Rex Trailer Had Strong Ties To Wakefield
Rex Trailer died Thursday at the age of 84. Former TV personality had considerable connections to Wakefield.
As noted in this article earlier this week on Patch.com, former Boston area TV personality Rex Trailer died Thursday at the age of 84. Many know Trailer as the host of "Boomtown," which ran on WBZ for nearly two decades. In Wakefield however, local historian and author Bob McLaughlin cited several longstanding connections Trailer had to the town. According to McLaughlin, Bill O'Brien, who played Sergeant Billy on the TV show, was a Wakefielder. Many of the musicians who Trailer hired for the show back in the '50s were from the town as well. Many of the musicians reportedly started off working at the Pleasure Island Amusement Park in Wakefield, which Trailer would appear at regularly. Another anecdote found online at this link says that …
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William Laforme
10:18 am on Friday, January 11, 2013
I just wanted to share this bit of information that was emailed by a local woman named Irene: "Rex did have strong ties to Wakefield . He hired Lou Ciarfella known as Chief Black Eagle....Billy was introduced to Rex by Lou. Also Sam DiDonato was on Rex's show as Santa. Rex Trailers book REX TRAILER THE BOOMTOWN YEARS mentioned them all. Lou was my brother and he started working for Rex at the age… more ›