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NORFOLK, Virginia (AP) – Adrian Cronauer, the man whose military radio freaks inspired a character played by Robin Williams in the movie "Good Morning, Vietnam," died. He was 79 years old.
Mary Muse, the wife of her son-in-law Michael Muse, confirmed Thursday that Cronauer died Wednesday after a long illness. He had lived in Troutville, Virginia.
During his service as sergeant of the US Air Force in Vietnam in 1965 and 1966, Cronauer opened his Radio Forces Armées broadcast with the phrase: "Goooooood morning, Vietnam!"
Williams makes the famous chorus in the 1987 film, vaguely based on the time of Cronauer in Saigon
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"We were the only game in town and had to abide by our rules," Cronauer said at the time. Associated Press in 1987. "But I wanted to serve the listeners."
The military wanted conservative programming. Cronauer said the American youth was "not making sterile, sterile ads" with the music from the middle of the road, and that the battle over the airwaves was being reached.
In the movie, Williams quickly abandons Perry Como and Lawrence. Welk from his 6 hour playlist for the Dave Clark Five.
Cronauer said that he liked the movie, but he said that a large part of the movie was Hollywood pretending. The portrayal of Robin Williams as a fast-paced and maverick disc jockey sometimes gave people the false impression of the man who inspired the film.
"Yes, I tried to make it look more like an American movie," he told the AP in 1988. "Yes, I've had problems with the news censorship Yes, I was in a restaurant shortly before the Viet Cong hit him.And yes, I started every show shouting: 'Good Morning, Vietnam ! & # 39; "
The rest is what he called delicately" good script crafting. "
When the movie was released, Democrat Jesse Jackson's presidential campaign called asking if Cronauer would help. The conversation quickly dies after Cronauer asked the caller whether she was aware that he was Republican.
In 1992, George HW Bush's re-election campaign recorded a television commercial slamming the project Bill Clinton In the announcement, Cronauer accuses Clinton of lying.
"In many ways, I am a very conservative guy "A Republican for life, carrying cards, can not be anti-establishment."
Cronauer was born in Pittsburgh, the son of a metallurgist and d & rsquo; A teacher. He spent 21 years on television, advertising, teaching, and freelancing before attending law school at the University of Pennsylvania and entering the legal profession.
He worked on the law of communications and dealt with issues of prisoners of war. Pentagon
"I've always been a bit iconoclastic, like Robin (Williams) in the movie," Cronauer told AP in 1999. "But I was neither anti-military neither anti-establishment, I was anti-stupidity, and you certainly have a lot of nonsense in the army. "
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