Philadelphia Daily News from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 10

WOGL's Ron O'Brien dies after bout with pneumonia Boss jock on 98.1 'was one of the true best' By DAN GROSS grossdphillynews.com 215-854-5915 tion will soon present audio and video retrospectives of O'Brien's work. "He was a model employee and a wonderful talent," Loftus said of O'Brien, who had recently signed a three-year contract extension with the radio station. O'Brien was on WFIL from 1976 to 1979. His career also took him to New York's WNBC, where he made a lasting impression on a young Howard Stern. The shock jock praised O'Brien in August 2006, talking about how the DJ was a true professional who had covered a few of Stern's shifts for him.

O'Brien had worked at WOGL, which plays hits of the 1960s and '70s, since 2002. "He made every afternoon ride home fun for the thousands who listened," Bob Kelly, traffic anchor at WOGL and CBS 3, said last night. "A great voice, classic Boss Jock delivery and a great sense of humor," says Kelly, noting that his friend and colleague also "loved trolleys." Although he didn't ride them, he enjoyed watching them and "always complained when the Route 15 was using shuttle "Big" Ron O'Brien, afternoon jock on 98.1 WOGL, died yesterday from complications of pneumonia, station manager Jim Lof-tus confirmed last night. O'Brien, who was 56 and lived in King of Prussia, had been off air recently and hospitalized at Paoli Memorial Hospital. He had recently shown signs of improvement and had come out of intensive care, Loftus said, adding that he and the rest of the WOGL team were planning to visit him this week and were shocked by his death yesterday.

"He was one of the true best," said Loftus, who first heard O'Brien's work on a nationally syndicated show called "On the Radio." "It's easy to say that about someone who died, but in his case, it's absolutely true. "The interesting thing was he was a Boss jock from the glory days who kept that same style but also evolved through contemporary times. That was his gift. He could talk up and introduce the same song for the time but each time he could convey excitement," said Loftus, whose sta See O'BRIEN Page 14 Photos: JESSICA GRIFFIN Daily News PHILLY GETS EARLY START IN CELEBRATING CINCO DE MAYO ABOVE: Marchers dressed as Mexican soldiers walk along Washington Avenue near 6th Street during the Cinco de Mayo parade in South Philly yesterday. Cinco de Mayo is the Mexican holiday that commemorates the victory of Mexican forces over the French at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862.

LEFT: Salma Flores marches in the parade. BELOW: More Mexican soldiers can be seen along Passyunk Avenue near 9th Street yesterday. Kate Phillips, 94, actress who co-wrote The Blob' By DENNIS HEVESI New York Times News Service In 1956, while working with Theodore Simonson on the script for a movie that was supposed to be called "The Molten Meteor," Phillips referred to the giant jellylike creature from another planet that had plopped into a field outside of a small town as "the blob." Overhearing her, the producers changed the name of what became something of a cult classic. "The Blob," filmed in Chester County, gave a fresh-faced Steve McQueen his first starring role, as one of two teenagers Kate Phillips, who played mostly supporting roles on Broadway and in more than 50 films in the 1930s and '40s and who later was a co-writer of the 1958 horror film "The Blob," died on April 18 in Keene, N.H. She was 94.

The death was confirmed by Lawrence Benaquist, chairman of film studies at Keene State College. Phillips, known during her acting career as Kay Linaker, taught at the college from 1980 until two years ago. See PHILLIPS Page 24 PAGE 10 PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS MONDAY, APRIL 28, 2008.