Nils Thor Granlund: Show Business Entrepreneur and America's First Radio Star

By Larry Hoefling

Nils T. Granlund (1882-1957) created the first movie preview, filmed the first commercial, was the first to broadcast a live sports event, and, as a popular radio personality, introduced the Jazz Age to America via his broadcasts from Harlem's Cotton Club. He is also acknowledged as the creator of the modern nightclub, introducing the high-kicking chorus line to the stages of Las Vegas. But though he was among the highest-grossing entertainers of the World War II era--famous enough to star as "himself" in several Hollywood films--he died virtually penniless, and today is all but forgotten.

This work is a comprehensive biography of the man known as NTG, from his herding reindeer in Sweden to shepherding the most beautiful chorus girls on Broadway.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786448490
• ISBN13: 9780786448494
• Release Date: May 2010
• Publisher: McFarland & Company
• Length: 243 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.7" x 8.9"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher