Veteran Central Fla. Radio Host ‘Doc Holliday’ Dies

He started his journey in radio as an air personality at radio stations in Atlantic City, N.J., before launching a Top 40 radio success story at stations including WAEB-FM in Allentown during its “Laser 104” era and, later, at WNVZ “Z104” in Norfolk.

From summer 1990 through today, the individual known to listeners as “Doc Holliday” became a household name in the Orlando market, thanks to memorable roles at “XL106.7” and, until 2010, the Cox Media Group Country station serving Central Florida.

Now, the host whose legal name is Jeffrey Duncan is being mourned.

As “Doc Holliday,” Duncan found an audience at stations that include Malrite Communications’ WEGX “Eagle 106” in Philadelphia in an era when Tiffany and Debbie Gibson were competing against New Kids on the Block for teen pop supremacy. By the time Ghost hit theaters and “Unchained Melody” by the Righteous Brothers had resurfaced as a chart hit, Duncan was at a newly rechristened Contemporary Hit Radio station that had been WHLY “Y106” and, for a brief moment, WCAT “The Cat.”

This was WXXL, which relocated from Leesburg, Fla., to become “XL106.7” and challenge WBJW “BJ 105,” today WOMX “Mix 105.1.” That effort worked, as “XL” was a success — in part to Doc Holliday’s afternoon shift. By February 1991, he shifted to mornings to team with another icon of Central Florida radio — Johnny Magic.

Magic continues today as XL 106.7 morning host at the helm of Johnny’s House. For Duncan, a 17-year pairing ended when he and fellow “XL” talent Grace Vaquez headed across town to WWKA “K92.3” in 2007. There, Mark Hlavin, who shared the news of Holliday’s passing with the radio industry early Monday, served as Executive Producer. “Doc Holliday” left K92.3 in 2010.

Aside from his time on the radio, Duncan was also the stadium announcer for the Orlando Predators Arena Football League team and in 1992 served as the announcer for the Nickelodeon series Family Double Dare. 

Duncan was 64 years of age and in more recent years was an instructor at a Connecticut School of Broadcasting branch in Central Florida.

As Johnny’s House began its Monday morning program, Holliday’s passing had not been addressed, with the on-air team discussing their Super Bowl weekend activities. Whether or not Holliday’s passing is noted by Johnny Magic is debatable, as his split from Holliday was acrimonious at the time.

In October 2021, Johnny Magic addressed his split from Doc Holliday in a three-part blog post. “The way things ended are still kinda blurry to me,” he wrote. “We were going into contract negotiations and they were talking to Doc first. Something happened in those meetings that I still don’t understand. Doc came out it saying he was disrespected and he couldn’t work here anymore. At that time K92 started talking to him. They wanted to talk to me but I refused the meeting. I guess it was perfect timing for Doc. He felt disrespected by the company and another company came knocking, showing love. We had that one last conversation about the show. He told me he was going to K92 and I said I was staying. I wished him well and he did the same for me … I can’t lie, I was scared. I was always Johnny to his Doc and now I was going to do it alone. Would they like me without him? Could I do it without him? Would the company even want to keep me without Doc? These are all the things that were going through my mind at the time. I was nervous but ready to do it.”

As of 4 1/2 years ago, Johnny Magic had fond memories of their time as colleagues. “To this day I will always say that Doc is my brother. Even though we don’t talk much, I’ll always consider him a brother.”