-- Douglas Perry

Portland isn’t one of the country’s big media markets, but it's always had first-rate media stars anyway. We’ve had TV reporters become beloved politicians and radio performers become international icons. So let’s celebrate the Rose City’s media world by embracing some of its most memorable stars ever. (By “media stars,” we don’t mean ink-stained wretches such as ourselves, alas. We’re talking about personalities who beam their voices and faces directly into our homes.) OK, here we go ...

The Oregonian/OregonLive

Honorable mention: Joey Harrington

He joined KGW only last year -- and works for the station part-time -- so he hasn't had a lot of time to make an impact. Of course, he came to local TV news with impact built in. Harrington was a Heisman Trophy finalist during his days as the University of Oregon's quarterback and went on to play for the Detroit Lions and other NFL teams. He's recently branched out into restaurant ownership in Portland.

The Oregonian

29. Jim Spagg

Two years ago,a Redditor asked: "Does anyone remember Jim Spagg?" Dozens responded. No wonder: Jim Spagnola danced naked on cable-access TV and even offered up a bowel movement for viewers. Wrote The Oregonian in 1995, at the height of Spagg's local fame: "When he gets wound up -- talking about his persecutors, usually -- he can be a verbal Vesuvius." No one was surprised when Spagg's neighbor punched him out on camera.

28. Katherine Cook

The KGW reporter can be adorkable and relatable -- watch the video clip here of her visiting a scary theater performance. She's also game for anything, including dancing the tango for a charity event. And she hasserious reporting chops, winning a regional Emmy award for her work.

The Oregonian

27. Pete Schulberg

The former longtime KGW anchor (as well as one-time Oregonian and Portland Tribune writer and KPAM morning-drive talker) was a powerful presence on the local media scene in the 1970s, '80s and '90s. Oregonian columnist Jonathan Nicholas once called him "the Sultan of Suave." Eventually, Schulberg becametoo familiar, ratings dropped and KGW sent him packing. In the early 2000s, he moved on to public relations.

26. Sarah X Dylan

Dylan made her name on Rick Emerson’s popular radio show. Since 2009, she has hosted the podcast “Funemployment Radio” with Greg Nibler. The podcast’s stated -- and often accomplished -- goal: “to provide intelligent conversations about ridiculous situations.”

25. Bill Hoyt

The late Coast Guard veteran was a reporter and anchorman for KGW and KOIN. In the early 1970s, he turned to politics, running unsuccessfully for Congress and the Oregon House. Though a Republican, he appealed to union workers, earning the backing of the AFL-CIO and the Oregon Education Association.

The Oregonian

24. Jane Hoyt

“Hoyt’s looks always caused heads to swivel,” The Oregonian wrote of Bill Hoyt’s daughter. So much so that, at 20, she served as Raquel Welch’s double on the 1972 Portland-filmed movie “Kansas City Bomber,” playing buxom roller-derby queen K.C. Carr in a handful of long shots. She appeared in local ads for Meier & Frank and Nordstrom, and became the weather girl for KATU. She later worked as a producer for KOIN. Hoyt died in 1992 after struggling with mental-health problems.

Oregonian file

23. Doug LaMear

From the 1950s to the 1990s, LaMear could be found talking about sports on KGW. The Oregonian's Kristi Turnquist wrote in 2011 that LaMear was like a member of the family for many Portlanders. When the station cut him loose in 1989, she pointed out, "a torrent of protests" led to him being rehired.

The Oregonian

22. Jimmy Hollister

The California native, who died in 2004 at 66, became a Portland radio staple in the 1970s and ’80s, first as the afternoon-drive personality on KEX and later in the morning slot. On KATU’s popular TV show “Sinister Cinema,” he was host Victor Ives’s foil, known as Head. “Victor was kind of pompous, but Head didn't talk, so I really got a chance to act,” Hollister said. “I acted through mugging.” "He was a major talent," said Ives, his longtime comedy partner.

The Oregonian/OregonLive

21. Mary Starrett

The Yamhill County commissioner and former Constitution Party gubernatorial candidate made her name in Oregon as co-host of KATU's “AM Northwest.” She was also a radio commentator for KPDQ. In 1987, she joined Victor Ives and Jimmy Hollister for a “Sinister Cinema” revival, winning raves from Hollister: “She looks great with her hair done up the way Elsa Lanchester's was in ‘Bride of Frankenstein.' ''

The Oregonian/OregonLive

20. Cort and Fatboy

Cort Webber and Bobby Roberts were Portland's geekiest broadcasting duo for about a decade. They talked and joked about "Star Wars," "The Big Lebowski" and much, much more before shutting down their popular podcast a couple of years ago. Why'd the pop-culture-obsessed team quit?Offered Roberts: "We'd rather be 'Cheers' than 'The Simpsons.'"

Oregonian file

19. Victor Ives

The longtime radio performer and station owner is perhaps best known locally as the host of the KATU show "Sinister Cinema," but his appeal reached across the country thanks to his syndicated radio program "The Golden Age of Radio." Ives and comedy partner Jimmy Hollister became Portland legends in the 1970s with "The Hollister and Ives Sometimes Comedy Hour."Ives died in 2014 at 79.

Nelson and Portland fans in 1981 (Oregonian)

18. Willie Nelson

Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be ... DJs? Actually,do let them. Before he rose to stardom as a singer, Willie spun records at KVAN in Vancouver. Wrote Nelson in his 2015 autobiography: "That's where I found work. Fact is, that's where I found myself. I rediscovered who I was. In a matter of weeks, I went from being a vagrant in a boxcar to an on-air personality on KVAN, 910 on your dial, serving Portland/Vancouver." He even cut his first single using the station's equipment.

17. Tom Peterson

"If you watched Portland TV in the '80s, you knew Tom Peterson," The Oregonian wrote last year after the store owner's death at 86. "The grin. That flat-top. Maybe you dozed off on the couch one night and woke to him tapping on the inside of the screen, telling you to 'Wake up! Wake up!'."Offers Uniquely Portland Oregon's Tony Thomas: "In the realm of commercial pitchmen, Portland's own Tom Peterson was one of the best. Maybe very wellthe best ever."

The Oregonian

16. Ramblin Rod Anders

Anders’ cartoon-filled children’s show ran for 33 years on local TV. He had a special rapport with kids, relating to them “almost like adults,” said KPTV promotion manager Bruno Randolph. "I don't consult with child psychologists or anything," Anders said. "But they probably ought to consult with me." Anders died in 2002 at 69.

Oregonian file

15. Bob McAnulty

McAnulty was a fixture on Portland’s airwaves in the 1950s and ’60s, spinning jazz discs and promoting local wrestling while becoming a local legend. The Oregonian’s John Wendeborn tried to interview him at a popular eatery in 1972 shortly before McAnulty’s death in a car accident. “Over cold beers he started in with a lot of anecdotes of radio,” Wendeborn wrote. “But there were too many interruptions; he was so well-known.”

The Oregonian

14. Dick Bogle

In 1968, the former police officer became a popular news reporter and anchor at KATU -- the first black news anchor on the West Coast. In 1984, he was elected to the Portland City Council and later hosted a jazz program on KMHD. "He was well-respected for his jazz reviews and for his collection of jazz recordings," city council colleagueMike Lindberg recalled. In 2008, two years before he died at 79, Bogle joined the Portland police's cold case unit.

The Oregonian file

13. Jim Allen

The ordained minister spent two decades on the air in Portland as Rusty Nails the clown. “It’s like a narcotic when they applaud you,” he said. “I like that.” Portland native Matt Groening watched Allen’s show when he was a child, inspiring him to create the Krusty the Clown character for “The Simpsons.” Allen died in 2015 at 87.

The Oregonian/OregonLive

12. Rick Emerson

Before Cort and Fatboy, there was Emerson. The radio jock arrived in Portland in 1998 and immediately found an audience -- a big one. "Fueled by his obsession with pop culture, music, media and technology, Emerson resonated with listeners who share what he calls his 'relentless geekery.' " The Oregonian wrote in 2012 when he left the airwaves. Said Bobby Roberts (that is, "Fatboy"): "He opened up a lot of ears to a different style of broadcasting. He trained Portland listeners."

The Oregonian/OregonLive

11. Bob Miller

The 1974 Billboard magazine small-market Air Personality of the Year is a legend in Portland radio. After he spent more than two decades at KEX, he moved to KPAM. His new employer realized he was exactly what stressed-out, post-9/11 listeners wanted.Said KPAM general manager Kevin Young in 2003: "People who listen to Bob know he's very friendly, very good-natured and very reassuring during times when we wake up not knowing what the news is going to be."

Oregonian file

10. Fenwick

“Young people sometimes call to tell him to drop dead,” KGW Radio boasted in 1965. Two years later, an Oregonian letter to the editor insisted the radio talker had “reached a new level of self-debasement.” Another sneered: “After 15 minutes of Fenwick’s revolting attitude, I turned to Romper Room for its relative maturity.” So it went for the "always turned on" personality during his tenure as arguably the most contentious radio man in the Northwest.

Oregonian file

9. Bill O'Reilly

O'Reilly was briefly an anchor at KATU in the 1980s. "He was very sure of himself," retired local TV-news pro Pat Wilkins told The Oregonian in 2015. The station brought him in "to bump the ratings right away," Wilkins said, "and that didn't happen." Of course, it did happen later at Fox News, where O'Reilly revels in controversy. Just a couple of weeks ago, he claimed the Democrats' goal is to strip power from "the white establishment," prompting a flurry of condemnations.

Oregonian file

8. Chet Huntley

Americans of a certain age remember the stentorian newsman as one of the anchors of NBC’s “The Huntley-Brinkley Report.” But before his national fame he earned his broadcasting spurs in Portland, where he made a lasting impression. “His voice, sufficiently masculine, is one of the most courteous pipes on the air,” The Oregonian wrote in 1936 shortly after he joined KEX. Huntley even performed in local radio serials, taking on the “romantic role of Randolph Jordan” in “Covered Wagon Days.”

The Oregonian/OregonLive

7. Dave Anderson

The co-host of KATU's "AM Northwest" and KPAM's "The Mark and Dave Show" was also a popular stand-up comedian, one of the "pioneers of the Portland comedy scene" in the 1980s,The Oregonian wrote. "He makes me laugh every single day," his "AM Northwest" co-host Helen Raptis said in 2015. "He is the funniest person I know, and he makes coming to work a joy." Anderson died of cancer last year at 55.

Oregonian file

6. Barney Keep

“Ol’ Barn” entertained Portland’s morning-drive listeners for more than three decades on KEX. In the 1950s, at the height of his celebrity, he branched out to TV, fronting a local song-and-dance show called, simply, “The Show.” Keep was known for his needling humor, as well as for his publicity stunts (such as staying overnight at the downtown Hilton -- before the hotel was completed or open). The legendary radio man packed the Civic Auditorium in 1979 for his farewell broadcast.

The Oregonian/OregonLive

5. Bill Schonely

The beloved sports announcer called Portland Trail Blazers games for nearly three decades -- more than 2,500 games. In 2012, he was honored with the Curt Gowdy Award for Broadcasting. Coiner of the immortal exclamation “Rip city!”, he’s as identified with the Trail Blazers as Vin Scully is with Major League Baseball’s Dodgers.

The Oregonian

4. Tom McCall

McCall became a trusted voice in Oregon with his news reports and commentary for KGW-TV, especially the hour-long 1962 documentary "Pollution in Paradise." "The documentary shocked Oregonians, who had never seen such a visceral depiction of the state's pollution or known its harm to the state's economy,"writes The Oregon Encyclopedia. Soon McCall was a rising star in Oregon's political world, earning election first as secretary of state and then as governor.

Oregonian file

3. Lars Larson

How does a conservative talker make hay in a liberal city? He draws revelations from national GOP leaders (on the subject of the Hillary Clinton email investigation, he got Rudy Giuliani to say "there's a kind of revolution going on within the FBI") while provoking pique from local liberal ones ("Are you devoid of any humanity...?" Mayor Sam Adams said in 2011 after Larson asked about the city council's decision to honor children who die of violence -- including a 13-year-old with gang ties).

The Oregonian/OregonLive

2. Carrie Brownstein

Already a rock star with her band Sleater-Kinney, Brownstein jumped into acting in 2011 with the sui generis IFC comedy “Portlandia,” which solidified the Rose City’s reputation across the world as a haven for the weird, liberal, tattooed, politically correct, geeky and hipsterish. The series, co-starring Fred Armisen, has won the Peabody Award and multiple Emmys.

Oregonian file

1. Mel Blanc

The voice of Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig and Daffy Duck began his iconic career in Portland. His KEX program "Cobwebs and Nuts," in fact, made him realize his true calling. "They wouldn't allow me to hire anybody else because they were too damn cheap,"he said. So he played all the parts himself. "It taught me these many, many voices," he added. "This went on for two years. Finally, my wife said to me, 'You want to continue with the show or do you want to have a nervous breakdown?' "

The Oregonian/OregonLive

Bonus: John Canzano

Right, we said right there in the introduction we weren’t going to include newspaper scribblers. We’re making an exception -- sue us. Canzano has been a sports columnist at The Oregonian for years, but he’s also a popular radio jock, sparking debates on sports and its intersection with every other aspect of our lives.

Barney Keep's last day on the air in 1979 (Oregonian)

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OK, let us have it. Who’d we miss? Portland has been home to a consistent parade of talent since the dawn of the Radio Age, so it’s certainly possible we didn’t include your favorite local media star. Say, Jim Bosley or Colin Cowherd, perhaps? Tell us who else you think should have made our Top 30.

Here's one:Bob the Weather Cat dominated local TV in the 1980s.