More About Art Pallan

By John Mehno - January, 2002

ART PALLAN's radio career was closely intertwined with Rege's.

They both broke in at WWSW in the mid-1940s and got their opportunity to join the staff when older announcers were called into military service during World War II.

Art was working as an office boy for Proctor & Gamble and would spend his lunch hours peering through the studio windows watching the KDKA and WWSW announcers work. Eventually he devoted that free time to auditioning and won a job at WWSW. Art was also a singer who released several records in the big band era.

He and Rege struck up a lifelong friendship; Rege was godfather for one of Art's daughters. Both apprenticed with Bill Cullen at WWSW.

Art followed Rege from WWSW to KDKA in 1956 and initially worked a split shift that featured regular remote broadcasts from National Record Mart's downtown store. Later Art would settle into the mid-day slot, following Rege.

When Rege decided to go to Los Angeles in 1965, KDKA was faced with the dilemma of replacing him. The station decided to keep Bob Trow to continue some of the character voices from "Cordic & Company." The search for a straight man was long and unproductive.

Finally a Westinghouse executive in New York suggested Art. He and Bob clicked together and "Pallan & Trow...Two for the Show" debuted on Monday, Nov. 29, 1965.

One of their earliest promotions was the Pallan & Trow credit card, which listed a number of defunct Pittsburgh businesses where it could be used. They also distributed Pallan & Trow Lemonade Stand kits for kids who wanted to open sidewalk lemonade stands.

The Pallan & Trow show ran through April of 1968, when Jack Bogut was brought in from Salt Lake City to change the direction of the KDKA morning show. Art Pallan moved back to the mid-day slot, where he remained until his retirement in February of 1985. Bob Trow went on to work on "Mister Rogers Neighborhood" on PBS and was one of Pittsburgh's busiest commercial spokesmen until his death at 72 on Nov. 2, 1998.

Following his retirement from KDKA, Art Pallan moved to Florida and continues to live in the Fort Myers area

  ---------------------