Longtime 700 WLW Cincinnati afternoon host Billy ‘Gary Burbank’ Purser passed away today at the age of 84.
Burbank, also well known for his daily commentary character ‘Earl Pitts’, worked at WLW from 1981 until his retirement in 2007. He began his career as ‘Bill Williams’ at KLPL Lake Providence LA and later worked at KUZN West Monroe LA, WWUN Jackson MS, and WDIA and WMPS in his hometown of Memphis as ‘Johnny Apollo’. He would move to Louisville in 1968 to join WAKY where he first took the Gary Burbank identity as a nod to Gary Owens. His run there would end in 1972 where he faked his assassination on-air. After stints programming WNOE New Orleans and hosting mornings at CKLW Windsor ON, he would return to Louisville to host afternoons on WHAS. He had a brief stint at WDAE Tampa before joining WLW.
Burbank’s WLW Cincinnati show would be regionally syndicated across Ohio in the late 1990s and then gained national reach with the station’s simulcast on XM. He would create multiple characters including Right Rev. Deuteronomy Skaggs, blues musician Howlin’ Blind Muddy Slim, Gilbert Gnarley, and Ranger Bob. One picked up a larger appeal as “redneck commentator” Earl “Uhmerikun” Pitts’ daily commentaries would enter syndication until 2021. Burbank was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2012.
Gary Burbank has passed… May the GOAT… RIP….
— Bill Cunningham (@Willie700WLW) August 28, 2025
I’ll never forget the excitement of calling Gary Burbank and @700wlw Sports or Consequences when I was growing up.
#WeDontMessAroundHey
— LanceMcAlister (@LanceMcAlister) August 28, 2025
This story first appeared on radioinsight.com