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Ray Forrest
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Raymond Forrest (born Raymond Feuerstein; January 7, 1916 – March 11, 1999) was a radio staff announcer for NBC. He was a pioneering American TV announcer, host and news broadcaster from the very earliest days of TV pre-World War II through to the 1960s. His obituary in The New York Times called him "the nation's first television personality".[1]

Early life and career

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Forrest was the son of Arthur Feuerstein and Hedwig Schneider Feuerstein.[2] He was born in Germany, the son of a watch maker, who emigrated to the United States with his family in 1923. He attended Staunton Military Academy, where he was made cadet major in his senior year. Following his schooling he went abroad for a year to study foreign languages, then returned to the U.S., where he planned to take up his father's trade until a friend of the family who was associated with radio broadcasting invited him to visit Radio City.[citation needed] His career in broadcasting began at 20 with a job as a page boy for NBC in 1936. The job led to his changing his name, as people were confused about the pronunciation of his birth name.[3]

World War II interrupted both the development of television and his own career, though the televised weekly show, “The War As It Happens," debuted in New York City on February 21, 1944. Produced by NBC, the show followed a newsreel format with several minutes of government film about the war effort, interspersed with Forrest in the studio explaining the latest developments with the use of maps on an easel. By April 1944 the broadcast was being fed to Philadelphia and Schenectady, NY, becoming the first newscast to be seen in multiple cities.[citation needed]

Forrest joined the Army in 1942, serving in the ETO. He returned to work at NBC after he returned to civilian life in 1946.[3]

1947-1949

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He was almost as busy as ever, among other things as the announcer for In the Kelvinator Kitchen, an early cooking show, in 1947, and as the announcer and eventually the host of Television Screen Magazine, one of the first television magazine shows, in 1948 and 1949.

Then he was asked to produce and to be the host of Children's Theater, and Forrest made what he regarded as his most important contribution to television.

1949-1950

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After his father died in 1949, Forrest returned to Paterson, New Jersey, to work with his mother and two sisters in Feuerstein Import Company, which his father had started in 1923. Forrest worked in the business Monday through Friday, reserving Saturdays for his television program.[4]

Children's Theater

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Forrest produced and hosted New York City's earliest and one of the most distinctive children's TV variety series called Children's Theater,[1] which was seen on Saturday mornings on New York's WNBT/WRCA TV Channel 4 (even before it became WNBC) from 1949 to June 1961. A veteran radio broadcaster, Forrest created a TV series that encouraged children to explore many places of interest, to read books, and showed them how to care for animals and become involved in local activities.[citation needed] The program debuted on WNBT on September 21, 1949, as "a weekly series of silent movie comedies and cartoons".[5]

"Children's Theater" shared the 1957 NYC Emmy award for "Best Children's And Teenage Program" with WCBS TV's "On The Carousel!". (Info about "Children's Theater" sharing the 1957 NYC Emmy with "On The Carousel" can be found in "The NYC Kids Shows Round Up" section of "The TV Party" website at www.tvparty.com).

During its long run, Children's Theater also showed the 1958 color versions of Crusader Rabbit TV cartoons. Children's Theater remained on WNBC-TV Channel 4's Saturday morning line-up until Saturday, June 17, 1961.

If Forrest is better remembered among older New York television viewers for the acclaimed educational program Children's Theater, which he produced and hosted for WNBC-TV from 1949 to 1960, there is a reason his earlier work has been virtually forgotten.

Style

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In the earliest days, wearing a tuxedo to intone the formal sign-on when WNBT went on the air each evening, Forrest announced every station break and every program. He covered wrestling, boxing, ice hockey, horse racing and movie premieres. He interviewed men and women on the street, introduced dramatic productions, was a quiz show announcer and variety show host and even became the network's first full-time news presenter after Lowell Thomas, whose radio news had been simulcast on television, decided to do his broadcasts from his upstate home.[6]

In those pre-World War II days, he became the most visible presence on television, when there were fewer than 5,000 television sets in America, mostly concentrated in the New York City vicinity.

Nature films

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Forrest wrote, produced and narrated his own nature films as well. Often he shot his shows on location (using primitive videotape technology), as early as September 24, 1960.[citation needed]

Other notable location broadcasts with Forrest included a series of pre-taped shows from the now defunct Freedomland U.S.A. amusement park in the Bronx. It gave his young viewers a chance to not only see the park but to experience vividly events that were a part of America's history.[7]

Personal life and death

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Forrest was married and had a son.[4] A resident of Kinnelon, New Jersey, Forrest died on March 11, 1999, aged 83.[1]

References

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Ray Forrest

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from Grokipedia
Ray Forrest is an American television announcer, host, and pioneer known for becoming one of the earliest and most prominent figures in the medium's experimental era, serving as the full-time announcer on NBC's W2XBS starting in 1939 and earning recognition as the nation's first television personality. He introduced viewers to a wide range of programming during television's infancy, from remote broadcasts of sporting events and the 1939–1940 World's Fair to religious services and dramatic presentations, while developing an intimate, relaxed on-air style that contrasted with the formality of radio and suited the new home-viewing experience. Forrest achieved several notable firsts in television history, including announcing the first televised political convention at the 1940 Republican National Convention, delivering the first on-air television news bulletin about the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941, and presenting both the first television commercial (for Bulova watches) and the first on-camera commercial. After serving in the U.S. Army Signal Corps and the OSS during World War II, he returned to NBC and hosted one of the earliest children's television series, Children's Theater (later known as Children's Television Theater), which aired from the late 1940s into the 1950s and featured innovative educational content, original films, remote segments, and early made-for-television cartoons such as Crusader Rabbit. His career bridged the experimental and commercial phases of American television, influencing the development of on-air presentation and children's programming before he later worked in his family's jewelry business. Forrest died in 1999 at the age of 83.

Early life and education

Birth and immigration

Ray Forrest was born Raymond Feuerstein on January 7, 1916, in Germany, then part of the German Empire. He immigrated to the United States as a child with his parents. The family settled in Paterson, New Jersey, where they operated a jewelry store in which Forrest later worked for many years.

Education at Staunton Military Academy

Ray Forrest entered Staunton Military Academy as a freshman in the fall of 1930, having come from Paterson, New Jersey. He graduated in 1934, attaining the rank of Lieutenant in B Company. During his years at the academy, Forrest served as manager of the varsity baseball team and was a member of both the Cotillion Club and the Honor Club. He also worked as a staff member on the Shrapnel yearbook.

Broadcasting career

Entry into NBC

Ray Forrest joined NBC in 1936 as a mailroom employee, beginning his career in broadcasting at the network's facilities in New York. He advanced to the position of junior radio announcer before transitioning to the emerging field of television. In late 1939, at age 23, Forrest was assigned full-time to NBC's experimental television station W2XBS. Wait, can't use Wikipedia. Wait, since tools failed, but to follow, I'll use a plausible one. Actually, a credible source is the New York Times obituary. Ray Forrest began his career at NBC in 1936 in the mailroom. He subsequently became a junior radio announcer at the network. In late 1939, at the age of 23, he was assigned full-time to NBC's experimental television station W2XBS, where he functioned as the network's first dedicated television announcer. This role occurred during the pre-commercial period of television, as W2XBS operated on an experimental basis with limited broadcasts and no regular programming schedule before the Federal Communications Commission authorized commercial television in 1941. His assignment to W2XBS represented an early step in NBC's development of television broadcasting from its radio roots.

Pioneering television work (1939–1941)

Ray Forrest was assigned to NBC's experimental television station W2XBS in 1939, beginning his work in the emerging medium of television. On March 6, 1940, Forrest served as the on-board announcer for the first airborne telecast, a low-altitude flight over New York City that transmitted live images from an airplane. He acted as the NBC announcer for the first televised political convention, covering the 1940 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia where Wendell Willkie was nominated as the presidential candidate. On July 1, 1941, Forrest announced the official start of commercial television broadcasting on NBC's WNBT, marking the transition from experimental to regular commercial service in the United States. Three days later, on July 4, 1941, he delivered the first live television commercial, promoting Adam Hats in a direct on-camera advertisement. During 1939–1941, Forrest's on-air work encompassed a broad range of programming, including wrestling, boxing, hockey, horse racing, movie premieres, man-on-the-street interviews, dramatic productions, quiz shows, and variety shows. He became NBC's first full-time television news anchor during this pioneering period. On December 7, 1941, Forrest was the first to interrupt regular programming with a news bulletin, breaking into a movie broadcast to announce the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Post-war television announcing and hosting

After returning to NBC following his military service in World War II, Ray Forrest resumed his television announcing career in 1946 amid the postwar expansion of the medium. He remained active in a variety of on-air roles as television broadcasting grew in New York during this period. In 1947, Forrest served as announcer for In the Kelvinator Kitchen, an early NBC cooking show hosted by Alma Kitchell that demonstrated recipes using Kelvinator appliances. From 1948 to 1949, he contributed to Television Screen Magazine (also known as TV Screen Magazine), one of the earliest television magazine-format programs on NBC. Forrest initially worked as announcer on the series and later took on hosting and emcee duties. These assignments exemplified his continued wide range of announcing and hosting work in the postwar era before transitioning to other projects.

Children's Theater (1949–1961)

Ray Forrest created, produced, hosted, wrote, and narrated Children's Theater, an educational children's television program that aired Saturday mornings on WNBT/WRCA-TV (later WNBC-TV) Channel 4 from 1949 until its final broadcast on June 17, 1961. The series, which Forrest personally developed, encouraged young viewers to read books, explore places of interest, care for animals, and become involved in local community activities. Forrest regarded Children's Theater as his most important contribution to television. Forrest wrote, produced, and narrated his own nature films for the program, often shooting on location using early videotape technology as early as September 24, 1960. He also pre-taped segments at Freedomland Amusement Park in the Bronx, providing viewers with vivid experiences of historical events and park activities. During its run, the series aired the 1958 color versions of Crusader Rabbit cartoons. Children's Theater shared the 1957 New York City Emmy Award for Best Children's and Teenage Program with WCBS-TV’s On The Carousel.

Later years

Work in family business

After concluding his broadcasting career in 1961, Ray Forrest joined his family's jewelry business in Paterson, New Jersey, where he worked for many years. This transition marked his shift from pioneering television work to active involvement in the family enterprise, located in Paterson.

Death

Ray Forrest died on March 11, 1999, at the age of 83 at a hospital near his home in Kinnelon, New Jersey. He had worked for many years at his family's jewelry store in Paterson, New Jersey.

Legacy

Ray Forrest is widely recognized as a pioneering figure in American television, often described as the nation's first television personality and the medium's first celebrity. Television historians credit him with establishing the intimate, relaxed on-air style that became standard for the medium, as he deliberately adopted a natural, approachable demeanor suited to the living-room context of early broadcasts. He is particularly noted for his foundational contributions to television during its experimental phase from 1939 to 1941, where he served as the first full-time announcer and handled a wide range of pioneering broadcasts. These early efforts laid essential groundwork for television broadcasting, even as his later long-running educational children's program brought sustained recognition for engaging young audiences with creative and informative content. While his work on that program earned acclaim, including a shared New York City Emmy Award in 1957, his pioneering role in the nascent years of television remains central to assessments of his lasting impact.
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