Pioneer radio, TV personality Morelli dies

Monday, Jan. 17, 2005 | 8:47 a.m.

While hosting the afternoon movie on Las Vegas' NBC affiliate KORK Channel 2 in the 1960s and '70s, Hal Morelli talked of his clients as though they were his best friends, and he wanted his viewers to feel they were their friends too.

"Hal was tall, good-looking and glib," said longtime KLAS Channel 8 news anchor Gary Waddell, who in the early 1970s was an anchor and reporter at KORK, now KVBC Channel 3.

"He was friendly and enjoyed talking about his clients to his viewers. It was all done live back then. He was good at it, but it is a dying art today."

Hal F. Morelli, who also was a popular 1950s disc jockey at KRAM radio and a one-term Las Vegas city councilman from 1971 to 1975, died Tuesday at Henderson Health Care, a rehabilitation clinic. He was 80.

The cause of death was complications from a fall on New Year's Day, Morelli's family said.

Services for the Southern Nevada resident of 55 years, were earlier today. Palm Mortuary Cheyenne handled the arrangements.

It was at the height of his popularity as both a radio and TV personality, that Morelli took a leap into local politics, running for the Las Vegas City Commission -- today the City Council -- in 1971.

"One of the things he used to say was that the common man should be in government, not just the lawyers and the well-to-do," said his niece Karin Jones of Jacksonville, N.C. "He believed everyone should have a voice."

Morelli defeated incumbent Jim Corey in the primary, running on a platform that called for more parks and recreational facilities, the creation of a drug rehabilitation center and revenue sharing.

He then sailed to victory in the general election, winning by more than 2,000 votes over then-Las Vegas Sun columnist Paul Price.

Born May 3, 1924, in Revere, Mass., Morelli graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 1942 and served in the Marines in the South Pacific during World War II.

After the war, he enrolled at UCLA, where he studied engineering and broadcasting.

Morelli came to Las Vegas in 1949 and quickly branched into television, joining the staff of the city's first TV station, KLAS in the 1950s as a commercial announcer.

Morelli worked 10 years for KORK radio and KORK television.

During his term on the City Commission, Morelli continued to do his TV show and served as mayor pro tem and as the city's representative on the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority board.

Morelli also was long known for his civic causes, using his broadcast fame to champion human betterment organizations including Seniors in Action, Disabled American Veterans, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, the Heart Fund, Cancer Society, March of Dimes, Easter Seals and local hospitals.

He was a member of the Marine Corps League, Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, Kentucky Colonels, Saints and Sinners, the Italian-American Club and the Las Vegas Media Group.

After leaving political office and KORK, Morelli was an account executive for the Las Vegas Quicksilvers pro soccer team and later worked in public relations.

In addition to his niece, he is survived by his best friend, Peggy Smith of Las Vegas, and three nephews, Karl Haupi of Coraopolis, Pa., and Kerry Haupi and Kris Haupi, both of Pittsburgh.