Art Bell Biography

Radio Personality

Nobody in talk radio quite compares to Art Bell when it comes to entertaining the notions of UFOlogists, psychics and conspiracy theorists. From his one-man broadcasting center in Pahrump, Nevada, Bell hosted a nationally syndicated all-night radio show -- Coast to Coast AM -- specializing in tales of the supernatural, the paranormal and the not-yet-categorized weird. After five years on the air Bell's audience was steadily growing, but on October 13, 1998, he suddenly and mysteriously announced the end of his broadcasting career. Two weeks later he just as mysteriously returned to the air and resumed his broadcasts, only to retire from broadcasting in April 2000. When Bell returned to the air in 2001, he explained that he had taken time to deal with personal family matters (it was later revealed that his teenage son had been sexually assaulted by a substitute teacher). At the end of 2002 Bell retired again, but said he would continue to fill in on occasion for new host George Noory. In September of 2003 Bell un-retired again, returning to become the regular weekend host on Coast to Coast AM. Bell's wife Ramona died on 5 January 2006 after suffering an asthma attack while on vacation in Laughlin, Nevada. Bell surprised his fans by announcing on 15 April 2006 that he had remarried, to Airyn Ruiz, a 21-year-old Filipino woman whom he had met on the Internet after his wife's death. Bell broadcasted from Manila during 2006, then returned to Nevada to host the Sunday edition of his show. On 1 July 2007 Bell announced he was retiring again, this time for real, to spend time with his wife and new daughter. The Saturday host of Coast to Coast, Ian Punnett, was named as a replacement.

Extra credit: Bell did not make a broadcast calling the Philippines "a disgusting and filthy place." A false e-mail recounting his alleged remarks has been circulating online since the 1990s. In 2001 Bell sued the Philippine Daily Inquirer after the newspaper published the e-mail as fact; the Inquirer published a retraction and apologized to Bell... In 2001 Bell started his own radio station in Pahrump, KNYE 95.1 FM, playing primarily music.

Art Bell appears with Amelia Earhart in our loop on Disappearing Acts, with Michael Jordan in Quitters!, with Rush Limbaugh in Legends of Radio, and (finally) with Saint Chad in the loop Legends of E-Mail.

Other purveyors of the mysterious: Nostradamus, Houdini, Aleister Crowley and Robert Ripley.

Blog posts mentioning Art Bell: