Larry Ferrari

Larry Ferrari (March 4, 1932 – November 20, 1997), born Lazarus Louis Ferrari, was an American organist who hosted The Larry Ferrari Show from 1954 to 1997 on WPVI-TV in Philadelphia, a weekly Sunday morning half-hour program of organ music.

Ferrari was born in Boston. He changed his name to "Larry" when a nun suggested he Americanize it. Ferrari studied piano and organ as a boy, and his career in music began when he began performing at his local church when was 11 years old. Soon afterwards, after he began playing at a local skating rink. According to friends and family, Ferrari did not use sheet music; after hearing a song he could play it from memory.

His career in broadcasting got its start shortly after he joined the United States Army in 1952. It was there, while idly passing the time during leave by playing the organ, that he came to the notice of his Commanding Officer as a likely person to put on the "Soldier Parade" with Arlene Francis (later of What's My Line? fame). Shortly afterward, Ferrari performed on a number of public service recordings that were distributed coast to coast. An avid amateur radio operator, he held the call of WA2MKI and was heard nearly daily on the air talking to his friends as he drove to and from his home in New Jersey to the television studio.

The Larry Ferrari Show was seen in the Delaware Valley for 43 years on Sunday mornings. (Its theme music was his instrumental version of "Once In A While.") Ferrari's show lasted longer than any other show on Channel 6, with the exception of Chief Halftown. He was also the Lowrey Organ company's National Concert Artist. He also made cameo appearances as the house "band" on the syndicated Wheel of Fortune during their visit to the former Philadelphia Civic Center in Fall 1992.

The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia [2] posthumously inducted Ferrari into their Hall of Fame in 2000.

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