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Willis Ballance was a radio talk show host. He was born in Peoria, Illinois in 1918. He studied journalism at the University of Illinois before serving in the United States Marines. He had radio station stints in Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Honolulu. But it was in Los Angeles where he got his fame – as the "Feminine Forum" radio show host on KGBS-AM, beginning in 1971. He was the forerunner to "shock jocks" Tom Leykis and Howard Stern. He was accused of exploting callers by women's rights activists, but was eventually nationally syndicated.
He caused another stir in 1998, when a judge ruled that nude images of Dr. Laura Schlessinger could continue to be posted on a website. He had sold them to a company and claimed that they were from a 1970s affair with Ballance while Schlessinger was married. She denied the affair.
"Feminine Forum" was dropped in 1973, and he hosted the "Bill Ballance Show." He retired from radio in 1993.
He died at home, age 85, on September 23, 2004. He had been in failing health since undergoing quadruple bypass surgery and suffering a stroke in June 2002.
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