Frankie "Hollywood" Crocker (December 18, 1937,
Buffalo, New York, USA - October 21, 2000, age 62,
North Miami Beach, Florida) was a famous New York
radio DJ. (Coined "
Hollywood" for his keen sense of showmanship and self-marketing tactics.) According to popeducation.org, Crocker began his career in Buffalo at the AM Soul powerhouse
WUFO (also the home to future greats Gerry Bledsoe, Eddie O'Jay, Herb Hamlett, Gary Byrd and Chucky T) before moving to
Manhattan, where he first worked for Soul station
WWRL and later top-40
WMCA in 1969. He then worked for
WBLS-FM as
program director, taking that station to the top of the ratings during the late 1970s and pioneering the radio format now known as
urban contemporary. He sometimes called himself the
"Chief Rocker", and he was as well known for his boastful on-air patter as for his off-air flamboyance.