Radio and Television Announcer. Born Eddy Silverman, he began his career as a pianist, announcer, and an actor in comedy and dramatic shows in Portland in 1930. His radio career began in 1937, when Russian aviator, Valery Chkalov, made the first non-stop flight over the North Pole and was expected to land in San Francisco, however the aviator had to make an emergency landing elsewhere. Eddy got a tip that he might land in Vancouver and drove there only to find that he was the only reporter there, scooping all the media. As a result, he was picked up by KPO-San Francisco. During World War II, as a Staff Sergeant with Air Force Recruiting Service, he joined NBC News as a news writer and announcer before returning to San Francisco in 1946. He moved to Hollywood in 1948 to resume his career with NBC and went on to announce for news, sports, special events and radio shows such as 'The $64,000 Question', 'The Bob Hope Show', 'The Judy Canova Show', 'An Evening With Jimmy Durante', 'The Milton Berle Show', 'The Jack Paar Show', and 'Lights, Camera, Action!' and appeared in several Greyhound Bus commercials. On November 17, 1968, he became infamous for disrupting a football game between the Oakland Raiders and the New York Jets in what has become known as 'The Heidi Bowl'. In this incident, he was ordered to cut away from the game to announce the start the movie 'Heidi', which NBC had heavily promoted. King vehemently protested that it was not right to disrupt the broadcasting of the football game in which there were only 65 seconds remaining in which the Jets were leading by 3 points, however his pleas fell on deaf ears as the Raiders went on to score 14 quick points to win the game. King, who was as a staff announcer for NBC until his retirement in 1977, died of natural causes.
Radio and Television Announcer. Born Eddy Silverman, he began his career as a pianist, announcer, and an actor in comedy and dramatic shows in Portland in 1930. His radio career began in 1937, when Russian aviator, Valery Chkalov, made the first non-stop flight over the North Pole and was expected to land in San Francisco, however the aviator had to make an emergency landing elsewhere. Eddy got a tip that he might land in Vancouver and drove there only to find that he was the only reporter there, scooping all the media. As a result, he was picked up by KPO-San Francisco. During World War II, as a Staff Sergeant with Air Force Recruiting Service, he joined NBC News as a news writer and announcer before returning to San Francisco in 1946. He moved to Hollywood in 1948 to resume his career with NBC and went on to announce for news, sports, special events and radio shows such as 'The $64,000 Question', 'The Bob Hope Show', 'The Judy Canova Show', 'An Evening With Jimmy Durante', 'The Milton Berle Show', 'The Jack Paar Show', and 'Lights, Camera, Action!' and appeared in several Greyhound Bus commercials. On November 17, 1968, he became infamous for disrupting a football game between the Oakland Raiders and the New York Jets in what has become known as 'The Heidi Bowl'. In this incident, he was ordered to cut away from the game to announce the start the movie 'Heidi', which NBC had heavily promoted. King vehemently protested that it was not right to disrupt the broadcasting of the football game in which there were only 65 seconds remaining in which the Jets were leading by 3 points, however his pleas fell on deaf ears as the Raiders went on to score 14 quick points to win the game. King, who was as a staff announcer for NBC until his retirement in 1977, died of natural causes.
Bio by: Louis du Mort
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