Leta Powell Drake Compilation: The Notorious L.P.D.

Duluth native Leta Powell Drake began her broadcasting career at KDAL-TV after graduating from Morgan Park High School in 1956. She went on to host and produce more than 10,000 TV shows at KOLN/KGIN-TV in Lincoln, Nebraska.

She could be … shall we say … a little bit blunt. As a result, clips of her celebrity interviews have become popular on the internet in recent years. And for a double-dose of Duluth, the montage above includes an exchange with Telly Savalas, star of the classic “Duluth, who loves ya baby?” TV spot of 1984.

Drake started out at KDAL as a night receptionist and quickly began acting on commercials for Bridgeman’s ice cream, Master Furriers and Goldfine’s by the Bridge, among and other local businesses. That led to spots as a panel member on the show Shadow Stumpers and as the Bingo Girl on Herb Taylor’s Bingo Party.

After graduating from the University of Minnesota Duluth in 1960, she pursued a master’s degree at the University of Nebraska and continued her TV career there with a three-decade stint at KOLN/KGIN. In 1989 she became program director for the Lincoln PBS affiliate, a position she held for 13 years. She also hosted Live & Learn, a program for seniors on 5 City TV, also in Lincoln.

She was inducted into the Nebraska Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame in 2011 and the Nebraska Press Women Journalists Hall of Fame in 2014. She died in 2021.