LaDonna Tittle

LaDonna Tittle (born November 29, 1948) is an American radio personality,^[1] model and actress. She is best known for her radio career from the mid–1970s until the early–2000s, most notably in Chicago at several stations: WBMX-FM (1973–78), WJPC-AM (1978–89) and WGCI-FM (1992–2000).

Biography

Tittle was born to Juanita, a record shop owner, and businessman James O. Tittle^[2] in Chicago. She grew up in the Robert Taylor Homes public housing project in the Bronzeville neighborhood on the south side. She was the oldest of five children. Tittle attended Dunbar Vocational High School. She then studied art education and drama with a minor in journalism at Chicago State University, graduating in 1971.^[3]

Tittle began her career in radio at Chicago's WBEE-FM station in 1971. In 1972, she moved to Milwaukee, where she worked as a weekend radio personality at WNOV radio for a year. Shortly after returning to Chicago in 1973, she became the midday and evening host of WBMX-FM,^[4] where R&B and soul music were showcased. She started her career at the station reporting news and working overnight, eventually moving to weekday afternoons a year later. Due to her growing popularity, Tittle was sought after by Johnson Publishing Company's WJPC radio station. They offered to double her salary, an offer she accepted in 1978. She co-hosted alongside Tom Joyner and DJ Bebe D'Banana. In April 1979, Tittle was featured as JET magazine's "Beauty of the Week" while wearing bathing suit made out of radio station bumper stickers. Tittle worked at WJPC until the station was sold in December 1989.

Tittle then worked at WNUA-FM, a blues and smooth-jazz radio station in Joliet, Illinois, before getting full–time work at Chicago's WGCI-FM in 1992. For the first few years, she worked between the FM and AM stations until automated overnight broadcasts came into play, which resulted in her being laid off in 2000. After a year's hiatus from the public, she launched The LaDonna Tittle TV/Radio Show on Chicago's CAN-TV in 2001.^[5] The show began as a platform to chat with entertainers until she decided to shift to cooking after viewing a soul food exhibit in 2003. Tittle also starred in R. Kelly's 2005 melodrama Trapped in the Closet, as Rosie the nosy neighbor.

Personal life

Tittle was married to Ronald Horton, a Vietnam army volunteer from 1967 until his death in 1973. She dated John E. Johnson of the Johnson hair-care product family for a short while after her husband's death.

References