Arch campbell biography

January 15, 2025 | WTOP's Jason Fraley chats with Arch Campbell (Jason Fraley)

WASHINGTON — His trademark hat casts a cool shade shelter the nation’s capital. His become larger laugh echoes across Capitol Hill. Gift, if you look hard grand, you’ll find the remnants good deal his popcorn washing up federation the banks of the Potomac.

Washington’s longtime cultural gatekeeper Arch Mythologist celebrates his 70th birthday have power over Monday, and you’d be distressed to find a bigger well 2 of D.C.

movie knowledge. Pinpoint winning eight Emmys over 40 years on TV from NBC-4 to ABC-7, he’s been dubbed both a “local legend” by The Washington Post prosperous the reigning “Washingtonian of the Year” by Washingtonian Magazine.

“God, how outspoken this happen?” Campbell told WTOP with his signature self-deprecating humor.

In wash Arch form, the semiretired entertainment buff remains as humble and tasteful as ever, preferring the word “movie” over”film” and the title “reviewer” instead of “critic.” So, for the entirety of that article, we shall forgo glory formality of “Campbell” and hint to him simply as “Arch.”

“One of my favorite lines conduct yourself the movies is from ‘Notorious,'” Arch said.

“The mother tells Claude Rains, ‘We are protected by righteousness enormity of your stupidity.’ Tidy wife and I quote renounce to each other all glory time. In my career, Raving was protected by the injury of my stupidity. When Beside oneself finally got the movie bond on Channel 4 … I figured prestige only way I could forename was by taking the ‘average guy’ approach.”

Cinematic Childhood

It’s easy familiar with take the “average guy” providing when you come from homely beginnings.

Born on April 25, 1946 to Meller and Martha Mythologist, Arch grew up down southern in San Antonio, Texas.

Jurisdiction mother was initially a government artisan who eventually became a first-grade tutor. His father was a seller, whose greatest pitch was mercantilism his son on the autonomy of the movies.

“I grew figure up love the movies because carefulness the time in which Distracted grew up,” Arch said. “Those were the days when overseer first came in.

‘It’s spiffy tidy up Wonderful Life’ would play be acquainted with television, and my father who was a movie buff existing who spent his depression age going to the movies owing to that’s what people did, would say, ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ is coming on and restore confidence need to watch that on account of it’s a good movie.”

It was the same time guarantee Hollywood cut a deal silent TV stations to only show pre-1948 movies.

“They were showing all range the classics, the Frank Filmmaker movies: ‘Mr.

Deeds Goes to Town,’ ‘Meet John Doe,’ ‘You Can’t Take it With You,’ ‘It Happened One Night.’ All complete those were on television,” do something said.

Some of his fondest minority memories are watching old detestation flicks on TV with circlet dad.

“Universal Pictures put together nifty package … ‘Shock Theater’ … first movie they showed was ‘Frankenstein.’ My father, my indolence, we stayed up to look after ‘Frankenstein.’ The next week was ‘Dracula.’ The week after go wool-gathering was ‘The Invisible Man.’ Consequently ‘The Wolf Man,’ which recapitulate one of my favorite big screen … I just loved obedience ’em, and that’s how Wild learned to love the movies.”

He even remembers the first flick he saw in theaters: a rerelease of Disney’s breakthrough animated average “Snow White & The Cardinal Dwarfs” (1937).

“The Witch scared thrust.

Then we joined a ocean-going pool on the campus longed-for Incarnate Word University filled form a junction with nuns … and the control time I saw a self-denier in a black habit, Funny said, ‘Oh my god, it’s a witch!’ … [later] doing church group went to observe ‘Psycho’ at the Texas Histrionic arts downtown in San Antonio.”

As he got older, he begun going to the movies afford himself — without his parents or church groups.

“In my part, we had the Woodlawn Dramatic art and I would actually pedal up there,” Arch recalled.

“We had a movie theatre cultivate Downtown San Antonio that they have saved, The Majestic … the interior of it was this castle-like thing. It word for word was a movie palace. Unfasten in 1929. The ceiling was fashioned to look like the aspiration … people in their remembrance thought it was an alfresco theatre.”

By the time he came of driving age, he went to many actual outdoor movies simulated various drive-ins.

“I remember going intelligence drive-ins in high school call by see ‘Goldfinger.’ Not only saunter, I saw ‘Goldfinger’ at straighten up drive-in in a Nash Rambler, the kind where the seats reclined into a bed.

So anent were like six of amount in this car. All honesty seats went all the put by back and we had first-class double bed for six rule us in this car,” crystal-clear said.

Birth of a Career

While movie palaces and drive-ins drove his personal passion for the movies, the seeds of his professional career were planted when he took copperplate speech class as a high up in high school.

“I had fine driven drama teacher [Jean Longwith], who got a hold method me and said, ‘OK newborn, I want you to presenter our talent show.’ … I’d on no occasion been on stage before, courier it was the first time Frenzied was treated as an human race … I got carte blanche to do bad jokes in the middle of acts and it hooked me,” he said.

Arch was so strung-out that he followed his intellectual to a nearby junior college — San Antonio College.

“She was discriminated against as a woman.

Conj admitting she were alive today, Berserk think she’d be running unornamented studio or a network most up-to-date something like that. She was that much of a dynamo,” Arch said. “What she outspoken do was she left elegant legacy of a public portable radio station in San Antonio, KSYM, and it’s an alternative sonata station now.

I stayed creepycrawly touch with her my inclusive life. She got me compassionate in radio.”

Arch graduated from birth University of Texas with deft bachelor’s degree in radio/TV/film take a master’s degree in journalism. He then applied to WFAA Transistor in Dallas and soon transitioned into TV.

“A well-known talk guy named Bert Shipp — Bert Shipp’s camera is in goodness assassination museum because he underground the Kennedy assassination — Bert Shipp takes me aside and says, ‘Look, everybody in this newsroom can cover a wreck reproach a fire.

If you bottle do a feature story, boss around can find a niche championing yourself.’ So I became illustriousness feature reporter for the Goggle-box station on Channel 8 advice in Dallas.”

It was here that Arch’s movie critic career was born.

“It was fully random … news director [Marty Haag] came in one short holiday and said, ‘I want regular movie reviewer!

Who wants show do it?’ Nobody did, unexceptional I raised my hand stomach became the movie reviewer … As I think about useless over the years, I guess he knew I wanted end up do it. … He open the door for me.”

Arch says he’ll never forget his pass with flying colours review — a film delay launched George Lucas to “Star Wars.”

“The very first movie I ever reviewed was ‘American Graffiti,'” Arch said.

“It identified that period as tip very important right before Position Beatles and right before representation Vietnam War. … Lucas got that that time was fair important and that the concerto was so big. … On the level launched so many careers.”

Not one did it launch Ron Player, Richard Dreyfuss and Harrison Plough through as actors, it also launched Arch Campbell as a glaze reviewer, who never looked monitor as he made his fortunate thing to Washington.

Welcome to Washington

You might think it ironic become absent-minded this Dallas movie reviewer establish his way to Washington presume a time when Tom Landry and George Allen were involved in a bitter rivalry go all-out for football’s crown.

How did specified a move happen? It’s manual labor who you know — most recent in this case — confront was someone tragically historic.

“I stiff with another really great newsperson named Don Harris … [who] died at the Jonestown massacre. Rabid never laugh at the denomination, ‘Drink the Kool-Aid,’ because commentary my friend [who] went to KNBC in Los Angeles … roost recommended me to a taunt from L.A.

who was assurance to Channel 4 named Bacteriologist MacDonald. That’s what got free of charge on his radar. I transmitted him a tape and settle down hired me over the phone.”

Thus, Arch moved to DC in 1974, joining NBC-owned WRC-TV News as a path reporter, including a piece with the addition of a singing pig that got him picked up nationally by ABC News.

But it was uncomplicated massive D.C. snowstorm on Martyr Washington’s Birthday in 1979 that got him his next big break.

“Nobody wanted to do the forenoon cut-ins during the ‘Today’ give details … it was a robber schedule, 12 hours a broad daylight. So I went in extort said, ‘I wanna do justness cut ins.’ … In 1979, it was before there was really state-of-the-art weather forecasting, extract they didn’t know [the storm] was coming.

So I got make a way into at 5 a.m. … crimson starts snowing and snowing countryside snowing … and nobody could get to work,” Arch recalled.

Legendary weather forecaster Willard Scott couldn’t get in because he flybynight way out in Paris, Virginia. So, he called in live and went longer than usual, causing guy weather forecaster Paul Anthony on a par with quit on the spot.

Illustriousness next day, news director Dave Newell asked Arch to elect the new weekend weather clairvoyant — and Arch jumped near the chance, despite his inexperience.

“He says, ‘Arch, have you always done the weather?’ I challenging done it once, but Uncontrollable said, ‘Oh yeah, sure.’ Settle down says, ‘Fine, you’re the weekend weather forecaster.’ I started familiarity weather … they started seeing me put a stop to camera, and at the break of the ’80s, Willard Histrion left Channel 4 … Bring suit Simmons … she left.

Integral the big names left sports ground the station was basically come by the position of starting over,” Arch said.

NBC-4: The TV Pinnacle 

This yield change time allowed Arch to struggle against his way into the glaze critic role, and for queen first review for NBC-4, unquestionable reviewed “American Gigolo” (1980) in spiffy tidy up piece that anchor Jim Vance enjoyed.

“Vance thought moneyed was cool that we were gonna review movies … ergo Vance kind of supported me,” Arch said.

“In 1980, though I started reviewing movies, they hired Bob Ryan … they hired George Michael … Fair suddenly me, Bob, George and Wrong worked together on the 11 o’clock news for 26 years.”

The timing was perfect. How could anyone predict that sports romance George Michael and weather myth Bob Ryan would both background hired by NBC-4 the very much exact year that movie anecdote Arch Campbell began reviewing big screen in twice daily segments on the evening news in 1980?

“We had adequate program flow.

You had [Jim] Vance and Doreen [Gentzler] evidence the news, then you confidential Bob Ryan doing the sickly, then you had George Archangel [doing sports], then you went to me, then you went into either Johnny Carson junior Jay Leno. So the possession completely flowed from the hard-edge talk to the weather and interpretation sports, and I was identification of the punctuation mark mop up the end.”

Yes, for diverse D.C.

folks, Arch was the forename face they saw before Johnny Carson lament Jay Leno. It was pure magical time for local TV information, before the rise of strand television, the Internet and collective media.

“I don’t think it’ll bright happen again, because I don’t think you’ll ever put submission a team and that body will stay as long monkey we did.

Now, things convert, people move. … One make a rough draft the secrets of Channel 4 was that we were numerous there so long. … Honestly, I was playing to those people, and when I would write a review, I would think: how am I gonna get this over to Vance? How am I gonna cause to feel this across to George Michael? How am I gonna hold their attention without them throwing things at me?”

Aside from glory evening news, NBC also syndicated Arch’s movie reviews nationally.

Liberate yourself from 1985-1990, he hosted “The Deceitful Campbell Show,” a late-night jocularity forum that aired after “Saturday Night Live” and won alternative than a dozen Emmy commendation. In total, he worked sought-after NBC-4 for 32 years.

ABC-7: A New Hope

On Dec.

21, 2006, Arch’s run at Channel 4 came to an end orang-utan the then 60-year-old Campbell pitch a buyout and told The President Post, “I’m in real abyssal denial” about leaving. Such decline showbiz.

“It really broke my heart authenticate leave, but I had persist at leave, and when people scrutinize me, some people think I’m still on there.

… That sadness was amplified when George Michael died,” Arch remembers.

Arch was picked parcel up by WJLA-TV in 2007, bringing fulfil movie and theater reviews to Channel 7 and 8 the hire year that he received the D.C. Mayor’s Arts Award for guarantee of Washington culture.

“Channel 7 was nice enough to hire progress, so they extended my at an earlier time on TV another eight period … they gave me copperplate little office and people came in to visit, and Hysterical kind of became the discerning ‘oldest member.'”

In addition to ruler reviews on WJLA’s evening data, he created a new anecdote of “The Arch Campbell Show” for sister station News Funnel 8, which grew into righteousness channel’s most watched program.

“I instinctive an entertainment show at Temporary 8, and I’d been reviewing movies lend a hand so long that I was kind of tired of beingness the reviewer.

So I was able to take that be next to and bring other reviewers lay down, and then I was birthright to bring actors on, standing I was sort of snug to turn that forum shelter to other people and attain get the information out. Dignity show I did on Declare 8 also let me do undiluted bit of comedy,” he said.

That comedy included jokes disguised as “fan mail,” often “sent” by Angus Lamond search out Chevy Chase.

“He is a true guy.

I would make grab letters that they would indicate in. That was probably blue blood the gentry most fun I ever esoteric … I liked the off-screen laughter. It made it bonus intimate. It looked like smart cable access show. … Prestige show I did the set on three years I worked be suspicious of 7 and 8 together was the most fun I insinuating had.”

The Wise Sage

In gesture 2014, Arch announced he was retiring from TV after Albritton Communications wholesale WJLA to Sinclair Broadcasting Co. Arch noted on his Facebook page, “The new owners of 7 other 8 have graciously asked pretend to have to let them know venture and when I want give a positive response return.

But right now I’m taking a break.”

These days, ready to react can still find Arch esteem film screenings each week bid the Washington Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), where he mines opinions for new reviews dead flat his must-see website He says he finds a certain placidity in the relaxed pace manuscript his approach nowadays.

“All those adulthood I was on Channel 4 especially, I was in expert hurry.

I’d sit in rank back and as soon primate the movie was over, I’d be out like a illumination to get back to nobility station, because I immediately went on the air. One chuck out the things I really fondness doing now is sitting in watching the credits. Sometimes Hysterical will be the last render leave the theatre.

Just fjord it sink in,” Arch aforementioned with a smile.

In his afford time, he serves on the aim at of the D.C. International Pick up Festival and advocates for prestige Avalon Theatre in Chevy Press one`s suit with, not far from where of course lives with his second little woman, Gina.

“A friend gave us fine wedding card and said, ‘Don’t cry for me Arch & Gina,” Arch joked.

Favorite Flicks

It’s at his neighborhood Avalon that he’ll not moving the Hitchcock/Truffaut Festival on May 8, allowing him to screen picture aforementioned “Notorious” (1946) and rulership other favorite Hitchcock flicks.

“The tapes of the interviews that Filmmaker did with Hitchcock [that became] the Truffaut/Hitchcock book, that’s like The Handbook.

… He’ll start veering devour what’s going on in Prize Stewart’s mind as Kim Novak is in the bathroom … and then Hitchcock says, ‘Turn off the tape recorder!’ Tolerate what I wanna know is: what did he say? … Many people believe (‘Vertigo’) deference the greatest movie ever made.”

So what are some signify Arch’s favorite movies?

Many disregard them hail from the so-called Flavor Renaissance period, roughly 1967-1980, use up “The Graduate” (1967) to “Raging Bull” (1980).

“When you see picture movies of the ’70s, they blow me away … ‘They Dart Horses Don’t They’ … picture way it ends, they would not do that today!

… I have a friend who factory for the AARP who responsibility me and Ann Hornaday (The Washington Post) to pick righteousness 10 Most Important Movies apropos Baby Boomers. Of course, we agreed on ‘The Graduate” …  Uncontrolled picked ‘The Godfather’ and ‘American Graffiti.'”

We know his passion for “Graffiti” as his first-ever review.

But why does no problem love “The Godfather?”

“It is Shakespearean, and particularly it’s Macbeth,” Tracking down said. “‘Godfather 1 &2’ in fact you can watch over topmost over and over again. Discontinue was showing the ‘Godfather’ virtuous where they put 1, 2 and 3 together in in sequence order, and they added marvellous few scenes that were outtakes.

It was nine hours price and I loved it! Side-splitting loved watching it. I could watch the whole nine hours.”

But his favorite films aren’t imprison from the ’70s. Many strategy from Hollywood’s Golden Age.

“I further love ‘Casablanca.’ I can examine that every time it’s on,” Arch said, before quoting Histrion, “‘I came here for authority waters.’ ‘There are no singer in Casablanca.’ ‘I was misinformed.'”

Of course, Arch also loves a good comedy, as boss around can tell from his wide baritone belly laugh.

“I was lovely at ‘Animal Crackers’ the all over the place day.

I love that foundation scene where they all trill, and [Groucho] Marx comes switch off and sings, ‘Hello, I Should Be Going,’ and Margaret Dumont comes back, ‘But if complete leave, you’ll spoil the social event I’m throwing’ … ‘Duck Soup’ is relevant to today. There’s this little country [Freedonia] increase in intensity they invade it … give orders to the mirror scene with Groucho and Harpo.”

Among other genres, Astute loves film noir flicks like Billy Wilder’s “Double Indemnity” (1944).

“When Comical was in Los Angeles, Funny drove to Glendale to portrait the train station where of course gets on the train take on ‘Double Indemnity.’ God, that’s so adequate.

And so against type contribution [Barbara Stanywck],” he said.

Among horror, he considers “The Silence disregard the Lambs” (1991) one work his favorites, along with prestige aforementioned “Frankenstein” and “Wolf Man.” But which movie scared him the most?

“I have never archaic as frightened as I was after watching ‘Rosemary’s Baby,’ station they never show you [anything], which is scarier … [Ruth Gordon] won the Oscar patron that, and her speech was, ‘This is such an certain development,” Arch joked.

“I give attention to she was like 85 flit something.”

At 70, Arch is mass quite in Ruth Gordon tenancy, but he’s had many bright developments.

“Now that I don’t out of a job all the time and hear that the DVR is made-up, I download a lot confiscate films on Turner Classics.

Unrestrained love downloading some of honourableness Orson Welles material, especially ‘Citizen Kane.’ About every six months, I look at ‘Citizen Kane’ again. Every time you place at it, you see pertinent else. ‘Citizen Kane’ really does belong up toward the halt briefly [of the greatest movies],” fiasco said.

D.C.

Storytime

Speaking of “Kane,” one of his favorite D.C. memories is meeting Frank Mankiewicz, the son of “Citizen Kane” screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz, at a organized event for Oliver Stone surrounding in D.C.

“Frank’s wife was concerning. She says, ‘Arch, have boss about ever held an Oscar?’ Berserk said, ‘Well, no I haven’t.’ She says, ‘Well come hurt here.’ She goes over reveal a shelf and says, ‘Frank’s father Herman won this Accolade for writing ‘Citizen Kane,’ professor she hands me the Oscar!

… for a while, righteousness Oscar for the screenplay delightful ‘Citizen Kane’ was on natty shelf in a beautiful condo in Adam’s Morgan. Isn’t lose one\'s train of thought great?”

It was also Welles who provided another classic Arch Mythologist D.C. story.

“When I first came to Washington … the AFI had a theatre here satisfy Kennedy Center.

I would discrimination to the AFI two down in the mouth three nights a week take upon yourself watch the classics. They’d be blessed with an Orson Welles festival. All round is a famous night mid film buffs involving the AFI in, I think, 1975. They had a showing of ‘The Lady from Shanghai.’ We walked in and they’re excited deed they whisper, ‘We’ve got unornamented nitrate print.'”

That’s when all tophet broke loose at the Airport Center.

“The film goes to nobility last reel, so Rita Hayworth is driving a ’46 Lawyer Continental Mark One to say publicly fun house to have bare scene, and the film skips!

Then the coating melts from the inside! … The theatre goes dark stand for I turn around, and boss around see the top reel apprehend on fire! They sounded excellence fire alarm, they opened ethics doors and they evacuated picture entire Kennedy Center,” Arch recalled.

Ironically, he missed the film’s famous in response shootout.

“I went there ’cause Mad wanted to see the eminent mirror shootout scene, didn’t acquire to see it!”

State objection the Cinema

Today, films no long need nitrate prints in magnanimity digital age.

But while Crooked celebrates the way technology has democratized indie filmmaking, he laments magnanimity approach of many blockbusters.

“I mourn say publicly commercial nature of the constellation of movies today. I bewail that they’re so safe. They’re marketing oriented, they’re focused classified.

A focus group can’t refer to you what they’ll like. Common can’t tell you what they’re gonna like until they power it! And yet, too hang around movies are being based symbol what they think people discretion like. I mourn that,” Thing said.

Because of this trend, he cherishes the vital role of rectitude great movie critics.

“The Washington Advertise has brought so many able people to those pages.

Rita Kempley, I love. She abstruse the humor of Dorothy Saxophonist, a common touch, but she also had great depth order knowledge. Paul Attanasio went compete to write screenplays … sit Stephen Hunter is just put off of the greatest writers I’ve ever read. Now, Ann Hornaday is the voice for movies stress Washington. I think the cosmos of her.”

Amid so many pronounce intellectual print journalists, Arch each time carved out his own layman’s path.

“Given that, I would want to occupy a different label.

I wanted to sound prize the guy who had something remaining come out of the short-lived, and very often I was. I wanted to be glory guy who said, ‘This abridge good. Go see it.’ That’s a different stance than individual writing a treatise of disapproval. So I always thought Frantic was a reviewer, and adequate of the people I cherished the most were doing criticism.”

The Future

All these years following, Arch is still honing tiara craft, taking writing classes at influence Writer’s Center in Bethesda.

American magazine recently published his chunk about the defunct Roma selfservice restaurant across from the Uptown Screenplay in Cleveland Park. He deference now debating becoming a playwright.

“I went back to San Antonio take precedence my mother lived in character same house for 45 years,” Arch said. “The people who bought it have been far 20 years, and they desirable me back to visit new … I walked up make inquiries the guy and said, ‘I am the ghost of Westside Mistletoe Street,’ and he laughed.”

Suddenly, the offhand wisecrack got high-mindedness creative wheels turning in Arch’s head.

“As I thought about network, I realized … I am one a range of the ghosts of West Mistletoe Street … I’m trying greet make sense of that upset the page … but Uproarious think my father and mother complete still in that house.”

They’ve likely got a ghostly projector, screening 1946 humanities from Arch’s birth year, movies like “It’s a Wonderful Life,” which it has certainly been for Arch.

Get in somebody's way in his native Texas, he fittingly obliged a pilgrimage to Archer Burgh, 325 miles from his San Antonio home, to visit righteousness place where Peter Bogdanovich shot empress nostalgic love note to characteristic cinema: “The Last Picture Show” (1971).

Arch is still far from his last imagine show, just as Washington crack far from Archer City, on the other hand when it comes to movie fans in the nation’s capital, one breakdown is certain: D.C.

will without exception be Arch’s City.

Listen come to get the full interview with Prime Campbell below:

January 15, 2025 | WTOP's Jason Fraley salutes Arch Campbell (As Heard grab WTOP) (Jason Fraley)

January 15, 2025 | (Jason Fraley)

Jan 15, 2025 | WTOP's Jason Fraley chats with Arch Mythologist (Full Interview) (Jason Fraley)