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Created page with "{{Infobox person | name=Raymond Franklin "Frank" Page (Radio broadcaster who introduced Elvis Presley to the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium in 1954) | image=Frank Page of LA...."
{{Infobox person
| name=Raymond Franklin "Frank" Page
(Radio broadcaster who introduced Elvis Presley to the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium in 1954)
| image=Frank Page of LA.jpg
| birth_date=July 16, 1925
| birth_place=Malvern, Hot Spring County,<br>[[Arkansas]]
| death_date=January 9, 2013 (aged 88)<br>
'''Resting place''':<br>
Forest Park East Cemetery in Shreveport
| spouse=HelenLouise Hullet Page (married 1944-2013, his death)<br>
'''Children''':<br>
Patti Lea Page Stephens<br>
Christopher P. Stephens (grandson)<br>
'''Parents''':<br>
Raymond Foster and Stella Irene Coston Page
|branch=[[United States Army]]
|serviceyears=1943-1946
}}
'''Raymond Franklin Page''', known as '''Frank Page''' (July 16, 1925 – January 9, 2013), was a [[Broadcasting|boadcaster]] at [[radio]] station [[KWKH]] in [[Shreveport]], [[Louisiana]], who on October 16, 1954 introduced [[Elvis Presley]] to the Louisiana Hayride [[Country music]] program. The Hayride was presented weekly from 1948 until 1960 at the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium; it was akin to Shreveport's temporary alternative to the permanent [[Grand Ole Opry]] of [[Nashville]], [[Tennessee]].
==Background==
Page was born in Malvern in Hot Spring County, [[Arkansas]], a son of Raymond Foster Page and the former Stella Irene Coston. He attended school in Harlingen, [[Texas]], and North Little Rock, Arkansas. He enrolled in high school in the capital cty of [[Little Rock]], where he worked beginning at the age of sixteen for KGHI radio and thereafter at KLRA. On [[December 7, 1941]], Page was broadcasting at the time of the [[Japan|Japanese]] [[Attack on Pearl Harbor]]. In 1943, he enlisted in the [[United States Army]] during [[World War II]]. He was assigned briefly at the end of the war to Armed Forces Radio in [[Berlin]], [[Germany]]. In 1945, while being transported home on a [[Greece|Greek]] vessel, Page was shipwrecked in the North Atlantic. In 1946, he returned to KLRA but he and his announcing partner, Bob Fulton, were soon fired. His next and permanent stint brought him to Shreveport on [[Thanksgiving Day]] 1947.<ref name=findagrave/>
==Radio career==
Page joined the staff of KWKH, named for broadcast pioneer [[W. K. Henderson]], and worked at the station for sixty-five years until his retirement in 2005 at the age of eighty. In 1949, he began announcing the Louisiana Hayride. In addition to Presley, Page had an impact on the careers of Nat Stuckey and Jim Reeves, both of whom were former radio announcers at KWKH, and [[Bob Dylan]], who listened to KWKH from his home in Hibbing, [[Minnesota]], and gained ideas for his future musical compositions.<ref name=bio>{{cite web|url=http://www.nola.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2013/01/louisiana_hayride_voice_frank.html|title=Louisiana Hayride voice Frank Page dies at age 87|date=January 12, 2013|publisher=''The New Orleans Times-Picayune''|accessdate=August 29, 2013}}</ref>
In the broadcasting business, Page was known for courtesy, humility, and willingness to mentor others seeking to enter the entertainment field. [[CBS]] sports announcer Tim Brando, who was reared in Shreveport, recalls having known Page as a longtime friend of his family. Page exerted impact on the early names in Country music: [[Johnny Cash]], [[Johnny Horton]], [[George Jones]], [[Loretta Lynn]], and [[Hank Williams, Sr.]]<ref name=bio/> Presley performed "That's Alright Mama" on the radio version of ''Louisiana Hayride'' in 1954; a year later, Presley debuted nationally on the television version of the ''Louisiana Hayride.''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.zap2it.com/pop2it/2013/01/frank-page-dies-elvis-presley-announcer-was-87.html|author=Chris E. Hayner|title=Frank Page dies: Elvis Presley announcer was 87|date=January 11, 2013|publisher=blog.zap2it.com|accessdate=August 29, 2013}}</ref> When they first came to Shreveport, Frank and his wife and childhood sweetheart, Helen, rented an apartment across the street from singer and [[Governor]] [[Jimmie Davis]], then in his first term in office in [[Baton Rouge]]. The Pages' landlady was Mrs. F. A. Bewley, wife of the owner of a large furniture store in Shreveport. Page and Davis became lifelong friends.<ref name=findagrave/>
A member of the County Music DJ Hall of Fame, Page was a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Louisiana Association of Broadcasters.<ref name=bio/> In 2009, he was inducted into the Wall of Fame in Shreveport.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ksla.com/story/20549314/frank-page-original-broadcaster-of-elvis-presley-dies|author=Willard Woods|title=Funeral set for Hayride voice, broadcasting legend Frank Page|date=January 9, 2013|publisher=KSLA-TV|accessdate=August 29, 2013}}</ref> Page worked closely with KWKH personality [[Louise Alley]], who in 1978 established her own advertising agency which she operated until 2012 in her adopted city of Shreveport.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/shreveporttimes/obituary.aspx?n=louise-frances-koury-alley&pid=176071746&fhid=6593|title=Louise Frances Koury Alley obituary|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|accessdate=October 11, 2015}}</ref>
In 2011, Page was named one of "Five Living Legends of Shreveport" by Danny Fox (1954-2014) of KWKH radio.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/shreveporttimes/obituary.aspx?n=wayne-grimes&pid=171180217#sthash.ZHHismMg.dpuf|title=Wayne Grimes obituary|publisher=''[[The Times (Shreveport)|The Shreveport Times]]''|accessdate=June 2, 2014}}</ref> Others named were [[Bob Griffin (journalist)|Bob Griffin]] of KSLA and later KTBS-TV, James Burton, Hank Williams, Jr., and [[Claude King]], who like Page died in 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://1130thetiger.com/living-legends-of-shreveport-danny-foxs-top-5/?trackback=tsmclip
|title=Living Legends of Shreveport – Danny Fox’s Top 5|publisher=KWKH Radio|accessdate=June 11, 2014}}</ref>
==Death and family==
Page died in a Shreveport hospital of a severe respiratory infection. He was survived by his wife of sixty-eight years, the former Helen Louise Hulett (1926-2015), whom he married in 1944 in Brownwood, [[Texas]], while he was on a three-day pass from the Army. The couple had a daughter, Patti Lea Stephens and husband Ronald W. Stephens and grandson Christopher P. Stephens, all of Littleton, [[Colorado]]. Page was survived too by his brother, Larry Page and his wife, Mary Ann, of Shreveport.<ref name=findagrave>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSob=c&GSlh=1&GRid=103351291&|title=Raymond Franklin "Frank" Page|publisher=findagrave.com|accessdate=August 29, 2013}}</ref> Page and his wife are interred at Forest Park East Cemetery in Shreveport.<ref name=findagrave/>
==See also==
*[[Barney Cannon]]
== References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Page, Frank (broadcaster)}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Arkansas]]
[[Category:Radio]]
| name=Raymond Franklin "Frank" Page
(Radio broadcaster who introduced Elvis Presley to the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium in 1954)
| image=Frank Page of LA.jpg
| birth_date=July 16, 1925
| birth_place=Malvern, Hot Spring County,<br>[[Arkansas]]
| death_date=January 9, 2013 (aged 88)<br>
'''Resting place''':<br>
Forest Park East Cemetery in Shreveport
| spouse=HelenLouise Hullet Page (married 1944-2013, his death)<br>
'''Children''':<br>
Patti Lea Page Stephens<br>
Christopher P. Stephens (grandson)<br>
'''Parents''':<br>
Raymond Foster and Stella Irene Coston Page
|branch=[[United States Army]]
|serviceyears=1943-1946
}}
'''Raymond Franklin Page''', known as '''Frank Page''' (July 16, 1925 – January 9, 2013), was a [[Broadcasting|boadcaster]] at [[radio]] station [[KWKH]] in [[Shreveport]], [[Louisiana]], who on October 16, 1954 introduced [[Elvis Presley]] to the Louisiana Hayride [[Country music]] program. The Hayride was presented weekly from 1948 until 1960 at the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium; it was akin to Shreveport's temporary alternative to the permanent [[Grand Ole Opry]] of [[Nashville]], [[Tennessee]].
==Background==
Page was born in Malvern in Hot Spring County, [[Arkansas]], a son of Raymond Foster Page and the former Stella Irene Coston. He attended school in Harlingen, [[Texas]], and North Little Rock, Arkansas. He enrolled in high school in the capital cty of [[Little Rock]], where he worked beginning at the age of sixteen for KGHI radio and thereafter at KLRA. On [[December 7, 1941]], Page was broadcasting at the time of the [[Japan|Japanese]] [[Attack on Pearl Harbor]]. In 1943, he enlisted in the [[United States Army]] during [[World War II]]. He was assigned briefly at the end of the war to Armed Forces Radio in [[Berlin]], [[Germany]]. In 1945, while being transported home on a [[Greece|Greek]] vessel, Page was shipwrecked in the North Atlantic. In 1946, he returned to KLRA but he and his announcing partner, Bob Fulton, were soon fired. His next and permanent stint brought him to Shreveport on [[Thanksgiving Day]] 1947.<ref name=findagrave/>
==Radio career==
Page joined the staff of KWKH, named for broadcast pioneer [[W. K. Henderson]], and worked at the station for sixty-five years until his retirement in 2005 at the age of eighty. In 1949, he began announcing the Louisiana Hayride. In addition to Presley, Page had an impact on the careers of Nat Stuckey and Jim Reeves, both of whom were former radio announcers at KWKH, and [[Bob Dylan]], who listened to KWKH from his home in Hibbing, [[Minnesota]], and gained ideas for his future musical compositions.<ref name=bio>{{cite web|url=http://www.nola.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2013/01/louisiana_hayride_voice_frank.html|title=Louisiana Hayride voice Frank Page dies at age 87|date=January 12, 2013|publisher=''The New Orleans Times-Picayune''|accessdate=August 29, 2013}}</ref>
In the broadcasting business, Page was known for courtesy, humility, and willingness to mentor others seeking to enter the entertainment field. [[CBS]] sports announcer Tim Brando, who was reared in Shreveport, recalls having known Page as a longtime friend of his family. Page exerted impact on the early names in Country music: [[Johnny Cash]], [[Johnny Horton]], [[George Jones]], [[Loretta Lynn]], and [[Hank Williams, Sr.]]<ref name=bio/> Presley performed "That's Alright Mama" on the radio version of ''Louisiana Hayride'' in 1954; a year later, Presley debuted nationally on the television version of the ''Louisiana Hayride.''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.zap2it.com/pop2it/2013/01/frank-page-dies-elvis-presley-announcer-was-87.html|author=Chris E. Hayner|title=Frank Page dies: Elvis Presley announcer was 87|date=January 11, 2013|publisher=blog.zap2it.com|accessdate=August 29, 2013}}</ref> When they first came to Shreveport, Frank and his wife and childhood sweetheart, Helen, rented an apartment across the street from singer and [[Governor]] [[Jimmie Davis]], then in his first term in office in [[Baton Rouge]]. The Pages' landlady was Mrs. F. A. Bewley, wife of the owner of a large furniture store in Shreveport. Page and Davis became lifelong friends.<ref name=findagrave/>
A member of the County Music DJ Hall of Fame, Page was a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Louisiana Association of Broadcasters.<ref name=bio/> In 2009, he was inducted into the Wall of Fame in Shreveport.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ksla.com/story/20549314/frank-page-original-broadcaster-of-elvis-presley-dies|author=Willard Woods|title=Funeral set for Hayride voice, broadcasting legend Frank Page|date=January 9, 2013|publisher=KSLA-TV|accessdate=August 29, 2013}}</ref> Page worked closely with KWKH personality [[Louise Alley]], who in 1978 established her own advertising agency which she operated until 2012 in her adopted city of Shreveport.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/shreveporttimes/obituary.aspx?n=louise-frances-koury-alley&pid=176071746&fhid=6593|title=Louise Frances Koury Alley obituary|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|accessdate=October 11, 2015}}</ref>
In 2011, Page was named one of "Five Living Legends of Shreveport" by Danny Fox (1954-2014) of KWKH radio.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/shreveporttimes/obituary.aspx?n=wayne-grimes&pid=171180217#sthash.ZHHismMg.dpuf|title=Wayne Grimes obituary|publisher=''[[The Times (Shreveport)|The Shreveport Times]]''|accessdate=June 2, 2014}}</ref> Others named were [[Bob Griffin (journalist)|Bob Griffin]] of KSLA and later KTBS-TV, James Burton, Hank Williams, Jr., and [[Claude King]], who like Page died in 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://1130thetiger.com/living-legends-of-shreveport-danny-foxs-top-5/?trackback=tsmclip
|title=Living Legends of Shreveport – Danny Fox’s Top 5|publisher=KWKH Radio|accessdate=June 11, 2014}}</ref>
==Death and family==
Page died in a Shreveport hospital of a severe respiratory infection. He was survived by his wife of sixty-eight years, the former Helen Louise Hulett (1926-2015), whom he married in 1944 in Brownwood, [[Texas]], while he was on a three-day pass from the Army. The couple had a daughter, Patti Lea Stephens and husband Ronald W. Stephens and grandson Christopher P. Stephens, all of Littleton, [[Colorado]]. Page was survived too by his brother, Larry Page and his wife, Mary Ann, of Shreveport.<ref name=findagrave>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSob=c&GSlh=1&GRid=103351291&|title=Raymond Franklin "Frank" Page|publisher=findagrave.com|accessdate=August 29, 2013}}</ref> Page and his wife are interred at Forest Park East Cemetery in Shreveport.<ref name=findagrave/>
==See also==
*[[Barney Cannon]]
== References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Page, Frank (broadcaster)}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Arkansas]]
[[Category:Radio]]