Jean Parker Shepherd (July 26, 1921 - October 16, 1999) was a raconteur, radio and TV personality, writer, and actor.
Born in South Chicago, Illinois, Shepherd was raised in Hammond, Indiana where he graduated from Hammond High School in 1939. As a youth he worked for a brief time as a mail carrier in a steel-mill. He attended the University of Indiana. During World War II he served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps.
Shepherd started his broadcast radio career on WSAI AM in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1948. He later had a television program in Cincinnati called Rear Bumper. In 1957 he was recommended as the replacement for the resigning Steve Allen on NBC's The Tonight Show. NBC execs sent Shepherd to New York to prepare for the position, but they were contractually obligated to offer the position to Jack Paar first. NBC was certain Paar would hold out for a role in prime time, but he accepted.
Shep, as he was known, settled in at WOR-AM radio New York City, New York on an overnight time slot where he delighted his fans by telling stories, reading poetry (especially the works of Robert W. Service), and organizing comedic listener stunts (notably the book, I, Libertine) until 1977. He was reputed to have performed entirely without scripts. His oral narrative style was a precursor to that used by Spaulding Gray and Garrison Keillor.
Shepherd also performed regulary at the old Village Limelight, and at various local colleges and universities. These shows were sometimes broadcast live on WOR-AM radio. Eight record albums of live and studio performances of Shep were released between 1955 and 1975.
Between 1976 and 1994 Shepherd became a screenwriter of note, producing numerous works for both TV and cinema. He also narrated many of these works, the most famous being the holiday classic A Christmas Story. He performed before sold-out audiences at Carnegie Hall.
Shepherd wrote a series of humorous short stories about growing up in the Indiana steel towns, which were later assembled into books. Among them were, "In God We Trust--All Others Pay Cash" and "Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories." Some of those situations were incorporated into his movies.
Marshall McLuhan characterized Shepherd as "the first radio novelist". In a special bulletin, the American Radio Relay League described him as "a legend".
Shepherd was an amateur radio operator and his call sign was K2ORS. When operating as an amateur, he was known to use the name Parker.
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Last updated: 05-15-2005 21:58:12
