Del Sharbutt | |
|---|---|
 Sharbutt in 1955 | |
| Born | Delbert Eugene Sharbutt February 16, 1912 Cleburne, Texas |
| Died | April 26, 2002 Palm Desert, California |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Announcer |
Del Sharbutt (February 16, 1912 - April 26, 2002) was an American radio announcer. The son of "a circuit-riding minister in the Texas Panhandle," [1] he was born in Cleburne, Texas, [2] and died in Palm Desert, California. [3]
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Sharbutt attended Texas Christian University, initially planning to study law. After he became involved in drama and music there, however, he changed his career plans. [4] His first appearance on radio was in 1929 as a singer on WBAP in Fort Worth, Texas. [2] He soon became an announcer, and from that point on, he made his career in broadcasting. [3] Sharbutt's obituary in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel noted that he spent "four decades as an announcer, newscaster, and company spokesman." [5]
A 1943 article in Radio Mirror magazine summarized Sharbutt's progress from local station WBAP to his then-role at CBS:
[At WBAP] Del was a one-man radio station, singing, acting, and announcing at $25 per week. After several years of working stations all over the Southwest, he ended up at $19 a week. Not satisfied with this progress in reverse, he went to Chicago and, after starving for two weeks, took a job singing in a Presbyterian church. There, he met a man who steered him into his first break as an announcer on Chicago's station WJJD. Del stuck at that for a year and a half, then came to New York. He arrived without a single contact, and three days later, beat out 50 competitors for an important job at CBS. [6]
Old-time radio shows for which Sharbutt was an announcer included, The Man I Married, [7] Lavender and Old Lace, Guy Lombardo , Jack Pearl , Ray Noble , Bob Hope , The Song Shop , Hobby Lobby, Myrt and Marge , The Hour of Charm , Melody and Madness, Colgate Ask-It-Basket, Lanny Ross , [2] Amos 'n' Andy , Club Fifteen , The Jack Carson Show , Lum and Abner , Your Hit Parade , [8] The Campbell Playhouse , [9] Request Performance, [10] Meet Mr. McNutley, [11] and Meet Corliss Archer . [12]
In 1958, Sharbutt was involved in an effort to revive a semblance of old-time radio on ABC. The Jim Backus Show was described in the Milwaukee Sentinel as "what might be called an old-fashioned radio variety show." Sharbutt was the announcer for the program, which featured singers Betty Ann Grove and Jack Haskell and a quintet, The Honey Dreamers. [13] Also in 1958, Sharbutt became a disc jockey on WABC in New York City. Another old-time radio announcer, Tony Marvin, and he began "hosting afternoon record shows in their distinctively deep voices." [14] His other on-air activities in radio included being a newscaster for the Mutual Broadcasting System [5] , and a master of ceremonies for a Ringabuk, a local program in New York City. [15]
Sharbutt was an announcer for television programs, including Who Do You Trust? , The Jerry Colonna Show, Your Hit Parade [16] The Betty White Show (1954 version), [17] All Star Revue, and Kukla, Fran and Ollie. [18] He also appeared as himself on the TV shows Of All Things, The Jerry Fielding Show, and The Saturday Night Revue with Jack Carter. [3] In something of a reprise of one of his regular jobs, Sharbutt played an announcer in the movie Hit Parade of 1947. [19]
After doing commercials for Campbell's Soup on several shows that he announced, Sharbutt became more closely associated with Campbell's as a company spokesman. [5] His obituary in the Los Angeles Times noted, "He voiced the commercials, touting the soups as 'Mmm-mm-good,'" [20] a slogan that he created. [21]
