Clayton, Xernona
1930-present · Contribution: 1967-1997
Television host; broadcasting executive
Became the first Black person in the American South to host a regularly scheduled prime-time television talk show when Themes and Variations (later The Xernona Clayton Show) premiered on Atlanta’s WAGA-TV in 1967, then spent three decades as a pioneering Turner Broadcasting executive
Portraits are AI-generated interpretations, not photographs.
Quick facts
- Born
- 1930, Muskogee, Oklahoma
- Active since
- 1967
- Category
- Press & Photography
- Best known for
- First Black host of a regular prime-time Southern TV talk show; founder of the Trumpet Awards
Impact on the world
Clayton broke the color line of Southern television hosting and then, from inside a rising media empire, built durable institutions honoring Black excellence.
Sources
- BlackPast.org
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