Ted Mack (radio and television host)

William Edward Maguiness (February 12, 1904 – July 12, 1976) was an American radio and television host and musician, best known for hosting Ted Mack and The Original Amateur Hour.

Early years

The son of a railroad brakeman, Mack was born in Greeley, Colorado. His mother was a teacher and a pianist. Mack graduated from Sacred Heart High School in Denver, Colorado, in 1922. He was class president there for three years in addition to playing football and basketball and playing in the school's orchestra. He went on to graduate from the University of Denver, where he majored in Law and Commerce, and funded his college education by playing saxophone in an orchestra.

Big bands

Mack's career in show business began in 1926 when he joined Ben Pollack's orchestra. At one point, Mack was known as "the performer with the longest run of any master of ceremonies at the Paramount theater, New York", having been in that role for five months.

Mack and his orchestra spent the summer of 1933 entertaining at the Chicago World's Fair, after which they had an engagement for two months in New York City. A 1934 newspaper review said, "Ted Mack and his bandmen furnish comedy fare and entertaining music in equal measure, and the group of personable young women who assist display talent as well as good looks."

Film

Mack was musical supervisor for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where he was orchestra director for The Great Ziegfeld and Beat the Band. In 1955, he had a daily afternoon program, Ted Mack's Matinee on NBC.

Personal life

In 1926, Mack married Ellen Marguerite Overholt. on July 12, 1976, at Phelps Memorial Hospital in North Tarrytown, New York, at the age of 72. He was survived by his wife.