was considered the golden age of AM radio when melody and lyrics still mattered in popular music. He was one of a group of distinctive personalities, including William B. William, Jim Lowe, Cousin Bruce Morrow, and Gene Klavan and Dee Finch, who became familiar companions of millions of New York radio listeners.

As a teenager in the 1950's, Jonathan Schwartz, another New York radio colleague, watched Mr. Brown broadcasting from his basement studio at his home in Riverdale, in the Bronx. In a phone interview yesterday, Mr. Schwartz recalled the ditty, sung to the tune of "Am I Blue," that Mr. Brown used as his theme: "Am I blue? No, I'm Brown/Got a smile on my puss, not a frown./Every morn from seven 'til nine/We play discs and commit general crime."

Theodore David Brown was born on May 5 in Collingwood, N.J., the youngest of four children of Meyer Nathan Brown, who owned a grocery store, and Rose Brown. He attended Roanoke College in Salem, Va. He told Mr. Lowe that he got his first taste of broadcasting at a dance when the master of ceremonies failed to show up and he filled in.

After college he joined the United States Army Air Force during World War II. He was a tail gunner in a B-17 bomber, was shot down over Germany and spent 18 months as a prisoner of war, his daughter said.

He was married three times, first to Rhoda, who teamed up with him on the air as "Ted Brown and the Redhead." They had a son, Eric. He then married the actress Sylvia Miles, with whom he had several acrimonious battles on the air, particularly over alimony. His third wife, René Lee Brody, was the mother of their two daughters, Samantha and Jami Brown, of New York City. His daughters and Ms. Miles survive him.

"He was a major talent, with a keen sense of the ridiculous," Mr. Lowe said. "He took his shtick with him wherever he worked. He would describe himself as 6 foot 3, which was not the case, with piercing green eyes. He would close his show by saying, 'Warm up the coffee, Ma. I'm coming home.' "