Art Bell - Early Life

Early Life

Art Bell was born in Jacksonville, North Carolina to Arthur Bell, Jr., a United States Marine Corps Captain, and Jane Gumaer Bell, a Marine drill instructor. Arthur Bell, Jr. died in 2000 and Jane Bell died December 23, 2008.

Art Bell III was always interested in radio and at the age of 13 became a licensed amateur radio operator. Bell now holds an Extra Class license, which is in the top U.S. Federal Communications Commission license class. His call sign is W6OBB.

Bell served in the U.S. Air Force as a medic during the Vietnam War and in his free time operated a pirate radio station at Amarillo Air Force Base. He would go out of his way to play anti-war music (like "Eve of Destruction" and "Fortunate Son") that was not aired on the American Forces Network.

After leaving military service he stayed in Asia, living on the Japanese island of Okinawa where he worked as a disc jockey for KSBK, the only non-military English-language station in Japan. While there, he set a Guinness World Record by staying on the air for 116 hours and 15 minutes. The money raised there allowed Bell to charter a DC-8, fly to Vietnam, and rescue 130 Vietnamese orphans stranded in Saigon at the war's end. They were eventually brought to the United States and adopted by American families.

Bell returned to the United States and studied engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park. He dropped out and returned to radio as a board operator and chief engineer, and had opportunity to be on the air a few times. For several years he worked behind and in front of the microphone. After a period of working in cable television, in 1989 the 50,000-watt KDWN in Las Vegas, Nevada offered Bell a five-hour time slot in the middle of the night. Syndication of his program to other radio stations began in 1993.