Jean Ruth Hay (about 1917–2004), heard on the air as Beverly, was one of America’s earliest female disc jockeys. Her Denver wartime show became a national sensation and the basis for a Hollywood film.
Colorado radio career
Hay grew up in Boulder after moving from Philadelphia at age 13. She pitched KFEL on a show for the soldiers at Fort Logan, and Reveille with Beverly debuted on October 20, 1941. For $7 a week she hosted the 5:30–6:30 a.m. slot Monday through Saturday, reading listener letters and playing swing records.
Time magazine profiled her in January 1942, and Life followed. That summer she went to Hollywood as a technical adviser on the movie Reveille with Beverly, starring Ann Miller and featuring Frank Sinatra. She moved the show to Los Angeles, where Armed Forces Radio carried it to servicemen in 54 countries during the war. After the war she came back to Boulder and hosted an evening show on KBOL.
The Smithsonian honored her in 2004 at the dedication of the World War II Memorial, and she was inducted into the Broadcast Pioneers of Colorado Hall of Fame in 2014.
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October 20, 1941: Reveille with Beverly debuts on KFEL
Jean Ruth Hay, on the air as “Beverly,” launched Reveille with Beverly on Denver's KFEL on October 20, 1941. The early-morning swing show for soldiers at Fort Logan paid her $7 a week. Within months it drew coverage in Time and Life and became the basis for a 1943 Hollywood movie, and Armed Forces Radio later carried it worldwide.
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