Charlie Tuna
Charlie Tuna, born Arthur Charles Ferguson, was an actor and Los Angeles radio personality who hosted a morning show on the popular station KHJ-AM in the late 1960s, and later aided the launch of stations KROQ-AM and KIIS-FM. Tuna took over his radio name from another DJ in 1966, when they both worked at a station in Oklahoma City. Tuna would go on to work in Southern California radio for nearly 50 years.
He was regarded as one of the pioneers of the Boss Radio format, which featured more music and less talk. Over the span of his career, he also hosted shows for KBIG-FM, KTNQ, KHTZ, KRLA, KODJ, KMPC, KIKF and KLAC, at various times working in pop, rock, oldies, country, talk and sports formats.
In 2008, he joined oldies station KRTH-FM, where he hosted a weekly show while also syndicating radio shows through his personal website. Additionally, he hosted a daily show for the Armed Forces Radio Network from 1971 to 1996, logging more than 6,000 programs.
He also frequently appeared as an announcer on television shows including The Mike Douglas Show, The $10,000 Pyramid, The New Battlestars, The $25,000 Pyramid, America’s Top 10, Scrabble, Scattegories and the international version of Inside Hollywood. He also played himself in the 2011 family television movie The Dreamsters: Welcome to the Dreamery.
Charlie Tuna, born Arthur Charles Ferguson, was an actor and Los Angeles radio personality who hosted a morning show on the popular station KHJ-AM in the late 1960s, and later aided the launch of stations KROQ-AM and KIIS-FM. Tuna took over his radio name from another DJ in 1966, when they both worked at a station in Oklahoma City. Tuna would go on to work in Southern California radio for nearly 50 years.
He was regarded as one of the pioneers of the Boss Radio format, which featured more music and less talk. Over the span of his career, he also hosted shows for KBIG-FM, KTNQ, KHTZ, KRLA, KODJ, KMPC, KIKF and KLAC, at various times working in pop, rock, oldies, country, talk and sports formats.
In 2008, he joined oldies station KRTH-FM, where he hosted a weekly show while also syndicating radio shows through his personal website. Additionally, he hosted a daily show for the Armed Forces Radio Network from 1971 to 1996, logging more than 6,000 programs.
He also frequently appeared as an announcer on television shows including The Mike Douglas Show, The $10,000 Pyramid, The New Battlestars, The $25,000 Pyramid, America’s Top 10, Scrabble, Scattegories and the international version of Inside Hollywood. He also played himself in the 2011 family television movie The Dreamsters: Welcome to the Dreamery.
Additionally, Tuna played a rock concert emcee in the 1977 film Rollercoaster, starring George Segal and Timothy Bottoms, and had a small role as a TV announcer in the 1979 film Racquet.
Tuna received a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame in 1990 and was inducted into the Nebraska Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame in 1997.
He died February 19, 2016, in Tarzana, California. He was 71.
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