In 1969, KLAC switched from a talk station to a music station. Grant was described as Los Angeles' most controversial nighttime radio host. Some of Grant's colleagues at the station were Joel A. Grant moved from KABC (AM) to KLAC in March 1967. He is much less a showman than his counterparts. Grant, however, is versatile and discusses subjects intelligently. Grant's audience appears to be older and he deals less in controversy than Pyne or Jackson. An OctoLos Angeles Times article describes Grant's broadcasting style:īob Grant is a relative newcomer, but his background is solidly radio, having been a comedian, newscaster and sports announcer. He competed during nighttime radio against his former co-worker and mentor Joe Pyne and radio commentator Michael Jackson. While Grant would become a controversial radio figure, he started off more mellow. Grant hosted three shows on KABC (AM) in 1964 titled, "Open Line," "Night Line," and "Sunday Line." While at KABC Grant would interview celebrities including Muhammad Ali, controversial figures such as Kwanzaa founder Ron "Maulana" Karenga, and politicians including Ronald Reagan in what Grant claimed was Reagan's first interview as a political candidate in 1965. Kennedy was assassinated, and Pyne being a critic of Kennedy's was not allowed to host his show, and Grant substituted for him, eventually inheriting the show in 1964. Grant was then urged by co-worker and early controversial radio host Joe Pyne to substitute for him. Afterwards Grant later became sports director at KABC (AM) in Los Angeles. Condylis and Grant would also entertain at places, such as college campuses. Prime Examples Condylis and Grant, a couple of dialecticians from Chicago, specialize in a form of comedy that is most popular today satire." Grant described the show as being similar to "Saturday Night Live" on the radio. The Los Angeles Times stated, "Their names are Paul Condylis and Bob Grant, voted by this corner as the outstanding newcomers of 1959. Grant's first radio work in Los Angeles was on radio station KNX (AM) in 1959, where he worked with future actor Paul Condylis on the Condylis & Grant Comedy Show. Grant then moved from Chicago to Los Angeles. During the Korean War, he served in the Naval Reserve. While at WBBM, he was forced to change his last name from "Gigante" to "Grant" in order to sound less ethnic. Grant also worked on a radio show called "Gold Coast" in the late 1950s, which had comedy skits. Grant may have done other work as an extra, but he did not discuss his acting work much on his radio show. He then got a job at the news department at WBBM (AM) in Chicago and also continued acting in plays. On May 14, 1948, Grant did his first professional news announcement, to discuss the formation of Israel. Grant originally got into professional radio when he answered a phone call for his roommate, and the program director calling thought he had a good voice. Grant left school early to take a job in radio. As a student, Grant acted in plays, such as "the Duchess of Malfi". After high school, Grant attended the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and studied journalism, where he also auditioned and got accepted for the school's radio station. Grant was widely termed a political conservative, and personally considered himself to be a conservative with some libertarian leanings.Īs a high school student at Steinmetz High School in Chicago, Grant auditioned for the Central Radio Workshop of the Chicago Public Schools, where once every two weeks he would perform in plays on FM radio station WBEZ. Grant's career spanned from the 1950s until shortly before his death at age 84 on December 31, 2013. A veteran of broadcasting in New York City, Grant is considered a pioneer of the conservative talk radio format and was one of the early adopters of the "combat talk" format. Robert Ciro Gigante, known as Bob Grant (March 14, 1929 – December 31, 2013), was an American radio host.
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