Doris (Cousin Tuny) Freeman
The masters of television's pioneer children's hours helped amuse us, shape us, and raise us. Those captains, Misses, colonels, or officers became our favorite uncles, aunts, or even broadcast parents. When they lived in the same town as we who watched them, thev were part of our families in a more intimate fashion than national kidvid emcees-who had slicker, bigger-budget productions. The very decision to tackle a project of preserving the history of these greats is a challenge in itself. However, when the Union Broadcasting System of Union University in Tennessee adopted the history of local children's broadcasting for online research, one choice alone surfaced to whom this site would be dedicated. This kidvid legend is a "cuz," as she refers to everyone she meets. Her closest friends know her as Doris Freeman. To west Tennessee, she has been Cousin Tuny since the days of radio. A cross between the late Minnie Pearl, Lucille Ball and a lot of Doris' own personality, Cousin Tuny created the definitive children's television show for thousands of children from the 1950s through the 1970s. Cousin Tuny became a legend because she genuinely loved (and still loves) the many children who appeared on her show. She wrote her own original songs which are embedded in the subconsciouses of those children who are alumni of her afternoon kidfest on WDXI-TV (later WBBJ-TV). She taught values, kindness, discipline, and love, with a not-so-small dose of the Bible in the days before political correctness invaded the world. Doris Freeman was a first for women in broadcasting without being a vocal activist. Charged with the responsibility of raising her four children alone in the 1950s, she did not sit back and wait on the world to come to her. Doris became the first woman to sell advertising in west Tennessee. She was a master at sales in both radio and television. When her daily broadcasting career ended, she continued in the business world as the first general manager of Jackson, Tn.'s Old Hickory Mall. In the 1980s, she became the primary spokesperson for health care in west Tennessee as the director of public relations and marketing for Jackson-Madison County General Hospital.
To this day, Cousin Tuny has been the co-emcee of the annual West Tennessee Cerebral Palsy Telethon. The Cerebral Palsy Center in Jackson is a labor of love for "Cuz," who regularly visits and sings to its children. From the inception of the Exchange Club-Carl Perkins Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse in the early 1980s, Doris joined with the legendary composer of "Blue Suede Shoes" for the center's annual telethon. Perkins' death in early 1998 has left a major gap in the west Tennessee area, as well as the field of music worldwide. In character as Cousin Tuny, Doris continues to carry the torch for the fight against child abuse in the medium where she helped raise so many children.
Cousin Tuny has been a teacher, a role model and a second mother to dozens of west Tennessee broadcasters. Yet, her heart and soul remains with children. Long past the year when she was a daily tradition in her region's homes, Tuny never sees a child she does not treat and love as if it were her own.
As a tribute to her legend, for a half-hour in prime time during the 1999 Carl Perkins Circles of Hope Telethon, The Cousin Tuny Show was re-created with the original music and a generation of new children flocked around Tuny to hear her stories and lessons for life. Those moments have been excerpted in a documentary on Tuny's career for public television.
Every community has had its television legends, many of whom helped raise our children. Cousin Tuny took that responsibility as seriously as if she were the parent of the many kids who visited her set on birthdays, school trips, and summer holidays.
Cousin Tuny has been far more than a television character. She has been the embodiment of love for one's fellow man. For her many contributions to children's television and to the hearts and souls of children everywhere, the Kidvid Kings and Queens website of the Union Broadcasting System is dedicated to a genuine legend----Doris (Cousin Tuny) Freeman.
