Hilly Rose was a pioneering talk show host whose career spanned seven decades. On KCBS, where he began as a news reporter, he memorably landed an interview with the Beatles at the height of Beatlemania in August of 1964, talking his way into their San Francisco hotel room.
Rose went on to work locally for KNEW and KGO before moving to Los Angeles, where he was heard on a number of stations. In 1984, Rose told the Santa Cruz Sentinel that talk shows are popular “because there are a lot of lonely people. Listening in and hearing other people brings them into the world.”
In the mid-1990s, Rose developed a series of radio shows about marine life for the Monterey Bay Aquarium. He later became identified with his fascination for the paranormal. Rose’s paranormal investigations provided a large volume of content for the early years of satellite radio, with 500 programs airing on Sirius.
Rose authored But, That’s Not What I Called About, a book with many autobiographical stories and biographies on many of the major pioneers and leaders of talk radio.
Hilly Rose died in 2017 at age 91.