LittleSis: Donald C Cornelius

Cornelius was born in Chicago on Sept. 27, 1936, and grew up on the South Side. After graduating from DuSable High School in 1954, he served a stint in the Marines. He sold tires, cars and insurance before taking a course in broadcasting in 1966. He launched his career as a substitute disc jockey and news announcer on WVON-AM in Chicago and was moonlighting as a sports anchor on "A Black View of the News" on WCIU-TV when he pitched the station's owners the idea of a dance show. The first "Soul Train" aired live and in black and white on WCIU-TV on Aug. 17, 1970. As host and executive producer of "Soul Train," he was soon at the throttle of a nationally syndicated television institution that was the first dance show to cater to the musical tastes of black teenagers and also helped bring black music, dance, fashion and style to mainstream America. In the process of presenting the soul, funk and R&B of the day, the Afro-haired, dapper Cornelius became a TV icon, his sonorous baritone welcoming viewers to "the hippest trip in America." With his first wife, Delores, Cornelius had two sons, Anthony and Raymond. His second marriage, to Russian model Viktoria Chapman, ended in divorce after he pleaded no contest to misdemeanor spousal battery in 2009.

Donor	Common Recipients
Clarence Avant	Barack Obama, Harold Ford Jr, Dick Gephardt, Alan Dupree Wheat, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic National Committee, Kevin Murray, People Helping People
Carmen H Warschaw	Barack Obama, Dick Gephardt, Alan Dupree Wheat, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic National Committee, Kevin Murray, Democratic Majority 2002
Robert Johnson	Barack Obama, Harold Ford Jr, Dick Gephardt, Alan Dupree Wheat, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic National Committee, People Helping People
Marc B Nathanson	Barack Obama, Harold Ford Jr, Dick Gephardt, Alan Dupree Wheat, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic National Committee, Kevin Murray
Berry Gordy	Barack Obama, Harold Ford Jr, Dick Gephardt, Alan Dupree Wheat, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic National Committee, People Helping People
Quincy Jones	Barack Obama, Harold Ford Jr, Dick Gephardt, Alan Dupree Wheat, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic National Committee, People Helping People
Robert L Johnson	Barack Obama, Harold Ford Jr, Dick Gephardt, Alan Dupree Wheat, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic National Committee, People Helping People
J.B. Pritzker	Barack Obama, Harold Ford Jr, Dick Gephardt, Alan Dupree Wheat, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic National Committee
Norman Lear	Barack Obama, Harold Ford Jr, Dick Gephardt, Alan Dupree Wheat, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic National Committee
Jeffrey Katzenberg	Barack Obama, Harold Ford Jr, Dick Gephardt, Alan Dupree Wheat, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic National Committee
Gary Paul	Barack Obama, Harold Ford Jr, Dick Gephardt, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic National Committee, Democratic Majority 2002
Ronald D Abramson	Barack Obama, Harold Ford Jr, Dick Gephardt, Alan Dupree Wheat, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic National Committee
Stephen Cloobeck	Barack Obama, Harold Ford Jr, Dick Gephardt, Alan Dupree Wheat, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic National Committee
Tom Downey	Barack Obama, Harold Ford Jr, Dick Gephardt, Alan Dupree Wheat, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic National Committee
Vernon E Jordan Jr	Barack Obama, Harold Ford Jr, Dick Gephardt, Alan Dupree Wheat, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic National Committee
Hilary Rosen	Barack Obama, Harold Ford Jr, Dick Gephardt, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic National Committee, Kevin Murray
Mitchell Berger	Barack Obama, Harold Ford Jr, Dick Gephardt, Alan Dupree Wheat, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic National Committee
Peter Buttenwieser	Barack Obama, Harold Ford Jr, Dick Gephardt, Alan Dupree Wheat, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic National Committee
Barbra Streisand	Barack Obama, Harold Ford Jr, Dick Gephardt, Alan Dupree Wheat, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic National Committee
Maurice Tempelsman	Barack Obama, Harold Ford Jr, Dick Gephardt, Alan Dupree Wheat, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic National Committee

Donor

Common Recipients

Clarence Avant

Barack Obama, Harold Ford Jr, Dick Gephardt, Alan Dupree Wheat, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic National Committee, Kevin Murray, People Helping People

Carmen H Warschaw

Barack Obama, Dick Gephardt, Alan Dupree Wheat, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic National Committee, Kevin Murray, Democratic Majority 2002

Robert Johnson

Barack Obama, Harold Ford Jr, Dick Gephardt, Alan Dupree Wheat, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic National Committee, People Helping People

Marc B Nathanson

Barack Obama, Harold Ford Jr, Dick Gephardt, Alan Dupree Wheat, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic National Committee, Kevin Murray

Berry Gordy

Barack Obama, Harold Ford Jr, Dick Gephardt, Alan Dupree Wheat, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic National Committee, People Helping People