Raised in Tacoma, Washington, Gilmore entered Washington State University in 1931, joining Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia and Theta Chi, before beginning his broadcasting path at Seattle’s KOL Radio in 1935. A year later he moved to Hollywood as a staff announcer for Warner Brothers’ KFWB, then to KNX as a news reader, and during World War II served as a fighter-director officer aboard a U.S. Navy aircraft…
