Roy Leonard

Tom Smothers, one half of the comedy duo The Smothers Brothers, has died at age 86. On March 27, 1974, Tom and Dick Smothers joined Roy Leonard in the WGN Radio studios for a conversation, including how they survived after being kicked off TV by CBS for being too political.

For decades, Dick Clark was the celebrity many people watched ring in the new year live from Times Square in New York City. Even today, nearly a decade after his passing, ABC’s New Year’s broadcast still uses Dick Clark’s name in its title. But, “America’s Oldest Teenager” was known for many other things beyond the New Year’s show, including his over 30 years hosting “American Bandstand.” In this November 8, 1985 interview, Roy Leonard talks with Dick Clark about the history of “American Bandstand” and some stories from the American music scene.

On January 8, 1986, at the height of the Bears Super Bowl run, the then-CBS NFL lead broadcast team of Pat Summerall and John Madden were in Chicago and made time to stop by the WGN Radio studios to visit with Roy Leonard. John Madden died today at age 85.

Fifty years ago, Clint Eastwood was already an established Hollywood star, having appeared in a number of movies and TV series. But in 1971, he would begin a new phase of his legendary career when he made his directorial debut with “Play Misty for Me.” On October 18, 1971, Clint Eastwood visited with WGN Radio’s Roy Leonard to talk about that film as well as other aspects of his career to that point.

Ginger Rogers, one of the iconic stars of Hollywood’s “Golden Age,” was born 110 years ago this week, on July 16, 1911. The career of the actress, dancer and singer spanned decades. In the fall of 1991, Rogers visited the WGN Radio studios to visit with Roy Leonard and discuss her book, Ginger: My Story. Here is that segment, which also features an appearance from “Dances with Wolves” author and screenwriter Michael Blake.

This week from the WGN Radio archives, we go back 35 years to June 4, 1986, a Wednesday morning on The Roy Leonard Show when he was visited in-studio by Donny and Marie Osmond. They were already veteran pop music superstars having had a variety show when they were teenagers and have continued over they years as performers in a variety of venues and formats.

In this Roy Leonard segment from the early 1970s, Carol Channing is surprised to learn that Roy saw her in 1948, before she was a star. Channing died today at age 97.

http://serve.castfire.com/audio/3585782/carol-channing_2019-01-15-121122.64kmono.mp3

Roy Clark, the country music legend and star of the long-running TV series “Hee Haw,” died today at age 85. In 1994, he visited with WGN Radio’s Roy Leonard to discuss the publication of his autobiography, My Life in Spite of Myself, and share memories from his long career. Here are a couple of minutes from that interview.

http://serve.castfire.com/audio/3567372/roy-leonard-roy-clark_2018-11-15-161712.64kmono.mp3