Clay Cole

Origins Clay Cole was born in Youngstown, Ohio. He became a juvenile stage and radio actor; then in 1953, at age 15, became the television host and producer of his own Saturday night teen music show, Rucker's Rumpus Room, Chuck McCann was his announcer sidekick. Cole and this show, along with his other connections to Freedomland, are featured in the book, Freedomland U.S.A.: The Definitive History (Theme Park Press, 2019).

Clay's 1960 all-star ten-day Christmas show at the Brooklyn Paramount Theater broke the all-time house box office record. Clay was among the few white performers invited to appear at Harlem's Apollo Theater; he headlined three week-long revues, starring Fats Domino, Gladys Knight & the Pips and Chubby Checker. In 1961, he appeared as himself in the film Twist Around the Clock. Cole's show differed from American Bandstand in a few ways: while both Cole and Dick Clark had an interest in young people and their music, Cole did not hesitate to join in on his show's dance floor. He was also more confident about booking lesser-known performers and comedians for his show. on December 16, 1967, Clay became a television writer - producer, involved in the production of over 3500 broadcast television shows. and as co-host of the WABC-TV weekday program, AM New York. His final professional assignment was as writer/producer/director of the television special, the 2002, going on in the 80's to have his own production company, Clay Cole Productions. He produced the music video for Otis Day and the Knights, besides other industrial projects like the Sanremo Music Festival in Italy, featuring Britney Spears, Destiny's Child, Alicia Keys, Shakira, Kylie Minogue and other international pop divas. off the Cape Fear River on the North Carolina coastline. It was nominated for the 2010 Association for Recorded Sound Collections Awards for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research. Cole made a personal appearance at the annual Long Island Radio & TV Day in April 2010, and also at the New Jersey Rock Con later that year. Clay appeared at the Friends of Old Time Radio Convention in Newark, New Jersey in October 2010.

In addition, Cole was a member of the nominating committee of the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.

Cole died of a heart attack at his home on December 18, 2010, at the age of 72.