Royal Parker
Royce Pollokoff (born April 8, 1929), better known by the stage name Royal Parker, is an American television personality. In a broadcasting career spanning the 1940s–1990s, he appeared in various roles in the Baltimore, Maryland, market.[1]
Early years
Born in Baltimore, Maryland, on April 8, 1929, Parker began his broadcasting career in the late 1940s on WASA (now WJSS), an AM radio station in Havre de Grace, Maryland, hosting a music program called the Royal Record Review.[1]. He moved to television when the medium was in its infancy, joining WAAM-TV (now WJZ-TV) in Baltimore in 1951, becoming a staple on the area's television screens for the next four decades in a variety of roles.
Broadcasting career
As a television newscaster, Parker covered the 1952 elections, when Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected U. S. President. He created a children's television character, Mister Poplolly, in which he would don an oversized hat and glasses, along with a clown's nose, for a daily show.[1] Later, he portrayed a Popeye-like sailor hosting a daily cartoon show. Parker also did commercials, including the Buddy Deane Show between 1957–1962. In 1962, he moved to WBAL-TV, where he hosted such popular televised bowling programs as Pinbusters and Bowling for Dollars in the 1970s.[2] While at WBAL, he played P. W. Doodle, a newsboy character he created based on his own experience selling newspapers in Baltimore as a youth.[3] On November 22, 1963, he was called upon to broadcast the news flash of the John F. Kennedy assassination.[3]
Parker remained at WBAL-TV until his retirement in 1994.[3] Reflecting on his varied roles in the early pioneering years of commercial television, Parker recalled in 2008 that when he started at WAAM in 1951, earning $45 per week, "We just figured things out as we went along. In six months, you did everything. I could run a control board, or put on a cooking show".[1]
Later years and personal life
In 1994, he ran for a seat in the Maryland House of Delegates but was defeated.[3] Parker and his wife, Phyllis, have three sons and live in the Baltimore suburb of Pikesville.[3] He remains active in local charitable work, including frequent benefit appearances for the Mount Washington Pediatric Hospital.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e Olesker, Michael (May 20, 2008). "Here's a Royal cheer for a charitable guy". The Baltimore Examiner. p. 6.
- ^ Cohen, Charles (April 24, 2002). "Broadcast Muse". Baltimore City Paper. Retrieved 2009-02-17.
- ^ a b c d e Kelly, Jacques (November 11, 2006). "Local Television's Royal Parker". The Baltimore Sun. p. 2B.
External links
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