[1] Born Walter Knobeloch in Charleston, South Carolina, Compton was the son of Aline V.
[1] He graduated from Roanoke College in 1934 and was a member of the faculty at that institution from the Fall of 1934– through the Spring of 1936.
[1] From 1937–1945 he was on the staff of WOL radio in Washington D.C; notably hosting the Quiz of Two Cities program in 1942.
[1][2] He was general manager of WAAM-TV in Baltimore from 1946 to 1947, and a charter member of the Radio-Television News Directors Association in 1946.
[1] He then served as general manager and Vice President of the North Dade Video Inc. before working for the Mutual Broadcasting System during the last two years of his life.