Subject: [removed] Digest V2008 #12
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 1/14/2008 8:29 AM

To: [removed]@[removed]
Reply-to: [removed]@[removed]

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2008 : Issue 12
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Victor Borge                          [ "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed]; ]
      Full stag party recording             [ "Laura Leff" <president@[removed] ]
      Una Merkel, Penny Singleton, Irene R  [ T B <claudettefan@[removed]; ]
      Listening to Boston Blackie on my so  [ andre <andre66@[removed]; ]
      Re: Whistler films                    [ illoman@[removed] ]
      Victor Borge                          [ Frank McGurn <[removed]@sbcglobal. ]
      1-14 births/deaths                    [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
      Victor Borge                          [ "A. Joseph Ross" <joe@attorneyross. ]
      Earliest known Shadow recording?      [ Tony Baechler <tony@[removed]; ]
      Radio & The Jews                      [ "John Eccles, Jr." <jeccles@earthli ]

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

    Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2008 11:54:54 -0500
    From: "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Victor Borge

    If you are looking for biographical info about Victor Borge, I urge all of
    you, DO NOT read Rudy Vallee's autobiographies.  Vallee says the meanest,
    nastiest things about Borge in, I think, his third autobiography, but might
    also have some more nasty stuff in the second one.  I'm not kidding.  DON'T
    READ THOSE BOOKS.

    Victor Borge's name was really Borge Rosenbaum.  There's one routine where
    his father finds him "sitting in front of a roaring fire -- and we didn't
    have a fireplace.  'Borge!' my father said.  He always called my by my last
    name!"  Well, turns out that Borge is a very common first name in Denmark.
    When I visited Denmark in 1983, my Danish friend and I stumbled across a
    junk store that had a second floor just filled with 78s.  It was so
    frustrating to me because I had no way of knowing the era or the contents of
    the records.  There were a lot that had the name Borge on them but my friend
    kept on saying it was a band leader or a singer.  Never the Borge I wanted.

    Years later when a large record warehouse outside of Indianapolis was
    closing, I went thru their wholesale stock of European folk dances--multiple
    copies of each-- and took one of each different one.  A couple of weeks
    later when I went thru them at home I discovered one was not a folkdance,
    but was a comedy routine about a restaurant on Danish HMV by Borge
    Rosenbaum.  Yes, it WAS him, but if I had looked closely at the label when I
    was in the warehouse there might have been 50 more copies.  No music, no
    funny sounds.  Just a six-minute stand-up routine.

    The news that he wrote his autobiography only in Danish sounds very typical
    of him.  When I was in Denmark in 1983 he was appearing for one night only
    at the beautiful Tivoli Gardens.  Completely sold out.  But when the four of
    us were again near Tivoli the afternoon of the concert, we checked and found
    that someone had just returned ONE ticket.  So I went alone -- I'm still not
    sure what my wife, my friend, and my friend's wife did that evening.  I had
    always been interested in knowing what the routines like Phonetic
    Punctuation would sound like in Danish. but since EVERYONE in Denmark speaks
    English (it's true!  English is a requirement for High School graduation!) I
    figured that most of the performance would be in English.  WRONG!  About
    five minutes into it, he said "For those of you who do not understand Danish
    and thought that I would probably be performing in English, the joke is on
    you because this is the only sentence that will be in English."  And it was!
    He did that concert as a love affair with his native country.  It was the
    only concert he was doing in Denmark that year, and he rarely had a chance
    to perform there, so he wanted to thank his countrymen.  When I met him
    years later he told me he remembered that concert because it was special.
    He had to escape Denmark, not because he was Jewish (which he was) but
    because he had been doing skits and jokes that were openly anti-Nazi.  If he
    had been a private person, or had stuck to just mutely playing the piano, he
    would have been safe.  Denmark protected their Jews.  In fact, when it was
    discovered that the Nazis were about to round up all the Jews in Denmark on
    Oct 1, 1943, during that week the Danes smuggled ALL of the Jews in the
    country (except a few dozen who wouldn't go) over to Sweden in small fishing
    boats.  In 1969 Borge recorded a charity LP of this story ("The Legend"
    Thanks to Scandinavia Scholarship Fund TS-1), and there is an inspiring
    museum about this right near the Little Mermaid statue.  (The fund still
    operates and has a web site.)

    Ed Kindred's story of meeting him after a performance was also typical.  I
    had found out he would be speaking at the National Press Club during the
    time I would be in Washington, and I brought with me the empty covers of his
    albums, an almost complete collection.  I was able to get up there as
    everybody was leaving, and he was laughing and joking and signing programs.
    But when he saw my albums he had a wide grin and called his manager over to
    show them to him.  I had both of his early 78 albums from the 1940s, several
    of the 45 and LP reissues of those, as well as the more common best sellers
    from the 50s, and his kids album and his concert album, and his European
    issues from the 60s.  I also had the album that he HATED.  It was an issue
    of the talking book narration of his My Favorite Intermissions book.  These
    were not supposed to be issued as records, and he never received payments,
    but he autographed it anyway!

    He had just started releasing his own videocassettes and he gave me a
    keychain with the logo of him carrying a piano-shaped suitcase, and he took
    my address.  Once in a while I got flyers when there was a new issue, but
    never a free copy!

    And no, I did not have the guts to ask him why Rudy Vallee hated him so
    much.

    Michael Biel   mbiel@[removed]

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

    Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2008 11:55:16 -0500
    From: "Laura Leff" <president@[removed];
    To: "OTR Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Full stag party recording

    Hi all,

    I'm sure someone here has this.  We have someone interested in the full
    recording of the notorious stag party where various people, including Jack,
    George Burns, and Art Linkletter, worked blue.  I only have the clips of
    George and Jack.  Can anyone provide a good copy of the full recording?
    Thanks in advance!

    --Laura Leff
    President, IJBFC
    [removed]

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

    Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2008 11:56:12 -0500
    From: T B <claudettefan@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Una Merkel, Penny Singleton, Irene Ryan

    I am currently researching the actresses  Una Merkel,
    Penny Singleton, and Irene Ryan and would appreciate
    any details on their work in radio, copies as well as
    radio logs, data, etc.

    Does anyone know the story behind Penny Singleton's
    leaving/returning/leaving the BLONDIE radio program
    over the years? Has anyone worked on a log for the
    show? Are there any known copies of broadcasts of her
    1950 program THE PENNY SINGLETON SHOW?

    Irene Ryan worked quite a bit with Bob Hope on the
    radio, can anyone help with show dates she worked on?
    Other radio appearances?'

    Feel free to contact me directly or comment on the
    oldtimeradio emails.  I am fairly new to the world of
    OTR but enjoy it tremendously and think there are many
    more "new" fans to be made out there, especially among
    classic movie fans.

    Thanks in advance, T. R. Bourgeois

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

    Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2008 11:57:08 -0500
    From: andre <andre66@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Listening to Boston Blackie on my sony walkman

     A big thank you to everyone who emailed me to point me in the direction of
    the various sites where i can download free MP3's. I have several hours on
    my walkman and am really enjoying it!
    Thanks again
    Andre

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

    Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2008 19:48:48 -0500
    From: illoman@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Whistler films

     > Date: Sat, 12 Jan 2008 12:46:49 -0500

>     From: Wich2@[removed]

>     But the radio series did not always use the same lead actor for each
>     episode, did it?

>     Best,
>     -Craig W.

    No, Craig it did not. The Whistler is one of my all time favorite OTR series,
    but like most OTR series, it had it's share of great episodes, and some real
    stinkers. Unfortunately, the Whistler films I have seen are all stinkers.
    It's a shame they couldn't have made the films anthologies, utilizing some of
    the better scripts from the radio shows. They could have made something very
    special.

    Mike

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

    Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2008 19:49:25 -0500
    From: Frank McGurn <[removed]@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Victor Borge

    For the past 3 editions of OTR Digest Victor Borge has been a topic. All
    I read was about  abut his concerts TV performances,and where he lives
    (Did you know he had a Cornish Hens) ,but Victor was on radio. In 1942
    he appeared on Bing Crosby's Kraft Music Hall  4/16/42 and 3/12/42 .

    Fibber McGee & Molly had him on their the last show for 1944-45 . They
    introduced Victor as their replacement for the summer of 1945. Victor
    had good support on the summer program with Billy Mills & His Orchestra,
    Vocals: Pat Friday and Harlow Wilcox.
    He appeared on AFRS "Command Performance" # 189  8/30[removed] He did more
    radio, but  I have just referred to programs I have
    Victor has is own show from Sept. of 1946 until June of 19 47, "The
    Victor Borge Show. withe Benny Goodman & His [removed]
    Also a few other radio shows.

    Victor did his piano bit and of course his famous punctuation with his
    voice on radio. I thought he was/is great, but his humor was made for TV
    and the stage, not radio. I did  enjoy the show I have and he was very
    funny, He is a great physical comedian and when you put his vocal humor
    with the physical you have a terrific performer.

    Frank McGurn

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

    Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2008 22:41:58 -0500
    From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  1-14 births/deaths

    January 14th births

    01-14-1863 - R. F. Outcault - Lancaster, OH - d. 9-25-1928
    writer: Buster Brown based on Outcalt's comic strip
    01-14-1882 - Hendrick Van Loon - Rotterdam, Holland - d. 3-11-1944
    journalist: "Very Truly Yours"; "Information Please"
    01-14-1891 - Maurice Black - Queens, NY - d. 1-18-1938
    tuba: "The Clicquot Club Eskimos"
    01-14-1892 - Hal Roach - Elmira, NY - d. 11-2-1992
    film producer, actor: Hollywood Hotel"; "Lux Radio Theatre"
    01-14-1894 - Mary "Bubbles" Kelly - Chicago, IL - d. 6-7-1941
    actor: (Ex Jack Benny girlfriend) "Honolulu Bound"
    01-14-1896 - Seymour Simons - Detroit, MI - d. 2-12-1949
    orchestra leader: "Romantic Rhythm"
    01-14-1899 - Carlos P. Romulo - Camiling, Tarlac, Philippines - d.
    12-15-1985
    diplomat: "Information Please"
    01-14-1901 - Bebe Daniels - Dallas, TX - d. 3-16-1971
    actor: "Life with the Lyons"; "Louella Parsons"
    01-14-1904 - George McCoy - d. 12-22-1976
    1930's broadcaster: (Pioneered the radio talk show)
    01-14-1906 - William Bendix - NYC - d. 12-14-1964
    actor: Chester A. Riley "Life of Riley"
    01-14-1908 - Russ Columbo - Camden, NJ - d. 9-2-1934
    singer, bandleader: "Russ Columbo Show"
    01-14-1909 - Joseph Losey - La Crosse, WI - d. 6-22-1984
    director: "Words at War"
    01-14-1911 - David Gothard - Beardstown, IL - d. 8-2-1977
    actor: Gil Whitney "Romance of Helen Trent"; Nick Charles "The Thin Man"
    01-14-1914 - Harold Russell - North Sydney, Canada - d. 1-29-2002
    world war II hero, actor: "A Salute to the [removed]"; "NBC University
    Theatre"
    01-14-1915 - George Ansbro - Brooklyn, NY
    announcer: "Young Widder Brown"; "Waltz Time"
    01-14-1915 - Mark Goodson - Sacramento, CA - d. 12-18-1992
    producer, director: "Portia Faces Life"; "Stop the Music"
    01-14-1917 - Billy Butterfield - Middleton, OH - d. 3-18-1988
    bandleader: "The Dixieland Music Shop"; "Eddie Condon"s Jazz Concert"
    01-14-1919 - Andy Rooney - Albany, NY
    writer: "Red Skelton Show"; "Arthur Godfrey"
    01-14-1920 - George Herman - NYC - d. 2-8-2005
    newsman: CBS news writer
    01-14-1929 - Billy Walker - Ralls, TX - d. 5-21-2006
    c/w singer: "Columbia's Country Caravan", "Country Music Time"
    01-14-1931 - Caterina Valente - Paris, France
    singer: "Guard Session"
    01-14-1938 - Jack Jones - Hollywood, CA
    singer: "Steve Lawrence Show"; "Guest Star"; "Stars for Defense"
    01-14-1943 - Holland Taylor - Philadelphia, PA
    actor: "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"

    January 14th deaths

    01-27-1921 - Donna Reed - Dennison, IA - d. 1-14-1986
    actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Star and the Story"; "Silver Theatre"
    02-13-1916 - Albert Harris - London, England - d. 1-14-2005
    conductor, composer: "Four-Star Playhouse"; "NBC University Theatre"
    02-24-1904 - Tim Graham - Kansas - d. 1-14-1979
    actor: "Plays for Americans"
    04-13-1886 - Willie Howard - Paramus, NY - d. 1-14-1949
    comedian: (Howard Brothers) "Folies De Paris"; "The Royal Vagabonds"
    06-12-1919 - Uta Hagen - Gottingen, Germany - d. 1-14-2004
    actor: "Big Show"
    06-14-1917 - Paul Monash - NYC - d. 1-14-2003
    writer: "Molle Mystery Theatre"
    06-18-1903 - Jeanette MacDonald - Philadelphia, PA - d. 1-14-1965
    singer: "Nobody's Children"; "Vicks Open House"; "Campbell Playhouse"
    08-19-1889 - Don "Uncle Don" Carney - St. Joseph, MO - d. 1-14-1954
    host: "Uncle Don"; "Friendship Village"; "Dog Chats"
    08-21-1896 - Marie Blake - Philadelphia, PA - d. 1-14-1978
    actor: (Sister of Janette MacDonald) "Lux Radio Theatre"
    08-22-1922 - Shelley Winters - St. Louis, MO - d. 1-14-2006
    actor: "Hollywood Star Preview"
    09-17-1902 - Esther Ralston - Bar Harbor, ME - d. 1-14-1994
    actor: Martha Jackson "Woman of Courage"; Kathy Marsh "Portia Faces
    Life"
    09-17-1915 - John Witty - Bristol, England - d. 1-14-1990
    Began radio broadcasting for the BBC in 1944
    09-28-1916 - Peter Finch - London, England - d. 1-14-1977
    actor: Australian Radio
    10-05-1924 - Barbara Kelly - Vancouver, Canada - d. 1-14-2007
    actor: "Vanity Fair"; "Breakfast with Braden"
    12-11-1910 - Samuel Kurtzman - d. 1-14-1998
    writer: "The Bob Hope Show"
    12-25-1899 - Humphrey Bogart - NYC - d. 1-14-1957
    actor: Slate Shannon "Bold Venture"; "Stars in the Air"; "Streamlined
    Shakespeare"

    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

    Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2008 00:48:54 -0500
    From: "A. Joseph Ross" <joe@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Victor Borge

>     Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2008 11:51:31 -0500
>     From: "Jan Bach" <janbach@[removed];

>     Has anyone remarked yet that Denmark's loss was our gain, that Borge
>     had to leave his homeland in a hurry because the Nazis had put a
>     price on his head for the musical comedies he wrote making fun of
>     the Third Reich?

    It probably had more to do with his being Jewish.  His name at birth
    was Borge Rosenbaum. According to Wikipedia, he was playing a concert
    in Sweden when the Nazis occupied Denmark and managed to escape to
    Finland. He returned to Denmark once during the occupation, disguised
    as a sailor, to visit his dying mother. See
    [removed]

    --
    A. Joseph Ross, [removed]                           [removed]
     92 State Street, Suite 700                   Fax [removed]
    Boston, MA 02109-2004           	         [removed]

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

    Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2008 01:55:04 -0500
    From: Tony Baechler <tony@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Earliest known Shadow recording?

    Hi all,

    This is mostly for the Shadow experts here but I'm interested in any
    discussion.  What is the earliest known recording of an actor portraying
    the character of the Shadow on radio?  I'm not specifically referring to
    the Shadow series, although that of course started on radio in 1930.
    Rather, I'm referring to any series which features any actor playing the
    part of the Shadow, either as just a voice, a regular character, or a
    narrator.  I'm aware of the 09-26-37 first regular episode of the series
    but are there any recordings older than this?  I wouldn't be at all
    surprised to eventually see earlier Shadow broadcasts put into
    circulation but I'm not limiting myself to just the Shadow series.

    The oldest known recordings I've found are the June 2 and June 9, 1933
    Jack Benny episodes.  They feature Ralph Ash playing the voice of the
    Shadow, including the laugh.  The June 2 episode only has him speaking a
    few lines at the end but he's there.  Are there any earlier recordings
    than that?  What about other recordings between 1933 and the 09-26-37
    first regular Shadow episode?  Can anyone fill in background on Ralph
    Ash who only appears in a few early Jack Benny episodes and apparently
    on no other series, at least according to Goldin?

    For those interested, Terry over at [removed] has
    the Jack Benny shows in question as well as some others from 1932 and
    1933.  I recommend him for good service and a generally high quality
    product.  Those particular shows have sound problems however.  Thanks
    for any information and interesting discussion you might have.

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

    Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2008 10:27:19 -0500
    From: "John Eccles, Jr." <jeccles@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Radio & The Jews

    I recently finished reading Dave & Susan Siegel's book, Radio & Thew Jews,
    and would like my fellow digesters to know how much I enjoyed it.  To my
    knowledge it is the only book of its kind that deals with the media's
    treatment of a particular religion.

    What I found of particular interest was the authors' awareness of the gradual
    erosion of the stereotypes as radio progressed from the 30s to the 50s.
    Abie's Irish Rose had more pronounced stereotypes while one could listen to
    Meet Millie and have no idea that the main characters were Jewish.  I think
    WWII and the awareness of the Holocaust casued this erosion.  After the full
    extent of the madness was known, I do not think the American people were
    willing to tolerate the broad caricatures that prevailed in vaudeville and
    early radio.

    I also enjoyed reading about different reactions that Jewish people had to
    the same program.  Some registered strong objections in the case of "Abie's
    Irish Rose" to what they THOUGHT they heard.  That was most interesting and I
    think goes to prove that you can not get a uniform recation from any group of
    people, whether of a certain religion or ethnic group.

    There was so much in the book that I had absolutely no knowledge of and I
    found it illuminating.  I had no idea there was a concerted effort on the
    part of difference Jewish organizations to present programs that diffused
    Jewish stereotypes like "Americans All, Immigrants All" and "The Eternal
    Light."  That these and other programs met with varying degrees of success
    says more about the time than the people involved with the programs.

    Many digesters may laugh at this, but, as an aside, I have been listening to
    OTR since I was 6 years old.  I am now 41.  It was not until I was in my
    mid-teens that I realized the character of Mr. Kitzel was a Jewish
    stereotype.  I simply had no frame of reference for this type of dialect
    humor and just laughed at his jokes about his wife and mother-in-law.

    The Siegels did a wonderful job placing these shows in a historical context
    and showing how the stereotypes evolved over time and gradually faded as with
    "Meet Millie."  Rather than just reciting cold facts (program titles,
    boradcast dates, etc.) you can actually trace the development of Jewish
    characters in mainstream media through the book.

    Perhaps the book's greatest contribution is in preserving and commemorating
    many of the early programs that had Jewish characters, showing how they were
    portrayed, and the reactions to them, both positive and negative.  Most of
    these programs I never heard of and their efforts literally rescued them from
    oblivion and helped create a word picture of the time.  In a more general
    sense I think that is radio's great gift to history, which the Siegels were
    able to tap into.  Its immediacy and reflection of the time in which it
    occurred.  Most of these programs were done live and represent like nothing
    else can a true record of people's thoughts and attitudes at the time of the
    broadcast.

    I heartily recommend this book and hope other digesters take the time to read
    and enjoy this fascinating book.

    John Eccles, Jr.

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2008 Issue #12
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