This column first appeared in March 2010
Homer Durward Kirby was born on August 24, 1911 in Covington, Kentucky and moved with his family to Indianapolis in 1927 when he was 15. He graduated from Indianapolis Arsenal Technical High School in 1930. The lanky 6-foot-4 blonde Kirby was working towards a degree in aeronautical engineering at Purdue University when he got his first taste of radio work as a fill-in announcer at Purdue’s radio station (WBAA). Legend claims that as he walked past the campus radio station one day between classes, Kirby was grabbed by the student manager as an emergency fill-in spot as an announcer. It changed his life forever and would make him a household name in the early days of television.
Kirby dropped out of Purdue and went on to work at radio stations in Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Chicago and served in the US Navy during World War II before beginning his television career in New York shortly after the war. He hosted the “Club Matinee show” with Garry Moore on the NBC Blue radio network before moving to the then-infant television medium in 1949 as an announcer for advertisements which were often performed live in TV’s early days. Kirby once said in an interview, “I’ve done just about everything in broadcasting — covered news, special events, disasters, sports, political conventions. I’ve had a news commentary show, done interviews, audience participation shows, and sold products.”
Durward (aka Durwood) Kirby quickly gained a reputation as one of television’s most laid-back performers in the 1950s and 1960s. During his radio and TV broadcasting heyday, he was the first sidekick for his longtime pal Garry Moore and foil to comedienne Carol Burnett on “The Garry Moore Show.” He was later a co-host of “Candid Camera” with the late Allen Funt from 1961 to 1966. Among his many credits, Kirby performed in the very first color television commercial aired on CBS. He was known in the industry as a versatile performer and funnyman who could act, sing or dance at a moment’s notice whose mellow personality made it easy for him to switch from slapstick comedy to smooth salesman for the sponsor’s product. Television pioneer Arthur Godfrey once said Kirby was the only person in show business with whom everyone could get along. Critic John Crosby called him “one of the most versatile muggers and comedians on the air.”
Kirby’s popularity was such that the “Rocky and Bullwinkle” cartoon series spoofed his name in an episode by searching for the “Kirward Derby,” a magic hat that would make its wearer the smartest man in the world. Mr. Kirby briefly considered suing Jay Ward’s production company for damages for this public abuse of his name. However, his business manager pointed out that such a suit would bring much publicity to the show and its creators, benefiting them from the increased recognition. Kirby was thus dissuaded from suing. It is likely that the suit would have failed for another reason; that satire and parody are considered fair use under the common law of defamation and Jay Ward, creator of “Rocky and Bullwinkle” would have certainly used this as a defense.
This was not the first controversy in Kirby’s career. In 1959, the popular “Candid Camera” had started out as a segment by created by comic Allen Funt on the Garry Moore show but by 1960, Funt’s baby was ready for prime time. CBS placed the new show as a regular series on their powerful Sunday night prime time lineup and became an instant smash. Rumor claimed that CBS network executives felt the Jewish Funt to be too “ethnic” and they humiliatingly demoted him to minor co-host of the show he created in favor to the more All-American, smooth-talking pitchman Arthur Godfrey. After a famous falling out between Godfrey and Funt, Godfrey was replaced by the even milder and more Nordic-looking Durwood Kirby. Keep in mind that this was the same era when white-bread pop stars like Pat Boone were making clean cut versions of African-American rock songs like Little Richard’s “Tutti Frutti” and Fats Domino’s “Ain’t That a Shame.”
Kirby was also an author, writing three books: “My Life, Those Wonderful Years,” “Bits and Pieces of This and That,” and a children’s book called “Dooley Wilson.” He explained his popularity in television as: “the audience must accept you as a human being before it can accept you as a star, a comedian, an announcer or whatever.’’ Kirby is enshrined in both the Indiana Broadcasters and the Greater Cincinnati Broadcasting Halls of Fame. Durward Kirby’s place in pop culture history was cemented in the 1994 movie “Pulp Fiction” when the character of Mia Wallace, played by Uma Thurman, orders a “Durward Kirby” Burger in one of the film’s most memorable scenes. This is a humorous reference to the soundtrack during the scene in which a piece called “Bullwinkle” is being played.
Kirby died of congestive heart failure in the Shell Point Village Pavilion nursing home in Fort Myers, Florida on March 15, 2000 at the age of 88. He had moved to Sanibel, Florida from Sherman, Connecticut in 1974 and later moved to Fort Meyers. His son, Randall Kirby reported the Kirby’s “built a summer home in Sherman, Connecticut in the mid 1950s and truly loved that area of Connecticut. Coburn Cemetery, where they are buried, is across the lake from that house.”
If there is such a thing as a flawless hamburger, the Durward Kirby Burger is it. Its ingredients are: 1 lb. Ground Chuck, 1 lb. Ground Sirloin, 1 Tbs. Worcestershire Sauce, 1/4 tsp. Salt, 1/4 tsp. Pepper, 2 tsp. McCormick’s Montreal Steak Rub, 6 oz. Beef Broth. Although many readers might not be familiar with the screen work of this Eastside Tech high school legend, I’d wager you’ll remember the name after you try one of these “Durward Kirby” hamburgers.
Al Hunter is the author of the “Haunted Indianapolis” and co-author of the “Haunted Irvington” and “Indiana National Road” book series. His newest books are “Bumps in the Night. Stories from the Weekly View,” “Irvington Haunts. The Tour Guide,” and “The Mystery of the H.H. Holmes Collection.” Contact Al directly at Huntvault@aol.com or become a friend on Facebook.
