Mike Douglas

**Mike Douglas** (*born Michael Delaney Dowd Jr.*) was an American big‑band singer, entertainer, television talk‑show host and actor whose career spanned more than six decades, making him one of the most recognizable faces of mid‑century American broadcasting. Born on **August 11, 1920** in *Chicago, Illinois*, he left high school early to sing as a choirboy and soon found work as a nightclub crooner and a staff singer for radio stations such as WKY in Oklahoma City. After serving in the U.S. Navy during World II, he resumed his career as a staff singer for Chicago’s WMAQ‑TV before moving to Los Angeles, where he joined Kay Kyser’s big‑band orchestra and recorded hits like “Old Buttermilk Sky” (1946) and “The Old Lamp‑Lighter” (1947). Kyser gave him the stage name “Mike Douglas,” and the singer also supplied the voice of Prince Charming in Disney’s *Cinderella* (1950). Throughout the 1950s he appeared on several local TV programs, including *Showcase* on WGN‑TV and *The Music Show* on DuMont, while continuing to perform in nightclubs and on cruise ships.

In 1961 Douglas was hired by KYW‑TV in Cleveland to host an afternoon talk show, which quickly evolved into *The Mike Douglas Show*. The program entered national syndication in 1963 and moved to Philadelphia in 1965, where it became a cultural institution, featuring a rotating roster of celebrity co‑hosts ranging from Truman Capote and Richard Nixon to The Rolling Stones and Barbra Streisand. At its height in the late 1960s the show reached 171 markets and attracted six million daily viewers, earning Douglas multiple Emmy Awards and an annual salary that peaked at two million dollars. He also pursued a solo music career, scoring a modest Top 40 hit with “The Men in My Little Girl’s Life” in 1966. After the program’s relocation to Los Angeles in 1978, it continued until 1981 when Westinghouse cancelled it. Douglas later hosted CNN’s *People Now* and made guest appearances on shows such as *The Love Boat* and *Knots Landing*. He remained a beloved public figure until his death on his 86th birthday, **August 11, 2006**, in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.