A San Francisco native, Russ Coughlan got his start in radio at the age of 21 in Watsonville. His Bay Area career started at Oakland’s KROW in 1945, after he served as one of the original staff members of Armed Forces Radio during World War II.
At KROW, Coughlan would become program director. He worked with numerous future legends, including Don Sherwood, Gordon Greb, Rod McKuen and Bruce “Skipper” Sedley.
Early in his career, Coughlan was the voice of “Dudley Nightshade” on the animated children’s TV show Crusader Rabbit. He also had on-air roles in a number of early Bay Area local television shows.
Coughlan left KROW for a sales job at KCBS in 1957, and in 1958 he moved into sales and management at KGO-TV, a job he held into 1970’s. He also had a strong presence on KGO radio as a talk show host. In the 80’s he worked on KGO-TV as a news anchor and special assignment reporter. When Coughlan passed away in 1990 at the age of 71, the station took out a full-page ad in the San Francisco Chronicle to pay tribute.
OMG – I remember listening to Russ late at night as a young teenager. I would be up for hours listening to him. I can’t explain it, but I remember it like it was yesterday. I really enjoyed listening to Mr. Coughlan and I am so pleased he received this well deserved recognition.