Paul Reynolds

Paul Reynolds was born August 28, 1927 in Tampa. His interest in broadcasting was sparked when a friend involved him in producing a weekly church radio program. The future 'Shock' Armstrong would often take a newspaper to his bedroom and read it aloud to hone his presentation skills. Reynolds graduated from Hillsborough High and in 1946 joined WDAE radio, where he became an associate of another future WTVT legend, 'Salty' Sol Fleischman. Reynolds left Florida to major in speech and languages at Northwestern College while also acting as chief announcer for the school's radio station, KTIS. It was there he met his future wife Connie, who worked in the school's cafeteria and delivered meals to Reynolds during his air shift. Returning to Florida a married man, Reynolds worked briefly for WPIN radio and then served as sports director and disk jockey at Nelson Poynter's WTSP radio station in St. Pete. Paul and Connie started a family, eventually having two daughters, Carol and Alice ("A.J.") and a son, Daniel. By the mid 50's, Reynold's "Million Dollar Bandstand" show, heard at 8 pm Monday through Friday, was the top-rated disk show in the Tampa Bay area. Reynold's quick wit, likeability, and a talent for voices were always a winning combination. In his spare time, Reynolds displayed a flair for music and played tympani with the St. Petersburg and Clearwater symphony orchestras. At one point, when Reynolds was holding down the 11pm to 4 am night shift at WTSP, he was anointed "Night Mayor" of St. Petersburg by then-Mayor Samuel Johnson. When Reynolds joined WTVT in 1955, he would host a number of teen shows between 1955-1960, - "Record Room", "Open House" and "Teen Party". The versatile Reynolds was also a fill-in host for vacationing Mary Ellen. Only then, he was usually under makeup as "Bozo The Clown." This might be the reason that program manager Bob Olson thought of putting Reynolds into costume for "Shock Theatre." After Mary Ellen's departure in early 1964 Reynolds got his own Saturday morning time slot and hosted cartoons in his Bozo persona. Between 1964 until 1968, he was the host of "Shock Theatre" as horror host "Shock Armstrong". Reynolds left the station and moved to Atlanta where he worked as a pioneering consumer ombudsman for WXII-TV, and later WAGA-TV. Unfortunately, Reynold's 'Shock' costume and 'Bozo' outfit were stolen from the Reynold's near-vacant Florida house while apartment hunting in Atlanta. Reynold's career flourished in Atlanta, and viewers back in Tampa Bay consoled themselves with memories of his zany antics on 'Shock Theatre.' Reynolds, who delighted audiences in Florida and Georgia for 40 years, died in 1996.