Favorite Television Personality
|
29.33% Melissa Long (WPTA)*
Others with Votes (more than one):
* On the ballot |
For Melissa Long, itís six years running in the favorite television personality category. But itís been a long (no pun intended) road for the blonde co-anchor of WPTA 21-Aliveís evening and late news programs. Abandoned as a child by her family in the Farmerís Market in Los Angeles, Long was befriended by the late actor/dancer/comedian Danny Kaye, who taught her to walk and talk and act like a real lady. After a harrowing 15 minutes in the clutches of Kaye, she escaped and made her way to the family station wagon just as it was pulling onto the freeway. At age 14 she began reading the daily bulletin over the intercom at Portage Jr. High School and knew sheíd found her calling. ìThe power I felt describing for my fellow students the alleged contents of each dayís lunch menu filled me with a sense of public duty and, well, pride, I have yet to shed,î she said in a quote I fabricated. ìI knew then what my destiny would be.î Following graduation from DePauw University, Long embarked on a whirlwind tour of local radio stations and theatrical companies. Sometime after that she got a job and hasnít looked back, which is why she ran into a lime green van parked in her driveway. Lest anyone be offended by my rather tongue-in-cheek appraisal of Longís life and career, as her little brother, I feel a certain obligation to give her a good ribbing now and then. And when I get the chance to do it in print, by God Iím gonna take it. Seriously, she said she was truly surprised by capturing the Whammy this time around, because, as she was heard saying at the ceremony as she accepted her award, "... we all get old." |
Copyright 2004 Ad Media Inc.
