Al Christy
Encyclopedia
Albert Christopher Ladesich (September 7, 1918-March 3, 1995), better known as Al Christy, was an American
actor
, advertising
executive, and radio and television announcer
.
He was born in Kansas City, Kansas
, the son of Croatian
and Yugoslavia
n parents who had immigrated to the United States a few years before. He graduated from Wyandotte High School in 1937. This was where he first became interested in dramatics.
Ladesich began his career working under his father, selling insurance for Armour Packing Company in Kansas City. He then served in World War II
, and upon his discharge, returned to Kansas City and became an announcer for radio station WDAF-FM
. It was here that he first adopted the stage name "Al Christy." While with WDAF, Ladesich also did acting on various dramatic radio programs being produced in Kansas City, most notably The Air Adventures of Jimmie Allen
, where he starred as mechanic "Flash" Lewis during the show's 1946-47 run. He also found acting work in educational and industrial films being produced by the Calvin Company
of Kansas City, including films directed by Robert Altman
. Ladesich would continue to appear in Calvin films (and ones produced by Centron Corporation
in Lawrence, Kansas
) until the early 1980s.
In 1950 shortly after the new WDAF-TV
station was begun in Kansas City, Ladesich became one of three weathercasters there. In 1953 when popular weather announcer Shelby Storck
left WDAF, Ladesich, who by now was assistant program director for the station, took over his spot and the name Al Christy became more well-known in the Kansas City area. The Ladesich family was very much involved in Kansas City media. Al's brother and sister were associated with WDAF-TV as well, as directors and producers.
In 1956 Ladesich left WDAF-TV and became a director, writer, producer, and account manager for a Kansas City advertising agency
which primarily produced radio and television commercials. Taking normal work hours and not being required to work at night like when toiling in radio and TV, Ladesich now had time in the evenings to devote to what soon became his chief hobby and avocation
, acting. In 1956 he began regularly appearing in productions of Kansas City's top little theater group, the Resident Theater. He missed appearing in only four or five Resident productions over a course of twelve years. In 1961 while vacationing in Los Angeles
, he visited his old Kansas City friend Robert Altman, who by now was directing episodic television in Hollywood. Altman told Ladesich about an episode of a TV series he was currently directing, titled Bonanza
, that he needed an actor for to play a bartender. Ladesich spent one day on the set, playing "Joe the Bartender," and scored his first screen credit. In 1966 director Richard Brooks
planned to shoot his film In Cold Blood
in and around Kansas City, and endeavored to use local talent for many of the smaller roles. Ladesich was among the local actors enlisted, portraying a sheriff.
In the late 1960s the Resident Theater closed down and soon professional theater was established for the first time in Kansas City, via the Missouri Repertory Theater. Ladesich was a regular there throughout the 1970s and 1980s and was well-known to Kansas City theatergoers during that time as a versatile character actor who could "do everything from Shakespeare to light comedy." He also, by this time, had been promoted to a vice-president and board member of a Kansas City ad agency and retired early in the 1980s. He spent his "retirement" years primarily in California
, scoring small roles in various feature films and television shows. He appeared in episodes of Falcon Crest
, The Twilight Zone
, Knots Landing
, and Punky Brewster
, played Dr. Holmes in the 1985 film Stand Alone, and played one half of the third "documentary couple" in When Harry Met Sally from 1989.
By 1990, Ladesich had returned to Kansas City and played a judge in the film Mr. and Mrs. Bridge
which was shot there that year. Soon after, he began to suffer from severe heart trouble and then officially "retired." He died in March 1995 of heart failure at his home in Kansas City, Missouri
. Al having been a lifelong bachelor, the only remaining Ladesich relative was Al's older brother, who died three years later.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
executive, and radio and television announcer
Announcer
An announcer is a presenter who makes "announcements" in an audio medium or a physical location.-Television and other media:Some announcers work in television production , radio or filmmaking, usually providing narrations, news updates, station identification, or an introduction of a product in...
.
He was born in Kansas City, Kansas
Kansas City, Kansas
Kansas City is the third-largest city in the state of Kansas and is the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, and is the third largest city in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. The city is part of a consolidated city-county government known as the "Unified...
, the son of Croatian
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
and Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
n parents who had immigrated to the United States a few years before. He graduated from Wyandotte High School in 1937. This was where he first became interested in dramatics.
Ladesich began his career working under his father, selling insurance for Armour Packing Company in Kansas City. He then served in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and upon his discharge, returned to Kansas City and became an announcer for radio station WDAF-FM
WDAF-FM
WDAF-FM is a country music radio station based in Kansas City, Missouri, in the United States. Its current assignment to Entercom's 100,000 Watt facility licensed to Liberty, Missouri, combines the history of both the frequency and the WDAF call letters.- The Early Days :WDAF was one of the first...
. It was here that he first adopted the stage name "Al Christy." While with WDAF, Ladesich also did acting on various dramatic radio programs being produced in Kansas City, most notably The Air Adventures of Jimmie Allen
The Air Adventures of Jimmie Allen
The Air Adventures of Jimmie Allen was a radio adventure serial created by writers Bob Burtt and Bill Moore, both of whom were from Kansas City, Missouri...
, where he starred as mechanic "Flash" Lewis during the show's 1946-47 run. He also found acting work in educational and industrial films being produced by the Calvin Company
Calvin Company
The Calvin Company was a Kansas City, Missouri-based educational and industrial film production company that for nearly half a century was the largest and most successful film producer of its type in the United States.-Origins:...
of Kansas City, including films directed by Robert Altman
Robert Altman
Robert Bernard Altman was an American film director and screenwriter known for making films that are highly naturalistic, but with a stylized perspective. In 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized his body of work with an Academy Honorary Award.His films MASH , McCabe and...
. Ladesich would continue to appear in Calvin films (and ones produced by Centron Corporation
Centron Corporation
Centron Corporation was an industrial and educational film production company. Founded in 1947 in Lawrence, Kansas by Arthur H. Wolf and Russell A. Mosser, Centron would come to the forefront of the industrial and educational film companies in the United States. Centron competed with large...
in Lawrence, Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas
Lawrence is the sixth largest city in the U.S. State of Kansas and the county seat of Douglas County. Located in northeastern Kansas, Lawrence is the anchor city of the Lawrence, Kansas, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Douglas County...
) until the early 1980s.
In 1950 shortly after the new WDAF-TV
WDAF-TV
WDAF-TV, virtual channel 4.1, is the Fox-affiliated television station serving the Kansas City, Missouri-Kansas designated market area. The station is owned by Local TV LLC, the media arm of private equity firm Oak Hill Capital Partners. Its studios and transmitter are located in the Signal Hill...
station was begun in Kansas City, Ladesich became one of three weathercasters there. In 1953 when popular weather announcer Shelby Storck
Shelby Storck
Shelby William Storck was an American newscaster, actor, writer, journalist, public relations specialist, and motion picture and television producer-director. He was a radio actor on The Air Adventures of Jimmie Allen and other programs, and appeared in the feature films The Delinquents and The...
left WDAF, Ladesich, who by now was assistant program director for the station, took over his spot and the name Al Christy became more well-known in the Kansas City area. The Ladesich family was very much involved in Kansas City media. Al's brother and sister were associated with WDAF-TV as well, as directors and producers.
In 1956 Ladesich left WDAF-TV and became a director, writer, producer, and account manager for a Kansas City advertising agency
Advertising agency
An advertising agency or ad agency is a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients. An ad agency is independent from the client and provides an outside point of view to the effort of selling the client's products or services...
which primarily produced radio and television commercials. Taking normal work hours and not being required to work at night like when toiling in radio and TV, Ladesich now had time in the evenings to devote to what soon became his chief hobby and avocation
Avocation
An avocation is an activity that one engages in as a hobby outside one's main occupation. There are many examples of people whose professions were the ways that they made their livings, but for whom their activities outside of their workplaces were their true passions in life...
, acting. In 1956 he began regularly appearing in productions of Kansas City's top little theater group, the Resident Theater. He missed appearing in only four or five Resident productions over a course of twelve years. In 1961 while vacationing in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, he visited his old Kansas City friend Robert Altman, who by now was directing episodic television in Hollywood. Altman told Ladesich about an episode of a TV series he was currently directing, titled Bonanza
Bonanza
Bonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...
, that he needed an actor for to play a bartender. Ladesich spent one day on the set, playing "Joe the Bartender," and scored his first screen credit. In 1966 director Richard Brooks
Richard Brooks
Richard Brooks was an American screenwriter, film director, novelist and occasional film producer.-Early life and career:...
planned to shoot his film In Cold Blood
In Cold Blood
In Cold Blood is a 1966 book by Truman Capote.In Cold Blood may also refer to:* In Cold Blood , a 1967 film and 1996 miniseries, both based on the book* In Cold Blood...
in and around Kansas City, and endeavored to use local talent for many of the smaller roles. Ladesich was among the local actors enlisted, portraying a sheriff.
In the late 1960s the Resident Theater closed down and soon professional theater was established for the first time in Kansas City, via the Missouri Repertory Theater. Ladesich was a regular there throughout the 1970s and 1980s and was well-known to Kansas City theatergoers during that time as a versatile character actor who could "do everything from Shakespeare to light comedy." He also, by this time, had been promoted to a vice-president and board member of a Kansas City ad agency and retired early in the 1980s. He spent his "retirement" years primarily in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, scoring small roles in various feature films and television shows. He appeared in episodes of Falcon Crest
Falcon Crest
Falcon Crest is an American primetime television soap opera which aired on the CBS network for nine seasons, from December 4, 1981 to May 17, 1990. A total of 227 episodes were produced....
, The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone is an American television anthology series created by Rod Serling. Each episode is a mixture of self-contained drama, psychological thriller, fantasy, science fiction, suspense, or horror, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist...
, Knots Landing
Knots Landing
Knots Landing is an American primetime television soap opera that aired from December 27, 1979 to May 13, 1993 on CBS. Set in a fictitious coastal suburb of Los Angeles in California, the show centered on the lives of four married couples living in a cul-de-sac, Seaview Circle...
, and Punky Brewster
Punky Brewster
Punky Brewster was an American sitcom about a girl named Punky Brewster being raised by her foster parent...
, played Dr. Holmes in the 1985 film Stand Alone, and played one half of the third "documentary couple" in When Harry Met Sally from 1989.
By 1990, Ladesich had returned to Kansas City and played a judge in the film Mr. and Mrs. Bridge
Mr. and Mrs. Bridge
Mr. & Mrs. Bridge is a 1990 Merchant Ivory film based on the novels by Evan S. Connell of the same name. It is directed by James Ivory, with a screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and produced by Ismail Merchant.-Plot:...
which was shot there that year. Soon after, he began to suffer from severe heart trouble and then officially "retired." He died in March 1995 of heart failure at his home in Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
. Al having been a lifelong bachelor, the only remaining Ladesich relative was Al's older brother, who died three years later.