Subject: [removed] Digest V2006 #366
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 12/30/2006 6:29 PM
To: [removed]@[removed]

------------------------------


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2006 : Issue 366
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                             [removed]
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  Re: Hoagy Carmichael and Dana Andrew  [ jameshburns@[removed] (Jim Burns) ]
  OTR, and the Oscar                    [ jameshburns@[removed] (Jim Burns) ]
  Roy Can't Sing??????????????????????  [ tedshumaker@[removed] ]
  Hoagy Carmichael                      [ Steve Carter <scarter2@[removed]; ]
  Re: Eddie Green                       [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
  Widmark's debut?                      [ jack and cathy french <otrpiano@ver ]
  Roy & Dale: [removed]         [ jack and cathy french <otrpiano@ver ]
  CHANDU THE MAGICIAN                   [ Ljk2476@[removed] ]
  "The Thing on the Fourble Board"      [ crow8164@[removed] (Dennis Crow) ]
  Re: Fessenden                         [ "R. R. King" <kingrr@[removed]; ]
  XM Satellite Radio Deal               [ Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed] ]
  Re: Billy Idelson's Vic and Sade boo  [ "Louie Johnson" <ljohnson@[removed]; ]

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 30 Dec 2006 11:35:01 -0500
From: jameshburns@[removed] (Jim Burns)
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re:  Hoagy Carmichael and Dana [removed]

Okay, forgive me.

Really off topic, this time.

But this is just too nice a story.

When Dana Andrews was signed to star in the orginal Rodgers and
Hammerstein movie musical STATE FAIR (based on the earlier straight
film, and novel, but not previously a stage musical), his singing was
dubbed (as was the singing for Jeanne Crain).

But Andrews WAS a singer, and had originally gone out to Hollywood,
apparently looking for work, as a warbler.

Why didn't he discuss this with the producers?

Andrews found out his singing shadow had already been signed--

And he didn't want to cost the guy a job!

Jim Burns

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 30 Dec 2006 15:23:06 -0500
From: jameshburns@[removed] (Jim Burns)
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  OTR, and the Oscar

Someone asked if anyone has ever won an Oscar for recreating a part
first played on the [removed]

This is a bit of a stretch, but Barbra Streisand as Fanny Brice comes to
mind, for FUNNY GIRL.

(If she did win; my memory suggests, that was the year the Oscar for
Best Actress was split between her and Katherine Hepburn, for THE LION
IN [removed])

Of course, there were those other great movie performances:

Clark Gable, as Captain Midnight

Humphrey Bogart and Laureen Bacall as Mr. and Mrs. North

Boris Karloff and Lionel Barrymore in The WItch's Tale

Charlton Heston, as Flash Gordon

Gary Cooper, in SKY KING

Kirk Douglas, as Buck Rogers

Harrison Ford, in GANGBUSTERS

Al Pacino, as The [removed]

Ah, but I grow fanciful.

;-)

As I Runyon along, the corridors of yesterday.

Best, Jim

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 30 Dec 2006 15:23:46 -0500
From: tedshumaker@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Roy Can't Sing???????????????????????????
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

 M Kinsler wrote:

"who just downloaded a copy of "Happy Trails" from iTunes and discovered that
Roy Rogers really couldn't sing very well.  It must have been Dale and/or
the Sons of the Pioneers who did most of the real work.

You've got to be kidding!!

He's in The County Music Hall of Fame and The Cowboy Hall of Fame.
I have several records, tapes and cd's and he sounds GREAT to me.

Ted

  *** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
  ***                  as the sender intended.                   ***

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 30 Dec 2006 15:23:55 -0500
From: Steve Carter <scarter2@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Hoagy Carmichael

Someone asked about other movies were HC appeared. I think I saw him
in Topper the original Hal Roach movie a few weeks ago on TMC.
Steve

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 30 Dec 2006 15:24:12 -0500
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: Eddie Green

On 12/30/06 11:39 AM [removed]@[removed] wrote:

Speaking of Eddie Green, he's another unsung hero of radio. I am a
huge Duffy's Tavern fan, but really feel the show went downhill after
Eddie passed away. If anyone knows of any in depth information on mr
Green, I would appreciate it. To his credit, Ed Gardner gave Eddie
some of the funniest lines in the show, and Eddie always delivered.

Green is best remembered for his work in radio, but he was also a major
star in black vaudeville and on the Broadway stage during the 1910s and
1920s. He was born in Baltimore in 1896, and went on stage with a
minstrel show as a song-and-dance man while still in his teens. In 1916,
Green wrote "A Good Man Is Hard To Find," one of the biggest song hits of
that era. The publishing rights were bought in 1918 by the noted
African-American songwriter/publisher W. C. Handy, who went on to make a
fortune off the song -- but Handy was careful to arrange the terms of the
contract to ensure that he made all the profits and Green got next to
nothing.

Green remained a stage star on the black-oriented TOBA vaudeville circuit
during the twenties, becoming a great favorite of African-American
audiences, and went on to appear in several all-black Broadway revues in
the late twenties and early thirties. He wrote the book for "Blackberries
of 1932," a stage revue featuring many of the leading black comedians of
the era (Tim Moore -- later the TV Kingfish -- was also featured in this
show, along with Mantan Moreland, Dewey "Pigmeat" Markham, and Moms
Mabley.) Unfortunately, "Blackberries" was presented at a time when the
musical theatre was severely crippled by the Depression, and the show
flopped.

Green made his radio debut in 1932, forming a comedy team with Ernest
Whitman, a veteran actor who had shifted back and forth between comedy
and straight drama over the course of his career and who would go on to
play many straight roles on A&A in the mid-1940s. Green and Whitman were
featured cast members in "The Gibson Family" during 1932-33, playing a
pair of comedic circus roustabouts. (Ernest Whitman is probably best
known today as Ernie "Bubbles" Whitman, the ever-jiving MC of AFRS's
"Jubilee" series.)

After "The Gibson Family" ended, Green made numerous guest appearances on
various programs during 1934-36, and in the fall of 1936 became a
featured co-star of Louis Armstrong's Harlem Revue, a black-oriented
variety series heard on NBC for Fleischmann's Yeast. That same year,
Green became possibly the first African-American performer to appear on
television in the US -- doing a routine in a special experimental
telecast put on by NBC to inaugurate the earliest version of their
all-electronic television system.

Green continued to make guest appearances on various programs during the
late thirties, and was a semi-regular with Rudy Vallee in 1940. He was a
regular on "Duffy's Tavern" for most of its run, and joined "The Amos 'n'
Andy Show" in 1947, remaining with both programs until his death from a
heart attack on 9/19/50 at the age of 54.

Elizabeth

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 30 Dec 2006 15:25:05 -0500
From: jack and cathy french <otrpiano@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Widmark's debut?

On Saturday, December 30, 2006, at 11:39 AM, Joe Mackey wrote:

1/6  1941 - A young actor appeared for the first time in a new program
on CBS titled, The Home of the Brave. Along with others in the cast,
this was Richard Widmark's radio debut.

Close, but no cigar. True, Widmark was a young radio actor, and since
"Home of the Brave" was a new program, it was his first appearance on
the show. But it was not his radio debut; he had small parts on several
radio shows, including "GangBusters," as early as 1938. However the
1941 "Home of the Brave" program did make him well known enough to be
called to audition for leading roles after that, [removed] "Helpmate" and
"Front Page Farrell."

Jack French
Editor: RADIO RECALL
<[removed]>

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 30 Dec 2006 15:27:05 -0500
From: jack and cathy french <otrpiano@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Roy & Dale: [removed]

It's been a rough week on the Digest for the "King of the Cowboys" and 
the "Queen of the West".....apparently only Joe Mackey had a good word 
to say about them:

12/31/47 - Roy Rogers, 'the King of the Cowboys', and Dale Evans were 
hitched in marriage. They rode off into that sunset together for over
fifty years.

Earlier, another Digester, apparently unimpressed with one of 
Hollywood's longest marriages,  summarily described the two as 
"oft-married."  Soon another Digester pointed out that Roy was married 
only twice, but then Bob Slate correctly boosted the total to three 
times. While others speculated on the marriage totals for Dale, Mark 
Kinsler jumped in and assured us that Roy couldn't sing that well 
anyway:

Just downloaded a copy of "Happy Trails" from iTunes and discovered 
that Roy Rogers really couldn't sing very well. It must have been Dale
and/or the Sons of the Pioneers who did most of the real work.

Well, we've heard from other Digesters who've told us that Fred Allen 
wasn't funny and neither were Amos 'n Andy, so I guess we shouldn't be 
surprised to discover someone doesn't like Roy's singing. But what we 
"like" is purely subjective, therefore one might consider prefacing 
their jibes with "IMHO."

However the number of marriages for Roy and Dale is not a matter of 
opinion, it's just a matter of reviewing the facts. Long before he was 
"Roy Rogers", Leonard Slye was touring with a number of cowboy groups, 
including "The Sons of the Pioneers." The constant travel put such a 
strain on his first marriage to Lucille Ascolese that they divorced 
after three years. His second marriage was to Arline (i not e) Wilkins 
in 1936. She died tragically from a fatal emmbolism six days after 
childbirth in 1946 leaving Roy a widower with three youngsters. In 
1947, he married Dale Evans, who herself had been married twice before.

As Frances Octavia Smith, she had married Thomas Fox in high school in 
Texas as she was pregnant with his son. Fox deserted her and the baby 
soon after. Dale got a divorce and full custody of the son, Thomas Jr, 
whom she passed off as her "little brother" for many years until the 
Hollywood gossips outed her secret. In the 30s she was performing under 
the professional name of "Marion Lee" and later chose "Dale Evans." Her 
second husband, Robert, was with her in Chicago when she got her own 
radio show on CBS, "That Girl From Texas." After they moved to 
Hollywood in 1941, the marriage began to deteriorate and they were 
divorced in 1945.

That being said, both of them, from 1947 until their respective deaths 
(Roy in 1998 and Dale in 2001), led moral, exemplary lives as parents 
and performers. They showed great courage in overcoming personal 
tragedies, including the deaths of three of their children. Over the 
years, they had adopted six children, in addition to those each had 
from prior marriages. One of their daughters, who had Downs Syndrome, 
died at an early age, and a son, on his first tour with the Army to 
Germany, died suddenly overseas.

IMHO, Roy and Dale will always represent honesty, decency, courage, and 
patriotism.

Jack French
Editor: RADIO RECALL
<[removed]

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 30 Dec 2006 15:28:13 -0500
From: Ljk2476@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  CHANDU THE MAGICIAN

    As a relatively "New Kid On the Block," I just want to wish  you all a
Happy New Year! I think we all could use one! (Although I did have one  "high
point" this past year that I wouldn't change, and that was getting  married!)
      As for my ongoing detective work on  CHANDU THE MAGICIAN, I again want
to thank all here for their help, and - I hope  - their continued help on
this book project. I've gone through about 2 years of  microfilm of
BROADCASTING magazine from the tail end of 1931 through about the  middle of
1934, and have found very little info. on the show - although a couple  of
things I found were very interesting!!!     I found an ad from 1933 from the
Earnshaw-Young advertising agency noting their successes of the past year or
so,  which in particular noted the success of the CHANDU radio show. From the
ad, it  appears that CHANDU THE MAGICIAN began sometime (I don't have the ad
handy right  now) in November of 1931 on station KHJ in Los Angeles, Ca. This
is news to me,  as I believed the syndicated broadcasts began in 1932. So, it
appears that KHJ  played the show as a live radio show, and then when the
show started to do well  in the ratings, the program went into syndication
all around the country.  Eventually, major stations like WOR in New York
played it, as well as KYW (I  believe) in Chicago. (The earliest date I've
found listed in the CHICAGO TRIBUNE  is October 27, 1932, which seems pretty
late in getting on the CHANDU  bandwagon!) Can I assume then, that as a
station decided to pick the show up,  that station would begin the
transcription recordings of the show from the  beginning, or would they pick
up the show from the point that other stations  around the country were
playing it?    Hey, anybody know anything about the  Earnshaw-Young
advertising agency? They apparently came up with the concept of  CHANDU THE
MAGICIAN and owned all rights to the property, and had a few shows on  the
air in the '30s outside of CHANDU. I found it interesting that one such
local show in Los Angeles featured the comedy team of Emerson Tracy and Gay
Seabrook, who played the parents of Spanky McFarland in a couple of OUR GANG
([removed] THE LITTLE RASCALS) shorts in the 1930s. While I've found out a bit
of  Harry A. Earnshaw's radio writing credits, I've found just about nothing
on  writer Raymond R. Morgan. My educated guess is that he worked with Mr.
Earnshaw  in coming up with the CHANDU concept, but the main scriptwriter was
Vera M.  Oldham. It's interesting too that she was given a paid vacation to
go to "the  Orient" to soak up atmosphere and information for more CHAND
radio  shows!     Lois found an article for me from the  LOS ANGELES TIMES
(November 26, 1934) where writer Vera Oldham stated that in  all likelihood,
CHANDU would not be returning to the air for the new season. If  that is
correct, then the small handful of shows from 1935 that are currently
available MUST THEN be the Chicago version that began in 1935. According to
the  CHICAGO TRIBUNE, the new Chicago version of CHANDU began on March 11,
1935 and  ended sometime in 1936. (I don't think this program was syndicated
- although  it's possible, as it was broadcast on WGN?)     I haven't been
able to pinpoint as to  when the "radio season" began and ended for most
radio shows in the 1930s.  I assume that even back then, major network shows
began their new season at a  set time and ended it at a set time. Summer
shows - from what I can tell - were  often picked up by the same sponsor and
at the same time as the major show -  let's say THE JACK BENNY PROGRAM - for
the summer. Syndicated shows like CHANDU  must have had their own rules, or
did they? I surely know that "seasonal"  transcribed shows like THE CINNAMON
BEAR always began around Thanksgiving and  would end just before Christmas -
over the many years they were broadcast. So,  if anybody here could kind of
fill in the gaps for me regarding when radio  seasons began and ended, I just
may be able to determine when the regular run of  CHANDU shows (the
syndicated version) officially ended.     I'm sure most of you know that the
1948-1950 syndicated and network (ABC) version of CHANDU THE MAGICIAN has
been  well documented by various radio historians who have been able to log
the shows.  Sadly, there are many gaps in the shows from 1932-1936 that do
exist. I'm hoping  to do the best job possible to figure the dates out before
my eyes go completely  haywire from scanning miles of microfilm! Any
suggestions or leads would be  appreciated! Thank you!        Regarding the
use of celebrities on  THE FLINSTONES animated TV show, I believe that the
"Ann-Margrock" character was  actually voiced by Ms. Ann-Margaret herself.
However, I don't believe that  "Stony Curtis" was done by Tony Curtis, but
who knows? "Stony Carmicheal" was  indeed voiced by Hoagy Carmicheal. Mr.
Carmichael's ties to animation go back a  bit farther, as he and Frank
Loesser wrote songs for MR. BUG GOES TO TOWN (1941)  - [removed] HOPPITY GOES TO
TOWN - which is one of my favorite animated cartoon  features, a very
underrated Fleischer effort! A lot of us animation fans believe  it was NOT
publicized as well as it could have to help ouster the Fleischer  brothers
and relatives when Paramount took over the studio by the following  year. It
also didn't help that the cartoon feature was released around the  Japanese
attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941!     Well, I've gotta run - gotta
go to  Wisconsin to visit my wife and her family for New Year's Eve. Best
wishes to all  here! - Lenny Kohl

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 30 Dec 2006 18:26:10 -0500
From: crow8164@[removed] (Dennis Crow)
To: [removed]@[removed] (Old Time Radio Digest)
Subject:  "The Thing on the Fourble Board"

What makes a radio program a classic?  Many radio program experts regard
"The Thing on the Fourble Board" (from QUIET, PLEASE) a classic. I would
assume that one reason is its "staying power" in people's minds.  Another
might be the popularity of the show at the time. "Sorry, Wrong Number" (from
SUSPENSE) is a good example. Of course the writing, acting, and production
values are factors, but they don't explain all the reasons. Legend built up
around a show may qualify it to be a classic.

I don't get the reputation of "The Thing on the Fourble Board."  I may be a
little dense, but I had to listen to it several times to understand what it
was all about.  Surely, I wouldn't have gotten it the first time around.
It's complexly plotted, virtually all narration, with little to hold one's
attention. The ending is more ambiguous than it is frightening.  I can
imagine dialing into "Quiet,  Please", hearing the program, and if I hadn't
fallen asleep, wondering, "what this was all about."  Yet, it has "stood the
test of time."  It is featured in many  popular collections, and Radiola once
released a record with an artistic representation of the episode on the
cover. When did "The Thing on the Fourble Board," become so highly regarded;
when did its reputation start to build, and more to the point, why?

An inquiring Digest reader wants to know.

Dennis Crow

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 30 Dec 2006 20:20:30 -0500
From: "R. R. King" <kingrr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Fessenden

Don Shenbarger wrote:

Howeth had access to Naval records for this
official publication (prepared under  the  auspices  of Bureau of
Ships and  Office of Naval History). These two entries appear in
1906:

Yes, but, unfortunately, the alleged Christmas Eve broadcast isn't
mentioned in the heavily-footnoted text and, judging by the
bibliography, it looks like the chronology's source is once again
Helen Fessenden's biography.

Still, Howeth's is a great book. I especially like the 1903 quote from

the Secretary of Agriculture in which Fessenden is described as
"intractable and insubordinate as an employee, unreliable in his
statements and extravagant in his claims as to the performance and
possibilities of his inventions." Hmm.

And my apologies to Wisconsin for mixing up its Appleton with
Ohio's.

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 30 Dec 2006 20:29:39 -0500
From: Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  XM Satellite Radio Deal

Folks;

   Discovered an amazing deal on an XM Satellite Radio where Crutchfield will
actually pay you to take and activate the radio, but it's ONLY good through
tomorrow (the 31st), so if you've been looking for an excuse to subscribe to
XM Satellite Radio (with RadioClassics and Sonic Theater, and of course The
Bob Edwards Show) or looking to add another radio to your existing
subscription (extra radios are only $7/month on the Family Plan), do it fast.

   Complete details are at the blog, [removed] - again, this
deal is ONLY good until midnight, January 1, 2007. If you're behind on your
Digests, you're out of luck.

         Charlie

   DISCLAMER: Nope, I get no commission or other payment. It's just such an
impressive deal (where you can be up to $40 AHEAD)!

         Me

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 30 Dec 2006 20:30:29 -0500
From: "Louie Johnson" <ljohnson@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Billy Idelson's Vic and Sade book
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

Dan Hughes wrote:

Our daughter Karen has just finished reading Billy Idelson's book about
the Vic and Sade program,and she is befuddled by the fact that nowhere in
the book is Uncle Fletcher mentioned.  Did Idelson perhaps not get along
with Clarence Hartzell?

Bill Idelson and Clarence Hartzell got along very well, as evidenced by
their taped appearances together on Vic and Sade discussion panels 30+
years ago.  The reason there's no mention of Uncle Fletcher in the book is
simple:  Bill's book covers only the years 1932 to 1936, with an addendum
about Paul Rhymer's later years.  I prefer to believe this is Volume One
of The Story of Vic and Sade.  It stands very well on its own, but it does
leave one wanting more, doesn't it?  The series didn't peak in popularity
until about 1937, and Hartzell's contribution certainly deserves more
attention.
After reading the book, I wrote to Ben Ohmart to ask him to twist Bill's
arm and get us a Volume Two.  Let's hope Bill's working on it now.

Louie Johnson

  *** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
  ***                  as the sender intended.                   ***

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2006 Issue #366
*********************************************

Copyright [removed] Communications, York, PA; All Rights Reserved,
  including republication in any form.

If you enjoy this list, please consider financially supporting it:
   [removed]

For Help: [removed]@[removed]

To Unsubscribe: [removed]@[removed]

To Subscribe: [removed]@[removed]
  or see [removed]

For Help with the Archive Server, send the command ARCHIVE HELP
  in the SUBJECT of a message to [removed]@[removed]

To contact the listmaster, mail to listmaster@[removed]

To Send Mail to the list, simply send to [removed]@[removed]