Press & broadcasting / Business & brands
George W. Trendle
1884–1972 · radio and TV producer, broadcaster, theater owner, lawyer
Detroit lawyer and theater magnate who founded station WXYZ and created The Lone Ranger (1933) and The Green Hornet, turning Detroit into a national radio drama factory.
- Born
Norwalk, Ohio- Died
Grosse Pointe, Michigan
aged 87- Birth name
- George Washington Trendle
- Detroit years
- 1900s–1972
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Trendle was a Detroit lawyer known as a tough negotiator of movie contracts when he went into business with theater pioneer John H. Kunsky, who had built the city's first movie theater in 1911; by 1928 they owned twenty theaters, including four of Detroit's biggest first-run houses. After selling the chain to Paramount he managed its Detroit theaters and built the Alger Theater on the east side. In 1929–1930 he and Kunsky bought radio station WGHP and renamed it WXYZ. Needing original programming, Trendle and writer Fran Striker launched The Lone Ranger in 1933 from the station's studios in the Maccabees Building on Woodward Avenue, followed by The Green Hornet and Challenge of the Yukon. The shows fed the Mutual network and later television, and made WXYZ one of the most influential stations in America. He died in Grosse Pointe and is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery.
Highlights
- Co-founded WXYZ radio (1930) with John H. Kunsky
- Created The Lone Ranger (1933) and The Green Hornet (1936)
- Also produced Challenge of the Yukon (Sergeant Preston)
- Built and operated Detroit's Alger Theater (1935)
- Once co-owned 20 Detroit movie theaters
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 3
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Worked here · 1930s–1959
Maccabees Building (former WXYZ studios)
The Albert Kahn tower that housed WXYZ radio and later television until 1959; The Lone Ranger went on the air from here. Wayne State University has owned it since 2002.
Founded · 1935–1937
Alger Theater
Closed · 1935–1981
East-side movie palace credited to Trendle, opened August 22, 1935; closed in 1981 and owned since 1986 by the nonprofit Friends of the Alger Theater, which is restoring it.
Buried here · 1972
Woodlawn Cemetery
His burial place, according to Wikidata.