Michael Delaney Dowd Jr. was an American big band singer and entertainer better known by his professional name, Mike Douglas. Born August 11, 1920, in Chicago, Illinois, he began singing as a choirboy in his youth, entered the nightclub circuit in his teens, and joined Kay Kyser's big band ensemble. With Kyser's group, he recorded hits such as “Ole Buttermilk Sky” (1946) and “The Old Lamp-Lighter” (1947). After wartime naval service, he resumed singing on radio and television, eventually providing the singing voice of Prince Charming in Disney's animated film Cinderella (1950), in which he performed the song “So This Is Love” (1950). In 1961, he launched The Mike Douglas Show on KYW-TV, which entered national syndication in August 1963 and became one of the most viewed daytime programs by the late 1960s, attracting guests from politics to rock music. During this period, he recorded the solo single “The Men in My Little Girl's Life” (1966). The show earned an Emmy for Individual Achievement in Daytime Television in 1967 and continued until 1981, when it was replaced by a traveling format that failed to revive ratings. He retired from television thereafter, focusing on occasional appearances and writing memoirs. He died August 11, 2006, his 86th birthday, at Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center.
