Graham McNamee
Encyclopedia
Presenter
A presenter, or host , is a person or organization responsible for running an event. A museum or university, for example, may be the presenter or host of an exhibit. Likewise, a master of ceremonies is a person that hosts or presents a show...
in American radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
, the medium's most recognized national personality in its first international decade.
Graham McNamee's father John B. was an attorney, and his mother, Anne, was a homemaker, who also sang in a church choir. Born in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
and raised in St. Paul, Minnesota, McNamee had early aspirations of being an opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
singer. In 1923, while serving jury duty in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, he passed the studios of radio station WEAF en route to the courthouse and, on a whim, went to see the station manager. He was given an audition and hired as a staff announcer on the spot.
Sportscasting
Radio broadcasting of sporting events was a new thing in the 1920s. The play-by-play announcements were performed by a rotating group of newspaper writers. Their descriptions were matter-of-fact and boring at best. In 1923, announcer McNamee was assigned to help the sportswriters liven up their broadcasts. He wasn't a baseball expert, but had a knack for conveying what he saw in great detail, and with great enthusiasm. He became broadcasting first as a color commentatorColor commentator
A color commentator is a sports commentator who assists the play-by-play announcer, often by filling in any time when play is not in progress. The color analyst and main commentator will often exchange comments freely throughout the broadcast, when the play-by-play announcer is not describing the...
, bringing the sights and sounds of the game into the homes of listeners.
At WEAF, McNamee performed a variety of on-air duties, including baseball color commentary, culminating in doing play-by-play of the 1926 World Series
1926 World Series
The 1926 World Series was the championship series of the 1926 Major League Baseball season, featuring the St. Louis Cardinals against the New York Yankees...
. Over the course of the next decade, first with WEAF and then with the national NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
network, McNamee broadcast numerous sports events (including several World Series, Rose Bowls, and championship boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
matches), national political convention
Political convention
In politics, a political convention is a meeting of a political party, typically to select party candidates.In the United States, a political convention usually refers to a presidential nominating convention, but it can also refer to state, county, or congressional district nominating conventions...
s, presidential inaugurations and the arrival of aviator Charles Lindbergh
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.Lindbergh, a 25-year-old U.S...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
following his transatlantic flight to Paris, France in 1927. Later that year, McNamee was featured on the cover of Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
(October 3, 1927).
In 1925, at the Radio World Fair, he won a solid gold cup, designed like a microphone, as America's most popular announcer, receiving 189,470 votes out of 1,161,659 votes cast. He was married to concert and church soprano Josephine Garrett.
In the fall of 2010, two middle school students re-created the broadcast of the 1926 World Series
1926 World Series
The 1926 World Series was the championship series of the 1926 Major League Baseball season, featuring the St. Louis Cardinals against the New York Yankees...
which was taped by McNamee and Phillips Carlin
Phillips Carlin
Phillips Carlin was a radio broadcaster and television executive. Carlin started his broadcasting career with the New York radio station, WEAF. He teamed up with Graham McNamee to announce the 1926, 1927 and 1928 World Series...
.
Radio comedy and films
McNamee continued to broadcast into the 1930s, as an announcer on Ed WynnEd Wynn
Ed Wynn was a popular American comedian and actor noted for his Perfect Fool comedy character, his pioneering radio show of the 1930s, and his later career as a dramatic actor....
's and Rudy Vallee
Rudy Vallée
Rudy Vallée was an American singer, actor, bandleader, and entertainer.-Early life:Born Hubert Prior Vallée in Island Pond, Vermont, the son of Charles Alphonse and Catherine Lynch Vallée...
's weekly programs. McNamee played straight man
Double act
A double act, also known as a comedy duo, is a comic pairing in which humor is derived from the uneven relationship between two partners, usually of the same gender, age, ethnic origin and profession, but drastically different personalities or behavior...
for Wynn, reacting to Wynn's gags. McNamee also worked in motion pictures, narrating Krakatoa
Krakatoa (film)
Krakatoa is a 1933 short documentary film produced by Joe Rock. It won the Academy Award in 1934 for Best Short Subject .Educational Pictures was the film distributor of the film....
(1933), Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
' weekly Universal Newsreel
Universal Newsreel
Universal Newsreel was a series of 7- to 10-minute newsreels that were released twice a week between 1929 and 1967 by Universal Studios. A Universal publicity official, Sam B. Jacobson, was involved in originating and producing the newsreels...
and Camera Thrills
Camera Thrills
Camera Thrills is a 1935 short film produced by Charles E. Ford. It was nominated for an Academy Award at the 8th Academy Awards in 1935 for Best Short Subject ....
(1935), an Academy Award-nominated short subject, produced and directed by Charles E. Ford
Charles E. Ford
-External links:* Charles E. Ford on the Internet Movie Database * Reviews of Jacare * *...
.
McNamee opened each broadcast by saying, "Good afternoon (or evening), ladies and gentlemen of the radio audience." He closed each broadcast with, "This is Graham McNamee speaking. Goodnight, all."
He was married twice-- the first time, in 1921,to singer Josephine Garrett. They were divorced in 1932, and in 1934, he remarried, to Anne Lee Sims.
McNamee died at the age of 53 of a brain embolism, after being ill for over a week. He was buried in Mount Calvary Cemetery
Mount Calvary Cemetery (Columbus, Ohio)
Mount Calvary Cemetery is a Roman Catholic cemetery in Columbus, Ohio, located west of downtown next to Cooper Stadium and Green Lawn Cemetery. It is the oldest active Catholic cemetery in Franklin County...
in Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
.
Awards
In 1984, McNamee was part of the American Sportscasters AssociationAmerican Sportscasters Association
American Sportscasters Association was founded in 1979 by broadcaster Dick London and associate attorney Harold Foner as a non profit association to represent sportscasters by promoting and supporting the needs and interests of the professional sports broadcaster.-History:In 1980, Louis O...
Hall of Fame’s inaugural class which included sportscasting legends Red Barber
Red Barber
Walter Lanier "Red" Barber was an American sportscaster.Barber, nicknamed "The Ol' Redhead", was primarily identified with radio broadcasts of Major League Baseball, calling play-by-play across four decades with the Cincinnati Reds , Brooklyn Dodgers , and New York Yankees...
, Don Dunphy
Don Dunphy
Don Dunphy was a United States television and radio sports announcer specializing in boxing broadcasts. Dunphy was noted for his fast paced delivery and enthusiasm for the sport. It is estimated that he did "blow-by-blow" action for over 2,000 fights. The Friday Night Fights were broadcast every...
, Ted Husing
Ted Husing
Edward Britt Husing was an American sportscaster and was among the first to lay the groundwork for the structure and pace of modern sports reporting on television and radio.-Early life and career:...
and Bill Stern
Bill Stern
Bill Stern was a U.S. actor and sportscaster who announced the nation's first remote sports broadcast and the first telecast of a Major League Baseball game. In 1984, Stern was part of the American Sportscasters Association Hall of Fame’s inaugural class which included sportscasting legends Red...
.