700-WLW's Walk of Fame: Five famous WLW personalities

In its heyday, entertainers rarely passed up a chance to perform on WLW.

Violin player Sleepy Marlin, who played in country singer Merle Travis' band, once said playing on WLW could change your whole life, said Mike Martini, a radio historian, broadcaster and president and founder of Media Heritage, a nonprofit radio archive and museum.

700 WLW has been on the air for 100 years. Here are some memories

"He said you never knew what this meant for your career," Martini said. "It could be late at night. The station covered most of the country. Bing Crosby could be driving down the Pacific Coast Highway, and he might accidentally tune in to 700. This could change your whole life."

WLW launched many successful careers. Here are five:

Doris Day

The renowned singer and actress grew up in Cincinnati – as Doris Von Kappelhoff – and started her singing career at WLW in 1942, singing on a variety of programs. It didn't take long for her to rise up the ranks and sing on WLW's most popular program at the time, Moon River, a midnight program of organ music.

She went on to become one of Hollywood's biggest film stars in the 1950s and 1960s.

Rosemary Clooney

Not long after Doris Day came through the station, another promising young singer arrived at WLW. Rosemary Clooney began singing on the station in 1945 with her sister, Betty. The Clooney sisters also sang on Moon River among other programs.

Within a few years, Clooney went on to star in the holiday classic "White Christmas" with Bing Crosby and have a successful recording career that lasted until her death in 2002.

And yes, her brother, newsman Nick Clooney, son, actor Miguel Ferrer, and nephew, actor George Clooney, also had some success.

Rod Serling

The road to the Twilight Zone went through WLW.

Rod Serling had just graduated Antioch College in Yellow Springs in 1950 when he landed a job for WLW writing scripts for shows on both radio and television. He wrote "continuity patter" for "Midwestern Hayride," "Melody Showcase," "Straw Hat Matinee," and other shows.

Since WLW didn't want to do dramas at the time, Serling pitched a drama anthology show called "The Storm" in 1951 for WLW rival WKRC.

One of the episodes became the pilot for Serling's most famous creation, "The Twilight Zone."

Serling left Cincinnati in 1954. He came back in 1972 as a guest of honor for WLW's lavish 50th-anniversary banquet at the Beverly Hills Supper Club in Southgate, Ky.

Ruth Lyons

Before he had one of the most successful careers as a late-night talk show host, David Letterman learned about the art of the talk show from a WLW star.

As a child growing up in Indianapolis, Letterman would come home for lunch and watch WLW and WLWT star Ruth Lyons' show.

"There was something very compelling about the way she communicated with the viewer by talking about her life," Letterman told the Indianapolis Star and News in 1996.

Lyons started doing radio in the 1920s with WKRC then moved to WLW in the 1940s. In 1946, she unveiled her signature show, "The 50 Club." It moved to WLWT television in 1949, where the show was called the "50-50 Club" and reached 7 million homes every weekday at noon.

After the death of her daughter from cancer, Lyons retired in January 1967. Her farewell letter was read on air. She never appeared on camera again. She died in 1988.

Cris Collinsworth

He was already a famous football player, playing as a wide receiver for the Bengals. He played his final game in Super Bowl 23 when the Bengals lost to San Francisco.

A few months later, he joined the sports talk team on WLW, filling in for popular host Bob Trumpy, also a former Bengal. When Trumpy himself moved on to become a nationally recognized sportscaster, Collinsworth got the gig full-time.

Collinsworth eventually moved on to work as a national sportscaster for NFL games, replacing John Madden on NBC's Sunday Night Football in 2009. He's won 16 Emmys.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: WLW famous alums: Doris Day, Clooney, Collinsworth, more