He served in the Navy in the Pacific during WWII. After the war, he attended Utica College, then a part of Syracuse University, where he received a bachelor's degree in English. During college, he began working in radio and later in television. At one station, he worked with Dick Clark, who became the host of "American Bandstand." From 1953 to 1959, he headed the TV and radio department of Ithaca College.