Adrian Cronauer is a former United States Air Force

United States Air Force

The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

 sergeant and radio personality

Radio personality

A radio personality is a person with an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality can be someone who introduces and discusses various genres of music, hosts a talk radio show that may take calls from listeners, or someone whose primary responsibility is to give news, weather,...

 best known as the inspiration for the 1987 film Good Morning, Vietnam

Good Morning, Vietnam

Good Morning, Vietnam is a 1987 American comedy-drama film set in Saigon during the Vietnam War, based on the career of Adrian Cronauer, a disc jockey on Armed Forces Radio Service , who proves hugely popular with the troops serving in South Vietnam, but infuriates his superiors with what they call...

in which he was portrayed by Robin Williams

Robin Williams

Robin McLaurin Williams is an American actor and comedian. Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork and Mindy, and later stand-up comedy work, Williams has performed in many feature films since 1980. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance...

.

Background in radio

Cronauer began his broadcasting career at the age of 12, as a guest for a Pittsburgh-area children's amateur

Amateur

An amateur is generally considered a person attached to a particular pursuit, study, or science, without pay and often without formal training....

 hour. He attended the University of Pittsburgh

University of Pittsburgh

The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...

, where he helped found the forerunner of the university's college radio station WPTS

WPTS-FM

WPTS-FM is a non-commercial radio station owned by the University of Pittsburgh, and offers a mix of student-run programming, ranging from music programming to news and sports coverage. The station operates at 92.1 MHz with an ERP of 17 watts, and is licensed to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...

.

Military service

Cronauer co-wrote the original story for the film Good Morning, Vietnam, which was based on his experiences in the Vietnam War

Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

, where he served from 1965 to 1966. His program was known as the "Dawn Buster". A subsequent special program on National Public Radio about the role of the American Forces Vietnam Network -- AFVN -- (military radio and television) earned Cronauer a 1992 Ohio State Award and two 1991 Gold Medals from the New York Radio Festival.

Personal life

Cronauer earned a master's degree in Media Studies from the New School for Social Research in New York City and a Juris Doctor

Juris Doctor

Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...

 degree from the University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...

. Cronauer's law practice concentrated in information and communications law. He was also the head of an advertising agency. Later he worked as a special assistant to the Director of the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office.

Cronauer is a member of Mensa

Mensa International

Mensa is the largest and oldest high-IQ society in the world. It is a non-profit organization open to people who score at the 98th percentile or higher on a standardised, supervised IQ or other approved intelligence test...

. He is also—contrary to Robin Williams' portrayal—a "lifelong card-carrying Republican", having taken an "active role" in both Bob Dole

Bob Dole

Robert Joseph "Bob" Dole is an American attorney and politician. Dole represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996, was Gerald Ford's Vice Presidential running mate in the 1976 presidential election, and was Senate Majority Leader from 1985 to 1987 and in 1995 and 1996...

's 1996 and George W. Bush

George W. Bush

George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

's 2004 Presidential campaigns.