Biography

Jean Shepherd

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Raised in Hammond, Indiana, Jean Shepherd went on to work in the steel mills and was a veteran of the Army Signal Corps before entering the arts. In the 1950s, he began a long career as a radio personality telling stories of his youth, commenting on current topics and performing silly songs. While at WOR-AM in New York, he also broadcast live night club acts from the Limelight in Greenwich Village. He wrote for Playboy and other magazines. His articles were published in a series of books including "The America of George Ade", "In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash", "Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories, and Other Disasters", "A Fistful of Fig Newtons" and "The Ferrari in the Bedroom". During the 1970s, he did two series of humorous programs as well as several American Playhouse (1980) episodes for PBS. In 1983, he wrote his first feature film, A Christmas Story (1983), putting together many tales of his semi-autobiographical character "Ralphie". A sequel, "My Summer Story" (aka My Summer Story (1994)) was made in 1994.
- IMDb mini biography by: Jim Sadur <jsadur@keyflux.com>

Provided the voice of the Narrator/Father character in the "Carousel of Progress" attraction at Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL.
Peter Finch's famous rant in Network (1976) was inspired by Shepherd's radio diatribes.
Is mentioned in the "Dictionary of American Slang" in the entry for "Night People", which is defined as "People who work or live at night, sleeping during the day" and "Noncomformists". The dictionary goes on to credit Shep: "Pop. by N.Y. City disk jockey and social commentator Jean Shepherd, c.1956".

In his early years of radio on WOR in New York, during his late night broadcasts, Shep referred to his listeners as "Night People" often explaining how they differed from "Day People". The phrase caught on an credit for the phrase was given in the Dictionary of American Slang.
Along with Leigh Brown and Bob Clark, he won a 1984 Genie Award for Best Screenplay for A Christmas Story (1983).
Five time winner of "Playboy" Magazine Best Writing Award for Humor/Satire. Shepherd was a mainstay of the magazine in the 1960s and early '70s. He conducted the magazine's interview with The Beatles that appeared in the February 1965 issue.

Can you imagine four thousand years passing and you're not even a memory? Think about it, friends. It's not just a possibility. It is a certainty.
I don't make the news, I just report it.

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