Television HOF

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.

Ray Hoffstetter – 2011

Ray Hoffstetter joined KSD-TV as a stagehand in February, 1948, when the station was only a year old.  He moved up through the positions of film crew sound man, film cameraman, video cameraman and creative services tape editor. His video of Lou Brock’s record-setting stolen base is used in the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown. Ray’s shooting assignments included Operation Desert Shield, riding on the Battleship Missouri to the Pearl Harbor 50th anniversary, Hurricane Camille, the Knoxville World’s Fair, Baseball and Football Hall of Fame inductions, and Presidential interviews. Even after retirement in 1992, Hoffstetter continued with KSDK working with the station’s video archives.

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.

Art Holliday – 2009

Art Holliday began his career at Channel 5 in 1979, serving as a sports anchor in his first ten years at the station. He then switched to news anchoring for morning programs and also served as the executive producer of the programs. He received many honors, including election to the Hall of Fame of the Greater St. Louis Association of Black Journalists and the Faculty-Alumni Award of the University of Missouri-Columbia. Holliday also received several St. Louis Emmy Awards and has been inducted into that organization’s Silver Circle. He pursued a passion for cinematography by producing several free-lance video documentaries. In 2021 he became the station’s news director.

Russ Carter – 2013

Though he started out as a singer with the Ted Weems Orchestra, Russ Carter is best-known in St. Louis as the host of the wildly popular “St. Louis Hop,” a local, weekly  “American Bandstand” program on KSD-TV. He held that position for 15 years beginning in 1958 and played host to national and local teen music stars of the era.

His teen audience was loyal, following the show through four location changes over its life span. One of those changes came when a venue refused to allow black teens inside, and the next week, Carter found a place where everyone was welcome, thus making the program St. Louis’ first racially integrated show. Carter’s salesmanship made Bonnee Buttered Beef Steaks and Pepsi-Cola staples in the diets of St. Louis area teenagers. TV was still relatively primitive in the St. Louis Hop days, so Carter was even responsible for writing out his own cue cards.

Herb Humphries – 2011

His on-air image was larger than life, which was fitting for Herb Humphries. The 300-pound KMOX-TV/KMOV-TV reporter who showed up at crime scenes wearing cowboy boots and a Stetson hat quickly won the hearts of the viewing public in a love affair that lasted for 20 years. His nighttime reports were quickly dubbed “Nightside,” a franchise that gave Humphries almost blanket access to anyplace the news was happening. Humphries was appreciated in the newsroom for his sense of humor and his ability to quickly assess any news situation and quickly get his stories on the air. Having won national awards for his work prior to coming to St. Louis, and having initially been hired as Channel 4’s news director, Herb Humphries shined brightest doing what he most enjoyed, working as one of the market’s best-remembered street reporters.