J.P. McCarthy

J. P. McCarthy
J.P. McCarthy in a 1966 promotional film for WJR
Birth name	Joseph Priestley McCarthy II
Born	March 22, 1933 New York City
Died	August 16, 1995(1995-08-16) (aged 62) Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center New York City, New York
Station(s)	WJR
Country	United States
Parents	John and Martha (née Barber)
Spouse(s)	Sali Thompson (?-1964) Judy Buttorff (1965-1995; his death)
Children	6

Joseph Priestley "J.P." McCarthy II (March 22, 1933 – August 16, 1995) was a radio personality best known for his over 30 years of work as the morning man and interviewer on station WJR in Detroit, Michigan.

J.P. McCarthy was born in New York City to John Priestley McCarthy and Martha Mary Barber McCarthy. The family moved to Detroit when McCarthy was in elementary school. He graduated from De La Salle Collegiate High School in Detroit. It was there he started to perfect the art of conversation by participating in debates. McCarthy briefly attended the University of Detroit, participating in a co-op program with early aspirations to be a draftsman.

McCarthy was drafted into the Army and was stationed in Alaska. There he got his first taste of broadcasting for Armed Forces Radio.

During his early years in radio, he gained experience at KFAR in Fairbanks (as a part-time job while still in the Army). It was also there that he met and married his first wife, Sali Thompson. They would have five children together: John, Susan, Diane, and twins Kathleen and Kevin.

When his service was up, McCarthy returned to Michigan, settling in Flint. He got a job at Flint radio station WTAC. While at WTAC he frequently auditioned for WJR, a leading radio station in Detroit, with a 50,000-watt clear-channel signal that could be heard in much of the Eastern United States and Canada. After frequent auditions, McCarthy was hired by WJR as a staff announcer in 1956.

The position of staff announcer was merely straight forward announcing, and McCarthy aspired to do more in radio. When Marty McNealy, the host of WJR's Morning Music Hall, left for WKMH in 1958, McCarthy was chosen to replace him. The station promoted him heavily, and he was soon the #1 rated radio show in Detroit.