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 Marv
Ray
Marv Ray was radio
god Tampa Bay in the early and mid 60s. Ray’s afternoon drive
show on WALT radio was a big hit, he was the best known of the
‘WALT Good Guys’.
Marv was an institution, a double threat. Ray
was not only the station’s top DJ, but also their best billing
salesman.
Raised in New York, Ray worked Miami before
settling down in Tampa in 1960. He became an instant smash at
WALT, out drawing the 24 hour giant WLCY in his time slot.
Marv left WALT and joined WFLA in 1966 doing
the PM drive shift. Marv, bored with being on the air went totally
into the sales end of the business by the end of 1967. This is
where the Marv Ray story gets a little spooky.
In Feb of 1968, paramedics rushed to a Tampa
Hotel and found Marv lying unconscious. His wife thought he was
in Miami on a business trip. Marv was rushed to the hospital where
attending physicians tried desperately to save him, but lost him
at the age of 35.
The Police report listed the episode as a suicide
attempt, they found a bottle of Doridan, a powerful sleeping pill
by his bedside. An autopsy that followed did not state Ray’s
death was a suicide, but instead it was an accidental overdose
of the sleeping pill he was prescribed by doctors that led to
a heart attack. The pill has since been pulled from the market
because of similar deaths. Marv had been treated for a serious
heart ailment and was a candidate for bypass surgery in the very
near future.
Marv’s daughter Tara was 7 years old when
he died, she barely knew him, but does have some fond memories
of the legend. She still listens to old tapes of Marv and her
and her brother Steve playing, singing.
Tara, married and living in New York is an
investigator at heart, and wanted some answers about her father’s
passing. She was not satisfied with the suicide rumors, everyone
she talked to said ‘Marv liked himself too much to take his
life’.
It was NOT suicide. Ray was a ‘bon vivant’ and led a very busy social life.
Anyone with any information on Marv Ray, please
contact his daughter Tara through this web site...
tara@teddwebb.com
Tedd
Webb with Ray’s daughter Tara
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