Subject: [removed] Digest V2007 #216
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 7/26/2007 9:20 AM
To: [removed]@[removed]
Reply-to:
[removed]@[removed]

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2007 : Issue 216
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                             [removed]
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  7-24 births/deaths                    [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
  Golden Age of Radio - WTIC            [ "Bob Scherago" <rscherago@[removed] ]
  The Big Five-OH                       [ "wayne_johnson" <wayne_johnson@mind ]
  Bill Pertwee                          [ "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@juno. ]
  "On, you huskies!"                    [ Bhob Stewart <bhob2@[removed]; ]
  Saints preserve us!                   [ <otrbuff@[removed]; ]
  Yukon Territory                       [ John Mayer <mayer@[removed]; ]
  7-25 births/deaths                    [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
  Episode Guide for "Mr. Keen, Tracer   [ "Stewart Wright" <stewwright@worldn ]
  SPERDVAC lunch in November            [ "Walden Hughes" <walden1@yesterdayu ]
  #OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Nig  [ charlie@[removed] ]
  Durability on the airwaves            [ <otrbuff@[removed]; ]
  When Radio Was                        [ Frank McGurn <[removed]@sbcglobal. ]
  Big Inch Land                         [ "Jerry Williams" <mrj1313@[removed] ]

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

Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2007 11:26:41 +0000
From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  7-24 births/deaths

July 24th births

07-24-1802 - Alexandre Dumas - Aisne, France - d. 12-5-1870
writer: "The Count of Monte Cristo" based on Dumas' novel
07-24-1853 - William Gillette - Hartford, CT - d. 4-29-1937
actor: Sherlock Holmes "Sherlock Holmes"
07-24-1875 - Frank Moulan - NYC - d. 5-13-1939
comedian: :Roxy and His Gang"
07-24-1878 - Lord Dunsany - London, England - d. 10-25-1957
writer: "The Columbia Workshop"
07-24-1888 - Basil Ruysdael - Jersey City, NJ - d. 10-10-1960
announcer: "Beggar's Bowl"; "Your Hit Parade"; "Cavalcade of America"
07-24-1898 - Amelia Earhart - Atchinson, KS - d. 7-2-1937
aviatrix: "Amelia Earhart", "Cities Service Concerts"
07-24-1901 - Mabel Albertson - Lynn, MA - d. 9-28-1982
actor: (Sister of Jack Albertson) "The Phil Baker Show"
07-24-1903 - Hazel Arth - d. 3-17-1991
second place winner Atwater-Kent National Radio Auditions
07-24-1904 - Delmer Daves - San Francisco, CA - d. 8-17-1977
movie writer/director: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Screen Guild Theatre"
07-24-1907 - Glenn Riggs - East McKeesport, PA - d. 9-12-1975
announcer: "Musical Varities"; "Hop Harrigan"; "Boston Blackie"
07-24-1911 - Jane Hoffman - Seattle, WA - d. 7-26-2004
actor: "The Author's Studio"
07-24-1911 - Raymond Edward Johnson - Kenosha, WI - d. 8-15-2001
actor: Raymond your host "Inner Sanctum Mysteries"; Don Winslow "Don
Winslow of the Navy"
07-24-1913 - Brian Reece - Noctorum, England - d. 4-12-1962
actor: Archibald Berkeley-Willoughby "The Advs. of [removed] 49"
07-24-1913 - Hollace (Vivien) Shaw - Fresno, CA - d. 3-2-1976
singer: "Blue Velvet"; "Vic Damone and Hollace Shaw Show"
07-24-1914 - Frank Silvera - Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies - d.
6-11-1970
actor: "X Minus One"
07-24-1914 - Vicent Bogert - New York - d. 11-28-1978
writer: "Duffy's Tavern"
07-24-1915 - Lloyd Marx - d. 5-26-1988
composer, conductor: "Capitol Family Hour"; "Original Amateur Hour"
07-24-1916 - Bob Eberly - Mechanicsville, NY - d. 11-17-1981
singer: (Jimmy Dorsey Band)
07-24-1919 - Jerry Wayne - Buffalo, NY - d. xx-xx-1997
vocalist: Lover "Happy Island"; "Your All-Time Hit Parade"
07-24-1921 - Billy Taylor - Greenville, SC
host: "Mildred Bailey Show"; "Bing Crosby Show"; "Genius of Duke"

July 24th deaths

01-12-1892 - Ed McConnell - Atlanta, GA - d. 7-24-1954
host, actor: Smilin' Ed McConnell Show"
03-05-1920 - Virginia Christine - Stanton, IA - d. 7-24-1996
actor: "Confession"; "Gunsmoke"
03-23-1917 - Oscar Shumsky - Philadelphia, PA - d. 7-24-2000
violinist: "Voice of Firestone"
04-02-1934 - Brian Glover - Sheffield, England - d. 7-24-1997
actor: George Hackett "An American Werewolf in London";
"[removed]"
05-14-1914 - Foy Willing - Bosque County, TX - d. 7-24-1978
singer: (Foy Willing and the Riders of the Purple Sage) "Roy Rogers
Show"
06-10-1898 - Dorothy Day - NYC - d. 7-24-1975
actor, writer: "The House Beside the Road"
07-14-1904 - Isaac Bashevis Singer - Radzymin, Poland - d. 7-24-1991
yiddish storyteller: "Earplay"
07-16-1915 - Joe O'Brien - Yonkers, NY - d. 7-24-2005
announcer: "Jack and Cliff"; "Rosemary"
07-18-1872 - Fred Sullivan - London, England - d. 7-24-1937
actor: Kirby Willoughby "Arnold Grimm's Daughter"; Mitchell Frazier
"Story of Mary Marlin"
09-08-1925 - Peter Sellers - London, England - d. 7-24-1980
comedian: Hercules Grytpype-Thynne, Major Dennis Bloodnok, others
"Goon Show"
09-22-1891 - Alfred Shirley - d. 7-24-1967
actor: Dr. John Watson "Advs. of Sherlock Holmes"
10-22-1905 - Constance Bennett - NYC - d. 7-24-1965
interviewer, panelist: "Constance Bennett Calls on You"; "Leave It to
the Girls"

Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2007 11:26:50 +0000
From: "Bob Scherago" <rscherago@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Golden Age of Radio - WTIC

Check out the latest addition to [removed]

A recording of "The Jean Colbert Show" with Jean
Colbert and Ed Anderson from 1960. Jean's guest
is NBC announcer  Jerry Damon, who talks about his
plan to buy Ellis Island.

Bob Scherago
Web master

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

Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2007 11:26:58 +0000
From: "wayne_johnson" <wayne_johnson@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  The Big Five-OH

Fellow OTR fans.

Next week will be my 50th birthday.  One thought that I had to 
celebrate/mourn the day with friends and family would be to play OTR that 
was originally broadcast on that day 8/1/57.

A check of my OTR list reveals only one ... an episode of X minus 1 
entitled "End as a World".

Does anyone have anything else originally broadcast from that day?  If so, 
please contact me off-list so we can chat about it.

Wayne

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

Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2007 11:27:13 +0000
From: "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Bill Pertwee
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

        Wasn't Bill Pertwee one of the long line of men who portrayed "Dr.
Who"?  His name sounded awfully familiar.  Maybe it was another actor
with a similiar sounding name.

Another OTR Fan,

Kenneth Clarke

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

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

Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2007 11:27:23 +0000
From: Bhob Stewart <bhob2@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  "On, you huskies!"

Yukon Big Inch: [removed] 
[removed]

That's a neat PDF collection of detailed news stories about the Yukon
deeds.

Now what about the Hayden Planetarium's coupons for moon trip
reservations that one could clip from early 1950s Heinlein paperbacks?

Bhob @ [removed]

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

Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2007 11:28:48 +0000
From: <otrbuff@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Saints preserve us!

Jim Bourg innocently inquires:

 > Is there an episode guide for "Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost  Persons"?

Ah yes.  See "Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons:  A Complete History and 
Episode Log of Radio's Most Durable Detective" by Jim Cox (800) 253-2187 or 
[removed]

Acutually, the subtitle is an example of a publisher's title-writer run 
amuck.  After 18 years on the air, Mr. Keen was then -- is now --
BROADCASTING'S most durable detective.  No reruns.  All new episodes.  52 
weeks per year.  With 1,690 narratives, I never found evidence that any 
other sleuth in any medium topped him.  Or even came close.  The kindly old 
investigator was unsurpassed.

Jim Cox

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

Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2007 11:29:58 +0000
From: John Mayer <mayer@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Yukon Territory

  John Olsen <jrolsen2@[removed]; gloated:

 > Some years back, a fellow offered to sell me a dozen or so of those
 > Sergeant Preston land deeds.  And I took him up on it.

I had one or two of the deeds; unfortunately my folks insisting on 
finishing one box of cereal before starting on the next, no matter what 
premium was within. That was one advantage to boxtop offers; the drawback 
there was the cereal could get rather soggy, and weevils and other pests 
had easier access to the contents of the waxed paper liners. Silverfish 
probably got the deeds much later. Some of you may remember an Uncle 
Scrooge story based on the ducklings' miserly uncle getting such a deed and 
conniving to develop his square inch of land.

Sgt. Preston may have been my favorite radio hero. One of the highlights of 
my adulthood was getting to meet him, or at least the visual representation 
of him. The Sgt. Preston I admired was no doubt Paul Sutton, whose manly 
baritone was very familiar, but the Sgt. Preston I envisioned was Richard 
Simmons who had been discovered doing real backwoods stuff like 
bronco-busting and bush piloting; his was the image on the comic books, 
games, and other paraphernalia when I was a lad, though the TV show was 
short-lived.

When I met him he told me he'd done a few of the radio shows as well. I've 
not seen any mention of that. Does anyone know if this was so, or if his 
memory might have been starting to fail him?

~ John Mayer

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

Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2007 11:30:09 +0000
From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  7-25 births/deaths

July 25th births

07-25-1894 - Walter Brennan - Swampscott, MA - d. 9-21-1974
actor: Grandpa Vanderhof "You Can't Take it with You"; Judge Roy Bean
"Law West of the Pecos"
07-25-1896 - Leo Russotto - d. 1-29-1978
musical coach and arranger: "Roxy and His Gang"
07-25-1899 - Ralph Dumke - South Bend, IN - d. 1-4-1964
actor: Willie Tompkins "We, the Abbotts"; Pat Plenty "Quality Twins"
07-25-1900 - Al Pearce - San Francisco, CA - d. 6-2-1961
comedian: Elmer Blurt "Here Comes Elmer"; "Al Pearce Show"
07-25-1901 - Lila Lee - Union Hill, NJ - d. 11-13-1973
actor: "Fleischman's Yeast Hour"
07-25-1903 - Percy Angwin - d. 9-xx-1985
sportscaster: WSKI Montpelier, Vermont
07-25-1905 - Harold Peary - San Leandero, CA - d. 3-30-1985
actor: Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve , "Fibber McGee and Molly and The
Great Gildersleeve"
07-25-1906 - Johnny Hodges - Cambridge, MA - d. 5-11-1970
alto saxophonist: "Esquire Jazz Concert"; "Duke Ellington and His
Orchestra"
07-25-1907 - Jack Gilford - NYC - d. 6-4-1990
comedian: "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"
07-25-1910 - Ted Dale - d. 7-25-1975
orchestra leader: :Carnation Contented Hour"
07-25-1918 - Nan Grey - Houston, TX - d. 7-25-1993
actor: Kathy Marshall "Those We Love"
07-25-1922 - Earl Gillespie - d. 12-12-2003
sportscaster: voice of the Milwaukee Braves
07-25-1936 - Michael Chapin - Hollywood, CA
actor: Andy 'Skipper' Barbour "One Man's Family"

July 25th deaths

01-12-1915 - Martin Agronsky - Philadelphia, PA - d. 7-25-1999
newscaster: "The ABC Morning News"
03-23-1893 - Arnold Johnson - Chicago, IL - d. 7-25-1975
bandleader: "The Majestic Theatre Hour"; "True Story Time"
03-30-1893 - Dennis Hoey - London, England - d. 7-25-1960
actor: Edward Welby "Pretty Kitty Kelly"
04-26-1905 - Cecilia Parker - Fort William, Ontario, Canada - d.
7-25-1993
actor: "Good News of 1939"; "Mail Call"; "Lux Radio Theatre"
04-26-1912 - John McGovern - d. 7-25-1985
actor: Mike Gallagher "Highway Patrol"; Harold Wilkinson "The O'Neills"
04-29-1912 - Ian Martin - Glasgow, Scotland - d. 7-25-1981
actor: Horace Sutton "Young Dr. Malone"; Harry Archer "Meet Corliss
Archer"
05-31-1903 - Blanche Stewart - Pennsylvania - d. 7-25-1952
actor: Brenda "Bob Hope Show"
07-11-1928 - Hope Miller - d. 7-25-1992
actor: "Let's Pretend"
07-18-1913 - Eric Pohlmann - Vienna, Austria - d. 7-25-1979
actor: During WWII broadcast for BBC European Service
07-25-1910 - Ted Dale - d. 7-25-1975
orchestra leader: :Carnation Contented Hour"
07-25-1918 - Nan Grey - Houston, TX - d. 7-25-1993
actor: Kathy Marshall "Those We Love"
08-16-1932 - Marianne Moylan - Southampten, NY - d. 7-25-1990
singer: (The Moylan Sisters) (Angels of the Airwaves) "Moylan Sisters"
10-07-1914 - Alfred Drake - The Bronx, NY - d. 7-25-1992
singer: "Best Plays"; Broadway Matinee"; "Ford Festival of American
Music"
xx-xx-xxxx - Henrietta Tedrow - d. 7-25-1948
actor: Hannah O'Leary "Houseboat Hannah"; Helen Spalding "Woman in
White"

Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2007 11:30:32 +0000
From: "Stewart Wright" <stewwright@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Episode Guide for "Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost
   Persons"

In [removed] Digest V2007 #215
Jim Bourg asked:
Is there an episode guide for "Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost  Persons"?

There definitely is such a guide!  It was written by one of the regular
contributors to the Digest:  author Jim Cox.  The following is a portion of
my 2004 review of Jim's book.

MR. KEEN, TRACER OF LOST PERSONS
A Complete History and Episode Log of Radio's Most Durable Detective
By Jim Cox

In this book, Jim Cox focuses his considerable research and writing talents
on a single series that was one of his favorites when he was growing up:
MR. KEEN, TRACER OF LOST PERSONS.

As readers have come to expect, he has intensively and thoroughly researched
his chosen subject, uncovered much new information, and written a highly
entertaining and enlightening volume on radio's longest-running detective
series.

The book starts with CHRONOLOGY: A MR. KEEN ALMANAC which is a convenient
time line for the series which provides information in an outline format
including dates, days, and times of broadcasts; primary cast and crew;
networks; and sponsors.

In the chapter THE AURAL SLEUTH: MURDER AND MAYHEM ON THE AIR, Jim discusses
the popularity and significance of the private investigator during the
Golden Age of Radio.

The origins and evolution of the Mr. Keen character are examined in the next
three sections. The ORIGINS OF A SUPERSLEUTH covers the literary lineage of
Keen in the writings of Robert W. Chambers and how Mr. Keen was adapted for
radio by Frank and Anne Hummert. In Chambers writings the kindly old
investigator was a matchmaker for the wealthy. The next two chapters
describe how Mr. Keen evolved over time on the radio: starting as the
"Tracer of Lost Persons" in 1937 and by the mid-1940's transforming into a
more intense, relentless chaser of murderers.

The dictates of the Hummerts often led to unintentional humorous situations
and dialog on the series and are mentioned in the chapter FUNNY BUSINESS.
These gaffs lead to satires on the series by the comedy team of Bob and Ray:
Mr. Trace Keener Than Most Persons and Mr. Treat, Chaser of Lost Persons.
These Bob and Ray sketches of the series are also addressed.

Many entertaining anecdotes about cast and crew members are included in the
chapter HIRED GUNS.  There are also numerous biographical sketches of the
writers, lead actors, directors, announcers, sound effects artists, and
musicians.

The advertisers on Mr. Keen are discussed on SOLD ON RADIO.

Collectors will be intrigued by the Radio Episode Guide for the 1693
installments of MR. KEEN. This Guide is over 260 pages in length.  There is
plenty of factual information:
the broadcast dates and times,
episode numbers and titles,
episode plot summaries, and so forth.

With the publication MR. KEEN, TRACER OF LOST PERSONS, Jim Cox has added
another superlative volume to the body of Old-Time Radio literature.

ISBN: 0-7864-1738-2
$65
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Box 611
Jefferson, NC 28640
800-253-2187
Fax Order: 336-246-4403
[removed]

Signing off for now,

Stewart

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

Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2007 11:30:41 +0000
From: "Walden Hughes" <walden1@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  SPERDVAC lunch in November

Hi Everybody,

just wanted to let you know that SPERDVAC will host a lunch on Saturday
11-10-07 to celebrate the 75 birthday of the Jack Benny,s radio show at the
Sportmen,s Lodge in Studio City in California.  Laura Leff the president of
IJBFC will host a panel of cast members from the radio show, and Eddie
Carroll will star as Jack in a re-creation of the Jack Benny radio show.
You can contact me for more details off list.  Take care,

Walden Hughes

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

Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2007 11:30:55 +0000
From: charlie@[removed]
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  #OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Night!

A weekly [removed]

For the best in OTR Chat, join IRC (Internet Relay Chat), StarLink-IRC
Network, the channel name is #OldRadio.  We meet Thursdays at 8 PM Eastern
and go on, and on! The oldest OTR Chat Channel, it has been in existence
over nine years, same time, same channel! Started by Lois Culver, widow
of actor Howard Culver, this is the place to be on Thursday night for
real-time OTR talk!

Our "regulars" include OTR actors, soundmen, collectors, listeners, and
others interested in enjoying OTR from points all over the world. Discussions
range from favorite shows to almost anything else under the sun (sometimes
it's hard for us to stay on-topic)...but even if it isn't always focused,
it's always a good time!

For more info, contact charlie@[removed]. We hope to see you there, this
week and every week!

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

Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2007 11:31:48 +0000
From: <otrbuff@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Durability on the airwaves

In a recent post I observed that The Romance of Helen Trent held down a 
single quarter-hour at 12:30 [removed] ET for 24 years (1936-1960), five days a 
week, all of it on CBS.  Disregarding the news on the hour, and The 
Breakfast Club (which held forth in most cities at 9 [removed] ET for the better 
part of 35-and-a-half years), did Trent occupy the same spot at the same 
time on the same network longer than any other dramatic feature?  I believe 
it may have.

I'm aware that Jack Benny inaugurated his "Sunday at Seven" tradition on 
October 14, 1934 on NBC Blue, transferred to NBC Red on October 4, 1936, 
shifted to CBS on January 2, 1949, ended his new shows at CBS on May 22, 
1955, and -- after a 17-month lapse -- carried on in repeats through June 
22, 1958.  That certainly qualifies him as the title-holder of something 
although it doesn't top the consecutive, more durable Trent, with far more 
broadcasts in addition.

While on this topic, Our Gal Sunday (which followed Helen at 12:45) was the 
most enduring drainboard drama to never move out of its original 
quarter-hour.  It persisted from its inception on CBS on March 29, 1937 
through its final airing on January 2, 1959 on CBS.  How many other shows 
can make similar claims?

There were some also-rans of the daytime serial breed with high occupancy 
runs, too.  Stella Dallas never left the quarter-hour to which she was 
assigned once her NBC manifestation began on June 6, 1938.  She was heard 
at 4:15 [removed] until the ax fell on Dec. 30, 1955.  Backstage Wife remained 
at the same address at NBC (4:00) from 1938 to July 1, 1955.  Young Doctor 
Malone held the 1:30 [removed] segment at CBS from April 2, 1945 to November 25, 
1960.  Wendy Warren and the News was a 12 noon fixture at CBS from 
beginning to end, June 23, 1947 to November 12, 1958.  There were several 
others of that strain that lasted in single quarter-hours for 15 years or 
longer (The Right to Happiness, Lorenzo Jones, Ma Perkins, Pepper Young's 
Family, et al.).

Can you think of other shows that occupied their same quarter-hour, 
half-hour or hour on one network for 15 years or longer?  Here are three 
that immediately come to mind:

The Voice of Firestone (September 7, 1931-June 7, 1954, NBC, 8:30 [removed] Monday)
Lux Radio Theater (July 29, 1935-June 28, 1954, CBS, 9 [removed] Monday)
The Bell Telphone Hour (April 29, 1940-June 30, 1958, NBC, 9 [removed] Monday)

What others aired at the very same hour on one network (NBC Blue/ABC counts 
as one) for 15 or more years?

Jim Cox

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

Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2007 11:30:23 +0000
From: Frank McGurn <[removed]@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  When Radio Was

ChuckSchaden has announce that "When Radio Was" is going to being going off 
the the  for news go to
Nostalgia Digest _ [removed] _
Frank McGurn _ _

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

Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2007 11:15:49 +0000
From: "Jerry Williams" <mrj1313@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Big Inch Land

Greetings All,
    In 2000 when my wife and I were in Dawson City we went on a quest to 
find that land, which we did.
We talked to the owners father and he allowed me to dig up some of the land 
and I now have about a square foot of the Big Inch Land. If you are going 
to FOTR in Oct., buy some raffle tickets as I am going to donate some of 
this land to Jay for the door prize with a replica of the "Poke" that you 
could send off for and a deed.
If anyone knows where to get a DVD of the program about this land I would 
love to have that info.
Jerry Williams
Oroville, California

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2007 Issue #216
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