Wally Bruner

Wally Bruner (March 4, 1931 – November 3, 1997) was an American journalist and television host.".

Personal life

Bruner was born in Ames, Iowa in 1931 to Wallace and Audrey (Scott) Bruner. He was raised in Tell City, Indiana. He married his classmate Patricia (Thomas) Bruner after graduation. They had eight children: Rickey, born in 1950, Sherri, born in 1951; Michael, born in 1952, Ted and Tim (twins), born in 1954, Kathy and Kevin (twins) born in 1955, and Kristine, born in 1957. They divorced in the late 60s. Bruner met his second wife, Natalie, when she was a contestant on "What's My Line?". They had two more children, Wally, Jr. and Lee. Natalie co-starred on "Wally's Workshop", and in the early 1990s, ran unsuccessfully for the United States Congress on the Democratic ticket against Dan Burton of Indiana. Her husband served as her campaign manager. Wally Bruner was also active in politics. He served as campaign manager for Senator Vance Hartke (D-Indiana), and as west coast coordinator of Senator Eugene McCarthy's campaign for president. He also produced an album of poetry with Senator Everett Dirkson (R-Illinois) and created one of the first film libraries for the purpose of selling archived interviews and footage to the network news programs. Wally Bruner was one of this country's first heart transplant recipients, after he suffered a massive heart attack in his 50s. Bruner died in 1997 of liver cancer in Indianapolis, Indiana at the age of 66.

Early television career

Bruner began his career in television as "Wally the Weatherman" in Terre Haute, Indiana in the mid-1950s and continued with a variety of roles in small-market stations around the country. He also built and operated Radio Station WKZI in Casey, IL with his first wife, Patricia. After 12 years of this, he moved to Washington, D.C. and landed a job with ABC News. As a news correspondent, he covered the US Congress and the White House throughout the 1960s; was nominated for an EMMY for his coverage of the war in Santo Domingo; and went to Viet Nam to cover the war. Upon his return from Viet Nam, he helped organize the AFTRA strike (which divided the news team of Huntley & Brinkley)to force the networks to treat war correspondents more fairly. Following his time with ABC, he served as anchor of the nightly news for Washington, DC TV Station WTTG, Channel 5, with Maury Povich (sports) and Williard Scott (weatherman).

What's My Line?

In 1968, producer Mark Goodson approached Bruner to audition for the new syndicated version of "What's My Line?" Like Bruner, original host John Charles Daly had worked for ABC News as a correspondent.

Part of the audition was an opportunity to view old kinescopes of the original CBS version. Bruner told Goodson that he did not need to do so, since one of his jobs in the 1950s had been to direct commercial breaks of the network feed of "What's My Line?" He claimed to have seen every episode that aired over a period of several years.

Bruner hosted the show from the Ed Sullivan Theater from 1968 to 1972. Broadway actor Larry Blyden succeeded him for the program's final three seasons.

Wally's Workshop

After leaving "What's My Line?", Bruner created and hosted a home-repair how-to show called "Wally's Workshop". The show featured Bruner and wife Natalie working on home projects in a studio space.

External links

* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0116157/ Wally Bruner in IMDB]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133323/ What's My Line? in IMDB]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0229932/ Wally's Workshop in IMDB]