ATLANTA — Don Kennedy, better known as “Officer Don” from the long-running WSB-TV children’s show “Officer Don and The Popeye Club,” has died at 93.
Kennedy was suffering from dementia following a stroke in 2015, according to his daughter Rebecca Maple, who confirmed his death to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“Officer Don and The Popeye Club” aired live weekly for an hour starting in 1956. Kennedy served as the host of the hit show for 13 years.
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After graduating from Geneva College in 1953, Don served in the military at Fort Bragg, North Carolina before moving to Atlanta in the hopes of finding a job in broadcasting, according to his obituary.
He was hired as a staff announcer and news anchor at WSB-TV before taking on the role of “Officer Don.”
“The Popeye Club” featured live bits and showed Popeye cartoons between segments.
From a ratings standpoint, it became one of the most popular local kids’ shows in the nation, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Live appearances for children in the taping of the shows were so popular, they had to be reserved a year in advance.
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Kennedy used his local celebrity to bring attention to many charities and served on boards of The American Cancer Society, Muscular Dystrophy, Cystic Fibrosis and the Atlanta Humane Society, his obituary said.
He was inducted into the Georgia Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame, Silver Circle Award and Georgia Radio Hall of Fame.
Maple told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that no memorial service is planned.
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