Arthur Morton Godfrey

http://www.radiohof.org/musicvariety/arthurgodfrey.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Godfrey

Arthur Morton Godfrey (August 31, 1903 – March 16, 1983) was an American radio and television broadcaster and entertainer who was sometimes introduced by his nickname, The Old Redhead. No television personality of the 1950s enjoyed more clout or fame than Godfrey until a famous on-the-air incident undermined his folksy image and triggered a gradual decline; the then-ubiquitous Godfrey helmed two CBS-TV weekly series and a daily 90-minute television mid-morning show through most of the decade, but by the early 1960s found himself reduced to hosting an occasional TV special.

Arguably the most prominent of the medium's early master commercial pitchmen, he was strongly identified with many of his many sponsors, especially Chesterfield cigarettes and Lipton Tea. After many years for Chesterfield (during which Godfrey came up with the idea and slogan "Buy 'em by the carton"), he severed the relationship during one of his television programs, when his doctors convinced him that his lung cancer was due to smoking. Subsequently, he became a prominent spokesman for anti-smoking education.

Radio

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Godfrey#Radio

Television

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Godfrey#Television

Aviation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Godfrey#Aviation

Behind the scenes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Godfrey#Behind_the_scenes

Later in life

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Godfrey#Later_in_life

Personal life and Awards

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Godfrey#Personal_life

http://www.uscg.mil/history/faqs/arthurgodfrey.asp

Death

Emphysema, thought to have been caused by decades of smoking and the radiation treatments for Godfrey's lung cancer, became a problem in the early 1980s. He died of the condition at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan on March 16, 1983 at the age of 79. Godfrey was buried at Union Cemetery in Leesburg, Virginia, not far from his farm in Waterford, Virginia.