James Malone (born 1954 in Cleveland, Ohio)[1] is a radio personality and stand-up comedian based in Cleveland, Ohio, who hosted a weekday show heard on iHeart's WTAM 1100 AM/106.9 FM in Cleveland until August 13th, 2024 when he was fired as part of a cost-cutting plan by iHeartmedia.
Jimmy Malone | |
|---|---|
| Born | James Malone 1954 |
| Occupation(s) | Radio host Stand-up comedian |
| Awards | Marconi Award winner Ohio Broadcasters HOF |
| Website | Jimmy Malone.com |
He is best known the longtime co-host of the morning show on WMJI alongside John Lanigan, with whom he won a 2005 Marconi Award for Large Market Personality.
Early life
editMalone was born in 1954 as the youngest of three children to his parents Johnathan and Shirley, growing up on the east side of Cleveland in the Glenville neighborhood.
He attended Chesterfield Elementary School (where by his own admission he was a class comedian), and when he became a teenager (after his family had moved to suburban Shaker Heights), he attended Shaker Heights High School, where he graduated in 1972.[1]
Malone then went to college, originally attending Cleveland State University, transferring after a semester to Morehouse College in Atlanta, before settling in at Ohio University, where he eventually graduated from in the mid '70s.
Stand-up Comedy
editAfter college, Malone had bounced around between jobs as an insurance salesman and a real estate agent (following in his father's footsteps), while performing as a stand-up comedian on the side. The main part of Malone's act was called "Knuckleheads in the News", where Malone would read headlines from the newspaper and comment about some of the more outlandish stories. In 1985, WMJI FM 105.7 morning DJ John Lanigan happened to be in attendance during one of Malone's shows at the (now defunct) Cleveland Comedy Club, and asked him to bring his "Knuckleheads" routine to his radio show.[2]
Radio career
editMalone began his radio career in 1985, at first doing his "Knuckleheads" routine in weekly appearances on WMJI's popular Lanigan and Webster show. In 1991, Malone became a full-time co-host on the program, which then became known as Lanigan, Webster, and Malone, and then eventually just Lanigan and Malone after John Webster left the show in 1996.[3] Malone won a Marconi Award for Large Market Personality of the Year in 2005 (shared with Lanigan)[4]
Lanigan would retire in 2014, but Malone would continue as morning show co-host until 2021, when he began hosting his own weekly show heard Fridays on WMJI sister station WARF AM 1350, and replayed Saturday mornings on WMJI. In April 2022, the show moved to sister station WTAM 1100 AM/106.9 FM, airing weekdays from 9-10 a.m. In August 2024, he was let go from WTAM 1100 AM/106.9 FM.[5]
Personal
editSince 1996, Malone, his wife April, and his daughter Angela stage the annual "Malone Scholarship Golf Classic", a golf tournament which raises money to give college scholarships to high school students who may not be able to attend college without financial aid.[6][7]
Malone also continues performing on the local stand-up comedy circuit.[1]
Awards and honors
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c "Malone bio". Cleveland Plain Dealer. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
- ^ "Malone bio". WEWS. Archived from the original on 2014-02-22. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
- ^ "Malone's radio career". WMJI. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
- ^ a b "Malone wins Marconi Award". National Association of Broadcasters. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
- ^ Venta, Lance (August 9, 2024). "The iHeartMedia Cuts Continue". RadioInsight. Retrieved August 11, 2024 – via RadioBB.
- ^ "Malone's family". Jimmy Malone. Archived from the original on 2014-02-25. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
- ^ "Malone Golf Tournament". Jimmy Malone. Archived from the original on 2014-03-21. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
- ^ "Malone inducted into Ohio Broadcasters HOF". Ohio Broadcasters Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 2014-02-21. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
- ^ "Malone's HOF bio". Ohio Broadcasters Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2014-02-25.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Malone inducted into Shaker Hts. High HOF". Shaker Hts. High School. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
- ^ "Malone inducted into Cleveland Broadcasters HOF". Cleveland Broadcasters Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2014-04-25.