George W. Trendle facts for kids

George Washington Trendle (born July 4, 1884 – died May 10, 1972) was a lawyer and businessman from Detroit, USA. He is best known for creating and producing famous radio and television shows. These include The Lone Ranger, The Green Hornet, and Sergeant Preston of the Yukon.

Starting in the Movie Business

In the 1920s, George W. Trendle worked as a lawyer in Detroit, Michigan. He was known for being a strong negotiator, especially when dealing with movie contracts. In 1928, he joined the entertainment business. A local movie theater owner named John H. Kunsky offered Trendle a share of his business for his help.

Kunsky had started investing in early movie theaters called Nickelodeons in 1905. By 1928, he owned twenty movie theaters in Detroit. This included four of the biggest theaters in the city.

Kunsky was facing problems in the theater business. A company called Paramount, led by Adolph Zukor, was trying to buy up local theaters. Trendle helped Kunsky sell his theaters for six million dollars. As part of the deal, Trendle and Kunsky were not allowed to open new movie businesses in Detroit. However, Zukor saw Trendle's skills and hired him to manage Paramount's theaters in Detroit. Trendle helped build the historic Alger Theater, which opened in Detroit in 1935. Trendle was later fired from this job in 1937.

Building Radio and TV Stations

In 1929, Trendle and Kunsky bought a radio station in Detroit called WGHP. They changed its name to WXYZ. This was the start of their company, the Kunsky-Trendle Broadcasting Company. Trendle became the president and managed the station.

WXYZ first worked with the Columbia Broadcasting System, but soon became an independent station. This meant it produced its own shows. In 1936, Kunsky changed his name to King, so the company became the King-Trendle Broadcasting Company. WXYZ improved its broadcasting power and studios throughout the 1930s and early 1940s.

The company also bought other radio stations. In 1931, they acquired WASH and WOOD in Grand Rapids, Michigan. These two stations shared facilities but kept separate licenses for a while. In 1942, they decided to keep only the WOOD license.

In 1946, a new company called the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) bought King-Trendle Broadcasting Company. This sale included their radio stations (like WOOD and WXYZ) and a permit to build a TV station, which later became WXYZ-TV. The deal was worth $3.65 million. However, Trendle kept the rights to his popular radio shows, like The Lone Ranger.

Trendle then started a new company with his partners H. Allen Campbell and Raymond Meurer. They formed the Trendle-Campbell Broadcasting Company in 1946. They launched a new radio station, WTCB, in Flint, Michigan. Its call letters later changed to WTAC. In 1953, they added a TV station, WTAC-TV, but it closed less than a year later. This was because not many TVs at the time could receive its type of signal.

Another radio station, WPON, started in December 1954 in Pontiac, Michigan. Trendle and Campbell were still involved with this station in the late 1960s.

Saving Money in Business

Trendle's business started during the Great Depression, a time when money was very scarce. He became known for being very careful with money, or a "penny-pincher." He had help from H. Allen Campbell, an advertising salesman he hired.

Campbell helped find sponsors for Trendle's radio shows. He got Silvercup Bread to be the first sponsor for The Lone Ranger. This was a big deal and helped the show become popular across the country. Campbell's work was very important, and he later became one of Trendle's business partners.

It's said that Campbell kept special books to show employees that the company was losing money. This made it seem like they couldn't afford to pay higher salaries. Trendle and Campbell would often tell employees they weren't that valuable and even threatened to fire them if they asked for more money. This tactic worked well during the Depression when jobs were hard to find.

Trendle also made sure that the music used on WXYZ shows was non-copyrighted classical music. This meant they didn't have to pay royalties (fees) for using the music. This is why the William Tell Overture became the famous theme for The Lone Ranger, and The Flight of the Bumble Bee was used for The Green Hornet.

Creating New Radio Shows

In 1932, Trendle decided that WXYZ would stop being part of a big radio network. Instead, it would create its own radio dramas and music shows. He hired James Jewell to direct the dramas and Fran Striker to write many of the scripts. Early shows included Thrills of the Secret Service and Dr. Fang. Striker eventually became the head writer for WXYZ.

The Lone Ranger

Late in 1932, Trendle started thinking about a new radio show with a cowboy hero. He wanted a mysterious hero, like Zorro or Robin Hood. The show was for children, so Trendle insisted the hero be good and have high moral standards. Trendle, Jim Jewell, and Harold True came up with the basic idea: a masked hero, a lone Texas ranger with a big white horse. Fran Striker then added more details, like silver bullets and an Indian companion. The result was The Lone Ranger, which first aired on January 30, 1933.

The Lone Ranger was an instant success. When the station offered a free toy popgun to the first 300 listeners who wrote in, they received almost 25,000 requests! When the Lone Ranger made a public appearance, about 70,000 people came to see him.

Trendle understood how valuable The Lone Ranger was. He made Striker and Jewell sign over all their rights to the show. This meant Trendle claimed credit for creating The Lone Ranger and kept most of the money from syndication (selling the show to other stations), movie rights, and merchandise. Striker and Jewell received little more than their regular salaries.

By 1934, The Lone Ranger was broadcast on many stations across the country. It eventually reached 249 radio stations nationwide. To reach audiences in different time zones, the live show was performed three times a day. Later, recordings were also made for stations that couldn't get the live broadcast.

The Green Hornet

In 1936, The Green Hornet was added to WXYZ's shows. The Green Hornet was a modern-day masked crime fighter named Britt Reid. He was related to the Lone Ranger's nephew. He was helped by his valet, Kato, who used martial arts. Fran Striker wrote most of the scripts for this series too.

Other Shows and Licensing

In 1937, Trendle allowed Republic Pictures to make a movie version of The Lone Ranger. Trendle didn't like some of the changes made in the movie. He hired a lawyer, Raymond Meurer, to oversee future licensing deals for his shows. However, Trendle did like the background music from the movie and got the rights to use it for The Lone Ranger radio show.

In 1938, Trendle asked his writers to create an adventure series about a dog hero. Writer Tom Dougall created Challenge of the Yukon, which was about Sergeant Preston of the North-West Mounted Police and his sled dog Yukon King.

In 1949, Trendle hired Jack Chertok to produce The Lone Ranger television series. Trendle was listed as the executive producer.

Trendle also started a show called Bob Barclay - American Agent in 1950. This show was about an undercover agent. However, the U.S. Government complained that the stories sounded too much like real cases. The show was canceled after its first season.

In July 1954, Trendle sold the rights to The Lone Ranger to the Wrather Corporation for $3 million. The radio series ended then, but the TV show continued until 1957. From 1955 to 1958, the Challenge of the Yukon radio program was made into a TV show called Sergeant Preston of the Yukon. Trendle's company produced it for the first two seasons before it was also sold to Jack Wrather Productions.

Later Life and Death

George W. Trendle died on May 10, 1972, at the age of 87. He passed away from a heart attack. He is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Detroit.

See also

In Spanish: George W. Trendle para niños