Art Finley

Who is Art Finley?

Art Finley is a former North American television and radio personality, mostly in San Francisco and Vancouver, until his retirement in 1995.

His broadcasting career began at KXYZ Houston in 1943. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II, and in the Korean War, he was recalled to active duty as a reserve officer in the U.S. Air Force, where he helped establish radio stations in Newfoundland and Greenland for the Strategic Air Command. Afterward, he worked in New York City in TV and radio. He moved to Stockton, California in the mid-1950s, to host a children's program, Toonytown, on KOVR-TV, where he remained until 1958.

He is widely remembered as "Mayor Art," the host of a live children's show that aired weekday afternoons on KRON-TV in San Francisco beginning in 1959 through 1966. Dressed in a top hat and a morning coat, he addressed his live audience of attendant children, who wore similar top hats, as the "city council." Each program featured a short science segment; and in between Popeye cartoons, Finley used a hand puppet, "Ringading," to teach introductory French, Spanish, German, and Italian words and phrases.