Background
Runyon was born in West Virginia and grew up in Williamson, where his father owned a furniture store.
Runyon was born in West Virginia and grew up in Williamson, where his father owned a furniture store.
He had an early interest in radio and started out as a janitor at a radio station in Welch, West Virginia. When the station"s regular announcer did not arrive for work one Saturday morning, Runyon convinced the station manager to let him go on the air. This worked out to be a regular air shift for him until it was learned that he was only thirteen years old.
The state"s Child Welfare Department intervened, and Runyon had to leave the airwaves until his fourteenth birthday.
Runyon worked at several radio stations in West Virginia before serving in the United States Marine Corps during the Korean War. He was initially a correspondent but became a Marine recruiter assigned to the Miami, Florida area.
While in Miami as a recruiter, Runyon also became part of a Marine unit there doing radio and television public service announcements. The unit included Editor McMahon, later of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.
Following his discharge in 1951, he went to work at World's Largest Wireles in Cincinnati.
From 1954 to 1961, Runyon worked in Dayton and Columbus, Ohio, prior to his joining station KYW in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1965, he moved to WCFL in Chicago. Runyon was the narrator (the "weeeellll" voice) of the Chickenman series which began on his program at WCFL in Chicago in 1966.
Runyon also played several parts in the show.
He rejoined what became WKYC in October 1969, replacing Specs Howard on the morning show and kept the position when the station became WWWE in 1972. Runyon announced his resignation from WWWE on March 15, 1973, because of health concerns.
Runyon had been frequently hospitalized and told WWWE management to look for a replacement, as he doubted he would be able to return to the air. Weeks later, he died of leukemia at the age of 42.
Runyon"s memory was honored at a special Cleveland Indians game at Cleveland Municipal Stadium on May 4, 1973, with proceeds going to the American Cancer Society.
