Charles Daniel Hanks Jr., better known as Chuck Riley, was born on July 21, 1940, in Kaplan, Louisiana. He was the first child of Charles and Irene Hanks, and his family relocated to Duncan, Oklahoma in 1952.
Following his high school graduation in 1958, Riley began his career as a disc jockey at KOMA in Oklahoma City, adopting the pseudonym Chuck Dann. He later used the alternate name Charlie Tuna before passing it on to legendary disc jockey Art Ferguson.
Riley continued to work as a disc jockey under his Chuck Dann alias for various radio stations, including CKY-FM in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, WKYC in Cleveland, Ohio, KMPC and KBIG in Los Angeles, California, WIBC in Indianapolis, Indiana, WQWB in Fargo, North Dakota, WIGB in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and WQHT in New York City, New York.
In 1972, Riley got married and moved with his family to the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, California, where he established himself as one of the top voice artists in the industry.
Outside of his work as a disc jockey, Riley lent his deep, dulcet, and commanding voice to a variety of projects, including movies for Universal, Paramount, Warner Brothers, and 20th Century Fox, as well as radio documentaries for CHUM 1050 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He also narrated TV commercials, theatrical film trailers, network television promotions, and children's audio books primarily for Disney Read-Alongs.
Riley's voice was also featured in the notorious mondo shock documentary The Killing of America (1981),in which he provided a stern and solemn narration.
At the time of his death from renal complications on May 10, 2007, at the age of 66, Riley was still working as a voice-over artist for KABC-TV in Los Angeles, California. He was survived by his five children.
