STLMHF

Chris Condon – 2013

Chris Condon joined KSD-TV in 1961 to anchor the station’s 10-minute news broadcast and stayed for 23 years. The Fordham University graduate had served in the Army Signal Corps and Armed Forces Radio in World War II, and had worked in Kansas City television prior to coming to St. Louis. Those initial 10-minute broadcasts, which included weather, were produced with one camera team shooting on film, and Condon as expected to do most of the reporting and writing, as well as anchoring the broadcast.

Throughout his career at Channel 5, Condon became known for his take-no-prisoners interviewing style and no-nonsense presentation, which he said was inspired by pre-war broadcasts of Raymond Gram Swing and Elmer Davis.

Clif St. James – 2013

After coming to St. Louis as a radio host on KWK with his wife Nance, Clif caught the attention of Pulitzer Broadcasting. His subsequent move gave him the chance to appear on both radio and television. From 1956 to 1988, viewers watched him on Channel 5 performing a variety of tasks, hosting shows, presenting the weather and taking on the persona of a clown when he hosted children’s shows.

“Corky” had two different kids’ shows in his career, “Corky the Clown” and “Corky’s Colorama,” the latter a nod to its position as one of the first local kids’ shows to be broadcast in color. At one point, St. James appeared daily in the clown clothes and then magically transformed into a weather presenter in a coat and tie.

Wilma Sim – 2013

In television’s infancy, “live and local” was the daily reality and one of those pioneers in St. Louis was Wilma Sim. Taking over the “Homemaking with KSD-TV” from Esther Lee Bride, who had been on loan from Union Electric, Sim made the show her own through most of the 1950s and is rightly seen as one of St. Louis pioneering TV stars. She appeared on the first local color television broadcast and was active in American Women in Radio and Television. In later life she was a columnist for Farm Journal Magazine. Named as a distinguished graduate of the University of Minnesota for her professional accomplishments, Wilma Sim was also recognized as one of the Top 10 Women in Advertising in America in 1972.

Don Marsh – 2012

Don Marsh won 12 Regional Emmy Awards for his television work in St. Louis, most of which was at KTVI, where served as a news anchor and specialized in political reporting. While at KTVI and KDNL, Marsh produced and hosted over 1,600 public affairs programs. He also found time to teach broadcast journalism at the college level, write three books and work as a host of talk programming on two local stations. Marsh was cited by the St. Louis Association of Black Journalists in 1998 for his work and received the top three major local awards for his journalistic contributions over the years.

Harry Fender – 2012

Harry Fender liked to tell anyone who would listen that he walked away from a great job offer by entertainment entrepreneur Flo Ziegfeld. Returning to St. Louis from New York, Fender became a member of the city police gambling squad. But as WW II ended, he found a niche in local show business on radio stations KXOK and KMOX. Those eventually led to the electronic media stage of local television where he finished his career at Captain 11 on KPLR-TV. It was in this 1960s daily kids’ show that Clarence “Harry” Fender endeared himself to thousands of youngsters, hosting live audiences of kids in the studio and introducing many to the antics of the Three Stooges each day.

Dianne White – 2006

Dianne White Clatto became the first African-American weather forecaster in the nation when she was hired by KSD-TV in 1962. A veteran of more than 40 years in St. Louis radio and television, she demonstrated wide-ranging skills as a reporter, anchor, producer, writer and public speaker. Her career at KSD-TV, which became KSDK, spanned more than 26 years of excellence in features, anchoring and hard news. After leaving KSDK, she continued her career in media as an independent television producer and as a special assistant to the mayor of St. Louis.