Kirchner, Claude

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Claude Kirchner Soundex Code K625

Claude Kirchner (1916-1993) TV Star

Claude Kirchner, was a pioneer in children's television, died on Monday, March 8, 1993 at a hospice in Hawthorne, N.Y. He was 77 and lived in Greenwich, Connecticut.

The cause was cancer, said his daughter, Lynn Lavalette of Cos Cob, Connecticut.

Mr. Kirchner was the ringmaster of the popular cartoon show "Terrytoon Circus" from 1956 to 1967. Before that, he was seen on the nationally syndicated NBC show "Super Circus."

Mr. Kirchner was born in Rostock, Germany. His family moved to Riverside, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, in 1925. Hoping to become a doctor, he attended the University of Chicago for two years before leaving school to become a radio announcer in Dallas, Texas. He worked for several radio stations before enlisting in the Coast Guard during World War II.

He joined NBC Blue Radio Network in the early 1940s as the announcer for "Ladies Be Seated" and later became a co-star of Super Circus, which was broadcast live on Sunday afternoons for seven seasons.