WGN Walk Of Fame Adds Four
• Tribune News-Talk WGN Radio/Chicago announced its sixth class in the 2019 Walk of Fame: Legends of WGN Radio. The four names were announced last Friday on The Steve Cochran Show — they include four native Chicagoans, two of whom are present-day WGN voices, one who hosted a show for 60 consecutive years, and a behind-the-scenes staff member with 52 years of service to the station.
The honorees are (pictured, l-r): Andrea Darlas, whose career as a news anchor, reporter and show host at WGN Radio spans more than 21 years; WGN marketing and sales pro Marlene Wells, who celebrates her 52nd anniversary with the station this October; “King John” Williams, who started at WGN as an intern, took over middays in September 1997 and moved to afternoons in 2000, and the late “Tenpin Tattler” Sam Weinstein, who hosted the longest-running radio program with one host. The show debuted on WCFL on August 24, 1935 as a 15-minute bowling program. In 1966, the show moved over to WGN Radio as a five-minute program on Saturday nights, where it ran until August 26, 1995.
“There’s unforgettable wisdom in each of this year’s inductees,” said Todd Manley, WGN Station Manager and VP of Content. “They are among the greatest WGN ambassadors and inventive entertainers.” The Walk of Fame induction ceremony will be broadcast live from the Chicago Architecture Center on Friday, September 13 at 10am.
• The announcement was made one day before WGN’s 95th birthday on June 1. On that date in 1924, supervising engineer Elliott Jenkinsspoke those immortal words, “This is WGN, formerly WDAP…” and WGN was born.
