Ray Forrest

On his early years and influences; on his father trying to bring his family to America from Germany, but instead serving in World War I for Germany; on coming to America; on wanting to get a job in radio; on attending military school; on going to Europe and then getting a job at NBC; on the importance of radio at the time he entered the industry; on his first job at NBC radio -- as a page -- and how he rose through the ranks

On fellow NBC pages when he was at the network; on giving Albert Einstein a tour of NBC; on rumblings about television when he worked in NBC radio; on his next step up at NBC after being a tour guide -- announcer; on his path to becoming a junior radio announcer and why he finally joined AFRA (the precursor to AFTRA)

On the shows he worked on as a junior radio announcer at NBC; on his first job as an announcer for experimental NBC TV in New York; on studio 3H - NBC's experimental television studio; on early TV equipment; on how the public first reacted to television

On early television makeup; on an early TV news simulcast with Lowell Thomas and Thomas' beard being problematic on camera; on subbing for Lowell Thomas in studio; on problematic cables in early TV studios and doing dramatic teleplays on Friday nights; on Broadway actors adjusting to television; on working with early NBC television program manager Warren Wade; on Dinah Shore suffering under the hot lights of early television

On a typical broadcast day on experimental NBC TV from 1939-1942; on early TV test patterns; on early TV test cities for experimental television: New Brunswick, NJ, and Newburgh, NY and early systems of TV ratings; on recording the opening of LaGuardia airport in New York; on remote shoots; on the 1939-40 World's Fair; on working on an early TV broadcast of a baseball game and on horse races and hockey games

On working with an assistant on live TV and dealing with "mic fright"; on NBC newscaster Paul Alley wanting to do color commentary for a boxing game; on using a television camera in a plane, pre-World War II; on announcing religious services and ceremonies; on televising pretty much anything you could take a picture of during the days of experimental television and the value of remotes; on the difficulties of parking the remote TV trucks when out on assignments; on how many people were watching experimental television in the early days; on feedback he received

On developing his personal style as an announcer; on how television announcing differed from radio announcing; on how people would reach him at the NBC offices; on the man who ran NBC's television unit before World War II -- Alfred H. Morton -- and the people who reported to him; on the advent of television commercials; on announcing at TV's first political convention in 1940 -- the Republican convention in Philadelphia

On other TV stations doing experimental television; on the coming of commercial television and announcing the very first commercial (for Bulova) - July 1, 1941, and the first on-camera commercial; on how commercials changed television in 1941 -- until the beginning of World War II, and on some of the early sponsors; on the on-air announcement of World War II; on being drafted into the TFPL (Training Film Production Laboratory) in World War II

On working for the Signal Corps during World War II and then joining the OSS (because he spoke fluent German), and getting into a serious vehicle accident; on appearing on television in uniform during World War II; on returning to NBC TV (WNBT) after World War II and how the station had changed; on how TV camera technology changed quickly and on using the image orthicon cameras

On Hour Glass; on doing the warm-up for Texaco Star Theater; on announcing a Joe Louis fight on The Gillette Cavalcade of Sports; on introducing theater television; on the first color television system; on introducing and hosting Children's Theater -- a children's television program composed of films; on The Tex and Jinx Show replacing Children's Theater; on being told that he was getting transferred back to radio announcing for Pat Kelly, quitting, then getting asked to host Children's Theater on Saturday mornings -- NBC's first Saturday television programming

On his film work (including underwater films) for the Saturday version of Children's Theater; on the awards Children's Theater won; on how long Children's Theater lasted on air and the cost of doing the show in color; on introducing films for a syndicated TV program; on leaving the television industry; on his thoughts on television today; on the importance of his work on television; on the power of television

On people he worked with in television; on having a children's gallery on the later version of Children's Theater and on successful promotions on the show

On B-roll photos from his career: of him doing an early newscast; of early NBC cameraman Joe Conn; of him interviewing Leo Rosenberg - radio's first announcer; of the NBC remote TV truck around 1940; of Belmont Park circa 1940; of Jamaica arena; of the 1940 Republican convention - the first televised convention and the first networked program; of the first on-air, live commercial for television -- for Adam Hats on July 4, 1941; of NBC's first TV shoot in a submarine; of a class on a field trip with him -- the footage of which would air on Children's Theater; of him with Milton Berle at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, circa 1948/'49; of a postcard given out on the NBC tour in the early days of television