Jean Shepherd

Jean Shepherd gained his greatest renown for co-authoring the 1983 screenplay of A Christmas Story, yet his career also encompassed radio hosting, contributions to the Village Voice and Car and Driver, and the release of eight spoken-word albums; in 2005 he received a posthumous induction into the National Radio Hall of Fame.

Born Jean Parker Shepherd in Chicago, IL on July 26, 1921, he became known primarily by the nickname Shep. After completing his studies at Hammond High School in 1939, he served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps during World War II. His entry into broadcasting came in 1948 at WSAI in Cincinnati, OH; from 1951 to 1953 he worked at KYW in Philadelphia, PA, and in 1956 he joined WOR in New York City, the station he had long sought. There he occupied the overnight slot, presenting stories and poetry while staging humorous anecdotes; on one occasion he described a nonexistent book, I, Libertine by Frederick R. Ewing, prompting listeners to request it at bookstores. The resulting demand led Theodore Sturgeon and Betty Ballantine to produce an actual novel from the outline Shepherd had supplied.

When WOR management cited insufficient commercial viability and prepared to terminate his contract, Shepherd delivered an unsponsored advertisement for Sweetheart Soap and was promptly dismissed; listener protests and the soap company’s subsequent decision to underwrite the program restored him to the air, where he remained until 1977. In the late 1950s he appeared onstage in Look, Charlie alongside Shel Silverstein and Herb Gardner, as well as his then-future wife Lois Nettleton, whom he would divorce after six years.

Shepherd contributed short fiction drawn from his Indiana upbringing to Playboy; in 1966 Doubleday assembled several of those pieces into the volume In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash. He maintained regular columns in the Village Voice and Car and Driver, and in 1971 he turned to screenwriting, creating Jean Shepherd’s America for Boston Public Television among other projects. His most enduring credit remains the co-written screenplay for The Christmas Story, drawn from his semi-autobiographical tales “In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash” and “Wanda Hickey’s Night of Golden Memories.” He supplied the film’s narration and appeared briefly as the department-store patron who directs Ralphie and his brother.

A popular stage performer as well, Shepherd issued eight original recordings, two of which—Will Failure Spoil Jean Shepherd? (1961) and Jean Shepherd and Other Foibles (1959)—were still available as of January 2008, offering listeners direct access to his characteristic wit and commentary. He spent his final years on Sanibel Island, FL with his wife Leigh Brown and died of natural causes in 1999.