------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2004 : Issue 174
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
5-22 births/deaths [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
Gale Gordon as Foggy Williams & Mayo [ "Kris Stone" <anaheim47@[removed] ]
Jack Paar DVD Collection [ seandd@[removed] ]
Re: FRANK FONTAINE [ "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed]; ]
No Hollywood? Say it isn't so! [ Lee Munsick <leemunsick@[removed] ]
Hollywood [ "George Tirebiter" <tirebiter2@hotm ]
Re: BATMAN and Politically Correct v [ David Phaneuf <david_phaneuf@yahoo. ]
Randall, Buxton, Cantor, Kurtz/Red S [ "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed]; ]
Tony Randall [ "Jim Harmon" <jimharmonotr@charter. ]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 21 May 2004 15:32:52 -0400
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 5-22 births/deaths
May 22nd births
05-22-1879 - Alla Nazimova - Yalta in the Crimea - d. 7-13-1945
actress: " I'm An American"; "Towards the Century of the Comman Man"
05-22-1891 - Parks Johnson - Sheffield, AL - d. 10-4-1970
emcee, interviewer: "Vox Pox"
05-22-1903 - Ward Wilson -Trenton, NJ - d. 3-21-1966
actor, announcer: Mr. DeHaven "Aldrich Family"; Beetle "Phil Baker Show"
05-22-1906 - Harry Ritz - Newark, NJ - d. 3-29-1986
comedian: (The Ritz Brothers) "Hollywood Hotel"
05-22-1907 - Lord Laurence Olivier - Dorking, England - d. 7-11-1989
actor: "Biography in Sound"; "Document A/777"; "Hour of Mystery"
05-22-1910 - Johnny Olsen - Windom, MN - d. 12-12-1985
emcee, announcer: "Ladies Be Seated"; "Get Rich Quick"
05-22-1934 - Peter Nero - NYC
socialite pianist: "Voices of Vista"
05-22-1938 - Susan Strasberg - NYC - d. 1-21-1999
actress: Emily Marriott "Marriage"
May 22nd deaths
02-27-1915 - Donald Curtis - Cheney, WA - d. 5-22-1997
actor: Michael Shayne "Michael Shayne"
04-04-1902 - Bernice Berwin - Bay Area, CA - d. 5-22-2002
actress: Hazel Barbour "One Man's Family"
05-11-1892 - Dame Margaret Rutherford - London, England - d. 5-22-1972
actress: "Wisdon of Miss Marple"; "Theatre Guild on the Air"
06-19-1912 - Martin Gabel - Philadelphia, PA - d. 5-22-1986
actor: John Wayne "Big Sister"; Gregory Hood "Casebook of Gregory Hood"
06-29-1907 - Joan Davis - St. Paul, MN - d. 5-22-1961
comedienne: "Sealtest Village Store"; "Joan Davis Show"
07-04-1884 - George Trendle - Norwalk, OH - d. 5-22-1972
executive: WXYZ Detroit; Original idea for "The Lone Ranger"
08-12-1926 - John Derek - Hollywood, CA - d. 5-22-1998
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
--
Ron Sayles
For a complete list:
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 21 May 2004 17:02:06 -0400
From: "Kris Stone" <anaheim47@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Gale Gordon as Foggy Williams & Mayor
LaTrivia
Bill Schell asked:
My favorite actor on the Fibber McGee and Molly show is Gale Gordon. In my
tapes I find him as the mayor and weatherman. Which was first and why the
change? I have one tape where they dropped the "mayor" before LaTrivia and
it was as if Gail was leaving the show.
I have read that Gordon landed the job as Mayor LaTrivia first. This
charater was said to have been a sendup of New York Mayor LaGuardia.
Following the death of LaGuardia, the character of LaTrivia sat out a
season, with Gordon playing a markedly different character as "Foggy"
Williams the weatherman. Williams was a bit more soft-spoken and,
consequently, didn't have the staying power of the more popular characters.
The mayor returned for the next season.
Hope this helps. If you are interested, Chuck Scaden did a great radio
tribute to Gale Gordon which included interviews, radio shows, etc. I
believe he was selling the two-tape tribute program at one time. You may
also want to check out the Tom Price & Charlie Stumpf book, "Heavenly Days.
Regards,
Kris
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 21 May 2004 17:02:17 -0400
From: seandd@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Jack Paar DVD Collection
Radio veteran Jack Paar's show gets the DVD treatment in a new collection.
Based on this review from The Weekly Standard, it has a lot to offer.
Sean Dougherty
SeanDD@[removed]
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 21 May 2004 17:04:18 -0400
From: "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: FRANK FONTAINE
David Phaneuf asked:
Wasn't Frank Fontaine the lovable drunk, Crazy Guggenheimer,
on the Jackie Gleason TV show? I have vague recollections
from my childhood watching these old black-and-white varieties
which usually had a brief episode of "The Honeymooners", along
with other comedic and song routines, and often a visit of the Great
One with Crazy. Seems to me in my dimly shadowed memories that
Crazy usually moved from drunken revelry to beautiful song. Wasn't
this Frank Fontaine?
Frank Fontaine's drunk character was originally named John L. C. Sivoney,
and in the late 40s thru mid-50s he appeared as this character on many
variety and comedy programs, including Jack Benny's (April 9, 1950.) In
Jackie Gleason's original CBS variety program in the early 50s, during the
"Joe the Bartender" sketches Gleason discussed many unseen neighborhood
characters including one named Crazy Guggenheim. When Gleason resumed his
program in the late 50s as "The American Scene Magazine" he slightly
changed the basic concept of the Joe segments to include Fontaine's Sivoney
character renamed as the previously unseen Guggenheim. Although I enjoyed
Fontaine's work and this exposure finally made him famous, I was
disappointed in this move because it killed off Fontaine's chance of ever
really using the Sivoney character on any other program out of the context
of this Gleason segment. I had enjoyed seeing him pop up unexpectedly on a
multitude of programs.
What was worse was that by having one of the previously unseen neighborhood
characters suddenly appear it adversely affected the original conception of
this segment. It had been a monologue where Joe would tell his unseen
customer, Mr. Donohey, what had been happening this week in their Brooklyn
neighborhood and what the whole gaggle of unseen characters had been up to.
Does this concept sound familiar??? It should, because you can still hear
it on radio every week. There is a modern NTR performer who has been using
this exact same formula for 20 years now. Change the accent and the
location and Joe the Bartender of Brooklyn becomes Garrison Keeler of Lake
Woebegone. It is what made Jean Shepherd's stories so wonderful, and why
Pete's unseen Gladys on "December Bride" and Wallace Wimple's unseen
Sweetie on Fibber McGee & Molly were such memorable characters. When we
actually SAW Gladys on "Pete and Gladys" it wasn't the same, and when we
actually saw Crazy it also wasn't the same.
The contrast of the drunk character and Fontaine's beautiful baritone
singing voice opened up a new aspect of his career, and he recorded a
series of albums that show up in EVERY garage sale. His unexpectedly early
death kept him from becoming what Foster Brooks later became. So maybe he
could have continued doing Crazy--in Branson Mo. and Hollywood Squares if
nowhere else!!
Michael Biel mbiel@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 21 May 2004 21:53:37 -0400
From: Lee Munsick <leemunsick@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: No Hollywood? Say it isn't so!
Friend Bill Murtough pointed out that there really is no place as Hollywood
California. It is true that it is not a municipality on its own, being a
section of Los Angeles. Probably even folk who live there would be hard
pressed to define its borders. Bill mentions a local deejay "billing
himself" as Mayor of Hollywood.
I think there's more to this than someone just assuming the title. By
coincidence, I just recently acquired a 1964 Arthur Godfrey program, which
aired during the week in which he celebrated his 30th anniversary with CBS.
His guest list read like a chapter out of "Who's Who". Jackie Gleason, Joan
Crawford, Lowell Thomas, Pat Buttram, and then Vice-President Richard Nixon,
among others. Chiming in ([removed] that happen on CBS?) from KNX-CBS Los
Angeles were Art Linkletter, Harry von Zell, and George Burns. Some very
funny lines.
Mr. Godfrey asked whether KNX where were broadcasting from, was in Hollywood
or Los Angeles. George Burns said there really is no such place as
Hollywood, but it was immediately pointed out that there is a post office and
postal designation by that name. For you modern television viewers, its
zipcode is 90078. For the older set of TV-genarians, the Rampart number is
90026 or 90027. With that you get Ringers. But I digress.
Art Linkletter immediately spoke up in moderate umbrage, and pointed out that
a few years before, HE was the Mayor of Hollywood, and I seem to recall
others claiming that honor. I believe it started with legendary radio and
then TV personality Johnny Grant, widely connected with the sidewalk stars
that are so much of the achievements of the local Chamber of Commerce (where,
by the way, Mr. Godfrey has not one but three such stars!). For many years
Grant has been referred to as the "Honorary Mayor of Hollywood".
Then there are proposals to split off a piece of LA and make it a separate
city called Hollywood or West Hollywood, with either of two popular actors
being touted to be the Mayor if that happens. But that's another story, for
another bedtime, kiddies. Good old Tinsletown!
Lee Munsick That Godfrey guy!
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 21 May 2004 21:54:24 -0400
From: "George Tirebiter" <tirebiter2@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Hollywood
Bill Murtough wrote:
Hollywood is just a location, and not a town or village, although
Johnny Grant "bills" himself as the Mayor of Hollywood.
Correct, but, if I recall correctly, Hollywood was once a town or city. It
was incorporated into Los Angeles in about 1910, before the film industry
arrived.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 21 May 2004 21:55:41 -0400
From: David Phaneuf <david_phaneuf@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: BATMAN and Politically Correct vs.
Politically Incorrect
Martin Grams either quoted or summarized David Rogers
that some of the language of the BATMAN 1943
matinee serial made him kinda cringe. At the time the
serial was considered "politically correct." But
today's standards (and fear of impending lawsuits),
Columbia/Sony won't release it in the complete form
because of the slang featured in the dialog.
As a preacher, I probably shouldn't say this, but one
of my pet-peeves is this whole political correctness
extreme we find ourselves in these days.
We have gone over-board, IMHO, on this whole issue.
Columbia/Sony won't release? What's wrong with a
simple disclaimer at the beginning: "Please be aware
that by today's standards of acceptability this
[removed] [removed] this [removed] [removed] may
contain certain usages of language that some may find
offensive, but which were in fact acceptable by the
standards of the day in which it was originally
produced. In the interest of historical accuracy we
have chosen to release this in its original form,
without censorship and without alteration."
Okay, perhaps not the best-worded disclaimer. But
really! We can allow audible expletives or visual
scenes in even PG rated films or TV that IMO are
highly offensive, but we can't be honest enough to
admit that in a different era, different standards of
acceptability existed without being offended? At
least we rate them to alert people to the nature of
the content contained therein.
Please do not get me wrong. I believe firmly that all
people should be respected, in our language as well as
in our actions. But I do not feel we should legislate
it, nor litigate it. Nor do I feel that we should
fear the past, regardless of its shortcomings. The
other day, I was listening to an episode of Dragnet,
and Joe Friday's partner Ben Romero, when cut off by
another driver, let out the words: "Woman driver!"
By today's standards, highly inappropriate.
Many other OTR scripts contain such
no-longer-appropriate dialog or characterizations that
were racist, sexist, or fit into other categories of
prejudiced and/or political incorrectness. Shall we
go through all the old archives and delete what's
offensive? Shall we dub over questionable material to
hide the truth? Shall we re-write history to make it
palatable?
I am mature enough to recognize when something is no
appropriate by today's standards. I can deal with it
without being offended, or "injured". Mature persons
should be quite able to distinguish between what is
and what is not appropriate, as well as to accept the
fact that what is not acceptable today WAS acceptable
then. A simple disclaimer would do, in my opinion,
rather than refusal to release. Or a rating system to
alert people to the nature of the politically
incorrect content.
Sorry for the soapbox.
D. W. Phaneuf
[ADMINISTRIVIA: Let's not go down this road again, [removed] --cfs3]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 21 May 2004 21:57:29 -0400
From: "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Randall, Buxton, Cantor, Kurtz/Red Skelton
book
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Hi Gang:
I haven't written in a while. I just didn't have anything relevent,
clever, or pertinent to say (I know that hasn't stopped me in the past).
Anyway, with the mentions of this week's passing of OTR favourite Tony
Randall, I thought I'd mention some little-known OTR connections to two of his
television comedies.
Several tele-scripts for "The Odd Couple" were written by "THe Big
Broadcast" historian/co-author Frank Buxton--including Felix & Oscar's tribute
to OTR in the episode where they appear in a latter-day throwback to the
"Golden Age of Radio" by acting in a "great-moments-in-sports" programme, in
which they re-tell the apocryphal story about Babe Ruth visiting the sick boy
in the hospital.
Also, the original book upon which the Tony Randall/Lorna Patterson
TV-movie "Sidney Shorr" and its Tony Randall/Swoosie Kurtz
sitcom spin-off "Love, Sidney" was written by one of Eddie Cantor's
[removed], alas!, I have forgotten which one. (It's definitely not Janet
Cantor Gari, the youngest, and I don't think it was the one who was married to
Robert Clary). I believe one of the Eddie Cantor biographies--either "Eddie
[removed]," a McFarland book by a Mr. Koseluk, or "Banjo Eyes," by Herbert
Goldman, gives an update on Cantor's five daughters.
Speaking of Swoosie Kurtz: didn't her father have something to do with
the famed aeroplane "The Swoose Goose," & hence the unconventional
nomenclature? Will our resident aviation historians Stephen Kallis and/or Lee
Munsick chime in on this one?
Also, speaking of McFarland titles, I heartily recommend a new release
titled "A Critical History of Television's 'The Red Skelton Show,' 1951-1971"
by Wesley Hyatt. It's a rather thin book and extremely pricey, but Skelton's
radio career is amply discussed in the book's first chapter.
Finally, I saw a batch of Radio Spirits boxed sets remaindered in the
"Television & Radio" section of the Edward R. Hamilton print catalogue which
I received last week. I'm sure one would probably also find this swell stuff
on the [removed] website. [Please be advised that I have no
financial interest in the "Edward R. Hamilton, Booksellers" company].
Back in the ether,
Derek Tague
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Date: Fri, 21 May 2004 21:58:18 -0400
From: "Jim Harmon" <jimharmonotr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Tony Randall
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Hello --
Tony Randall's recent death was a sad event to all old time radio fans, and
especially those of I Love a Mystery. I suppose it is generally known that
Randall did not appreciate old time radio at all, and often deprecated I Love
a Mystery. I saw one interview with him conducted by Johnny Carson. "There
a thing called 'I Love a Mystery' I did on radio, and they keep running it and
I don't get a penny from it." The "they" he referred to must have been Bobb
Lynnes who ran an episode each week on his long running local FM series,
"Don't Touch that Dial". With Randall's openly stated attitude I never
wanted to or tried to meet him, but still I appreciated his efforts even if he
choose to ridicule them.
It is an ironic tribute to him that seven more of the missing episodes of
the New York series of I Love a Mystery: Temple of Vampires have been found.
He would have probably have said that should have stayed lost. An even
greater talent, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, never fully appreciated his great
creation, Sherlock Holmes, either. Sorry, Tony -- the rest of us are just
going to enjoy the hell out of your performance on those newly found ILAM.
At least one media source -- National Public Radio -- credited Tony
Randall's radio career and specifically noted one of his successes was on I
Love a Mystery.
If anybody missed it the Vampires serial with the missing episodes is
available from
Radio Memories at 1-877-94RADIO on CDs for $20 before May 26 (by credit card,
I presume).
-- Jim Harmon
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End of [removed] Digest V2004 Issue #174
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