Bill O'Connor Born:  August 8, 1894 Died:  July 3, 1981 WLS National Barn Dance KYW Chicago, IL WEBH Chicago, IL WGN Chicago, IL WIBO Gary, IN WJJD Chicago, IL WLS Chicago, IL WMAQ Chicago, IL

About The Artist He was one of the first artists to appear on WLS. Back in 1935, they said he had been a solo artist at WLS for ten years. Started off wanting to be a lawyer in Kansas, but turned to singing instead. Also appeared on a morning show called Morning Devotions. They said that one of the interesting things about his singing style was when he got warmed up and into one of the old Irish tunes, his tongue just "...naturally begins to twist a little bit into the brogue that is the natural heritage of a man named O'Connor." An Irish tenor, one of the favorite songs he was noted for was "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" or Mother Machree and he did them on the Barn Dance, too. You can tell he was known to specialize in Irish ballads. Timeline and Trivia Notes Born in a little town in Kansas Married; wife's name used to be Eva A'Hearn Was the cheery conductor on the "Sunshine Express" in the mornings Once studied law at the University of Kansas Appearance History This Month

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