Sandy Becker, Young Announcer with an Old Voice

Radio listeners are getting accustomed to learning that their favorite air personalities don't look like their voices sound. But Carolinians can't quite hide their amazement when they see Sandy Becker, WBT announcer.

Sandy tips Father Time's scales at 22 but to hear his voice you'd expect the years to hang heavy on his shoulders. It is a booming, full voice that sounds as though its owner had spent years training it to perfection. It's a voice filled with expression, emotion and worldliness. Yet Sandy Becker has never traveled farther from his birthplace of New York City than Charlotte, and his face is young and unlined.

Once when he was announcing a children's program, he invited listeners to send their children to the studio for an air appearance. Mothers and children alike were stunned to find that their "Uncle Sandy" had no long gray beard for them to trip over.

Sandy started his dramatic career as the builder and producer of a puppet show at the age of 10. All by himself, he did the voices of his 12 puppet characters. In college, he found radio irresistibly attractive and left school to take a job on a small New York station. He hadn't been there long before his fine voice was brought to the attention of Charles Crutchfield, WBT program director, who invited him to join the WBT announcing staff.

Along with Sandy's regular announcing duties, he presents Poet's Music -- a title he originated -- at 11:30 a.m. every Sunday morning. With recorded classical music as a background, he reads poems that blend best with this type of accompaniment; and sometimes he reads poems of his own composition. His audience on this program is so big that sometimes letters come in from as far away as Ohio and New York. Many of the letters ask him to read certain poems, and he always complies if he can.

When Sandy isn't announcing, he is forever lobbying for his host of hobbies -- the most important of which are cartooning, sculpturing, sketching, tennis and swimming. He's on the verge of giving up the dubious advantage of being WBT's only bachelor announcer. He has announced his intention to marry a young lady who is one of Charlotte's loveliest debutantes.

Dale Banks in Radio Mirror, June 1942

Old Time Radio · Sandy Becker · Young Doctor Malone · The Shadow · Children · Poetry · Charlotte · WBT · WNEW ·

2022/11/03 · Link

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