When Del King, announcer at KWK, sings the title role as a star of the Metropolitan Opera, then he will be truly happy.
He confided to us that that was his real ambition and the progress he has made in the twenty-four years of his life indicates that he might some day in the not-too-distant future attain that coveted goal.
Del King’s real name is Delmar King (and not an abbreviation of Delmar and Kingshighway nor is he a relative of Jean Paul King as his public often ask him.) He came here from Kansas City two years ago after he by chance, not quite clear to him, got into radio work. Since that time he has been a versatile member of the staff of KWK.
When his low and poetic voice comes over the air on Friday afternoon at 4 o’clock, one can fairly close his eyes and imagine that he is dark with a true romantic feeling for the poetry that glides meditatively from his tongue. Poetry that makes one think and feel deeply is the secret of the tremendous hold that these programs have on the public. He ruefully admitted though that in this time of depression and low feeling that most of the ponderous selections with deep-seated meaning must be discontinued.
One night, after he completed an Old Judge broadcast, one of his admiring public waylaid him and exclaimed in disgust, “Oh, I thought you were a great big man about my size.” The man must have weighed 300 pounds at the least!
People are always dumbfounded when he is doing character parts to find that he is not old and enormous. He usually takes heavy roles such as Old Judge or Dad in the program “Dad and Jean” children’s program. He does a singing program and in the meantime manages to get in a full-time job announcing.
Life is far from dull at [the] radio station, he says, and although he is temporarily marking time in his real ambition, he feels that he is making progress toward it. A radio artist never gets any applause but he does get a great deal of helpful criticism. He bases some of his best work on the helpful hints that he has gotten from his listeners.
False commendation never helped anybody and if people would only tell what they really think, radio would be a school of pleasure.
(Originally published in Radio and Entertainment 4/2/1932).