Art Bell Fast Facts

Tuesday, March 4, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

OCCUPATION: Talk-radio host.

AS HEARD ON: KXNT 840-AM. "Coast to Coast" airs 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. weekdays, while "Dreamtime" airs 7-10 p.m. Sundays.

BACKGROUND: A military brat -- "son of a Marine colonel father and drill sergeant mother," as his press bio puts it -- Bell developed an early nomadic and maverick lifestyle. In the military, he built a pirate radio station on his Air force base. As a civilian, he disc-jockeyed at 25 radio stations. He lived in Okinawa, where, he says, he set a Guinness record for staying on the air 116 hours and 15 minutes. Later, he says, as the Vietnam War ended, he raised the money to charter a plane that rescued 130 Vietnamese orphans from Saigon. He started "Coast to Coast" about a decade ago in Las Vegas.

HOW'D HE GET INTO WEIRD TOPICS? Simple -- early in "Coast to Coast," he did a few shows on paranormal topics, and the response convinced him it was a market segment not served by existing talk shows.

BIG GROWTH: "Coast to Coast" went from about 160 station in late 195 to more than 320 now.

WEBSITE: http://www.artbell.com