William B. Williams

William B. Williams (August 6, 1923 – August 3, 1986) was an American disc jockey on New York City radio station WNEW for over four decades. He hosted the popular program Make Believe Ballroom. Williams is particularly noted for coining the title "Chairman of the Board" for Frank Sinatra.

Unusually, Williams appeared in the November, 1966 issue of Detective Comics, in a story which involved Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson, the civilian identities of Batman and Robin, appearing on his show. He was given a prominent appearance on the cover for the occasion.

Early life Born William Breitbard in Babylon, New York, (brother of Ric Roman, character actor in such Hollywood films as Some Came Running and television). Williams himself graduated from Babylon Senior High School and attended Syracuse University for one year before dropping out. In 1944, he was hired as a staff announcer at WAAT in Newark, New Jersey, while visiting a friend at the station. According to Williams "the guy who did the all-night show had just been fired for being bombed on the air." Six weeks later, a staffer at WNEW heard Williams on the air and invited him to apply for a job at the station. He was hired at WNEW and worked several time slots before being fired by station manager Bernice Judis in 1947. An article in the New York Daily News suggested that Williams was fired for his aggressive tactics with management in his role as shop steward; however, WNEW's official story was that he was fired after Judis caught him one evening in the studio with his feet propped on the desk clad in bright red socks. She was apparently horrified by his lack of style.

Williams worked at several other stations, including WOR, but was rehired at WNEW in 1953 following a management change. He hosted the William B. Williams Show in the morning hours, and Music in a Sentimental Mood in the afternoon from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m.

Make Believe Ballroom In 1954, the originator of the Make Believe Ballroom program in New York, Martin Block, left WNEW for a new job at ABC Radio. Jerry Marshall took over the show for three years, after which Williams was tapped to host the program. He marked the broadcast as his own, using the distinctive sign-on, "Hello, world", and occasionally identifying himself as "Guilliermo B. Guilliermos" or "Wolfgang B. Wolfgang," although to listeners and friends he was known simply as "Willie B." He combined intimate knowledge of music with his personal anecdotes to create a smooth style that captivated listeners. By 1965 Billboard reported Williams was earning $105,000 a year, tops for the station at that time but slightly less than the other famous Williams, Ted, earned at his baseball peak ($125,000).

The William B. Williams Room, on the third floor of the Friars Club

Williams developed lasting relationships with the top singers of the Great American Songbook, including Lena Horne and Nat King Cole. Early in his career, he befriended Frank Sinatra when the crooner recorded broadcasts at WNEW. On one broadcast, Williams mused that since Benny Goodman was the "King of Swing" and Duke Ellington was a duke, then Sinatra must have a title as well, suggesting "Chairman of the Board." Sinatra learned of the comment and embraced the title.

Personal The gravesite of William B. WilliamsWilliams was married to Dotty Mack, who appeared on radio in Cincinnati in the 1950s as well as a television program carried on the DuMont Television Network. The couple had a son, Jeffrey B. Williams.

In 1985, Williams underwent surgery for colon cancer. He died on August 3, 1986, of acute anemia and respiratory failure, just three days before he would have turned 63. William B. Williams was interred at Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York, in a plot belonging to the Friars Club. In 2006, he was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame.

Footnotes