WSB Radio History

Marcus is a WSB institution.  He joined WSB in 1930 as a part time piano player, bedtime story teller and staff announcer.  In 1940 he finally decided to make WSB his life, where he went on to serve as production director, sports announcer, music director and other odd jobs.  He later made the move to WSB TV.  He moved up the ladder to become executive vice president for Cox Broadcasting.  He retired from Cox Broadcasting in December 1975.  Read the complete history of Marcus Bartlett and hear a clip from a broadcast in the 1930's at our special tribute page.  •Click here for that.

Bruce Bartley Walrath was a no-nonsense news anchor with a great voice and demanding standards for newscasts.  He joined WSB in 1965 and was best known for anchoring the 6PM Evening News show.  Bruce was admired by all who worked with him for his professionalism as a broadcaster.  He was also admired though for working each day despite a disability that might have sidelined other men. 
The Atlanta Journal Constitution wrote about Bruce's disablilty in 2003.  Mr. Walrath was stationed in Germany as an Army tank driver when he had a freak accident in 1957. Live electrical wires hit his tank, sending a blast of electricity through his legs and burning them like charcoal. Both legs were amputated. The 23-year-old was sent to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, where he was fitted with artificial legs and began a year of rehabilitation.   He never looked back. "Bruce rarely discussed the loss of his legs," said his wife, Barbara N. Hamilton of Lake Havasu City, Ariz. "He just went on with life."   Colleagues were amazed at the way he handled disability. "I frankly didn't even know he had artificial legs until I had worked with him for six months," said Don Baird. "It never held him back in any way."  Mr. Walrath danced, drove, water-skied, swam and took delight in fooling his doctors. "He always got a big kick out of going to new doctors for a check up," said his wife. "They would try to find a pulse in his feet and would look very bewildered when there was none."
There are many stories about Bruce Bartley, but one stands out. Howard Gunter recounted the story to the AJC in 2003.   During the 1966 Atlanta firemen's strike, the firemen's union had reached an angry impasse with the city. "Bruce succeeded in getting the firemen to agree to a conference with Mayor Ivan Allen Jr. That meeting brought about the end of the strike. Someone asked why the firefighters went along with Bruce's suggestion, and their response was: 'We trust him.' Bruce was that sort of fellow," Mr. Gunter said.

Pat continued in the tradition of WSB hiring great women to be on the air long before it was in fashion.  As was usual in the 60's, Pat was a "staff announcer", which meant she did interviews, news , commercial recording and writing.  Pat is best remembered as the primary reporter selected to provide coverage of Martin Luther King Jr.'s funeral at Ebenezer Baptist Church.  Pat says "I was the only white woman there in a crowd of male reporters. Those were pioneer days for women in news -there were alot of barriers to break back then and WSB gave me the opportunity to do that."

Jimmy is best remembered by his long time friend Elmos Ellis who wrote the following on January 22, 2005:  Jimmy joined WSB, fresh out of the U. of Ga., in the spring of  1940.  I came along a few weeks later.   So he was my first WSB friend.   He and Jo married while they were still in college.  So he was married when WSB hired him. He was a superb news reader and editor.  Very articulate. Careful to get all names and pronunciations correct.  Kept a very close watch on news reports, both domestic and foreign, and was extremely well informed. He anchored major WSB newscasts.  During World War II, he served in the Air Corps as a flight instructor at various air bases in Texas.  Taught many of the
nation's air aces how to fly. When WSB-TV went on the air, he was the first news caster on television in the South, and did the inaugural newscast on WSBTV,  Sept.28, 1948.  He continued to also do newcasting on WSB Radio until promoted to an executive-management sales position with the station. He coached many WSB newly-hired announcers and news reporters.  Supervised commercial production. He was also a talented actor and played roles on many WSB comedy and dramatic productions.  Great sports lover, he worked with a group of WSB staff members doing freelance coverage of sports broadcasts, including auto races.  He was a fine singer, and an active freelance commercial announcer.  I used him continually on freelance work that I produced for both radio and TV. He sang for years in his church choir at Peachtree Road United Methodist church.  He and Jo celebrated their 66th anniversary in 2004.  Two wonderful married and successful daughters.  JoAnne Cooper and Jean Hendrix. and several grandchildren. He was intelligent, had a great sense of humor, one of my oldest and dearest friends.  Elmo Ellis

IThere are very few people who came to WSB straight out of college, but the enormously talented Harry Chapman was one.  He moved behind the microphone of WSB in the fall of 1967 right after graduating from the University of Georgia.  He worked the Clockwatcher shift after John Doolittle, the WSB Metro and the early afternoon shift as well as time at WSB-FM.

(2006 Update)  Atlanta's loss was Nashville's gain. Harry has been an icon of Nashville broadcasting - 35 years as a news anchor, program host and entertainment reporter -- all at Channel 5 in Nashville.  Here is the article about Harry's announcement that he was retiring from the anchor desk in 2006.
He is a TV personality who middle Tennesseans have grown up watching and admiring. After 35 years of captivating television moments, NewsChannel 5's Harry Chapman will retire this fall.

Known for his depth of knowledge and passion about the music industry, his extraordinary interviewing skills and 30-plus years of news and entertainment reporting experience, Harry Chapman has seen and done it all.

His career at NewsChannel 5 has been unique and varied, starting as an anchor for the weekend newscasts in November of 1971. He was eventually joined at the anchor desk by a rising young star named Oprah Winfrey. 
Years later he branched out into television sales at the station, working directly with advertisers for six years. For a brief period Harry joined Belmont University to become the Vice President of College Relations, but a new opportunity at NewsChannel 5 quickly brought him back to television to launch a program called Talk of the Town.

For more than 20 years Talk of the Town and Harry Chapman have gone hand-in-hand. Harry has been a constant driving force in the ongoing success of this local entertainment program. From interviews with the stars to fun-filled adventures in live TV, Harry has made this daytime hour engaging for local viewers of all ages.

In addition to Talk of the Town, Harry has stepped into roles in the news department with ease - launching the NewsChannel 5 weekend morning newscasts in 1993, then again in 2000 with NewsChannel 5 Midday which he still anchors today.

Countless professional colleagues and the community at large have recognized Harry's accomplishments over his illustrious career. Highlights include the CMA Media Achievement Award in 2001 in recognition of his outstanding entertainment industry reporting. Also, the University of Georgia, his alma mater, honored him with the John Holliman, Jr. Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Harry has had a lifetime of achievements. "I've had such wonderful opportunities to meet and work with icons of the news and entertainment world", said Chapman, "dinner with Lucille Ball; an interview with George Burns; a party at Larry Hagman's (J.R. from Dallas) ranch; and a news story introduced by Walker Cronkite saying 'more from Harry Chapman'."

In Nashville, Harry has been as popular with the actual country stars as the stars themselves are with their fans. From Tex Ritter to Garth Brooks, there is hardly anyone in the music business whom Harry has not interviewed. They all know him by name.

Harry's love for music will follow him into retirement. "I've worked in television for so many years," Chapman said, "I'm looking forward to spending more time in other areas that I love. Music is definitely one of those areas."

"Harry has earned the respect of both the music community and the television community with lots of heart and dedication," said Debbie Turner, NewsChannel 5 Network president and general manager. "It's impossible to sum up in a few words the many important contributions he's made to the success of NewsChannel 5 over the decades. Harry is one of those great people who has personalized NewsChannel 5 for our viewers in so many ways.

We're happy that even after his retirement, Harry will continue his Nashville songwriters program "Words and Music" on NewsChannel 5+." (Reprinted courtesy of Channel 5 Nashville, TN)

Elmo Ellis is a legendary dominant figure of the modern broadcasting era at WSB.  An entire page of this web site is now devoted to his career. • Check out the link here for The Story of Elmo Ellis.