Byron Palmer

Byron Palmer (June 21, 1920 – September 30, 2009) was an American actor, television host, and radio announcer born in Los Angeles, California. He was the second of four children of Harlan G. Palmer, a politician, judge, and owner and publisher of the Hollywood Citizen News. While a student at Occidental College, Palmer wrote obituaries for his father's newspaper before joining CBS as a page, a position that eventually led to work as a CBS radio news reporter and announcer.

During World War II, Palmer served in the Army Air Forces, operating a radio station on a Pacific island. In the intervals between news broadcasts, he performed as a tenor with a vocal quartet called the Music Mates. The fan mail he received from soldiers convinced him to pursue formal voice training after the war.

Palmer's Broadway career spanned 1948 to 1950. He appeared alongside Ray Bolger in Where's Charley? beginning in 1948, and was featured in the revue Bless You All, which starred Pearl Bailey. His stage work earned him a Theatre World Award in 1949.

His film debut came in the 1953 production Tonight We Sing. Subsequent film roles included Man in the Attic opposite Jack Palance, The Best Things in Life Are Free with Gordon MacRae, and additional features such as Emergency Hospital, Ma and Pa Kettle at Waikiki, and Glory, released in 1956. Prior to his Broadway appearances, Palmer had also served as master of ceremonies for a touring Hollywood on Ice production.

On television, Palmer co-hosted Bride and Groom, which aired on CBS and later NBC during the 1950s, and hosted the syndicated variety program This is Your Music in 1955. He hosted the Miss Universe pageant on CBS in both 1958 and 1959. His television guest appearances included episodes of Perry Mason, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Betty White Show, Pete and Gladys, How to Marry a Millionaire, Lawman, Soldiers of Fortune, Cavalcade of America, and Matinee Theatre.

Palmer married his high school sweetheart, JoAnn Ramson, in 1944. His second marriage, in 1954, was to beauty queen and actress Ruth Hampton. In 1974 he married actress and professional dancer Georgine Darcy, known for her role as Miss Torso in Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window. They remained married until Darcy's death in 2004.