Subject: [removed] Digest V2004 #229
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 7/13/2004 9:11 AM
To: <[removed]@[removed];

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2004 : Issue 229
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                             [removed]
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  Unofficial Fibber and Molly           [ "steven kostelecky" <skostelecky@ho ]
  Regarding Announcers                  [ "John Abbott" <mraastro@[removed] ]
  OTR Stars in Strange Places           [ seandd@[removed] ]
  Dropping pages                        [ "Alan R. Betz" <arbetz@[removed]; ]
  My Arthur Godfrey Experience          [ "Harry Machin Jr" <harbev5@earthlin ]
  Re: Adele Ronson                      [ SanctumOTR@[removed] ]
  Mr. Chameleon and page dropping       [ "B. J. Watkins" <kinseyfan@hotmail. ]
  Page Dropping                         [ "Lois Culver" <lois@[removed]; ]
  Benny show                            [ Allen Wilcox <aawjca@[removed]; ]
  7-13 births/deaths                    [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
  Page dropping my ---.                 [ "Philip Railsback" <philiprailsback ]
  Arther Godfrey                        [ "Jack Feldman" <qualitas@millenicom ]
  "Mr. and Mrs. Cugat"                  [ "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@juno. ]
  CD files to DVD                       [ Paulgough5@[removed] ]
  Dropping script pages                 [ Lee Munsick <leemunsick@[removed] ]
  Re: Stan Freberg                      [ "Brian L Bedsworth" <az2pa@[removed]; ]
  Kitty was a prostitute                [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
  The Pilgrim's Progress                [ Christopher Werner <werner1@globalc ]

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

Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 13:49:59 -0400
From: "steven kostelecky" <skostelecky@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Unofficial Fibber and Molly

I'd like to congratulate Al Girard on the success of his Unofficial Fibber
McGee And Molly website as the visitor counter nears half a million. As he
has requested, I stop by every day as part of my online morning ritual to
vote his page as Site of the Week. Al has been friendly and helpful to me in
the past and I'm sure many people outside of the otr world as well as those
of us involved daily have been to his site to learn more about the Jordans
and their timeless creations.
Congratulations, Al.
Steve

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

Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 14:37:13 -0400
From: "John Abbott" <mraastro@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Regarding Announcers

i have been reviewing some of my OTR collection lately, and a question came
up that maybe some one can provide some insight to:

I have noticed that a given program will have an announcer for a period of
time, then another announcer will take the program and then the original
announcer will be back.

For example, some of the YTJD programs will have Roy Rowan, then Dan
Dubberly and then back to Roy.

Did announcers rotate programs, or was it just to fill in for vacations etc?

Thanks in advance.

<html><DIV>
<DIV>-------------------------------------------<BR>John C.
Abbott</DIV></DIV></html>

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

Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 14:37:35 -0400
From: seandd@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  OTR Stars in Strange Places

My use of digital recording to spot old time radio stars contines.

In the past week or two I've seen an episode of "Fresh Prince of Bell Air"
that guest starred Parley Baer, two episodes of "Rosanne" with Stan Freberg
(he was a waiter in one and a supermarket manager in the other) and an
appearance on Three's Company by Bob Hastings (he played a cruise ship
captain -- that guy always finds a way to wear those navy-type uniforms).
Hastings also appeared on an "Odd Couple" last week but that was a little
less surprising because it was earlier.  He played a talent producer who was
considering casting Myrna (Penny Marshall) in a play or something.

Even though the shows, by and large, were terrible, it was fun to see some of
our favorites again.

Sean Dougherty
SeanDD@[removed]

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

Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 14:37:56 -0400
From: "Alan R. Betz" <arbetz@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Dropping pages

I NEVER SAW ANY ACTOR, OR ACTRESS, (IN THE 15 YEAR PERIOD BETWEEN 1939 TO
1954 THAT I WAS ACTIVE AS A RADIO PERFORMER) EVER, EVER, DROP A PAGE.

Hal(Harlan)Stone
Jughead
   My mother and father told me that they attended the taping of a Bing
Crosby program in San Francisco in the very early 50s.  His sons were
guests on that show.  They said that script pages were dropped on the
floor and that they picked up a few.  By the time they told me about
it, however, the pages could not be found.
   Alan

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

Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 14:54:57 -0400
From: "Harry Machin Jr" <harbev5@[removed];
To: "Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  My Arthur Godfrey Experience

As some readers of this digest might recall, I mentioned my
"Arthur Godfrey experience" once before.  But Lee Munsick's
posting makes me want to pass it on again, since it was quite
an experience for me.  My son and I were in the Paris airport
in 1973, waiting for our flight back to the states.  I saw Arthur walking
toward me, but off to my left.  He had a cane in his right hand and a
beautiful young lady on his left arm.  I said to my
son, who was only eleven yrs old at the time, "There's Arthur
Godfrey!"  My son's reaction was "Who's Arthur Godfrey?"  I
was tempted to say "hello" and try for a handshake, but I respected his
privacy and just smiled at him.  I like to think he knew I recognized him.
I tried to explain to my young son how
important Arthur Godfrey had been to me and his many millions of fans, but
I really couldn't manage it.  Thanks to you, Lee
Munsick, for your very jinformative posting.
______________________
Harry Machin Jr
harbev5@[removed]

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

Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 15:34:27 -0400
From: SanctumOTR@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Adele Ronson
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In a message dated 7/12/04 12:20:23 PM, our favorite Jughead writes:

I am very familiar with Adele [removed] [removed] when she worked
in the field. Adele was a contemporary of mine in NY Network radio.

***Actually, "contemporary" may be a little misleading in this case.   True,
Adele was still working in radio when Hal was in the business, but ...

... Adele was one of the true veterans of dramatic radio, and was appearing
in NBC and CBS series in the late 1920s (and also on Broadway, where she and
Dick Osgood/Elmer Cornell played sweethearts onstage).   Even before she was
cast as Wilma Dearing on BUCK ROGERS in 1932, Adele was starring in some of
the
earliest radio dramas, including MacFadden's TRUE STORY and TRUE DETECTIVE and
Street & Smith's DETECTIVE STORY and LOVE STORY programs (which were narrated
by Frank Readick as The Shadow, long before the character was reborn as an
invisible crimefighter).   Les Tremayne was thrilled to work opposite Adele at
the 1987 FOTR Convention, because she and Elsie Hitz were pretty much radio's
biggest female dramatic stars when Les first got into the business (and even
before).

It's possible that Adele was recalling the earliest days of radio drama,
possibly BEFORE HAL WAS EVEN BORN ... during the earliest years of network
broadcasting.   Until/unless we can question others who worked in radio
during the
1928-32 period, I'd hesitate to refer to her as "Addle brained Adele" (as Hal
did).   I certainly wouldn't question Hal re: his first-hand knowledge, but
I'm
also not sure that any of us (including Hal) should be so quick to question a
professional who was there almost from the beginning. During the years I knew
her, Adele was anything but addle-brained. --Anthony Tollin

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Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 15:35:11 -0400
From: "B. J. Watkins" <kinseyfan@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Mr. Chameleon and page dropping

I am always amazed when the radio program Mr. Chameleon is put on someone's
list of bad shows. If you didn't grow up listeneing to it, you only have TWO
shows in circulation on which to judge it. This was one of my FAVORITE shows
as a kid and I enjoy the two that I have. It is frustrating to know that the
entire series exists in an archive at a university and I can't hear them!
If anyone has more copies, PLEASE let me know.

As for the script dropping myth, we were talking about this one day in my
radio drama group, and one who used to work in Canadian dramatic radio said
that they used to do that because the scripts were on onion skin paper (or
something like that). I was amazed.

Barbara

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

Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 15:35:49 -0400
From: "Lois Culver" <lois@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Page Dropping
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May I second the info given by my buddy Hal Stone.  I never saw ONE person
drop a page during all the time I sat in on radio show reheasals.  My
husband was actor Howard Culver and I went to a number of rehearsals with
him, plus I worked at radio station KFI, Los Angeles and found my way into
the studios during rehearsals many times.  The only page-dropping I saw was
on the "pretend" radio shows which showed up on TV later. Perhaps
Hollywood/Los Angeles was neater than the cities where the page-droppers
worked?

Lois Culver
Radio KWLK Longview-Kelso, WA
Radio KFI Los Angeles, CA

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

Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 16:38:27 -0400
From: Allen Wilcox <aawjca@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Benny show

When was the last recorded live Jack Benny show and
how long did the reruns play? Did CBS run the shows
even when Jack went to television? If so I gues you
might have been real lucky to hear him on radio one
night then to see him and the gang on tv.

By the way, did Phil Harris join Jack on his tv
program? I know that the rest was there, but I did not
know about Harris.
Allen

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

Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 16:38:39 -0400
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  7-13 births/deaths

July 13th births

07-13-1889 - Frank M. Thomas - St. Joseph, MO - d. 11-25-1989
actor: Police Captain "Martin Kane, Private Eye"
07-13-1895 - Sidney Blackmer - Salisbury, NC - d. 10-5-1973
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
07-13-1902 - Phillips H. Lord - Hartford, CT - d. 10-19-1975
actor: Seth Parker "Seth Parker"; Mitchell Frazier "Story of Mary Marlin"
07-13-1906 - Harry Sosnick - Chicago, IL - d. 3-22-1996
conductor: "Pennzoil Parade"; "Your Hit Parade"; "Beat the Band"
07-13-1913 - Dave Garroway - Schenectady, NY - d. 7-21-1982
emcee, announcer: "World's Great Novels"; "Dave Garroway Show"; "Dial Dave
Garroway"
07-13-1934 - Dennis Crosby - CA - d. 5-7-1991
actor: "Bing Crosby Show"
07-13-1934 - Philip Crosby - CA - d. 1-17-2004
actor: "Bing Crosby Show"

July 13th deaths

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"
09-21-1903 - Westbrook Van Voorhis - New Milford, CT - d. 7-13-1968
announcer, narrator: "March of Time"
11-01-1880 - Grantland Rice - Murfreesboro, TN  - d. 7-13-1954
sportscaster: "Sports Stories"
--
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 16:59:35 -0400
From: "Philip Railsback" <philiprailsback@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Page dropping my ---.

I NEVER SAW ANY ACTOR, OR ACTRESS, (IN THE 15 YEAR PERIOD BETWEEN 1939 TO
1954 THAT I WAS ACTIVE AS A RADIO PERFORMER) EVER, EVER, DROP A PAGE.

You sure they didn't do it when you were looking the other way?  ;)

  - Philip

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

Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 17:01:01 -0400
From: "Jack Feldman" <qualitas@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Arther Godfrey
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Since Kathy was kind enough to point out that the comment on the Democratic
convention was out of bounds I waited to see if anyone would respond to Lee
Munsick when he said:

He was not an anti-Semite.  How could he possibly have been, in the industry
in which he was a major part, owned and controlled almost entirely by Jewish
persons?

I'm now sure how to respond, other than to say that the statement is
misleading, and a common unproven remark which is often coupled with
newspapers and banks. It doesn't belong here. Please be careful.

Jack

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Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 21:52:19 -0400
From: "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  "Mr. and Mrs. Cugat"

I believe that the series began as "Mr. and Mrs. Cugat",
but was later changed to "My Favorite Husband" (although
the last name Cugat was still used.  I have an eps titled
"Liz Does Some Matchmaking", in which she refers to her
husband as George Cugat.)  It was later Americanized to
Cooper, if I'm not mistaken.

Always interested in radio,

Kenneth Clarke

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

Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 21:52:28 -0400
From: Paulgough5@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  CD files to DVD

I am wondering if several individual CDs encloded with mp3 files could be
copied to a DVD, which would allow multiple cds on one DVD to be played on a
DVD player or computer DVD drive the same as if they were individual CDs
containing far fewer files. Am I expecting too much, with MP3s playable only
from CDs and not DVDs. On the face of it it would seem possible and would
allow multiple CDs to be backed up on DVD and cut some of the filing clutter.
If possible, are there any pros and cons to keep in mind?

Thanks

Paul

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

Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 21:52:35 -0400
From: Lee Munsick <leemunsick@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Dropping script pages

Bravo, Hal Stone!    for (I hope) putting to rest once and for all this
ubiquitous question about radio performers dropping pages from their scripts,
as they finished reading from each.  What a mess!

I would agree that my friend Leonard Maltin deserves a solid Bronx cheer for
helping to continue this non sequitur.

Let's hope that now we can all drop this subject!  On the floor.  And leave
it there!

Lee Munsick

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

Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2004 00:12:22 -0400
From: "Brian L Bedsworth" <az2pa@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: Stan Freberg

"A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed]; mentioned in regard to the Stan
Freberg 1957 program:

The show was only supposed to be a summer replacement, as I recall.  It
replaced the Jack
Benny Program for the summer, with Jack Benny returning in the fall.  The
fact that Jack
Benny's radio program was in reruns at that time didn't stop CBS from
taking it off the air for
the summer, just as they had done when it was new material.

According to the first (and, as far as I am aware, still the =only=) volume
of the Freberg memoirs, the show was more of a summer =tryout=; if it had
found a sponsor for which Freberg was willing to produce the program, it
would have been an ongoing concern (as much as anything in network radio in
1957 could be considered "ongoing", at least).

Unfortunately, the only sponsors who showed interest -- and there were many
within these two fields, though apparently not =outside= them -- were
alcohol and tobacco concerns, toward which Freberg professed profound
disgust.

Indeed, by the end of that summer, Freberg had found a profound disgust with
the entire advertising field (as the late-run "Freberg In Advertisingland"
and "Grey Flannel Hatful of Teenage Werewolves" sketches amply demonstrate)
and decided to throw himself into what had previously been a sideline:
producing interesting and -- a few early-1970s efforts aside --
non-insulting advertising for actual companies. This became Freberg's main
professional mission.

Would Stan have stayed with the show if an angel had been found to back it?
Tough to say. Freberg's experience with network executives was another
factor mitigating against continuing the show. Indeed, this was a problem
from the first broadcast -- in fact, even =before= the first broadcast. The
transcribed version of the debut show was trashed just before airing by
panicky local CBS brass and replaced with an inferior but "safer" rewritten
version over Freberg's vehement protests. (Compare the program as broadcast
in 1957 with the "Incident At Los Veroces" sketch on the 1958 Best Of The
Stan Freberg Shows LPs, the latter of which is performed using the original
script.) Similar battles raged all summer, some of which found an outlet as
the "Elderly Man River" sketch.

Would Freberg have chosen life as the next Fred Allen of a nearly-dead
medium? Especially over what he seemed to feel was his true calling? Only
Stan knows for sure. Maybe.

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

Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2004 10:02:34 -0400
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Kitty was a prostitute

Aleen commented:

It was alleged, on radio, that Kitty was a prostitute
along with being a saloon gal. So her employment was
every where.

TIME magazine featured an article about radio's GUNSMOKE in the early 1950s
and someone involved with the creation of the show blantly admitted that
Kitty was a "prostitute" and used the very word when asked what her
profession was.  Forget the exact issue and quote but that was confirmed.
MG

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

Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2004 12:13:07 -0400
From: Christopher Werner <werner1@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  The Pilgrim's Progress

Is anyone aware of an OTR dramatization of John Bunyan's "The Pilgrim's
Progress" ? Hopefully there is a serialized version somewhere (it's a lot
of info for a single presentation).

Thanks.

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2004 Issue #229
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