Early Career
Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, James began his career in radio with WNEW (now WBBR) and moved to television in 1938, working for the soon-to-become-DuMont Television Network station WABD, which is now WNYW. (WABD helped to found the DuMont network in 1946.) James became the host of a few game shows, such as the ABC version of Chance of a Lifetime (1952–1953) and served as commentator for DuMont's wrestling and boxing shows, such as Boxing From Jamaica Arena (1948-1949). He hosted the DuMont daytime variety show Okay, Mother (1948–1951)with Julia Meade. James often addressed the TV audience as "Mother", a practice he had begun when discussing the finer points of wrestling during his sports broadcasts.
He feared the men in the audience would be insulted by the implication that they didn't already know the rules (even if they didn't), but would accept that James was merely explaining things for the benefit of women viewers. During the late 1940s James was also an announcer for Paramount News, announcing newsreels ranging from hard news to sports.
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