Uncle Henry (commentator)
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Uncle Henry is a radio and television commentator in Mobile, Alabama. He hosts the local radio talk show "The Uncle Henry Show" on news/talk station WPMI 710 AM and does a commentary segment every other morning on country music station WKSJ 94.9 FM, both owned by Clear Channel Communications. His alter ego Chris Smith, a Fairhope, Alabama native and former news anchor for WKRG 710 AM (now WPMI) in Mobile conceived of the comical political and social commentator in 1988.
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[edit] A Curmudgeon Rises
While working as a morning news anchor, Smith would imitate callers in a Southern drawl, a characteristic his character would be known for. According to his creator, Uncle Henry was born in Baldwin County, Alabama and raised in Mobile. He fought in the Korean War, traveled across the United States in the 1960s, and finally settled in Mobile again to "fight the forces destroying our country." At night, “Uncle Henry” would call WABB to comment on their “nasty music” selections for the FM station. The Uncle interested WABB into asking him to give on-air editorials, including some on the topic of Satanism. After Smith accepted the job of news reporter for WABB a few months later, he revealed himself to be the curmudgeon who’s been commenting on their station recently. Besides radio, the Uncle was offered the job to bring his opinions over to viewers of public access television.
[edit] The Uncle Makes Commotion
BAY-TV produced the Uncle’s first television talk show for Comcast Cablevision's public access channel 13 (now Port City 6) in 1989, where he conducted interviews with various local people and officials every Friday night before a studio audience. Before BAY-TV’s Ron Gollick could offer the Uncle his own show, Chris Smith’s alter ego already appeared on television once as a guest on a local wrestling show with a bag over his head to protect his then-secret identity. As the Uncle, Smith would appear with a curly women’s wig (the original “President’s Cut” wig was stolen during a Mardi Gras parade), a wide-lapel jacket, and one of over 200 ties collected over time. As for the 26-year-old Smith’s facial appearance, two hours of applying make-up were needed to make the Uncle’s age convincing. Smith was quite surprised at certain people taking his character seriously to the point of making death threats for calling one Mobile County commissioner a “reptile” and for predicting that Mike Dow will become mayor of Mobile in 1989. From 1990 to 1991, BAY-TV produced a second Uncle Henry series titled “Uncle Henry on the Road”, which featured visits to places such as the Senior Bowl, Jim Busby's mansion, and Saraland, Alabama. The Uncle’s third series, “Uncle Henry’s Sunday Funnies” aired on WALA-TV for 10 episodes, featuring Little Rascals shorts and the Uncle’s commentary at certain points. The end of the original Uncle Henry TV show was evident once Smith’s mentor Ron Gollick died in 1991. After the end of the TV series, Smith continued to be the Uncle on his morning talk show on WABB-AM and a morning announcer on the FM station for the time being. Before leaving the Mobile area for a radio job in Orlando, Florida that would last about eight months, Smith had just finished hosting WABB-FM's "Trey and Chris" morning program after five years and a position at WMXC 99.9 FM. Since returning to the market, Smith has returned to WMXC as host of the "Chris and Mary" morning show.
[edit] The Uncle Resurfaces
Chris Smith returned to Mobile radio on August 6, 1998, after learning of the death of local radio personality Michael Jones, better known on the air as Mike Malone. Smith began hosting Malone's former afternoon-early evening talk show on the station where the character of Uncle Henry was conceived, only this time the station is WNTM (now WPMI) and under different ownership. On June 11, 1999 the Uncle returned to public access television for the first time in six years in an hour-long "Uncle Henry Special" on Comcast Cablevision's Port City 6. The character was also re-introduced to listeners of WKSJ-FM. On August 6, 2002, the Uncle made his grand return with an hour-long program on WNTM. "The Rush Limbaugh Show" was the program’s lead-in. Since then the character Chris Smith created years ago remains as popular as ever. The success of “The Uncle Henry Show” on WNTM led up to a brief revival of the Uncle Henry TV show. The show’s original afternoon timeslot was threatened by the expansion of "The Paul Finebaum Show" from four hours to five, making it the longest live program on the station’s schedule. In exchange for giving away his hour-long timeslot to Finebaum, the Uncle’s show was expanded to accommodate 1-½ hours of time in the morning before Limbaugh. This timeslot change became an inconvenience for some listeners, but his biggest fans continue to follow. Early in 2005, the Uncle announced to his listeners that he is running for mayor of Mobile. As the months went by, the on-air campaign seemed very serious until it was time for the Uncle to decide whether or not to make his run for mayor official by giving up his radio show and paying the fee to enter the mayoral race. On July 19, 2005, it was announced during the show that the Uncle signed a new five-year contract with Clear Channel Communications and that he will continue hosting the show. "The Uncle Henry Show" is now considered to be the highest-rated radio show of its genre in Mobile radio history.
