Ralph Story
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ralph Story, originally Ralph Bernard Snyder (August 19, 1920 – September 26, 2006) was an American television and radio personality. He was best remembered as the host of The $64,000 Challenge, a spin off of the game show The $64,000 Question, from 1956 until 1958.
[edit] Biography
Story was born Ralph Bernard Snyder in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He started his broadcasting career in the late 1940s, after serving as an Army Air Corps flight instructor and P-51 fighter pilot during World War II. Story had his big break in broadcasting in 1948, when he was hired to host and direct an early morning show on KNX radio in Los Angeles. At the suggestion of the station's managers, he changed his name to Ralph Story. Story's casual style and witty observations about life in Los Angeles made him a popular host and won him national recognition.
Story later moved into network television, where, in 1956, he began hosting the hugely popular game show, The $64,000 Challenge. The CBS show was canceled in 1958 while several networks were embroiled in allegations that popular contestants were supplied with answers in advance.
Story, who was not implicated in the scandal, returned to local broadcasting in 1960. He returned to KNX, this time anchoring a news program and later joined The Big News, one of the nation's first hour-long local TV newscasts, on KNXT-TV (sister station to KNX radio, owned and operated by CBS). His regular feature, "Human Predicament," about people caught in unusual events and situations, became a popular segment. It developed into a local news magazine program about the people and places of Los Angeles called Ralph Story's Los Angeles. It aired for six years.
Ralph Story's Los Angeles aired from 1964-1970 on KNXT (now KCBS). Well-written and wittily hosted by Story, the show examined interesting features, events and sites documenting the history and culture of Los Angeles. Generations of Los Angelenos developed a passion for their city as a result of this documentary-style show. The 104 reels of Ralph Story's Los Angeles are housed at the UCLA Film & Television Archive and are available for public viewing via the Archive Research and Study Center located in Powell Library, room 46 on the UCLA campus.
Story joined KABC-TV in the 1970s, co-hosting a morning news show that became the precursor to Good Morning America. When it moved to New York City, Story stayed in Los Angeles, where he continued working as a writer, producer and reporter for several TV stations. In the mid-1980s, Story retired and moved to Santa Barbara County's wine region, where he and his wife operated an art gallery in Los Olivos. He volunteered for numerous civic groups, serving as a fundraiser for public television stations, narrator for the Hollywood Bowl and judge of the Rose Parade.
He died on September 26, 2006 in Santa Ynez from complications from emphysema.
The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences honored him with its highest honor, the Governor's Award. Hollywood columnist Rona Barrett said that "no one told a story on television better than Ralph." Former colleague Warren Olney IV described Ralph Story as "a master of the craft."
