Earle C. Anthony
Earle C. Anthony (December 18, 1880 – August 6, 1961) was a pioneer businessman based in Los Angeles, California. He is primarily known for his achievements in two fields: Broadcasting and automobiles. He was also a songwriter, journalist and playwright.
In 1923 he was founder and owner of what eventually became 50,000 watt KFI AM640 radio, a station he controlled until his death in 1961. From 1929 to 1944, he also owned KECA-AM 790, now KABC. He was an early president of the National Association of Broadcasters and during his term oversaw the establilshment og the organization's first paid staff. He also was a founder of one of the earliest television stations in Los Angeles, KFI-TV, channel 9 and KFI-FM, both of which were disposed of in 1951.
From 1915 to 1958 he was the Packard distributor for all of California (one out of every seven Packards ever sold were through the Anthony organization). He was also instrumental in developing the concept of the gasoline service station (the Chevron was the trademark of the National Supply Co., a service station chain Anthony headed and sold to the Standard Oil Company of California in 1913.) He was also a pioneer in inter-urban bus transportation, founding a company later incorporated into Pacific Greyholund lines and had role in the development of car radios.
He was active in many civic activities. He helped save the Hollywood Bowl by assuming leadership of the Symphony Under Stars Foundation in the early 1930s. He donated resources for a wind resistant cross to replace others that had previously been blown over in the Coachella Valley (Palm Springs).
He had a major supporting role in helping bring major league baseball to Los Angeles, resilting in the Dodger games being carried on KFI and Dodger owner Walter O'Mally becoming a board member of Earle C. Anthony, Inc., according to his biographer, Arthur Landing.
Anthony is also credited with having founded the Los Angeles Auto Show, introducing neon lights to Southern California from France, and personally building the first automobile ever constructed in Los Angeles (later rebuilt and now in the possession of the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles).
His house in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles was designed by Bernard Maybeck[1] and was later bequesthed by a subsequent owner to the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It is currently run by this order and is now known as the Cardinal Timothy Manning House of Prayer for Priests.
His only son, Kelly Anthony, was tragically disabled in a tragic WW2 mishap and died months after the demise of his famous father. Anthony's fortune went to a trust primarily benefitting the California Institute of Technology and the University of California (the latter of which was Anthony's alma mater). Some of Anthony's employees and friends also received pensions from the trust for the rest of their lives.
References
- ^ McCoy, Esther (1960). Five California Architects. New York: Reinhold Publishing Corporation, 53. ASIN B000I3Z52W.
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