Jim Bohannon | |
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Born |
Jim Bohannon January 7, 1944 Corvallis, Oregon, U.S. |
Alma mater | Southwest Missouri State University |
Occupation | |
Spouse(s) | Annabelle |
James E. "Jim" Bohannon (born January 7, 1944) is an American broadcaster who has worked in both television and radio. He is best known for hosting the nationally syndicated late night radio talk show The Jim Bohannon Show on the Westwood One Network. For 31 years, he also hosted America in The Morning, a nationally syndicated radio news show, stepping down in December 2015.
Bohannon was voted one of "The 100 Most Important Radio Talk Show Hosts in America" for three consecutive years by Talkers magazine, and in 2013 was chosen as the recipient of Talkers Lifetime Achievement Award. Jim Bohannon was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2003. He has also been nominated for the National Association of Broadcasters Marconi Award for Network Syndicated Personality of the Year.
Jim Bohannon was born in Corvallis, Oregon, but moved with his parents to Lebanon, Missouri while still an infant. Raised in Lebanon, his broadcasting career also began there as he got a job at hometown KLWT-AM in 1960, working for a dollar per hour. Following his graduation from Lebanon High School in 1962, Bohannon attended Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield. While in college he continued to work in radio part-time at KWTO-AM as a news reporter, and at KICK-AM as a disc jockey. One event in 1964 helped set the tone for Bohannon's later career and ability to think on his feet. Presidential candidate Senator Barry Goldwater made a campaign appearance in Springfield, which KWTO was covering by live remote broadcast. However the Senator was running late, forcing the young Bohannon to ad lib on air for over an hour to fill the time. As he told Inside Radio in a 2003 interview: "I called on everything I had in reserve. I was ad libbing and making comments about the campaign. It was like being dumped in the middle of the English Channel and told you needed to learn how to swim. That sticks out as a time I was given a big test." Another highlight for Bohannon while working in radio in those early years was taking three busloads of fans from Springfield to Kansas City, Missouri to see The Beatles in concert.