Subject: [removed] Digest V2004 #247
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 7/28/2004 8:32 AM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2004 : Issue 247
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      The Shadow's bio                      [ "Scott Eberbach" <saeberbach@earthl ]
      Jerry,Jerry quite Contrary            [ hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed]; ]
      a question                            [ "[removed]" <[removed]@[removed] ]
      Bill Randle/Elvis                     [ "Tim Lones" <timl2002@[removed] ]
      Jackson Beck                          [ JayHick@[removed] ]

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    Date: Wed, 28 Jul 2004 11:02:38 -0400
    From: "Scott Eberbach" <saeberbach@[removed];
    To: "OTR Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  The Shadow's bio

    In response to Kenneth Clarke's posting about the Shadow's bio
    Shadow Bio:
    It is important to understand that the Shadow appears both on radio and in
    print. Both incarnations are different. As far as the radio Shadow a very
    brief bio is given in The Temple Bells of Neban (10/24/37). Lamont Cranston
    tells Margot in this episode that he learned the secret of clouding men's
    minds from a yogi priest at the Temple Of The Cobras in Deli India (not
    Tibet). Perhaps he also learned the art of telepathy and reading minds as
    well as these talents were often mentioned in the radio adventures of the
    Shadow when Orson Welles had the the role. These additional powers were
    dropped later in the series and he only had the power to cloud men's minds
    so they cannot see him. It is important to note that prior to1937 the Shadow
    was only a narrator of detective stories put out by Street and Smith
    publishers of Detective Story Magazine. Which leads us to the Shadow as he
    appeared in print.
    The Shadow made his debut in print in 1931. This was done in response to
    news dealers reporting that customers were asking for the magazine that told
    about the Shadow. Street and Smith hired Walter B. Gibson to write some
    stories featuring the Shadow. The magazine started out as a quarterly, and
    in response to the phenomenal sales it became a monthy and then went to
    twice a month. The bio of the Shadow in the pulp stories is done more or
    less in stages. Gibson would occasionally mention something about the Shadow
    's backround from time to time; therefore, you would have to read a number
    of the pulp stories to get an idea of this man's backround. He did not have
    the power to cloud men's minds, but by wearing a black cloak and a black
    slouch hat to hide his features he almost appeared invisible in the dark.
    The Shadow also had a number of alter egos. Lamont Cranston was the one most
    often used. Henry Arnaud was another frequent guise in the early stories. It
    was finally revealed in 1937 in the novel entitled The Shadow Unmasks that
    the Shadow's true identity was Kent Allard a famed flying ace who had
    crashed in the jungles of Guatemala. About the time of Allard's
    disappearance is when the Shadow began his war on crime. Assisting the
    Shadow was a number of agents. Burbank was his contact man who reported to
    the Shadow and relayed the Shadow's instructions to his agents. Harry
    Vincent, Clyde Burke, Cliff Marsland, and Moe Shrevnitz were the agents most
    often used. There were a host of lesser agents such as Tapper, Hawkeye, and
    Jerhico Druke who also assisted the Shadow. Margot Lane would not appear in
    the pulps until 1941 in the novel entitled The Thunder King. Margot was a
    creation of radio and was there as a love intrest for Lamont Cranston on
    radio. In the pulps she had a met the real Lamont Cranston on board a cruise
    ship and then ran into him again when the Shadow was using the Cranston
    guise. In some of the later stories it is hinted that she suspects that
    Cranston/Allard and The Shadow are one and the same. The Shadow's ring is a
    [removed] rare type of fire opal and he is the only one who wears that
    ring. Two versions of how he came about the ring are given. The first
    version is that it was part of the Romanoff jewels that were smuggled out of
    Russia when the communists took over. The other is that the ring was given
    to him by a tribe of Xinca indians when he was in Guatemala. John Olsen's
    Shadow website [removed]~deshadow/#Q7 has a mp3 clip of
    Gibson (at a convention) commenting on this.
    So to answer your question none of the stories you heard concerning the bio
    of the Shadow is true. The above is, of course, a bare bones account.
    Anthony Tollin, our resident Shadow expert, can most likely add more to this
    and I hope correct me if I do have something wrong.
    Scott

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

    Date: Wed, 28 Jul 2004 11:04:54 -0400
    From: hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Jerry,Jerry quite Contrary

    Why do I feel that Jer51473@[removed], in all his recent postings on the
    subject of Dropped script pages, as well as what constitutes someone being
    considered a "Professional", steadfastly chooses to totally ignore the
    majority opinion of the knowledgable "Digesters", the "experts", and the
    "Pros".

    Why do I get the feeling that if I said "white", jer would immediately say
    "Black".  He seems to take the opposing point of view on almost every issue.
    When Bryan supported my contention that Mary Livingston was not a
    "Professional" IN THE TRUEST SENSE OF THE WORD, Jer opined.

>     Mary Linvingston was a professional radio performer. She did the show for
>     years and im sure she got paid.

    Bryan [removed]"maybe not, for tax purposes, etc."...but then added.

> >     She was also well known for being, shall we say, a bit on the, ah, "odd"
> >     side. (Biographical sketches of Benny by both George Burns and Milton Berle
> >     go into great detail on these matters

>     According to brian that was true because beryle and a couple of more had that
>     opinion. Lets assume she was, does that keep her from being a professional?

    Jer. I'm afraid you miss the point. Let me see if I can put this in the
    proper perspective for you. Let's change the term being a "Professional"
    into the term "Being a Pro". That's seems to be in common usage now. It's a
    high compliment when one is considered to be "a real Pro" at something.

    In the trade (call it what you will, "Industry", "profession", "medium"),
    Mary Livingston REALLY DID NOT LIKE PERFORMING ON RADIO. (According to all
    the experts).  And the fact that many thought her a bit "odd" is really not
    important.

    What does matter is a very simple concept to grasp. Just because someone was
    (is) paid to appear in radio, TV, films, regardless of the frequency, does
    not make them a pro at it. We are talking about professional "Actors" who
    are recognized for their acting ability. We do not use the term "Pro" when
    it comes to celebrities (perhaps from other professions) who appear as
    themselves. Although they may be "performing" on radio in your eyes, they
    are not considered Professional actors among their peers.

>     >From all that I have heard. Mary did not want to perform. She hated having

    to do it. As jack's wife She was a "celebrity" who obviously was coerced or
    pressured into performing. Nobody has said, or maintained, that she didn't
    make a contribution to the Benny Show. If you enjoyed the way she spoke her
    lines (in the Character that the writers created for her), that's wonderful.

    But was she a "Pro" as a radio actress, capable of, and desirous of, working
    full time in the business. Can you see the distinction.

    Quite frankly, one could use the term about Mary. "Gee, what a pro", having
    the guts to do something that she hated to do. But that's not relative to
    this discussion. And Dropping one's script pages was simply considered by
    the vast majority of radio pro's to be an unprofessional technique. But it
    sure doesn't make her a bad person.

>     We could still be professionals though if we get paid to preform and, i
>     guess,
>     dont drop paper on the floor.

    Aside from the sarcasm, one has nothing to do with the other.
    When a celebrity is paid to make an appearance, that does not automatically
    make them a "Pro" at performing. There is a big difference between
    "Appearing" and "Performing". In this context, A Pro is one who makes their
    living at acting, (based on their talent and ability) and has the respect of
    others in the profession, who see them, and rank them, as fellow acting
    professionals.

    Dropping script pages is a totally separate issue. It is simply considered
    to be technically unprofessional, based on industry standards, and nothing
    more.

    Let me see if I can clarify this a bit further. The world has just lost an
    amazing actor. Marlon Brando. Let say that Mr. Brando was asked to perform
    on a radio program, and elected to drop his script pages rather than learn
    the standard (silent, not messy) technique. Does that make Mr. Brando less
    than an incredible actor and highly regarded as an professional performer.
    Hell no. Just guilty of exhibiting some unprofessional activity. BUT WHAT
    ELSE IS NEW. In the Motion Picture business, he had the reputation as being
    difficult to work with. Many performers consider this to be incredibly
    unprofessional behavior as well.

    Now, another example. I was fortunate to direct James Michener in some
    commercials. A prodigious talent. A fantastic author. A super nice man.
    He was paid to do these spots by Walden Books. Does that make him a
    Professional TV performer (actor) just because he was paid for it. Can you
    see the distinction?

    Hal(Harlan)Stone
    Jughead

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

    Date: Wed, 28 Jul 2004 11:28:26 -0400
    From: "[removed]" <[removed]@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  a question

    I've often heard the term "character actor" used to describe particular OTR
    actors (as well as actors in other mediums).  However, I don't quite
    understand this term.  What exactly is a character actor?  Don't all actors
    play characters?  Is this some type of acting, like method?  I'd appreciate a
    little background.

    Thank you,
    -chris holm

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

    Date: Wed, 28 Jul 2004 11:31:15 -0400
    From: "Tim Lones" <timl2002@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Bill Randle/Elvis

    [removed] was Bill Randle that Introduced Elvis to National [removed]:
    While he died on July 9th, It had been announced that the last station he
    worked at WRMR 1420 (Formerly on 850) would drop their Big Bands/Standards
    format as of that weekend and become Conservative Talk under their former
    Call letters [removed] Randle's last show was pretaped to broadcast Sunday
    July [removed] which They had a Bill Randle Memorial [removed] stopped the
    music as of midnight that night as it [removed]

    Tim Lones

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

    Date: Wed, 28 Jul 2004 11:31:46 -0400
    From: JayHick@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Jackson Beck

    I just got a phone call that Jackson Beck just died.  I know no other details
    at this time.  He was one of our first guests at our convention and attended
    more conventions than anyone else.  His voice will be missed but fortunately
    will still be heard in the thousands of radio programs and commercials that he
    made.  Jay

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2004 Issue #247
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