Fred Crane

 Fred Crane, born Herman Frederick Crane, (March 22, 1918 – August 21, 2008)

He was a film and television actor and radio announcer. He is probably best known for his role as Brent Tarleton in the 1939 film, Gone with the Wind, speaking the opening lines in the movie during the opening scene with Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) and Stuart Tarleton (George Reeves). In June 1998, he was one of the special guests at the celebrity-studded premiere screening of the restored version of Gone With The Wind hosted by Ted Turner in Atlanta. In addition, he appeared in several TV shows, including guest roles and staff roles on shows such as Lost in Space, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Twilight Zone, Peyton Place, Lawman, Hawaiian Eye, and 77 Sunset Strip. He also appeared on General Hospital later in the 1970s, and continued taking on occasional jobs in narration. He also spent several years working at a pharmacy, several more years as a fine tools machinist and inspector, and several years in housing construction partnership, all the while working part-time at KFAC until a full-time position opened up in the 1960s. About a decade later, he was promoted to AM Program Director (Carl Princi was the FM Director) in addition to the duties of performing his 6-hour morning show live (Hark, the Glad Sounds), and recording voice tracks and commercials for the all-night show (Music Out of the Night) for several hours each weekday after his show completed at noon. His show was frequently in the top 5 of drive-time popularity, ranked by polls in the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner during that time. As a signature opening for his radio show, he'd often start with the great opening of "Gone With The Wind", and then his Introduction. He would not mention it, but it was a light remembrance of his having the first line in GWTW.

Around 2003, Fred had developed difficulties with diabetes, which he unfortunately acquired shortly after his second heart surgery. He'd had successful surgery to repair a vein in his leg, which had limited circulation due to the combination of diabetes and a previous heart operation in which the vein had been removed for heart bypass surgery. Unfortunately, infection had escalated in the leg, prolonging the hospital stay, and he contracted a pulmonary embolism a few days later, passing away at 12:10 p.m. Eastern Time on August 21, 2008.