Real Housewives of DC cast member Mary Schmidt Amons is not only a woman famously known for looking like her 20-year-old daughter, she’s also a broadcasting legacy who used to hang out with the Kennedys.
Amons’ grandfather Arthur Godfrey was one of the most famous men of his day. In the 1930s changed the game of radio broadcasting in Washington DC when he infused an informal, folksy style to the normal stiff, cold delivery. He also softened things up by playing the ukulele during his variety show broadcasts where he would act as disc jockey, give interviews, advertisements, and sing. He became nationally known in 1945 with his live CBS broadcast of Roosevelt’s funeral procession.
Godfrey made a foray into television in 1948 when his variety show Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts began broadcasting simultaneously on television and radio. He would often ignore the scripted commercials he was given, and instead lightly poke fun at the products, which actually helped increase sales. This kind of joking and warm tone earned immense trust from the public, so much so that Dwight Eisenhower ordered Godfrey to record some tapes to be broadcast in case of a nuclear war.
But Godfrey’s reign as a folksy grandfather figure and friend began to erode on October 19, 1953 when he unceremoniously fired one of his performers on-air with no warning, announcing Julius LaRosa’s as his “swan song.”
After that controversial episode, Godfrey continued sniping at his regular performers on aired, known as “Little Godfreys,” and fired them routinely.
Godfrey became the subject of ridicule, and was even accused of anti-semitism, but he continued to broadcast regularly. He went on to beat the odds and survive lung cancer after discovering it in 1959.
