"Jean Shepherd's Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss" received a nomination as Best Movie or Miniseries at the 10th annual ACE Awards.
"Red Ryder Nails the Hammond Kid", the basis for the 1983 movie A Christmas Story (1983), was published in the December 1965 issue of "Playboy" Magazine, which traditionally was billed as the "Gala Issue". Due to his popularity, Shepherd's stories often appeared in the December, Xmas-themed issues (1964, '65, '67, '68 and 1970), which was fitting for the man who wrote the screenplay for the most popular Xmas movie since It's a Wonderful Life (1946).
Steve Allen, who listened to Shepherd on WOR, suggested him as his replacement on "Tonight!" (1953) (first of "Tonight Show" series) in the late 1950s. NBC went with Jack Paar instead, deciding that Shepherd was too caustic and unconventional to host a network show.
Peter Finch's famous rant in Network (1976) was inspired by Shepherd's radio diatribes.
Along with Leigh Brown and Bob Clark, he won a 1984 Genie Award for Best Screenplay for A Christmas Story (1983).
Awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Indiana University in 1995.
Biography in: "American National Biography". Supplement 1, pp. 566-568. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Columnist for the "Villiage Voice" weekly newspaper in New York City, called "The Night People Column", in 1956 and '57.
Early in his tenure at WOR, he and his listeners decided to play a prank on the New York Times best-seller list; he suggested that they go to bookstores around the city and start asking for a book that didn't even exist; the listeners suggested the title (I, Libertine!), an author name (Frederick Ewing), and even gave this fictitious author a fairly detailed biography (former British civil servant, lived in South Africa, spoke on the BBC about 18th-century erotica, was married to Marjorie "a horsewoman from the North Country"). As his radio listeners included airline pilots who traveled overseas and press agents who fed information to leading gossip columnists in the city, The phony book and its phony author were soon a hot topic in transatlantic publishing circles, appearing on best-seller lists, getting mentioned in Earl Wilson's syndicated gossip column, and even getting Banned in Boston. Finally, one of his listeners, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal persuaded him that it was time to let the rest of the world in on the joke - by then, the book was such a big deal that Ballantine Publishing asked Shepherd to actually write a book called I, Libertine!, and with the help of science-fiction writer Theodore Sturgeon, he did. Needless to say, the Times didn't take kindly to having been fooled, and when they reviewed the book, they implied that Sheph
Five time winner of "Playboy" Magazine Best Writing Award for Humor/Satire. Shepherd was a mainstay of the magazine in the 1960s and early '70s. He conducted the magazine's interview with The Beatles that appeared in the February 1965 issue.
He had his own show at WOR-AM in New York for twenty-two years (ending in 1977).
He provided all the voices for the "Sesame Street" (1969) skit, "Cowboy X" (circa 1972).
He was a life-long, die-hard Chicago White Sox fan.
He was the inspiration for Jason Robards' character in A Thousand Clowns (1965).
In 1976, the International Platform Association awarded him its Mark Twain American Humor award, which is given in honor of one of our most famous IPA members. The award is presented to "Mark Twain's Successor As America's Most Delightful Entertainer, Gentle Depictor of the Virtues and Weaknesses of Humanity with Humor's Paintbrush.".
In 2002, his home-town of Hammond, Indiana named the new Community Center in Dowling Park the "Jean Shepherd Community Center". On April 7, 1981, he had received the city's second annual Hammond Achievement Award, which was given in the name of the citizenry.
Inspired the deejay character in Jack Kerouac's novel 'On the Road'.
Is mentioned in the "Dictionary of American Slang" in the entry for "Night People", which is defined as "People who work or live at night, sleeping during the day" and "Noncomformists". The dictionary goes on to credit Shep: "Pop. by N.Y. City disk jockey and social commentator Jean Shepherd, c.1956". In his early years of radio on WOR in New York, during his late night broadcasts, Shep referred to his listeners as "Night People" often explaining how they differed from "Day People". The phrase caught on an credit for the phrase was given in the Dictionary of American Slang.
Posthumously inducted into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame on November 13, 2000. Shep's longtime friend Irwin Zwilling accepted the award on his behalf.
Provided the voice of the Narrator/Father character in the "Carousel of Progress" attraction at Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL.