Those four words I was not expecting to start off my phone conversation with one "Irwin Sonny Fox". "Rich, in my industry, when you arrange for a 8 AM phone interview I am ready at 8 AM". Sonny went on to explain that throughout his career, whether that be radio or television he had to be ready for that air time "ON" light or he missed his mark. Fortunately, in short order he made it clear that he was not upset but rather his sense of humor to throw me off my mark. What followed was a memorable conversation with a remarkable gentleman from our childhood.
The mere mention of the name Sonny Fox provokes immediate memories of our childhood sitting in front of that television set on Sunday mornings. "Rich, to be remembered is most flattering, but what is really remarkable is that when I meet these people, my kids, 50 years later and when they see me, they regress to their 10 year old selves, just like that. To this very day it really is something to know you can leave that kind of thumbprint on a child's mind."
From 1959 to 1967, Sonny hosted the children's television show "Wonderama," which ran for four hours every Sunday morning. When we tuned in we might see magical acts, live performances, annual visits by Se. Robert Kennedy and one-on-one conversations between Fox and audience members.
Sonny juggled serious to zany for four hours each Sunday. Oh the prizes... we all remember the Emenee organ. With four hours of programming there was plenty of air time to fill and toy commercials were the answer. "In the summer we handled about twenty commercial spots a show but come the fall that would jump to 42." When asked what became of all the toys throughout the year Sonny explained that they saved them all and just prior to the holidays he would ask his crew to select from the collection to take home for their own families.
"I never did pretend I was a child... I wore a suit and tie and I respected them," he said. "Very few of us learn to listen to kids. It was a show that played to children's strengths, their curiosity, their intelligence and their ability to enjoy the moment. There are no more children's shows on the local scene and that is too bad. Now when children are served by the networks or cable companies they tend to think of children as consumers, in demographics. When we were local we were able to think of our children as our responsibility.
Sonny Fox, now 88, a Brooklyn native, originally thought he would follow his father into the textile business. However, after graduating from high school early and waiting to get into college in North Carolina, he took a few courses at NYU, thinking he could transfer the credits. He gave radio production and radio writing a try, realizing "that's what I wanted to do."
His new found passion would have to wait, however, while he served in World War II, during which he which he faced the trials of an imprison camp. Returning to the United States, he earned a degree in radio production from NYU.
Early on in his career, Sonny (whose given name is Irwin) worked on the radio show "Candid Microphone" a precursor to Alan Funt's "Candid Camera'; a children's show "The Finder" in St. Louis; a travel oriented CBS television series "Let's Take a Trip"; the game show "The $64,000 Challenge"; the aforementioned "Wonderama'; a children's competition show "Just for Fun" and others.
He later developed his own television production. In the mid 70's he served as the vice president for children's programming for NBC. And for years he has worked with Population Communications International to use the craft of storytelling to bring about social change around the world.
Sonny took time from his storied career to write his autobiography. "There is not one thing in my professional life that I set out to do, "Sonny said. "I wanted the title of my book to be 'Meet Me at the Crossroads of the Impossible and the Inevitable'. The title actually is "But You Made the Front Page!: War, Wonderama and a Whole Bunch of Life." The title, in part, refers to his mother's reaction to his firing from NBC..."at least you made the front page of the Daily News!".
Sonny and I spoke about life beyond Wonderama and I was impressed to learn this veteran is a survivor of a WW II Jewish prison camp. At age 88 he is still passionate about his craft. Today he lives in sunny Southern California and revisits New York when he can. One definite destination each trip is the Carnegie Deli because, in his opinion, they offer up the best cheesecake around. In fact, upon his return from the war he stood in front of the deli, placed his beret over his heart and quietly said to himself, "I'm home." Like so many of us that have traveled and lived elsewhere, there is only one home town.
This is a man that ended our phone conversation with the sound advice for us to embrace the bond we have as classmates during such a special time and special generation. "Take every opportunity to stay in touch with each other."
Please take a moment to visit his web site: www.sonnyfoxtv.com His book is amazing and I recommend it highly.
