Bill McCambly, 84, on Dec. 17 in Calgary. McCambly served in the Royal Canadian Navy for six years and was a veteran of the Korean War, before starting a career as a broadcasting engineer at CJLH-TV Lethbridge. He later moved to CFAC-TV Calgary, which became Global Television. McCambly retired in 1996 after 41 years in broadcasting.
Ron Wray, 80, on Dec. 17 in Owen Sound. Wray started with CFOS-AM Owen Sound in Jan. 1957, after coming to town with the intention of joining the RCMP. The office was closed and when it started to rain, he went into the radio station across the street, never having stepped foot in one. Wray went in, applied for a job, had an audition and started work the following Monday. He stayed with the station for 42 years in a variety of roles, from on-air work to running the station’s creative department. Listen to a 2010 interview with Wray here.
Hugh Wilson, 74, on Jan. 14. Wilson was the creator and executive producer of the “WKRP in Cincinnati” sitcom, which chronicled life at a struggling radio station. Airing for four seasons on CBS from 1978-82, Wilson loosely based the sitcom on real life events, using WQXI-AM Atlanta as his inspiration. The infamous “Turkeys Away” Thanksgiving-stunt episode was inspired by a turkey giveaway WQXI general manager Jerry Blum conjured up in the late 1950s in Dallas when he dropped turkeys off a pickup truck. The series was nominated for an Outstanding Comedy Series Emmy three times, losing twice to Taxi and once to Barney Miller. Nearly a decade after the show ended, Wilson created “The New WKRP in Cincinnati,” which aired briefly in syndication in 1991. Wilson also wrote and directed a number of feature films, including Stroker Ace and 1984’s Police Academy.
