Dan Seymour (announcer)

Seymour was born in Manhattan. He attended schools in Paterson, New Jersey, and graduated from Montclair Academy.^[3] When he was 18, he traveled to study and teach stage techniques as a guest of the Austrian Ministry of Education.^[4] He was a dramatics major at Amherst College.^[5]

Seymour was once recognized as "Radio's best announcer."^[4] An obituary observed: "Seymour was best known as the deep-voiced announcer who startled Americans with a convincing but fictional account of Martians landing on Earth in the War of the Worlds broadcast in 1938."^[6]

His first job in radio announcing came in 1935 at WNAC in Boston, Massachusetts, after his college graduation.^[3] While at the station, he was also an announcer for the Yankee Network. In 1936, he resigned and joined CBS in New York City.^[7] His first major assignment there was announcing for Major Bowes Amateur Hour.^[8]

A significant assignment early in his career was becoming the announcer on We the People, a job that led to a position with the program's advertising agency, Young and Rubicam.^[4]

Other programs on which Seymour worked as announcer were The Henry Morgan Show,^[9]: 304 The Aldrich Family,^[9] Songs by Jack Smith,^[10] Aunt Jenny's Real Life Stories,^[11] Sing It Again,^[12] Bobby Benson,^[13] and Original Gillette Community Sing.^[13]: 45

Seymour was one of the producers of You and the News.^[14]

Seymour was master of ceremonies on Where Was I?^[15] and Sing It Again.^[16]: 972 He was the announcer for Tex and Jinx,^[16]: 1063 Dunninger and Winchell, (also known as The Bigelow Show for part of its run),^[16] and The Swift Home Service Club.^[16]: 1045

In 1945, Seymour, director Tony Leader, and writer Judson Phillips combined efforts to create P.L.S. Productions, a radio producing team, with offices in New York City. The team's first program was You Make the News, which began November 15, 1945, on the Mutual Broadcasting System.^[17]

Three months after Seymour became producer of We the People in February 1950, the program's television Nielsen rating had almost doubled.^[18]

In 1950, Seymour left the on-air side of broadcasting to work in programming. He explained his transition by saying: "I never really enjoyed being a performer. The process of simply reading lines became a bore. I became fascinated with the whole business of mass communications and mass persuasion. This was where the challenge lay."^[3]

He first was employed by the Young & Rubicam advertising agency.^[19] An invitation to "administer a lift to the General Electric program" for Y & R led to "a permanent role with the agency as a television and radio executive."^[4] In 1953, he was appointed a vice president in charge of programming in the agency's radio-television department.^[20] He resigned from Y & R October 1, 1955, to become a vice president of the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency.^[21] Later, he became president and chief executive officer at the Thompson agency.^[22]

In 1946, Seymour and Kathryn Murray shared narration on an eight-sided 78 rpm album, Arthur Murray Teaches the Fox Trot. The instructional recordings were issued in conjunction with Arthur Murray's dance studios.^[23]

Seymour was elected to one-year terms on the board of the New York City local of the American Federation of Radio Artists for 1948^[24] and 1949.^[25]

Seymour served on two ad hoc committees appointed by two United States presidents. Under Lyndon Johnson, he was on a committee "to make recommendations for improvements in United States foreign trade." Under Richard Nixon, he was on a committee "to find ways to increase public awareness on personal health."^[3]

Seymour was married to the former Louise Scharff. They had four children.^[4]

Seymour died of a heart attack July 27, 1982, at his apartment in New York City. He was 68.^[6] He was survived by his wife, a son, three daughters and 10 grandchildren.^[3]