“Big Band Jump” host Kennedy dies

Don Kennedy’s voice was slightly “gravelly” and soft in volume. But he used it to his advantage for decades on the radio and in television. Kennedy, a native of Beaver, Pennsylvania, died on June 29 in Atlanta, Georgia at age 93.

Kennedy’s career started in the late 1940s at WPIC (790 Sharon, PA) where he had an announcing job. From there he contributed to the NBC Radio Network’s Monitor where he created several features. But his best-known role was that of “Officer Don” the host of The Popeye Club on Atlanta’s WSB-TV between 1956 and 1970. Simultaneously he established an FM station there and served as President and General Manager.

Later Kennedy moved on to television voice work on shows like Space Ghost Coast to Coast. But in 1986 he began hosting the internationally-sydicated Big Band Jump which was featured in Pittsburgh on WJAS (1320). He also hosted The Don Kennedy Show which was pop vocals, instrumentals and standards stretching from the 1940s to 1970s.

Kennedy retired in 2013 putting an end to his syndicated programs at the end of September that year. Two years later, a stroke led to a diagnosis of dementia.

h/t: Bill Tush