William Conrad (also known as John William Conrad) was born John William Cann Jr. on September 27, 1920, in Lexington, Kentucky. His parents, John William Cann and Ida Mae Upchurch Cann, owned a movie theatre, and Conrad grew up watching movies. The family moved to southern California when Conrad was in high school. He majored in drama and literature at Fullerton College, near Los Angeles, and began his career as an announcer, writer, and director for Los Angeles radio station KMPC. Conrad served as a fighter pilot in World War II. On the day he was commissioned in 1943 at Luke Field, he married June Nelson (1920–77) of Los Angeles. He left the United States Army Air Corps with the rank of captain and as a producer-director of the Armed Forces Radio Service.