Mort Crowley

Mort Crowley was WKNR’s first morning man. Mort was already a star when he came to Detroit, with stints at WLS and KHJ behind him and St. Louis powerhouse KMOX ahead in the future.

Mort’s tenure at Keener was brief and eventful. He anchored the stations rise from nowhere to the top of the ratings and generated a tremendous response to his listener call-in bits. His telephone shtick was so successful that it regularly jammed the Detroit exchanges, prompting the phone company to threaten to cut off WKNR’s telephone service. This arrogant wielding of monopoly power was too much for Mort and he said so on his program one Friday morning in a
tirade that ended up with is on-air resignation.

Crowley went on to distinction in Denver and St. Louis before retiring from radio, a legend in his own time. He died in 1995.

Mort Crowley on Keener 1963
Mort Crowley resigns on the air – 1964