Collection context
Summary
- Title:
- Jim Hawthorne papers
- Dates:
- 1940s-1970
- Creators:
- Hawthorne, Jim
- Abstract:
- Jim Hawthorne was a radio and television personality during the 1950s and 1960s. His outrageous antics made him an innovative pioneer in non-traditional radio broadcasting. The collection consists primarily of bits, sketches, and ideas for routines, photographs, clippings, and correspondence.
- Extent:
- 3.75 linear ft. (8 boxes and 1 flat box.)
- Language:
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Jim Hawthorne Papers (Collection PASC 364). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The collection consists of materials relating to the career of radio and television personality Jim Hawthorne. Included is script material along with assorted bits, sketches, and ideas for routines, photographs, clippings, and correspondence. Script material includes writing for Hawthorne Looks at the Weather and other material for both radio and television projects. The photographs are primarily publicity photos featuring Jim Hawthorne. The bulk of the clippings are from are publicity about or mentions of Hawthorne from a variety of newspapers. The correspondence appears business related. Also included in the collection is script material for Greatest Headlines of the Century, made by Filmrites Associates, Inc.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Jim Hawthorne, best known as a radio personality, was born on November 20, 1918 in Victor, Colorado. He attended Denver University School of Commerce, majoring in radio broadcasting from around 1936-1939. In 1942, he moved to Los Angeles and enlisted in the military. In 1945 Hawthorne began working for Monogram Studios as a production assistant, while working part-time in radio broadcasting. Two years later he began working full-time in radio, becoming a popular disc jockey at the radio station KXLA in Pasadena. His outrageous antics at the time made him an innovative pioneer in non-traditional radio broadcasting.
In 1950 he created, produced, and starred in The Hawthorne Thing, a Saturday night radio show that was broadcast nationwide. In 1955, he purchased a radio station in Yuma, Arizona and successfully operated it until returning to Los Angeles in 1958. He maintained ownership of the station for years.
In the early 1950s, Hawthorne also began working in television, hosting the late-night television talk show This Is Hawthorne and performing a daily comedic segment called "Hawthorne Looks at the Weather". In the mid-1950s he designed, built, and managed K-SHO television in Las Vegas, the first station in the country to broadcast 24 hours a day. In 1959, he was made Vice President of Programming for KFWB Los Angeles. In the 1960s Hawthorne moved to Hawaii, where he created and hosted the popular children's television show Checkers and Pogo. As a producer, he produced both educational films and some of his own comedic segments, including Quicky Quiz. In the early 1960s Hawthorne was elected president of the Disc Jockeys Association and authored the booklet How to Break Into Broadcasting.
Hawthorne used his celebrity to benefit the community through his involvement in civic affairs. In the early 1950s, he was chosen as honorary mayor of Studio City and served in that position for five years. He wrote and produced a number of promotional and public service spots, including for the Los Angeles City and County Fire Departments, the Los Angeles Civil Service Commission, and the Los Angeles Metropolitan YMCA. His public service spot for the Los Angeles Police Recruitment Project won first place at the International Broadcasting Awards in 1963. He was a member of other organizations including the Rotary Club and Variety Club. In 1970 he moved to Denver, Colorado and worked for eleven years at KOA radio, where he eventually became general manager. After his retirement in 1985, he continued to appear on the radio and to write both a web column for a Los Angeles radio page and a weekly newspaper column for a group of San Diego North County papers. He died November 6, 2007 in Santa Barbara, CA.
- Arrangement:
-
The collection is not arranged in any specific order.
- Physical location:
- Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact UCLA Library Special Collections for paging information.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed terms
About this collection guide
- Date Prepared:
- ©2014 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
- Date Encoded:
- This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2014-08-07T14:49-0700 . Supplementary encoding and revision by Caroline Cubé using Notetab Pro.
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Open for research. STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact UCLA Library Special Collections for paging information.
- Terms of access:
-
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UC Regents. 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.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Jim Hawthorne Papers (Collection PASC 364). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.
- Location of this collection:
-
A1713 Charles E. Young Research LibraryBox 951575Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575, US
- Contact:
- (310) 825-4988