Buzz Burbank

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Buzz Burbank (born October 7, 1953), whose real name is Mike Elston, has been the newsman for The Don and Mike Show since December 2, 1991. His "News and Comment" segment airs toward the end of the show, but he is present throughout the program.

Burbank's career began in Wichita, Kansas in the 1970s. He has also worked in New York, Philadelphia, San Diego, Minneapolis and New Orleans, hosting talk and entertainment shows. Burbank spent much of the 1980s with CBS in Chicago, where he won The Associated Press award for "Best Newscast."

Buzz's trademark is his deep, pleasant baritone, praised as a big hit with the ladies. This has even prompted one of Don and Mike's games, "Buzz makes the sexy phone call," where men will call in to have Buzz deliver a romantic message to their wives on the air.

As a speaker, Buzz is also quite unflappable, a big plus given the somewhat chaotic nature of the show. He almost never audibly becomes upset or angry, and rarely complains. In delivering the news, he seldom loses his place or gets derailed in spite of the many distractions that often occur.

Burbank lives with his wife, Marsha, a former teacher. They were married July 26, 1975, and have no children.

Burbank once suffered from a condition called diverticulitis, an inflammation that caused the rupture of his colon. He was rushed to the hospital in 1998, where he remained absent from the show for quite some time. Upon his recovery, Buzz would join the show via his hospital bed and later his home. In 2002, he had to go back for follow-up surgery to fix the problems from his first operation. As of this writing, he was in excellent health.