Arthur Godfrey

Birthday: 1903-08-31
Deathday: 1983-03-16
Birthplace: New York City, New York, USA
Gender: Male
Owned By: Unowned

Arthur Morton Godfrey (August 31, 1903 – March 16, 1983) was an American radio and television broadcaster and entertainer who was sometimes introduced by his nickname, "The Old Redhead". No television personality of the 1950s enjoyed more clout or fame than Godfrey until an on-camera incident undermined his folksy image and triggered a gradual decline; the then-ubiquitous Godfrey helmed two CBS-TV weekly series and a daily 90-minute television mid-morning show through most of the decade but by the early 1960s found himself reduced to hosting an occasional TV special.

Arguably the most prominent of the medium's early master commercial pitchmen, he was strongly identified with many of his many sponsors, especially Chesterfield cigarettes and Lipton Tea. After many years for Chesterfield (during which Godfrey came up with the idea and slogan "Buy 'em by the carton"), he severed the relationship during one of his television programs, when his doctors convinced him that his lung cancer was due to smoking. Subsequently, he became a prominent spokesman for anti-smoking education.

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Credits

Year Title Character
1979-02-10 Flatbed Annie & Sweetie Pie: Lady Truckers Uncle Wally
1978-11-01 The Great Bank Hoax Maj. Bryer (Ret.)
1975-11-19 Rickles
1968-04-10 Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows The Bishop: The 'In' Group
1966-06-09 The Glass Bottom Boat Axel Nordstrom
1963-12-21 4 for Texas Mr. Godfrey (uncredited)