Bert Parks
Bert Parks (born Bertram Jacobson;[1] December 30, 1914 – February 2, 1992) was an American actor, singer, and radio and television announcer, best known for hosting the annual Miss America telecast from 1955 to 1979.
Bert Parks
Early life[edit]
Parks was born in Atlanta, Georgia, to Aaron Jacobson, a Jewish merchant who had immigrated to the United States in 1900 from Latvia (then part of the Russian Empire), and his wife Hattie (Spiegel) Jacobson, the daughter of immigrants from Austria-Hungary.[2][3] He had one older brother, Allen Jacobson.[2]
Parks had his first experience in amateur theatre when he was four years old.[4] He graduated from Marist School, a Catholic preparatory school in Atlanta.[5]
Radio[edit]
Parks entered radio broadcasting at age 16, for Atlanta's WGST.[6] Three years later, in 1933, he moved to New York City and was hired as a singer and straight man on The Eddie Cantor Show, then becoming a CBS Radio staff announcer.
Parks was the host of Break the Bank, which premiered on radio in 1945 and was telecast from 1948 to 1957, as well as Stop the Music on radio in 1948 and television from 1949 to 1952. The success of Stop the Music took a toll on the ratings of the popular radio show hosted by satirist Fred Allen, who began spoofing Parks's program with skits mocking the premise of the show, one called Cease The Melody.
With other celebrities, he hosted NBC radio's Monitor during the 1960s.
Death[edit]
Parks died of lung cancer at La Jolla, California, on February 2, 1992, at the age of 77.[1]