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An Americanist
From Radio Shock Jock to Television Icon: Wendy Williams' Journey
Long before her iconic "How you doin'?" greeting became a pop culture staple, Wendy Williams was carving an unexpected path through the world of radio that would ultimately lead her to broadcasting stardom. Born to highly educated parents with three master's degrees between them, Williams' own academic journey was strikingly different – graduating near the bottom of her high school class before finding her true calling behind a microphone.
The contrast between Williams' early struggles and later success reveals the unpredictable nature of achievement. Despite ranking 360th in a class of 363 students, she would eventually be inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2009, host a nationally syndicated television show for 13 years, and even have a street named after her in her hometown. Her rise as a "shock jock" known for celebrity confrontations showcased her fearless approach to broadcasting, setting the foundation for her later television career.
What makes Williams' story particularly compelling is her navigation of identity and authenticity throughout her career. Describing herself as "a multicultural woman who happened to be Black," she developed a distinctive voice that resonated across demographic lines. From listening to AC/DC rather than hip-hop in her youth to expanding her brand through books, comedy tours, fashion lines, and her signature wig collection, Williams consistently defied expectations. Though her retirement in 2023 due to aphasia and frontotemporal dementia marks the end of her active career, her influence on broadcasting continues to resonate. Share your own memories of influential radio personalities who shaped your youth – their voices, their controversies, and the unique connections they formed with listeners in the pre-digital age.
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Hello, good morning, happy Monday and happy St Patrick's Day. All right, we're going to move on to part two of Wendy Williams, and I may have a second story, depending, because I don't think the second part of Wendy Williams is going to be that long. I mainly just wanted to tell you about her background and where she came from and all that stuff, how she rose to fame. Wendy Williams Hunter and William John Williams born. Oh my gosh, that's not right. Wendy Joan Williams. I'm sorry, why does it have two different names? I don't know. She is an American former broadcaster, media personality and writer.
Speaker 1:Prior to television, williams was a radio DJ and host and quickly became known as New York City's as a shock jock. She gained notoriety for her on-air spats with celebrities and was the subject I'm sorry for her on-air spats with celebrities and was the subject of the 2006 VH1 reality television series, the Wendy Williams Experience, which broadcasted events surrounding her radio show. From 2008 to 2021, she hosted the nationally syndicated television talk show, the Wendy Williams Show. She was born in 1964, puts her age at 60, birthdays July 18th. She was born Joan. I'm sorry. Wendy Joan Williams. She was married once. I'm sorry, she was married twice. She has one son. She is married once I'm sorry. She was married twice. She has one son. She is now single.
Speaker 1:William's other endeavors include authoring several books, which I guess I'm going to have to go get now, appearances in various films and television shows, touring her comedy show I did not know she did that and her own product lines include a fashion line, a jewelry collection and, of course, a wig line. I went to try to look up this wig line. You can find kind of where they carried it, but I don't know if you can buy them anymore. I'm not sure. I have not been able to look that up Because you know I'd buy one. Williams was inducted get this into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2009. On her 50th birthday, the Council of Asbury Park, new York, renamed the street on which she grew up Wendy Williams Way. In 2023, williams retired from broadcasting after being diagnosed with aphasia and frontal temporal dementia. I think that's the same thing that Bruce Willis has. I don't know if that's true or not. You know there's a debate about that out there.
Speaker 1:Her early life Wendy Joan Williams was born. I already said all that. Let's see. She was born to Shirley and Thomas Dwayne Williams. The couple had a combined three master's degree. So this woman, she is smart, she comes from a smart family. Shirley was a special education teacher, while Thomas was a teacher and school principal in 1969, became the first black school administrator in Red Bank, new Jersey.
Speaker 1:Following race riots in Asbury Park in 1970, the family moved to the predominantly white middle-income suburb of Wayside in Oceantown, new Jersey. How about that? Isn't that interesting? You do well for yourself, you get yourself educated, you do well in life. You move out of an area that you don't want to be in anymore because of crime or the way things are, this racial riots that are going on, and you move to a better neighborhood. How about that? Nothing wrong with that, uh, let's see. But it was happened to be predominantly white, middle-income suburb, and let's see.
Speaker 1:She attended a baptist church and visited the town of oak bluffs, massachusetts, each summer as a child. Doctors recommended williams be medicated to control her hyperactivity. She suffered from poor body image due to the diet her parents put her on. After gaining weight in elementary school, williams was a brownie and in the Girl Scouts and volunteered as a candy striper. Her parents believed she would become a nurse. Obviously she did not pick that road for her. Williams acted as an announcer of her young brother's Little League baseball game. That's probably how she got her start in broadcasting. She probably liked the sound of her voice being broadcast over air.
Speaker 1:She graduated from Ocean Township High School in 1982 among four black students, ranking 360th in the class of 363. Come on now. Her academic performance con contrasted with her with that of her older sister, who received a university scholarship at the age of 16, as she was able to use white diction instead of African American. This is from Wikipedia. Okay, I'm not saying this. William's white classmates considered her one of their own and freely used the word the N word around her. She did not get along with the other black students and said their only commonality was smoking cannabis. Okay, wendy. According to Williams, she did not listen to hip-hop music and instead listened to rock bands like ACDC. I knew I loved her for a reason because they were popular with her classmates.
Speaker 1:Due to her suburban upbringing, williams considered herself a multicultural woman who happened to be Black. This is all according to Wikipedia. Now, all right, so let's skip on to she attended Northeastern University. She got her bachelor's degree of arts, degree in communications and, to appease her parents, a minor in journalism because her parents were not happy with the road avenue that Wendy picked. They wanted her to be a nurse. She's like nope, I'm going into radio and broadcasting. Uh, let's see 1986 and 1994, her career beginnings. Uh, she worked at radio stations.
Speaker 1:Two weeks after graduating from Northeastern, williams began her career as a disc jockey, working in the small calypso and reggae-oriented WVIS in Frederiksted in the Virgin Islands. Interesting, but disliked the role because she did not learn as much about radio from her colleagues as she expected. Due to the low pay and isolation from her family, williams began sending resumes and demo tapes of herself to other radio stations. She left WVIS after eight months and obtained a position at Washington DC but found the oldest radio format incompatible with her personality. Williams continued sending tapes to other stations and on November 1, 1987, began as a weekend fill-in on New York City's WQHT. After the urban contemporary station hired her full-time to work overnight shifts, she left WDL.
Speaker 1:I can't read, oh, sorry, I cannot read this so small, so uh, all you have to do is Google search Wendy Williams. You will find this on Wikipedia if you're interested. There's a lot more. It goes on and on and on, but for time's sake I will stop this and talk briefly about no, you know what I'm just going to stop. We're going to do the question of the day Growing up.
Speaker 1:When you were growing up and you listened to the radio station, what was your disc jockey choice that you listened to? Did you have a shock jog? Do you remember your local radio station? What was so spectacular about it? I don't remember much about my radio station. I know when I moved to dc, though the whole big talk of the town. I think it was howard, or it might have been, oh my gosh, man. No, not man Cow, was it man Cow?
Speaker 1:One of those two were huge shock jocks in DC. I could be getting them wrong or mixed up with somebody else, but one of them got in huge trouble. For remember a long time ago this is back in the mid-80s, late 80s there was a plane crash on in the Potomac River, in the bridge, and one of those shock jocks made some kind of a comment. I forget what it is now, but he got in huge trouble. I forgot who it was or what he said, but anyway, that's. I wish I could remember. I have to look it up. All right, I gotta go. Thanks for listening. See you Bye.
