David Young (radio producer/director)

David Roberts Young (November 4, 1911 – November 3, 1969) was an American director, producer and actor, in radio and on the stage, known as the longtime director of Family Theater.

Early life and career
He attended Polytechnical Elementary and Junior High School in Pasadena, graduated from Coronado High School in 1929, and from the Pasadena Community Playhouse School of Theater in 1931.

In September 1936, Young was promoted from chief announcer to program director and production manager at Don Lee's KGB in San Diego, where he remained until March 1939, when he succeeded Z. Wayne Griffin as continuity editor for Lee's L.A. station, KHJ. In 1942, he was promoted to production manager for the entire Don Lee Network.

In 1947, Young replaced Mel Williamson as director on Family Theater. He continued in that capacity through May 1949, reappearing only sporadically and infrequently over the following five years.

Young's roles in other radio programs can be seen in the table below.

Television
On New Year's Day, 1940, Young and fellow KHJ staffer Eddie Albright co-hosted and narrated what was reported to be the first-ever live telecast of the Tournament of Roses Pageant on W6XAO. On June 27, 1949, Young produced West View Review, a star-studded 90-minute fund-raiser—hosted by Garry Moore and featuring, among others, Ella Fitzgerald, Kay Kyser, Benny Carter and Dorothy Dandridge—airing on KTLA, in support of a proposed like-named interracial hospital, to be constructed at 5334 South Main Street in Los Angeles.

Miscellany
On February 15, 1939, Young was the guest speaker at the San Diego branch of the League of American Pen Women. His talk stressed the importance of playwrights keeping their characters clearly delineated and of always reading aloud one's own work beforehand to ensure that no dialogue prove unduly difficult to voice.

Honors
In June 1949, at the 20th annual commencement exercises of the Pasadena Playhouse School, Ernest A. Batchelder, chairman of the school's board of directors, presented Young with the Fannie E. Morrison Award "for having achieved special distinction in his career in the world of theater." It was also noted that "his achievement in radio has been through his own persistence and hard work."

Personal life and death
Young was married twice: from February 27, 1936 until their divorce in October 1966, to fellow thespian—and occasional co-star—Vivian M. Merrill,  and from 1968 until his death, to Dorothy M. Dodge. The first marriage produced a daughter, Janis, and son, David Ross Young. On November 3, 1969, one day before his 58th birthday, Young died of undisclosed causes in San Diego, California. The following year, David Ross Young, then a graduate student at Scripps Institute of Oceanography, dedicated his dissertation to his father's memory.