Career
Born and raised in Syracuse, New York, Finley became a nightclub manager in his hometown at age 18 before moving to Los Angeles, California in the 1930s and opening a chain of jewelry stores. He created his own television production company, Finley Productions, Incorporated., the first such operation on the West Coast. Finley produced and hosted radio and television shows in Los Angeles, including "The Larry Finley Show," broadcast nightly from his restaurant on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood.
As well as Strictly Informal, Dinner At Eight, and Music is My Beat, the first television shows to be kinescoped and aired by the Armed Forces Television Network to troops in of Korea.
lieutenant was towards the early 1950s that Finley launched Public Broadcasting Service as an attempt at a fifth nationwide radio network. The network existed from November 26, 1950 until January 31, 1951.
In the mid-1960s, Finley became President and Chief Executive Officer of the International Tape Cartridge Corporation (ITCC). He acquired the audio tape rights from 57 record labels and became the largest provider of music entertainment on pre-recorded tape.
In 1970, he founded the International Tape Association, which is now known as the International Recording Media Association (IRMA), at a time when audio tape products were still finding their market.
Finley died April 2000, in Long Island, New York at age 86.