Edna Fischer

Edna Fischer,
San Francisco's
"First Lady Of Radio"

Edna Fischer

Edna Fischer Hayes (1902-1997) was a talented pianist and entertainer whose music was heard regularly on KFRC, KPO and NBC. Born in San Jose, her family moved to Berkeley after the 1906 earthquake, where she graduated from Berkeley High School. Already recognized as a child prodigy, she sang at the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition, and for an experimental radio broadcast at the Claremont Hotel in 1918 (which later led to the creation of station KRE).

She played in Vaudeville until joining KFRC in 1926, where she was a regular on the "Blue Monday Jamboree" and "Happy Go Lucky Hour." That was followed by two decades with KPO and NBC, where she regularly appeared on Signal Oil's "Carefree Carnival" with Meredith Willson and Tommy Harris, fellow KFRC transplants. She also wrote that program's theme song.

Her own program, "Stars in the Making" on KPO, featured rising San Francisco music talent. Edna Fischer moved to television in the early 1950s, when she became Music Director of KPIX-TV (Channel 5).

Here is a recording of Edna Fisher in her program "Acme Beer Time".

In 2006, she was elected to the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame as a member of the first class to be inducted.

Edna Fischer, San Francisco's "First Lady Of Radio"

Edna Fischer,
San Francisco's
"First Lady Of Radio"