Eugene Norman Yulish (June 9, 1931 – January 19, 2020), known as Gene London, was an American television personality and fashion designer. He was the creator and host of a long-running, local children's television program, Cartoon Corners. Also known as The Gene London Show, the program aired on WCAU Channel 10 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from 1959 to 1977, and had a broadcast reach throughout a significant portion of the Midatlantic region of the United States.
As he sat in front of a large sketchbook in front of his audience of children, London would sing, "The Land of Let's Pretend," as he recited the words of, and drew scenes from, the stories of Hans Christian Andersen, the Brothers Grimm and other children's authors.
Early life
London was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Isadore and Minna Yulish. His parents were Russian Jewish immigrants. Initially raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Eugene Yulish and his brothers, Stanley, Morton and Charles, moved with their parents to Miami Beach, Florida, where his father, a grocer, opened one of the first supermarkets. The store became so successful that the family became millionaires.
With their father kept busy with the operation of his new store and their mother occupied with multiple charitable and social obligations, the boys saw little of their parents, but instead found enjoyment in their own pursuits. In Eugene's case, those pursuits included comedy programs and vocal mimicry, fantasy romance, Marie Antoinette, Napoleon and other historical figures, literature, including Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, mythology, radio programs, and the cartoons of Walt Disney.
Flipping the sign to read "Open for Business," London invited the children into the store, which was located next to a confetti factory. Depicted as a dull place, the store was made more exciting by London, an accomplished artist and storyteller who used a large drawing pad to illustrate key scenes and characters from the tall tales he told children as they sat around him on the set.
During the early years of the show, London's character was portrayed as having a crush on Debbie Dibley, his employer's daughter, but that story line was later dropped with Debbie's departure explained by a relocation to Hollywood. London subsequently introduced a new imaginary site for the program—a haunted house known as Quigley Mansion that was located next door to the general store and accessible via a secret tunnel. In reality, Quigley Mansion was merely just a model that created an establishing shot, but this artifice was so well done that the stories and plots about ghosts, UFOs and aliens that London created for the haunted house segments became increasingly popular with his viewers. That same summer, London appeared before a large audience in the new community auditorium of the Boscov's department store in Pottsville, Pennsylvania.
That same year, London created and starred in "A Gene London Christmas Special." Filmed in color on location at the Camelback Ski Lodge in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains and at Valley Forge Chapel, the program featured London's narration of "Why the Chimes Rang" and a performance of class Christmas carols by Philadelphia's Schola Cantorum of St. Francis de Sales Roman Catholic Church. The thirty-minute program aired on WCAU-TV at 5:30 p.m. on December 23, 1967.
Awards and other honors
In 1961, London's television program was honored with the Radio-TV Mirror Gold Medal for being among "the Best Children's Programs on Television." In 1962, London's television show was praised by the Philadelphia Society of Clinical Psychologists for its introduction of its "News for Children" segments. The program also won a Freedoms Foundation Award.
Recognized as a highly successful television performer by the 1970s, London taught a course at The New School for Social Research in New York City "on the genius of Walt Disney," according to newspaper reports of his career.
Fashion designer
When Cartoon Corners was cancelled, London moved to New York City and became involved in the fashion industry as a dress designer. Until 2001, London operated a retro clothes shop called 'Gene London: The Fan Club' on Manhattan's West 19th Street. In later years, London served as a Hollywood and Broadway fashion consultant and spokesman for the Mikimoto brand of jewelry. As a hobby, London collected costumes worn by movie celebrities (some 60,000 gowns, dresses and fashion accessories).
In July 2002, at the age of 71, London exhibited more than 50 pieces of his Hollywood gown collection at "Gene London Presents: Hollywood Glamour" at the Showboat Casino Hotel in Atlantic City. On May 17, 2003, he once again displayed his gowns at the 80th anniversary celebration of the Old Academy Players in Philadelphia (East Falls), PA. The exhibit included a deep red dress with plunging neckline and fur-trimmed sleeves worn by Philadelphia-born actress Grace Kelly (also known as Princess Grace of Monaco) in the Oscar-winning film The Country Girl (1954).
On October 3, 2009, the Reading Public Museum (Reading, PA) opened "The Magic of Hollywood: the Gene London Costume Collection", featuring more than 100 gowns and costumes.
Legacy
On November 20, 2009, London was inducted into the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia's Hall of Fame.
Personal life
London married his partner of 39 years, John Thomas, in 2016. The couple had homes in Reading, Pennsylvania, and Florida.
London died on January 19, 2020, in Reading, Pennsylvania, at age 88, after suffering a fall.