He was an Actor, Announcer on Radio and TV and a Game Show Host.
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His professional career began at the age of 4 when he starred in a Broadway play.
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During World War II he served a 3 ½ year hitch in the U.S. Navy as Pilot “Lieutenant Art Fleming” and he flew a “PBY CATALINA” patrol bomber on ASW (Anti Submarine Warfare) patrols off the Florida coast.
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PBY is a US Navy amphibious aircraft used for maritime patrol, as a water bomber, and for search and rescue. P stood for Patrol, B for Bomber and Y was a manufacturers’ identification. A PBY Catalina is an American and Canadian built version.
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His very first job after his honorable discharge from the Navy was as a radio announcer in Rocky Mount, North Carolina where he shorted his name from Arthur to Art.
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He next did radio announcing in Akron, Ohio and then back to the city where he was born in New York City, New York.
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He began doing TV commercials next and he is credited as being the very first person to coin the phrase "Winston tastes good, like a cigarette should".
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His first credited TV show was as an Announcer off and on beginning in 1947 for the game show "Pantomime Quiz".
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His first TV appearance was in 1949 as a stunt double for Actor “Ralph Bellamy” for his weekly Action, Crime, Drama series "Man Against Crime" but fails to get much if any credit for his participation in this show that ran until 1954.
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Actor, Composer, Director, Producer and Writer “Merv Griffin” spotted him doing a commercial for “TWA” (Trans World Airways).
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USA
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