Morton Downey, Jr.
Born	December 9, 1932 Los Angeles, California, United States
Died	March 12, 2001 (aged 68) Los Angeles, California, United States
Occupation	Talk show host, Singer, Actor, DJ
Website http://www.mortondowneyjrhome.com

Morton Downey, Jr. (born Sean Morton Downey; December 9, 1932 - March 12, 2001) was an American television talk show host of the 1980s who pioneered the "trash TV" format.

Career

In the 1980s, Downey was working as a talk show host at KFBK-AM in Sacramento, California,^[1] where he established his abrasive and much imitated right wing, populist style, relentlessly deriding anyone who disagreed with him or had a liberal point of view. Downey's success, coupled with the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine, laid the groundwork for more aggressive, opinion-based talk radio. His work led to the "trash talk" genre of Jerry Springer, Maury Povich, Ricki Lake and many more. His fight with fellow radio talk show host Wally George (with each charging that the other was not conservative) on George's talk show led to police tackling Downey to the ground.^[2] The man who succeeded Downey at KFBK was Rush Limbaugh.

However, Downey's largest impact on American culture came from his very popular, yet short-lived, syndicated mid-1980s television talk show, The Morton Downey Jr. Show.

The Morton Downey Jr. Show

Downey headed to Secaucus, New Jersey where his highly controversial television program The Morton Downey Jr. Show was taped for two years before it was canceled for low ratings. The program featured screaming matches among Downey, his guests, and his audience members. Using a large silver bowl for an ashtray, he would chainsmoke during the show and blow smoke in his guests' faces.^[3] Downey's fans became known as "Loudmouths", patterned after the studio lecterns decorated with gaping cartoon mouths, from which Downey's guests would go head-to-head against each other on their respective issues.

Downey's signature phrases "pablum puking liberal" (in reference to left-liberals) and "zip it!" briefly enjoyed some popularity in the contemporary vernacular. He particularly enjoyed making his guests angry with each other,^[3] which on a few occasions manifested in physical confrontations. One such instance was a show taped in 1988 on location at the Apollo Theater, involving black activist Al Sharpton and CORE National Chairman Roy Innis. The exchange between the two men culminated in Innis shoving Sharpton into his chair, knocking him to the floor and Downey intervening to separate the pair.

Due to the controversial format and content of the show, Downey's affiliates, many of which were low-rated independent television stations in small to medium markets, were so fearful of advertiser and viewer backlash that they would air one or even two local disclaimers during the broadcast.

The Washington Post wrote about him, "Suppose a maniac got hold of a talk show. Or need we suppose-" David Letterman said, "I'm always amazed at what people will fall for. We see this every 10 or 12 years, an attempt at this, and I guess from that standpoint I don't quite understand why everybody's falling over backwards over the guy."^[4]

The success of the show made Downey a pop culture celebrity, leading to an appearance on Saturday Night Live in 1988^[5], Wrestlemania V in 1989 in which he traded insults with Roddy Piper on Piper's Pit, and later roles in movies such as Predator 2 and Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation.^[6] He was also cast in several TV roles, often playing tabloid TV hosts or other obnoxious media types.

Later career

In 1993, Downey attempted a comeback in talk radio on Dallas radio station KGBS, where he would scream insults at his callers.^[7] He was also hired as the station's VP of Operations.^[1] The following year he had a short-lived television show, Downey on CNBC, that was similar in theme to his earlier, more popular show.^[8] In one episode, Downey claimed to have had a psychic communication with OJ Simpson's murdered ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson.^[9]

A second attempt at a talk radio comeback occurred in 1997 on Cleveland radio station WTAM in a late evening time slot.^[10] It was a return to the Cleveland market, where Downey had been a host for crosstown WERE back in the late 1980s.^[11] This stint came shortly after the surgery for lung cancer that removed one of his lungs. But on August 30, Downey quit his WTAM radio talk show to work full-time on pursuing legal action against Howard Stern. Downey had accused Stern of spreading rumors that he resumed his smoking habits, which publicist Les Schecter rebuked, "He hasn't picked up a cigarette."^[12] His replacement was former WERE host Rick Gilmour.^[13]

Like his father, Downey pursued music as a career, recording in both pop and country styles. One song, "Green Eyed Girl" charted on the Billboard Magazine Country chart, peaking at #95 in 1981. After the success of his talk show, Downey returned to the recording studio to cut an album of songs based on his show, Morton Downey Jr. Sings. The album's only single, "Zip It!" (a catch-phrase from the TV show, used to quiet an irate guest), became a surprise hit on some college radio stations. Following his death, news reports and obituaries incorrectly (according to the Orange County Register)^[14] credited him as the composer of "Wipe Out."^[15] As of 2008, Downey's official website (and others) continue to make this claim.^[16]

Controversies

In 1984, at KFBK radio, Downey uttered a politically incorrect word while telling a joke: Chinaman.^{[citation needed]} His use of the word upset portions of the sizable Asian community in Sacramento. One Asian City Councilman called for an apology and pressured the station for Downey's resignation. Downey refused to apologize and was forced to leave.^{[citation needed]}

In 1989, as fascination with Downey's TV show began to wane, he was involved in an incident in a San Francisco International Airport restroom in which he claimed to have been attacked by neo-Nazis who painted a swastika on his face and attempted to shave his head. Some inconsistencies in Downey's account (e.g., the swastika was painted in reverse, suggesting that Downey had drawn it himself in a mirror), and the failure of the police to find supportive evidence, led many to suspect that the incident was a hoax and a plea for attention.^[9] A few months later, the show was canceled.^[9] Years later, during an appearance on The Howard Stern Show, Downey admitted that he had orchestrated the entire "attack" -- even shaving the front of his own head in the desperate effort to save his show from cancellation, by its syndicator, MCA.^{[citation needed]} MCA already had problems selling the show to stations and to advertisers because of Downey's antics and the show's overall content.^{[citation needed]} At the time of its cancellation, The Morton Downey, Jr Show had been cleared on fewer than 30 stations across the country, and its advertisers had been limited to "direct-response" ads (900 chat line and phone sex numbers).^{[citation needed]}

Downey was sued for allegedly appropriating the words and music to his theme song from two songwriters.^[17] He was sued for $40 million after bringing a stripper onto the show and calling her a "slut," a "pig," a "hooker," and a "tramp," saying that she had diseases, and banging his pelvis against hers.^[18] At one point, he was arraigned on criminal charges for attacking a gay guest on his show, in a never-aired segment.^[19] In another lawsuit, he was accused of slandering a newscaster (a former colleague), and of indecently exposing himself to her and slapping her.^[20]

Downey infamously punched Stuttering John during an interview done for The Howard Stern Show.^[21]

In interviews, he expressed regret for some of the extreme theatrics of his TV show, saying he had taken things too far.^{[citation needed]} He added that he had been a "bastard."^[3] However, he also claimed that his show was of a higher quality and not as "sleazy" as Jerry Springer's.^[9]

Personal life

His parents were also in show business; his father Morton Downey was a popular singer, and his mother Barbara Bennett was a singer and dancer. His aunts included Hollywood film stars Constance and Joan Bennett, from whom he was estranged, and his maternal grandfather was the celebrated matinée idol Richard Bennett. Born into a life of luxury, he was raised next door to the Kennedy compound at Hyannis Port, Massachusetts.^[9]

Downey was married four times and had four children from three of those marriages.^[3][9] With wife Helen he had Melissa, with Joan he had daughters Tracey and Kelli, and with fourth wife and widow Lori he had Seanna.^[3] He and Lori met when she appeared as a dancer in a show he attended in Atlantic City.^[3]

According to Terry Pluto's book Loose Balls, in the late 1960s Downey was one of the owners of the New Orleans Buccaneers basketball team in the American Basketball Association.

Wrestlemania and Roddy Piper

During WrestleMania V, Morton Downey Jr. was involved in a gimmick involving Brother Love and Roddy Piper. Piper returned to the WWF with a live Piper's Pit at WrestleMania, where Downey and Piper began battling in a war of words. After Piper made a joke involving Downey's past facial features, he blew cigarette smoke into Piper's face. When Piper warned Downey not to blow any more smoke in his face, he kept on. When Piper finally became tired of Downey's antics, he pulled out a fire extinguisher and hosed down smoking Morton Downey, Jr.

Death from lung cancer

In 1996, Downey was diagnosed with lung cancer and had one of his lungs removed. He did a complete about-face on tobacco use, going from a one-time member of the National Smokers Alliance to a staunch anti-smoking activist. He continued to speak against smoking until his death from lung cancer in 2001.^[22] After being diagnosed with lung cancer, he said, "I had spawned a generation of kids to think it was cool to smoke a cigarette. Kids walked up to me until a matter of weeks ago, they'd have a cigarette in their hand and they'd say, 'Hey, Mort,' or, 'Hey, Mouth, autograph my cigarette.' And I'd do it."^[3] He also blamed tobacco companies for lying to consumers about cigarettes.^[3]

References

External links

• Official Morton Downey Jr. Web Site
• Morton Downey Jr. at the Internet Movie Database
• Morton Downey, Jr. at Find A Grave