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W. Lee O'Daniel

AKA Wilbert Lee O'Daniel

Born: 11-Mar-1890
Birthplace: Malta, OH
Died: 11-May-1969
Location of death: Dallas, TX
Cause of death: unspecified
Remains: Buried, Sparkman Hillcrest Memorial Park, Dallas, TX

Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Politician, Country Musician
Party Affiliation: Democratic

Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Governor of Texas, 1939-41

An advertising man and singer, in the mid-1920s O'Daniel co-opted a local Fort Worth band to promote Light Crust flour over the airwaves, renaming them the Light Crust Doughboys. His mode of speaking was informal, contrasting with other radio announcers of the day. After he become the most popular radio personality in Texas, O'Daniel formed his own flour company, his own band, and parlayed that success into real estate investments. In 1938, decades before the likes of Ronald Reagan, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Donald Trump, an entertainer came to be elected to a high American office.

Wife: Merle Estella Butcher (d. 1972)
Daughter: Molly O'Daniel Danielson (b. 1922, d. 1996)

    University: Salt City Business College, Hutchinson, KS

    US Senator, Texas (1941-49)
    Governor of Texas (1939-41)


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