 After friends tricked him into singing on a radio program, he began receiving offers from radio stations, and his career in that medium began.Von Zell broke into show business as a singer and announcer at radio station KMIC in Inglewood, California, in the mid-1920s.In late 1926, von Zell sang on the "Times de Luxe Program" on KHJ in Los Angeles, and was eventually employed as the manager of KMTR Los Angeles,, moving to KGB San Diego in January 1929.