Career
Although Baruch made his name as a major announcer, he tried to begin his career as a pianist for National Broadcasting Company Radio. He got into the wrong line of applicants. He had entered the announcers" line and was hired on the spot.
A native of France, he spoke fluent French, as well as fluent English.
A World World War II veteran, Baruch was in the original invasion of North Africa, spent almost four years overseas and was honorably discharged as a major. Baruch was involved in the mid-1940s launching of the Armed Forces Radio Service with stations in Algiers, Casablanca, Oran, Sicily and Tunis.
Their show was later presented on the American Broadcasting Company and National Broadcasting Company networks. Baruch was an announcer for such programs as The American Album of Familiar Music, The Fred Waring Show, The Kate Smith Show, The Shadow, Your Hit Parade and The United States Steel Hour.
In 1954, fulfilling a 20-year dream, he was named to the Brooklyn Dodgers broadcast team, for whom he worked for two years on WMGM radio and WOR-television In 1973, Baruch and Wain moved to Palm Beach, Florida where they did a top-rated daily four-hour talk show on WPBR, 1340 Department of Administration and Management. Baruch was the host of the show and ran the control board.
Wain on occasions asked him to play tape cartridges (a selection of about 12 hung in a metal rack on the wall to the right of Bea) of vintage songs she had once recorded, the most popular being "Deep Purple."
When the deep purple falls over sleepy garden walls
And the stars begin to twinkle in the sky—
In the mist of a memory you wander back to me
Breathing my name with a sigh. After nine years in Palm Beach, Florida at WPBR radio, Baruch and Wain relocated to Beverly Hills, California. During the early 1980s, the pair hosted a syndicated version of Your Hit Parade, reconstructing the list of hits of selected weeks in the 1940s and playing the original recordings.
Fred Hall"s Swing Thing: Interview with André Baruch and Bea Wain
Fred Hall"s Swing Thing: Participant Two: Interview with André Baruch and Bea Wain
Dealer Demonstration Tape for the Arvin 86L48 Solid State Stereo Tape Recorder (1967) on YouTube.