Lloyd Thaxton, host of '60s dance show, dies

LOS ANGELES -- Lloyd Thaxton, an Emmy Award-winning producer and host of a popular Los Angeles television dance show that went national in the 1960s, has died. He was 81.

Thaxton died of multiple myeloma Sunday at his home in Los Angeles, said his wife Barbara Thaxton.

Lloyd Thaxton was known for his comic lip-synching to rock 'n' roll songs on KCOP's "Lloyd Thaxton's Record Shop," which launched in 1959 and became a hit despite its limited budget and cardboard set. He used puppets, costumes, mime and "finger people" he drew on his thumb.

Three years later his show was revamped and renamed "Thaxton's Hop," before going national in 1964. The show was eventually renamed "The Lloyd Thaxton Show" and featured teenagers dancing to records and guest appearances by top recording artists such as Sonny and Cher and the Righteous Brothers.

He always signed off his shows by saying, "My name is Lloyd Thaxton," to which the teenage dancers would yell, "So what?"

"He was really a trailblazer," said his friend Ken Levine. "He did this show on a local station with almost no budget at all. It wasn't just a bunch of kids dancing."

Lloyd Thaxton was born May 31, 1927, in Memphis, Tenn., grew up in Toledo, Ohio, and served in the Navy.

He later worked as an Emmy Award-winning producer with the consumer advocacy program "Fight Back! With David Horowitz" and NBC's "The Today Show."

Thaxton is also survived by his daughter, two stepsons from his first marriage, and a grandson.