Papers and recordings of radio personality and anchorman Mort Crim, known popularly as the inspiration for the Will Ferrell character in the Anchorman film. Crim was an alumnus of Anderson University and left his personal papers, recordings, and scripts to the University archives, where they are stored.
Dates:
1960/2005
Repository/Collector:
Anderson University & Church of God Archives
Repository/Collector Type:
College or university
City:
Anderson
State:
Indiana
Country:
United States
Collection ID:
AC 347-386
Extent:
47 linear feet
Content types:
Performed music, Sounds (Other than music & language), Spoken word, and Text
Formats:
Pressed LP disc, Pressed 78rpm disc, Pressed 45rpm disc, Optical disc (including CD, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD, DVD-R, DVD-RW, VCD), Analog audiocassette, 8-track cassette, VHS (including SVHS and VHS-C), Betamax, Betacam (including Betacam SP), U-matic (including U-matic S), Open reel video, Photographic print, and Text document
Languages:
English
Genres:
News reporting, Journalism, Talk radio, Comedy, and Motivational speaking
Access statement:
The collection is fully accessible on site with or without an appointment. The collection is currently not digitally hosted anywhere. Individual recordings can be digitized and provided to users for a fee.
Inventory description:
Paper inventory or finding aid and Spreadsheet
Historical relevance:
The son of Ocie Dell and Rev. William Albert Crim, Mort Crim was born on July 31st, 1935 in West Frankfort, Illinois. Growing up in the Church of God, he originally went into the field of ministry but later decided on a career in journalism and broadcasting. Since then, he has made a conscious decision to utilize his position to share good news rather than sensationalist reporting. Crim attended Anderson College before ultimately receiving his undergraduate degree from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. He went on to attain a Master’s degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. He was later inducted into the Medill Hall of Achievement and has received five honorary doctorates. In popular culture today, Crim is widely known as the inspiration for Will Ferrell’s Anchorman. In 1958, he joined the Air Force, where he served as a reporter for four years. His first widely known broadcasting work was in New York at the time of the 1965 blackouts. He then continued reporting as a national ABC correspondent in New York, where he covered the historic moon landing and Lyndon B. Johnson’s tour to Australia, Vietnam, and Korea. He moved to WHAS News in Louisville, Kentucky in 1969 before beginning his own essay-style broadcast, One Moment Please, in the 1970s. Mort Crim received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Anderson College in 1974. He served on the Board of Trustees at Anderson College/University from 1974 to 1989. He continued his reporting work for News 4 Detroit as Senior Editor and Anchor from 1978 to 1997. From 1980-1984, he was also a permanent vacation substitute for Paul Harvey. He hosted the PBS program New Tech Times in 1984. During his years at WDIV-TV in Detroit, he began writing and recording the program for which he is perhaps most famous, Second Thoughts, a nationally syndicated series of ninety-second, motivational essays which ran from 1991 to 2006. His other radio programs include Mort Crim News You’ll Talk About and Mort Crim Stories from the USA. In addition to a radio personality and news anchorman, Crim is an active volunteer, public speaker, licensed pilot, and CEO of Mort Crim Communications, Inc. He has been awarded several Emmys for documentaries and news reporting in 1971, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1989, and 1991. Crim also won the 1995 Gold World Medal as Best Radio Personality at the New York Festivals’ International Radio Awards and the 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award from the University of Nebraska. In 2010, he was inducted into the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia's Hall of Fame. Crim is also the author of seven books. Crim retired from anchoring in 1997 and radio broadcasting in 2006. He is married to Alice "Irene" Bowman Miller, also an alumnus of Anderson University.
Condition note:
Playable with proper equipment and Older formats migrated to contemporary formats