Jack Cullen

John Francis “Jack” Cullen was born in 1922. Jack Cullen enrolled in the Sprott-Shaw School of Commerce and Radio in Vancouver in 1945 after a tour of duty as a radio operator in the Canadian Navy. He began as a news announcer and then deejay at CJAV in Port Alberni, B.C. in November 1946. In April 1947 he moved to CKMO Vancouver and shortly, he was on the air with an all-night show called “Pacific Patrol”. Later he took over a program called “DX Prowl” changing the name to “Owl Prowl” and both he and the program became a huge success with reports of Cullen making a $1000 a month fortune in 1948. Cullen was approached by CKNW in New Westminster and on August 15, 1949 he moved, taking his “Owl Prowl” program with him. He took a wire recorder around to local nightclubs to capture acts by artists such as Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland for quasi-legal use on his shows. His “Owl Prowl” show continued with an enormous following on ‘NW until May 18, 1999. In 1994 he was named to the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame. Cullen’s record collection grew to over 300,000, reputedly one of the largest personal music collections in the world. He, along with CKNW newsman Jack Webster interviewed the Beatles during their Vancouver concert at Empire Stadium on August 22, 1964. Cullen broke the mold of early broadcasting which was then almost entirely scripted. He ad-libbed constantly and performed radio stunts. His programs often contained bangs and crunches, as he moved around to pick records or answer a phone with the mike on. Jack Cullen’s final sign-off came at eighty on April 27, 2002 in New Westminster, B.C.