Larry Finley (May 14, 1913 – April 3, 2000) was an American late-night broadcast pioneer, as well a leader in the audiotape (I.T.C.C.
Born and raised in Syracuse, New York, Finley became a nightclub manager in his hometown at age 18 before moving to Los Angeles, California in the 1930s and opening a chain of jewelry stores.
[1] In the 1940s, he became a business partner with musicians Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey in ownership of the Casino Gardens Ballroom in San Diego, where he also owned radio station KSDJ.
In 1945, Larry unsuccessfully filed a lawsuit against MCA Inc. for $3,000,000, claiming there was a conspiracy to restrain trade, and operating a monopoly.
[2] Finley produced and hosted radio and TV shows in Los Angeles, including The Larry Finley Show, broadcast nightly from his restaurant on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood; as well as Strictly Informal, Dinner At Eight, and Music is My Beat, the first TV shows to be kinescoped and aired by the Armed Forces Television Network to troops in Korea.