Host with the most O’Neill picks kids over emcee gigs
The spotlight dimmed. Waiters cleared the tables. Craig has left the building.
Known to his fans as Craig O’Neill — and to his wife, Jane, as Randy Hankins — O’Neill has emceed more than 9,000 charity events in 48 years. (Yes. That works out to more than three events per week.)
Scheduled to make his last appearance as master of ceremonies at Saturday’s Miracle Ball for Arkansas Children’s Hospital, O’Neill is retiring from philanthropic events. [High Profile is preprinted so we have to assume the reliable O’Neill wasn’t a no-show.]
Usually dressed at events in a tux with tails and his size 11 Nike Air Jordans, O’Neill, 67, says he is shifting his priority to kids — specifically reading to them twice a week at Little Rock and Pulaski County public elementary schools.
“What I want to show is the love, the joy of the book, the feel of the book, the smell of the book, the adventure of the book, how inside a book you find yourself,” O’Neill says.
Since he started emceeing events in 1969, O’Neill estimates he has helped raise more than $40 million for Arkansas charitable organizations.
“Craig has completely changed the landscape, from black-tie galas all the way to cookouts with pigs on a spit,” says Cindy Murphy, who with her husband, Chip, has cochaired countless charity fundraisers. “He is the epitome of a dream come true for any nonprofit that benefits from having an emcee.”
As master of ceremonies, O’Neill is known for his side-splitting commentary on current events. And he doesn’t have to look far for his
lines. His day job, or should we say night job, is anchor at KTHV-TV. He’s not retiring from that.
When asked about his favorite memories, O’Neill rattles off a who’s who list of celebrities. He’s interviewed his idol, Johnny Carson. He one-upped comedian Ellen DeGeneres on her own talk show Ellen. But maybe his funniest memory was when he emceed an event at the White House for President Bill Clinton.
The story goes back to the old California Raisins commercial featuring “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” a Conga line and the Dancing Raisins.
“I am in the front of the line. Bill is behind me, Hillary is behind him, Tipper, Al, the cabinet, Washington dignitaries, and we are snaking our way through the White House to ‘I Heard It Through the Grapevine’ and about a minute in, I look back and I can’t believe what I am looking at and I realize ‘Hey I’m the leader of the leader of the free world.’ Boom! Ain’t nobody can say that. For three minutes, I was the leader of the leader of the free world.”
O’Neill started his career as a radio disc jockey, working his way through three stations before taking a gig as sports anchor — and eventually anchor — at KTHV. During his early days in radio, he started emceeing events. Some were voluntary, others requirements of the job, but all of them helped build his name in central Arkansas.
“There’s no doubt it helped my career. It’s why I ended up entertaining at the White House in 1993. It’s why I ended up entertaining in Hollywood when Mary Steenburgen and Ted Danson had that short-lived sitcom Ink. They had me come out there and entertain the audience between takes which is really tough to do if you only have 10 minutes worth of material.”
He’s also proud of his fancy footwork, saying he plans to stay late at Miracle Ball and dance with his wife, the artist Jane Hankins. He recalls the time in 1978 when he and Jane signed up for a dance contest. They took dance lessons at Arthur Murray and came up with a routine that he says rivals John Travolta’s moves in Saturday
Night Fever. The prize was two new cars.
“I’m lifting my wife up and twirling her around. We did great. Finished second.”
The prize? A trash compactor.
As a master of ceremonies, O’Neill says he has been rewarded with countless gifts — from T-shirts and coffee mugs to trophies and roasts and toasts.
“I’ve noticed that those of us who are passionate about the country who never served find ways to serve. I never served in Vietnam, but I still found ways to give. And what began as a way to make a name for myself has given way to giving for the sake of giving. I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t want the trophy and I don’t want the testimonial dinner. I don’t want the T-shirt, I really don’t need anything. It is just the point of giving. It’s just being there and to participate in the give and the take, the philanthropy, the joy of it all,” he says.
About those T-shirts. In 1998, he asked a local cleaner to pin the shirts together to see if they would stretch across the Arkansas River.
“The shirts stretched over the Broadway Bridge from La Harpe over the bridge and a half a block up,” he says.
He doesn’t get paid for his work as an emcee, but when he is given an honorarium, he signs it over to his favorite charity, Hearts and Hooves — a therapeutic riding program for children and adults.
“We love Craig O’Neill. He’s been a supporter of us for many years,” says Michele Easter, Hearts and Hooves program director.
Easter says O’Neill adopts one or two horses a year, which means he pays for their care. He has also emceed the organizations annual fundraiser, Hoe Down, for at least 10 years. And he has highlighted the program on the news.
Hoe Down is scheduled for April and so far, Hearts and Hooves has not found a new emcee, Easter says.
But while he won’t be emceeing Hoe Down — or any other event — O’Neill says he will be in public school libraries, trying to inspire the love of books.
“As much as I love helping out organizations, after 48 years of doing it, you start to find other passions and that’s where it lies now and I am pretty sure that’s how it’s going to be until the end of my career, which will probably be in 2040,” he says with a laugh. “As long as I can drive, I am going to school.”