Charlie Tuna

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the TV announcer and radio personality. For information about the StarKist mascot, see Charlie the Tuna.

Charlie Tuna is a radio personality currently based in Los Angeles, California.

Born Art Ferguson in Kearney, Nebraska, he was given his pseudonym while working at KOMA in Oklahoma City, taking over the moniker from Chuck Riley who had used it for one show the week prior to Charlie's arrival. Ferguson was a high school athlete and sports editor of the local newspaper and at age 16 worked at the town's radio station, KGFW. From Kearney, He went on to work at KLEO in Wichita, Kansas for a year with the air name "Billy O'Day", then worked for KOMA Radio in Oklahoma City in 1966, and on to WMEX in Boston for the first 9 months of 1967.

In late 1967, KHJ in Los Angeles offered Charlie the 9 to noon slot where he debuted on Thanksgiving Day 1967, and Charlie has worked in the L.A. area ever since. In 1972, he became one of the original DJs at KROQ-AM, a new top-40 station (formerly Country KBBQ). Among the other stations he worked at were KKDJ, KIIS-AM&FM (where he was Program Director and Morning Personality), KTNQ, KHTZ (later KBZT), KRLA, KODJ (later KCBS-FM), KMPC, KIKF, and KLAC.

He most recently worked at KBIG 104.3 where he hosted a show called "Charlie Tuna in the Morning," which aired from 5 to 9 am. His last show aired on September 17, 2007, when the station flipped to a non-rhythmic-based adult contemporary format, as "104.3 My FM". He returned to radio February 9, 2008 when he became the weekend personality and vacation fill-in jock on Los Angeles classic rock station "K-Earth 101".

In addition to his radio work, Charlie has hosted Cinema, Cinema, Cinema for the past 27 years, an internationally syndicated TV show, featuring the top movies in America each week with clips from the films. He has been the announcer on a number of television game shows, including Time Machine, Scrabble, Scattergories, and The New Battlestars.

Tuna was also the announcer for the last two years of television's syndicated "Mike Douglas Show" and Alan Thicke's late night TV show Thicke of the Night. He was also featured in the 1970s in the Universal film Rollercoaster and an independent film Racquet'.

Tuna served as announcer for Casey Kasem on his 1980s television program America's Top 10. Two decades later, on the weekends of October 8/9, 2005 and August 12/13, 2006 Tuna stepped into Kasem's shoes and filled in for him on his radio programs, American Top 20 and American Top 10 for the weekend. In addition to filling in for Kasem, he was also heard on Your Good Time Oldies Magazine from 1992 to 1995, and Back to the 70s. Only 52 episodes of Back to the 70s were produced, but the reruns are still airing, and Tuna is no longer involved with the program.

Tuna received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame January 10, 1990 and was inducted into the Nebraska Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame, August 19, 1999. In 1997, Los Angeles Radio People readers voted Charlie one of the Top 10 L.A. Radio Personalities of All Time, and this past year of 2007, Charlie was once again elected by his LARadio.com broadcast peers as one of the 2007 Top 10 Los Angeles Radio Personalities. Tuna is also well-known for his 25-year run (1971–1996) of approximately 6000 radio shows on the American Forces Network.

Charlie has also raised nearly 2 and half million dollars for Children’s Hospital in L.A. with his annual “Tunathon” the past 4 years (2004 - 2007), hosted the red carpet and emceed the Revlon Run/Walk the past 5 years (2003 - 2007), and emcees the annual 4th of July Warner Park in Woodland Hills celebration which attracts annual crowds of over 50,000 spectators.