Jess Daniel Dennis Cain II (June 17, 1926 – February 14, 2008) was an American radio personality.
Career
For 34 years, from 1957 to 1991, Cain was the morning drivetime personality on WHDH/850 in Boston.[citation needed] Cain also was a professional actor and appeared in theater and musical theater productions, and appeared in early television on the Sergeant Bilko - a.k.a. The Phil Silvers Show.[citation needed] A native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he was a graduate of Northeast Catholic High School in Philadelphia and the University of Notre Dame.[citation needed]
Cain's song about Carl Yastrzemski — which he adapted from an old ragtime tune called "Shoutin' Liza Trombone" — appeared on "The Impossible Dream," a WHDH-produced album commemorating the 1967 Boston Red Sox season and later as part of the soundtrack of the 2005 movie Fever Pitch.[citation needed]
He was a World War II veteran, serving under Audie Murphy at the Battle of the Bulge and earning the Silver Star.[citation needed]
In 1970, Cain criticized Johnny Cash's anti-war song "What is Truth?". He called the song "junk" and "Trash".[1]
Cain died from prostate cancer in his Beacon Hill home at the age of 81.Marquard, Bryan (2008-02-14). "Radio legend Jess Cain is dead at 81". The Boston Globe. He was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in November 2008.[2]