Nils Granlund

He emigrated with his family to the United States as second cabin class passengers on the board the S/S Amerika at Copenhagen, Denmark; it arrived at the Port of New York on July 2, 1894.

His promotional efforts for a local theater caught the attention of Marcus Loew who hired Granlund in 1913 as a publicity agent for Hanky Panky, a recently acquired touring vaudeville show.

After several months of live programming as an anonymous announcer known only by his initials, N.T.G., Granlund approached George Schubel, President of the Ridgewood Times and licensee of WHN, proposing to purchase the station and relocating it to New York City.

During Prohibition he was arrested along with several other speakeasy figures, including Texas Guinan, whom Granlund had introduced to Larry Fay, her partner at the notorious El Fey Club.

[10] His Congress of Beauty exhibition at the 1939 New York World's Fair met with mixed reviews and financial disaster, forcing Granlund to shut down the showgirl revue early.

[12] After seven years in Hollywood, Granlund made an unsuccessful return to New York City, staging his familiar shows that were increasing panned by critics as throwbacks to vaudeville.

[14] Returning to California, he staged revues for several West Coast nightclubs, and briefly hosted a radio talk show as well as a televised amateur variety production on KTSL, a short-lived program called Backstage with NTG.

The publication of his memoir, Blondes, Brunettes, and Bullets briefly resurrected his name from the obscurity into which he had fallen, and four weeks after its release, Granlund was in Las Vegas negotiating a chorus line production contract when his taxi was struck leaving the Riviera Hotel and Casino.