Rege Cordic; Deejay and Character Actor

Rege Cordic, popular show host at powerful Pittsburgh KDKA radio who moved to Los Angeles to work at KNX and KRLA and become a Hollywood character actor, has died. He was 72.

Cordic died Friday of brain cancer and complications including pneumonia at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

The Pennsylvanian came to Los Angeles and KNX in 1965 to replace Bob Crane as morning drive man when Crane became the star of the TV series “Hogan’s Heroes.” Cordic, who began radio announcing in 1943 while still in high school, already had more than two decades of top ratings in Pittsburgh radio under his belt.

“And there is documented evidence to certify he practically owned the town,” chronicled Times radio columnist Don Page on Cordic’s move West amid a major KNX publicity campaign for its new star. “His rating average set new records in all surveys. If he had played for the Pirates, he’d have been Ty Cobb. At times Cordic commanded an incredible 70% of the Pittsburgh radio market.”

Some surveys indicated the disc jockey’s “Cordic & Co.” show for KDKA commanded as high as 85% of the audience.

When Cordic concocted a humorous commercial for Olde Frothingslosh, which he called the “pale stale ale with the foam on the bottom,” the Pittsburgh Brewing Co. cashed in on the publicity by creating a beer with that name. Cordic also staged such stunts as a Brick Throw Championship at the local opera house, touted his brick throwing magazine Thud and organized a 14-car train for a suburban whistle-stop campaign by his fictional political candidate Carmen Monoxide.

But Cordic’s radio antics did not translate successfully to the West Coast. KNX, then moving toward its all-news format, canceled his show after 18 months, citing poor “audience acceptance.”

In 1981 and 1982, Cordic returned to morning drive time briefly on KRLA, but also found little success there.

Most of his Los Angeles career revolved around acting--portraying judges or announcers in television movies and miniseries. He had a regular role in the 1968-69 detective series “The Outsider” starring Darren McGavin.

Cordic appeared in a few motion pictures, including Woody Allen’s “Sleeper,” “Newman’s Law” and “The Wild Party.” His voice was heard in others, as the clock, for example, in the 1977 film “The Mouse and His Child,” and as an announcer or off-camera character in many TV movies.

Among the actor’s television appearances were “Death Takes a Holiday,” “The Face of Fear,” “A Great American Tragedy,” “The Death Squad,” “The Law of the Land,” “The Man With the Power,” “Standing Tall,” “The Immigrants” and “The Golden Gate Murders.”

Cordic returned to Pittsburgh periodically to host several shows for WTAE radio and television.

He is survived by his second wife, Catherine; a sister, Martha Shanley, and four children.