‘Dark Star’ dead at 66
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Over the years, some tremendously distinctive radio personalities have made a living in Twin Cities radio. Today, one of them died.
Dark Star, longtime host at WCCO, was found dead in his home today, according to KFAN. He was 66. His real name was George Chapple.
"I stole every second I was ever on the air," he told the Star Tribune in 2010, after accepting a buyout offer at WCCO. "I had the time of my life. It was a lot of fun."
For Twin Cities sports fans, it wasn't unusual to go to a sporting event, then listen to Dark Star on the drive home to see if he saw the game the way you did.
His passion was the ponies. He was a fixture at Canterbury Park and started his media career around here by handicapping horses for the Pioneer Press. It's a gig he started in Los Angeles, colleague Cathy Wurzer tweeted this afternoon. He took his name from a longshot 1953 Kentucky Derby winner when he was handicapping at a newspaper in L.A., and he didn't want his brokerage bosses to know, she said.
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