------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2006 : Issue 61
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Re: The Shadow - "The House of Horro [ Anthony Tollin <sanctumotr@earthlin ]
basil rathbone [ knight555@[removed] ]
Re: Darrren McGavin [ Jim Widner <widnerj@[removed]; ]
Re: Don Knotts [ Dixonhayes@[removed] ]
Paul Harvey retiring? [ <mikeandzachary@[removed]; ]
Diapason Archive 20 [ "joe@[removed]" <sergei01@earthli ]
Paul Harvey [ Brian Johnson <chyronop@[removed] ]
Pseudonyms and Ratings [ Mike Thomas <thomaspilgrims@[removed] ]
The Shadow mystery solved [ Andrew Steinberg <otrdig1@[removed] ]
Darren McGavin's OTR Connection [ "David S. Siegel" <otrdsiegel@veriz ]
Pittsburgh Article on OTR Collector [ Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed] ]
Radio Memories of Don Knotts [ jack and cathy french <otrpiano@ver ]
Don Knotts [ Bill Jaker <bilj@[removed]; ]
2-27 births/deaths [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
converting cassettes to CD and mp3 [ mvcom446@[removed] ]
Jack Benny-Dropping script pages [ "Tim Lones" <tlones1@[removed]; ]
Benny script dropping [ "Laura Leff" <president@[removed] ]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 26 Feb 2006 10:18:42 -0500
From: Anthony Tollin <sanctumotr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: The Shadow - "The House of Horror"
on 2/26/06 8:27 AM, Andrew Steinberg asks:
In what time span did [removed] Goodrich sponsor The Shadow? According to Jerry
H's log it was from 6-5-38 to 9-11-38, but I have an episode titled "The
House of Horror" sponsored by Goodrich from 38-02-13 which does not fit
that.
B. F. Goodrich sponsored THE SHADOW from the week of March 27-September 18,
1938 (original shows starring Orson Welles and Margot Stevenson) and again
from the week of March 26-September 17, 1939 (which were reruns of the
1938-39 Blue Coal winter season starring Bill Johnstone and Agnes Moorehead
with a single exception).
I suspect the episode you have is actually the October 31, 1937 Blue Coal
broadcast titled "The Three Ghosts" (starring Welles and Agnes Moorehead)
which is sometimes mislabeled as "The House of Horror" (which is a lost Blue
Coal show originally broadcast February 13, 1938). Is the title "The House
of Horror" actually given during the opening announcements (and does this
recording contain the usual Goodrich commercials featuring The Shadow's
personal warnings about driving on worn tires), or is this just a title
assigned to it by whomever you received it from? "The Three Ghosts"
features a plot about a man trying to scare his wife to death, and contains
a scene where The Shadow plants false visions into the mind of a villain
driving a car.
Feel free to contact me offlist if this isn't the case. --ANTHONY TOLLIN
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 26 Feb 2006 19:51:56 -0500
From: knight555@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: basil rathbone
i read recently that Basil Rathbone has 3 stars on the walk of fame,
one for radio, one for movies and one for tv. What did he do on
tv? Also, how long did Tales of Fatima run and is it available
anywhere as a series? i have only heard one or two episodes. Did he
have any other series besides Sherlock Holmes and Tales , where he
was the star?
Thanks
MJ
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 26 Feb 2006 19:52:12 -0500
From: Jim Widner <widnerj@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Darrren McGavin
Though he wasn't involved in radio as far as I know and with the death
of Don Knotts, so far, I haven't seen mention of the death of Darren
McGavin who died this week at age 83.
McGavin, of course, was the father in the annual film "A Christmas
Story" which gets a bit of bandwidth here every year.
Jim Widner
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 26 Feb 2006 19:52:47 -0500
From: Dixonhayes@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Don Knotts
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In a message dated 2/26/06 8:27:29 AM Central Standard Time,
[removed]@[removed] writes:
Let's see if even one obituary mentions his show-biz start in radio,
playing the old geezer at the B-Bar-B Ranch on "Bobby Benson" which
Mutual resurrected in 1949.
Mine did.
[removed]
You can take the bullet out of your pocket now, Barn.
Dixon
[removed] Darren McGavin also died this weekend. What radio work did he do?
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------------------------------
Date: Sun, 26 Feb 2006 19:52:57 -0500
From: <mikeandzachary@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Paul Harvey retiring?
If Paul Harvey does retire, I will greatly miss hearing him every day. Good
God, though -- the man is 87 years old. He *should* be relaxing and spending
some time with his lovely Angel.
Mike
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 26 Feb 2006 19:53:53 -0500
From: "joe@[removed]" <sergei01@[removed];
To: "OTR List" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Diapason Archive 20
Trav asked about the above referenced transcription turntable. To my
knowledge they are no longer available. Jeff Duboff is doing other things
these days and I do not know where or what.
The reason one would have a table capable of playing 20" records would be to
play Pathe 20" records, which were manufacturered in France shortly after
the turn of the 20th century. There was one other label I don't think of at
this moment that made 20" discs, which are even more rare - they were made
on something similar to paper mache, and when placed on display in record
dealer's windows, they warped in the sun! I have never heard of any radio
transcriptions in a format exceeding 17".
Pathe 20" discs are quite rare and usually fetch $500 or more apiece on Kurt
Nauck's auctions, when he has some to offer. They play at 120 or 125 (I
forget exactly) RPM, which is another reason you would need an Archive 20 -
it can do 15 - 135 RPM in .1 RPM increments continuous ly variable. Records
playing at 120 RPM are incredible difficult to track.
I love my Archive 20. I especially like having the removable center spindle
which allows for proper centering of records. Most pressed records are not
perfectly on-center. I can also raise or lower the arm to match record
thickness. (OK, bragging a little)
joe salerno
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 26 Feb 2006 20:02:56 -0500
From: Brian Johnson <chyronop@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Paul Harvey
Art Chimes chimed in about Paul Harvey:
An announcement that should clarify things is due from
ABC this coming week.
The story was on [removed] last night and the press
release issued at the same time. Its pretty
straightforward.
Art continued,
I know he has his fans, and at one
time I was among them, but his unique style, I am
afraid, is hopelessly dated. As are his Jurassic
politics.
I'm not sure this is the forum to render judgements
about anyone's political persuasion.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 26 Feb 2006 19:57:04 -0500
From: Mike Thomas <thomaspilgrims@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Pseudonyms and Ratings
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Hello,
I am hoping someone here will answeer these questions.
1. Did otr scriptwriters ever use pseudonyms at all?
2. Is there a source that has Hooper and Nielsen ratings for the otr era? I
have read here and there about ratings and would like to know more.
3. If a show had high ratings, why wasnt there sponsors for some shows?
Thanks!
Mike in Medford
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------------------------------
Date: Sun, 26 Feb 2006 19:57:29 -0500
From: Andrew Steinberg <otrdig1@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: The Shadow mystery solved
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The mystery has been solved. The supposed House Of Horror episode from
38-02-13 was the 40-11-17 The House of Horror with a BF Goodrich commercial
tacked on the front.
Visit [removed] for OTR program title and date corrections
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------------------------------
Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2006 01:24:51 -0500
From: "David S. Siegel" <otrdsiegel@[removed];
To: OTR DIGEST <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Darren McGavin's OTR Connection
Actor Darren McGavin, who passed away this week at age 83, is known for
having portrayed a number of notable characters including the cult
favorite, KOLCHAK, THE NIGHT STALKER, in which his character was a reporter
photographer who faced strange and unbelievable villains each week.
What many forget is that McGavin was the ninth actor to portray
Flashgun Casey, the crime photographer whose exploits were featured the
pulps, novels, movies, and most famously radio, as well as television,
comics and a play. McGavin played Casey on television from June, 1951 to
June, 1952, making a total of 52 appearances.
For more information on the long media career of FLASHGUN CASEY go
to: [removed]
DAVE SIEGEL
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2006 01:24:59 -0500
From: Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Pittsburgh Article on OTR Collector
A mass media historian is profiled in The Pittsburgh Tribune Review.
Sean Dougherty
SeanDD@[removed]
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2006 01:26:42 -0500
From: jack and cathy french <otrpiano@[removed];
To: OTRBB <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Radio Memories of Don Knotts
I've been researching "Bobby Benson and the B-Bar-B Riders' for nearly
20 years and, as we mourn the death of radio's great "Windy Wales," I
thought I'd share some of what I've gleaned about him over the years
from his radio contemporaries,
Mary Jane Williams (Mutual's chaperone for "Bobby Benson" on personal
appearance tours, usually with Don Knotts) "Don was a confirmed
hypochondriac and on tour always took two suitcases; one was entirely
full of medicines, vitamins, and assorted pills for his real and
imaginary illnesses. Nobody got paid for these tours; Mutual just
picked up our expenses. Don would frequently find local comedy gigs at
hotels and nightclubs on these short B-Bar-B tours."
Jim Shean (primary writer on the series) "After a while, writing these
standard adventures got a little stale for me so I made a deal with Bob
Novak (director) that every third episode would be a comedy. Of course,
Don had the actual lead in every one of these humorous episodes and he
was marvelous."
Ivan Cury (Mutual's first Bobby Benson) "During one of the episodes of
our short-lived B-Bar-B local TV program, Don and I were trapped in the
bunkhouse by the bad guys. We were to throw out some smoke-pots and
escape in the resultant smoke outside. Well, these items were expensive
so during rehearsal, we just used some inactive substitutes. When we
came to that portion on the live show, the backstage crew set off the
smoke-pots and the results were more than anyone could imagine on a
closed set. Don opened the bunkhouse door to "see if it was safe" and
so much smoke poured in that neither of us could see the other in the
thick smoke. We ad-libbed something like 'Guess that's enough' and we
both staggered out, virtually blinded."
Bob Novak (Director) "Don was very nervous about his health all the
time so he bought all sorts of medicines, pills, and lotions. He used
to take the subway home after the show with announcer Carl Warren. One
night, Don spotted a sale on large bottles of cod-liver oil in a store
they passed on the way to the train so he went in, bought a bottle, and
continued walking to the subway. Unfortunately, the crowd there jostled
Don, he dropped his bottle, and it broke on the floor of the car,
releasing a foul odor of dead fish. Most of the other passengers
changed cars at the next stop. Carl lasted one more stop and made an
excuse to exit, leaving a forlorn Don alone in that smelly car, all the
way home to his stop."
Clive Rice (Mutual's last Bobby Benson) "Don was a great guy and a
joy to work with, in the WOR studios and on our personal appearance
tours. Years later I was delighted at his success on Andy Griffith's
show in the 1960s. Even later, I got a kick out of seeing him
appearing with Andy again on TV's Matlock."
Don Knotts (in Nov 1993 phone conversation with me, responding to the
question: Why did you leave radio?")
"Heck, I didn't leave [removed] left me. In the mid-50s, our
radio jobs just disappeared so I turned to Broadway and TV."
Jack French
Editor: RADIO RECALL
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2006 01:27:23 -0500
From: Bill Jaker <bilj@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Don Knotts
Charlie quoted from the obituary for Don Knotts:
"'I went to New York cold. On a $100 bill. Bummed a ride,' he recalled in a
visit to his hometown of Morgantown, where city officials renamed a street
for him in 1998.
As a former resident of Morgantown I should mention that Don Knotts
Boulevard isn't just some back alley. It's a major throughfare into
downtown.
Within six months, Knotts had taken a job on a radio Western called 'Bobby
Benson and the B-Bar-B Riders,' playing a wisecracking, know-it-all handyman.
He stayed with it for five years, then came his series TV debut on 'The Steve
Allen Show.'"
Don Knotts's first big break on network radio was a May, 1950 appearance
on "Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts". He did a routine as a bumbling
sportscaster stumbling over his own tongue ("It's a grand day in the
[removed]") The flustered, jumpy persona that we would come to know
and love was already coming into view.
--Bill Jaker
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2006 01:27:37 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 2-27 births/deaths
February 27th births
02-27-1873 - Enrico Caruso - Naples, Italy - d. 8-2-1921
tenor: On 12-13-1910 made experimental broadcast with Lee DeForest
02-27-1880 - Georgia Burke - Atlanta, GA - d. 11-28-1985
actress: Lily "When A Girl Marries"
02-27-1888 - Lotte Lehmann - Perleberg, Prussia, Germany - d. 10-24-1976
soprano: "Command Performance"; "Concert Hall"; "Here's to Veterans"
02-27-1891 - David Sarnoff - Minsk, Russia - d. 12-12-1971
executive: National Broadcasting Company"
02-27-1892 - William Demarest - St. Paul, MN - d. 12-28-1983
actor: Mr. Cobb "Cobbs"; "Eddie Bracken Show"
02-27-1894 - Frank Munn - The Bronx, NY - d. 10-1-1953
singer (The Golden Voice of Radio) Paul Oliver "Palmolive Hour"
02-27-1894 - Upton Close - Kelso, WA - d. 11-14-1960
commentator: "Events and Trends of the Week"; "Close-Ups of the :News"
02-27-1897 - Marian Anderson - South Philadelphia, PA - d. 4-8-1993
singer: "Ford Evening Sunday Hour"; "Telephone Hour"; "New World A'
Coming"
02-27-1899 - Ian Keith - Boston, MA - d. 3-26-1960
actor "The O'Neill Cycle"
02-27-1902 - Gene Sarazen - Harrison, NY - d. 5-13-1999
golf legend: "Tops in Sports"
02-27-1902 - John Steinbeck - Salinas, CA - d. 12-20-1968
novelist: "Radio Hall of Fame"; "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Screen
Director's Playhouse"
02-27-1903 - Reginald Gardiner - Wimbledon, Surrey, England - d.
7-7-1980
actor: "Document A/777"
02-27-1905 - Franchot Tone - Niagara Falls, NY - d. 9-18-1968
actor: "Arch Oboler Plays"; "Free Company"; "Knickerbocker Playhouse"
02-27-1907 - Kenneth Horne - England - d. 2-14-1969
comedian: "Round the Horne"; "Ack Ack Beer Beer"; "Beyond Our Ken"
02-27-1907 - Mildred Bailey - Tekoa, WA - d. 12-12-1951
singer: (Rockin' Chair Lady) "Mildred Bailey Show"; "Camel Caravan"
02-27-1909 - Carl Frank - Weehawken, NJ - d. 9-23-1972
actor: Jerry Malone "Young Dr. Malone"; Bob Drake "Betty and Bob"
02-27-1910 - Joan Bennett - Palisades, NJ - d. 12-7-1990
actress: "Ford Theatre"; "MGM Theatre of the Air"; "Skippy Hollywood
Theatre"
02-27-1912 - Ralph Camargo - Glendale, CA - d. 1-15-1992
actor: "X-Minus One"; "Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar"
02-27-1913 - Irwin Shaw - New York, NY - d. 5-16-1984
author: "Columbia Workshop";"Studio One"; "The Gumps"
02-27-1915 - Donald Curtis - Cheney, WA - d. 5-22-1997
actor: Michael Shayne "Michael Shayne"
02-27-1920 - Jose Melis - Havana, Cuba - d. 4-7-2005
bandleader: "Arthur Godfrey"s Talent Scouts"; "Arthur Godfrey Time"
02-27-1921 - E. Jack Neuman - Ohio - d. 1-15-1998
writer: "Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar"; "Advs. of Sam Spade"; "Escape"
02-27-1923 - Dexter Gordon - Los Angeles, Ca - d. 4-25-1990
saxophonist: "Newport Jazz Festival";"White House Jazz Festival"
02-27-1927 - Guy Mitchell - Detroit, MI - d. 7-1-1999
singer: "Stars On Parade"; "1957 March of Dimes Galaxy of Stars"
02-27-1932 - Elizabeth Taylor - London, England
actress: "Theatre Guild On the Air"; "Lux Radio Theatre"
February 27th deaths
03-16-1889 - Elsie Janis - Columbus, OH - d. 2-27-1956
First female announcer on network radio
01-20-1899 - Joseph Buloff - Vilnius, Lithuania - d. 2-27-1985
actor: Barney Glass "House of Glass"
02-25-1908 - George Duning - Richmond, IN - d. 2-27-2000
composer: "Bud's Bandwagon"
04-04-1908 - Ted McMichael - Marshalltown, IA - d. 2-27-2001
singer: (The Merry Macs) "Bing Crosby Show"; "Breakfast Club"; "Fred
Allen Show"
04-16-1918 - Spike Milligan - Ahmednagar, India - d. 2-27-2002
comedian: Eccles the Idiot, Miss Minnie Bannister, Count Moriarty
"Goon Show"
06-03-1900 - Frank Dailey - Bloomfield, NJ - d. 2-27-1956
bandleader: "Matinee at Meadowbrook"
06-16-1885 - Tom Howard - County Tyrone, Ireland - d. 2-27-1955
comedian: "It Pays to Be Ignorant"; "Sunday Night Party"
07-14-1901 - George Tobias - New York, NY - d. 2-27-1980
actor: "Cavalcade of America"; "Screen Guild Theatre"
07-23-1918 - Anne Ayars - Los Angeles, CA - d. 2-27-1995
vocalist: "The Chicago Theatre of the Air"
08-09-1910 - Snag Werris - New York, NY - d. 2-27-1987
writer: "The Comedy Writers Show"; "Quixie Doodles"
10-14-1893 - Lillian Gish - Springfield, OH - d. 2-27-1993
panelist: "Arthur Hopkins Presents"; "Texaco Star Playhouse"; "Suspense"
10-28-1895 - John Boles - Greenville, TX - d. 2-27-1969
actor, singer: "Texaco Star Theatre"
11-30-1906 - John Dickson Carr - Uniontown, PA - d. 2-27-1977
writer: "Suspense"; "Cabin B-13"; "Murder by Experts"
12-31-1897 - Orry-Kelly - Kiama, New South Wales, Australia - d.
2-27-1964
costume designer: Intermission Guest "Lux Radio Theatre"
12-31-1914 - Pat Brady - Toledo, OH - d. 2-27-1972
sidekick, stooge: "Roy Rogers Show"
Ron Sayles
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2006 01:28:17 -0500
From: mvcom446@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: converting cassettes to CD and mp3
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Hi All,
I was just visiting Circuit City (I have no connection with this company) and
spotted a unit made by Xitel, called INport, which is suppose to allow you to
record from your home stereo to your computer's hard drive w/o going through
your computer's sound card, using wav files that are suppose to allow to you
to burn them to CD's or MP-3 files which I'd like to do with my otr
cassettes, records, and R-to-R tapes. It plugs into your computer's USB port
and is suppose to automaticly download the program needed to run INport. The
price seems right, $[removed] and it comes with 25 foot cable connectors so you
don't need to move your stereo system.
Does anyone know anything about this unit. Does it do what it promises? Is it
easy to use? It seems to promise to do a lot and do it easily, and that's
something I really need since I am nearly 60 years old and am not the most
computer savy guy around, having only learned to use a computer to do what I
have needed to know to run the programs I use. When I run into problems, my
30 year old computer wiz son has to come over and write out specific
instructions so that even I can follow [removed]'m hoping that this program may
be simple enough even for me so I can convert my collection to CD's over the
next few years.
Please contact me off this site. I appreciate any help I receive. This is a
very knowledgeable/savy group who has been very helpful and entertaining over
the years.
Michael
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------------------------------
Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2006 01:28:32 -0500
From: "Tim Lones" <tlones1@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Jack Benny-Dropping script pages
On Laura Leff's wonderful Jack Benny site, there is about a 10 minute 2-part
video clip of Jack and the cast performing their show at Camp Haan,
California on April 12, [removed] clip included Mary, Rochester, Dennis Day,
Don Wilson, and Phil Harris.,,From watching the video carefully, you can see
they did not drop their script [removed]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2006 01:28:50 -0500
From: "Laura Leff" <president@[removed];
To: "OTR Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Benny script dropping
Charlie (not Summers) wrote:
Not really sure what this means, but to me it would show that at least in
these instances on the Benny show, there was no page dropping.
Actually, probably not true. I discuss this question in the introduction to
39 Forever, Second Edition Volume 2.
--Laura Leff
President, IJBFC
[removed]
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2006 Issue #61
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