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Finding Aid for the Ralph Story papers, 1940-2007
867
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Title: Ralph Story papers,
Date (inclusive): 1940-2007
Collection number: 867
Creator:
Story, Ralph
Extent:
66 document boxes (33 linear feet)
9 oversize boxes
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Department of Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Abstract: Ralph Story was a broadcast journalist and television host for more than four decades, hosting programs such as
Ralph Story's Los Angeles-- an Emmy-winning weekly magazine series that ran on KNXT-TV from 1964 to 1970,
The $64,000 challenge, Ralph Story's
A.M., the KNXT Channel 2 Evening News and numerous prime time specials. Renowned especially for his local interest reporting,
Story served as correspondent, reporter and anchor for radio and television news from the 1940s to the 1980s, and was a prolific
lecturer on the media and California history. The collection consists of scripts and professional documentation spanning Story's
career.
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library, Department
of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Language:
English.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library,
Department of Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright,
are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of
the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the
copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC
Regents do not hold the copyright.
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA Library, Department
of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
- Ralph Story's Los Angeles scripts, donated ca. 1965
- Addition, and bulk of the collection, gift of Diana Story, December 2008
- Addition, predominantly photographs, clippings, and albums, gift of Diana Story, November 2009
Processed by Ellen Mulligan in the Center for Primary Research and Training (CFPRT), with assistance from Kelley Wolfe Bachli,
2009. Additions to collection processed by Heather Lowe, 2010.
[Identification of item], Ralph Story papers (Collection 867). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research
Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Ralph Story (August 19, 1920 - September 26, 2006) was born Ralph Bernard Snyder in Kalamazoo, Michigan. In high school and
at Western Michigan College, he worked part time as a radio announcer, and eventually left college to pursue a career in radio
full time first in Grand Rapids, Michigan and then Buffalo, New York. His career was interrupted when he joined the Air Force
during World War II. Already a licensed pilot, he served first as a flight instructor and then flew 63 missions over Europe
as a P-51 fighter pilot. After the war, he returned to Buffalo to work as an announcer and program director for CBS radio
affiliate WGR. In 1948, CBS radio transferred him to Los Angeles. There, he served as program director and morning DJ at
KNX and changed his name to Ralph Story. While at KNX, the Military Air Transport Service invited Story to visit and interview
for broadcast servicemen and civilians from California stationed around the world. The result was
California Around the World, broadcast on CBS radio.
After a brief stint as host of the game show
What Do You Have in Common?, Story moved to New York City to emcee
The $64,000 Challenge from 1956-1958, when it was cancelled in the wake of the quiz show scandal. Story returned to Los Angeles and for the next
forty years hosted, wrote and produced for radio and television, exploring and shaping such formats as talk radio, news broadcasting,
human interest and local color reporting, and the magazine show. The bulk of his broadcast career was spent at KNX radio and
its sister television station KNXT, both CBS affiliates. However, Story also worked for KABC, KNBC, KCET, KCAL, and independent
production companies including National General and O'Connor radio.
In addition to his serialized weekly and daily programs and radio spots, Story hosted a variety of special programs, including
prime-time specials, award ceremonies, and local events such as the Tournament of Roses Parade and Hollywood Bowl concerts.
He was also a prolific producer, writer and lecturer on local and California history, and prepared but did not publish a guidebook
to Los Angeles. Story was active in civic and professional groups, hosting celebrity tennis events and serving as grand marshal
for numerous local festivals and functions. He was a fundraiser for Public Television stations KCET and KOCE and a frequent
speaker at community and educational meetings.
Story is best remembered for his detailed research and his wry and witty observations about life in California and especially
in Los Angeles. Television work includes: the "Human Predicament" on KNXT's
The Big News,
Ralph Story's Los Angeles,
Ralph Story's AM,
The Channel 2 News,
It's a Nice Place...,
The Sunday Show,
On the Road Again,
The Wine Game,
Things That Aren't Here Anymore and
More Things That Aren't Here Anymore.
Story's radio titles include:
The Ralph Story Show,
Top of the Morning,
Storyline,
Hollywood Today,
Dimension in Hollywood,
Meet the Cook,
Food News,
You're the Judge and an annual Christmas Morning special.
In 1984, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences awarded Story their highest honor, the Governors Award. Other awards
Story received throughout his career include numerous Los Angeles Area Emmys and Golden Mikes, two Directors Guild of America
Awards, and many local and professional honors.
Ralph Story died on September 26, 2006 after a long battle with emphysema at the age of 86 in Los Angeles, California.
This collection documents the activities of Ralph Story, a broadcast journalist and television host. An original donation
of 208 scripts for
Ralph Story's Los Angeles was supplemented in 2008 with approximately 40 more scripts from
Ralph Story's Los Angeles, and scripts, research and production materials spanning Story's career. The bulk of the collection consists of broadcast
scripts, clippings, contracts, correspondence, financial and legal material, production records, photographs, research material,
draft chapters of a guidebook, miscellaneous printed matter and ephemera.
Creator's original order has been retained and arranged into the following series:
- 1. Broadcasting
- 1.1 Radio
- 1.2 Television serial programming
- 1.3 Television special programming
- 2. Print projects
- 3. Personal Appearances-lectures and speeches, cameos, hosting gigs, commercials
- 4. Professional Career/History
- 4.1 Correspondence
- 4.2 Awards
- 4.3 Contracts
- 4.4 Biographies and clippings
- 4.5 Research, uncategorized
- 5. Photographs
- 5.1 Ralph Story
- 5.2 Studio press kits for various films
- 6. Personal
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Story, Ralph--Archives.
Television personalities--California--Los Angeles--Archival resources.
Los Angeles (Calif.)--History.
Television scripts.
The UCLA Film and Television Archive holds various items spanning Ralph Story's career in television broadcasting, including
over 100 episodes of
Ralph Story's Los Angeles, selected specials, news programs, and early television work.