[Dixielandjazz] Jerry Marshall, NY DJ R.I.P.

[Robert Ringwald]

Jerry Marshall, D.J. on New York Radio, Dies at 91
by Dennis Hevesi
New York Times, October 15, 2010

Jerry Marshall, who lent a velvet voice to the AM airwaves of the New York metropolitan
area in the heydays of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Judy Garland, died on Wednesday
at a hospice near his home in Delray Beach, Fla. He was 91.
His daughter, Carolyn, confirmed his death.
During more than 30 years on the air, Mr. Marshall hosted hit shows like "Music Hall"
and "The Make-Believe Ballroom" on WNEW and "Record Room" on WMGM, as well as shows
on WINS, WNBC and WCBS. His "Jerry Marshall Show" was eventually syndicated in cities
along the East Coast.
In 1948, while hosting "Music Hall," Mr. Marshall gave a major boost to the career
of Nat King Cole when he was the first D.J. to play Cole's version of "Nature Boy,"
with its eerie minor melody about a "strange enchanted boy" whose wandering led him
to conclude that "the greatest thing you'll ever learn / Is just to love and be loved
in return." The song was an overnight sensation.
Jerome Saul Jaffe (he chose Marshall as his last name after becoming a radio host)
was born in Far Rockaway, N.Y., on April 15, 1919. Besides his daughter, Carolyn,
he is survived by his wife of 65 years, the former Geraldine Schwartz; a son, Michael;
a sister, Ruth Berg; and two grandsons.
Mr. Marshall graduated from Cornell in 1942 with a degree in political science. While
at Cornell, he worked on the school radio station and at stations in Ithaca, N.Y.,
and Kingston, N.Y. A law school accepted him, but he could not afford the tuition.
Instead, he went to Newark and was hired as an announcer at WAAT.
"I just had to be a mouthpiece one way or another," he said in 1954.


--Bob Ringwald
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