Paul Harvey Aurandt was an American radio broadcaster who gave millions their daily dose of news from ABC Radio over a career that spanned fifty-plus years. He was famous for his The Rest of the Story segment, and his voice often reached over 24 million people per week. He is considered one of America’s greatest radio hosts in history.
Paul Harvey was born In Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1918. His father was killed when he was only three years old by robbers when he was on patrol. He attended Tulsa Central High School, and this is where he would get a taste of what the future was to hold for him as he started to speak on radio receivers.
His teacher was impressed by his voice, and on her recommendation, he started working at KVOO. He would eventually be allowed to fill in on the air by reading commercials and the news and continued to work with KVOO while he attended the University of Tulsa, first as an announcer and then as a program director.
Harvey would eventually move to Hawaii to cover the US Navy and its Pacific fleet and return to the mainland after the attack on Pearl Harbour by the Japanese. Sometime after this, he enlisted in the US Army Air force, serving a small stint from December 1943 to March 1944 before being medically discharged.
In 1944 he moved to Chicago, where he would snag a job working as a broadcaster for the ABC affiliate WENR. By 1945 he was hosting the postwar employment program Jobs for Gis on WENR.
Harvey’s break came in 1951 after he had covered for veteran commentator H.R Baukhage on his daily 11 AM news round-up for two weeks. When Baukhage returned from vacation, he was dismissed and replaced by Harvey. ABC would make it official in April 1951, when they debuted the Paul Harvey News and Comment show with a weekday noon slot.
Harvey’s television debut came in November 1952, when he began a 15-minute newscast on ABC, first originating on the WENR TV channel in Chicago. Harvey would host a separate program, The Rest of the Story, in which he spoke about the rise and backstories of early celebrities. After it aired in 1976, the series quickly became a renowned show, with six broadcasts a week, and lasted an astonishing thirty-three years until his death in 2009. Nine years earlier, Harvey had signed a ten-year contract worth over $100 million with ABC Radio, yet he would pass a few years before he fulfilled his contract.
Harvey gained election to the National Association of Broadcasters Radio Hall of Fame and the Oklahoma hall of fame. He appeared on the Gallup poll list of America’s most admired men. He enjoyed a long and prosperous career and was one of America’s most loved voices. In 2005, George Bush awarded him the most prestigious award attainable for civilians, The Presidential Medal of Freedom, which was the icing on the cake of a fantastic career. After his death, George Bush would issue a statement, calling him “a friendly and familiar voice in the lives of millions of Americans.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYmTl7iM6ks
