Jonathan Arthur Goerss (June 14, 1918 – February 24, 1982),[1] known as Jon Arthur, was an American entertainer. As Big Jon Arthur, he was the host of the Saturday morning children's radio series Big Jon and Sparkie. Sparkie, "the little elf from the land of make-believe, who wants more than anything else in the world to be a real boy,” was actually the recorded voice of Jon Arthur played at a fast speed.[2]
Arthur was born in New Kensington, Pennsylvania to Rev. Daniel Friedrich Goerss, a Lutheran minister, and Esther Eleanor Leverentz. His parents were both from Niagara County, New York.[3] He was a third-generation German-American; his paternal and maternal great-grandparents all emigrated from Germany.[4] From his home in Pittsburgh, Jon Arthur went to radio school and then began his broadcasting career at radio station WJLS (Beckley, West Virginia), signing on two weeks after the station went on the air in 1939. Arthur later left Beckley for Ogdensburg, New York and soon headed for the West Coast.[2] Arthur died in Alameda County, California in 1982.[5]
- ^ California, Death Index, 1940-1997
- ^ a b Dunning, John. On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio. Oxford University Press, 1998.
- ^ U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936–2007
- ^ 1900 United States Federal Census, 1910 United States Federal Census
- ^ Bringing Sparkie Back to Earth. Cincinnati Magazine. October 1982. pp. 12–13. Retrieved 4 March 2012.