Subject: [removed] Digest V2008 #116
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 5/6/2008 4:00 PM

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

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2008 : Issue 116
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Re: The lost special                  [ Alldavid@[removed] ]
      5-6 births/deaths                     [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
      SPERDVAC 2008!                        [ Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed] ]
      Once more, with feeling               [ Wich2@[removed] ]
      RE: The Lost Special                  [ "Stewart Wright" <stewwright@[removed] ]
      Re: "O Superman"                      [ jameshburns@[removed] (Jim Burns) ]
      SPERDVAC in the News                  [ seandd@[removed] ]
      RIP Ted Key                           [ Ben Ohmart <benohmart@[removed]; ]
      High Book Prices                      [ "Tony Bandy" <[removed]@[removed]; ]
      L. Welk                               [ Jody Davis <baroygis@[removed]; ]
      Bob [removed]                    [ Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed] ]

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

    Date: Mon, 5 May 2008 22:06:38 -0400
    From: Alldavid@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: The lost special

    In a  message dated 5/4/2008 10:20:43 [removed] Eastern Daylight Time,
    [removed]@[removed] writes:

>     This  same short  story was the basis for a number of SHERLOCK HOLMES  radio
>     broadcasts,  even though the story never had Holmes in the   story.

    Actually, the story  did have Sherlock Holmes in  it,
    although he was not mentioned by name.  Doyle,
    as probably  everybody knows, did not like writing Holmes stories,
    but recognized the  series as the basis for his livelihood.
    In two mystery stories, including  "The Lost Special," the media
    in the story quote an unnamed expert (but  clearly Holmes)
    confessing that he is completely baffled by the problem  --
    just a little dig that wouldn't destroy his cash cow.

    David  Hatch
    Columbia,   MD

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

    Date: Tue, 6 May 2008 08:10:26 -0400
    From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  5-6 births/deaths

    May 6th births

    05-06-1882 - William E. Scripps - Michigan - d. 6-12-1952
    Founded WWJ in Detroit, Michigan
    05-06-1899 - Billy Cotton - London, England - d. 3-25-1969
    bandleader: "Wakey Wakey!!"
    05-06-1900 - Dave Elman - Park River, ND - d. 12-5-1967
    emcee: (The Dean of American Hobbyists) "Hobby Lobby"
    05-06-1906 - Mathilde Ferror - d. 11-26-1990
    writer: "Lorenzo Jones"
    05-06-1908 - Parkyakarkus (Harry Einstein) - Boston, MA - d. 11-24-1958
    comedian: "Eddie Cantor Show"; "Al Jolson Show"; "Meet Me at Parkys"
    05-06-1910 - Alice Reinheart - San Francisco, CA - d. 6-10-1993
    actor: Anne Williams "Casey, Crime Photographer"; Jean Abbott "Abbott
    Mysteries"
    05-06-1911 - Artie Bland - d. 3-4-2002
    disk jockey: KWBU Corpus Christi, Texas
    05-06-1911 - Frank Nelson - Denver, CO - d. 9-12-1986
    actor, comedian: Anthony J. Lyon "Jeff Regan"; nemisis "Jack Benny
    Program"
    05-06-1912 - Bill Quinn - NYC - d. 4-29-1994
    actor: Guy Aldis "Against the Storm"; Tom Davis "When a Girl Marries"
    05-06-1913 - Carmen Cavallaro - NYC - d. 10-12-1989
    bandleader: (The Poet of the Piano) "Schaeffer Revue"; "Tums Tune Time"
    05-06-1913 - Douglas Stewart - Eltham, New Zealand - d. 2-14-1985
    writer: "The Fire On the Snow"
    05-06-1913 - Stewart Granger - London, England - d. 8-16-1993
    actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Screen Guild Theatre"
    05-06-1914 - Arline Blackburn - NYC
    actor: Kitty Kelly "Pretty Kitty Kelly"; Eileen Turner "The O'Neills"
    05-06-1914 - Ken Englund - Chicago, IL - d. 8-10-1993
    writer: "Three Sheets to the Wind"
    05-06-1915 - Orson Welles - Kenosha, WI - d. 10-10-1985
    actor: Lamont Cranston/Shadow "The Shadow"; "Mercury Theatre on the Air"
    05-06-1917 - Bob Murphy - Bismarck, ND - d. 10-25-1959
    announcer: "The Breakfast Club"
    05-06-1926 - Marguarite Piazza - New Orleans, LA
    singer: "Encore"
    05-06-1928 - Doreen Clarke - Middleton, England
    writer: "Oh, The Apple Tree"; "The Name of Your Uncle"
    05-06-1941 - Ghena Dimitrova - Sofia, Bulgaria - d. 7-11-2005
    operatic soprano: "Metropolitan Opera"
    05-06-1945 - Richard Eyer - Santa Monica, CA
    actor: Bobby "My Friend Irma"

    May 6th deaths

    01-24-1909 - Ann Todd - Hartford, Cheshire, England - d. 5-6-1993
    actor: Amy Foster "Those We Love"
    03-23-1920 - Maurice Marsac - La Croix, France - d. 5-6-2007
    actor: French Teacher "Our Miss Brooks"
    04-02-1911 - Bill Days - St. Louis, MO - d. 5-6-2002
    singer: (Member Sportsmen Quartet) "Jack Benny Program"
    04-27-1899 - Ned Wever - NYC - d. 5-6-1984
    actor: Dick Tracy "Dick Tracy"; Anthony Loring "Young Widder Brown"
    05-13-1907 - Warren Angell - Brooklyn, NY - d. 5-6-2006
    singer: "Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians"
    05-17-1908 - Joe Grant - NYC - d. 5-6-2005
    writer: "Lux Radio Theatre"
    05-31-1900 - Hugh Studebaker - Ridgeville, IN - d. 5-6-1978
    actor: Ichabod Mudd "Captain Midnight"; Silly Watson "Fibber McGee
    and Molly"
    06-23-1925 - Larry Blyden - Houston, TX - d. 5-6-1975
    actor: "Radio City Playhouse"; "Cavalcade of America"
    07-04-1909 - Al Jarvis - Winnipeg, Canada - d. 5-6-1970
    disc jockey, songwriter: "Make-Believe Ballroom"
    07-15-1923 - Herb Sargent - Philadelphia, PA - d. 5-6-2005
    writer: Wrote for radio in the 1940s
    08-09-1901 - Charles Farrell - Onset Bay, Cape Cod, MA - d. 5-6-1990
    actor: Verne Albright "My Little Margie"
    08-17-1888 - Monte Woolley- NYC - d. 5-6-1963
    actor: Edwin Montague "Magnificent Montague"
    09-20-1908 - Lowell Hawley - Lynden, WA - d. 5-6-2003
    screenwriter: "Art Baker's Notebook"
    09-26-1901 - Ted Weems - Pitcairn, PA - d. 5-6-1963
    bandleader: "Fibber McGee and Molly"; "Sunday Matinee"; "Beat the Band"
    10-06-1893 - Milton Ager - Chicago, IL - d. 5-6-1979
    composer of many songs broadcast on radio
    10-10-1910 - Don Hancock - Anderson, IN - d. 5-6-1980
    announcer: "The Goldbergs"; "Ellery Queen"; "Vox Pop"
    10-17-1923 - Barney Kessel - Muskogee, OK - d. 5-6-2004
    jazz guitarist: "Jubilee"; "One Night Stand"; "Just Jazz"
    11-09-1916 - Norwood Anderson - d. 5-6-2005
    disk jockey: "Town and Party Line" WFTC Kingston, North Carolina
    11-26-1907 - Henry "Hot Lips" Levine - London, England - d. 5-6-1989
    trumpeter, conducter: "Chamber Music of Lower Basin Street";
    "Strictly from Dixie"
    12-27-1901 - Marlene Dietrich - Berlin, Germany - d. 5-6-1992
    actor: Mlle. Madou, "Cafe Istanbul"

    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

    Date: Tue, 6 May 2008 08:14:57 -0400
    From: Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  SPERDVAC 2008!

    I returned from SPERDVAC 2008 yesterday and wanted to report on the
    proceedings.  Although I am a long-time FOTR convention attendee (and board
    member) and have attended REPS several times, my schedule never before
    allowed my to attend SPERDVAC and even in 2008 it can still draw a crowd and
    pack a punch.

    As is usual for OTR conventions these days, the best parts were found at the
    dinner tables and in the hallways, less so on the stage, although Chuck
    McCann, Eddie Carroll and others put on absolutely amazing recreation of The
    Great Gildersleeve, giving ample support to Shirely Mitchell recreating her
    original roll as Lelia Ransom.

    The Lone Ranger and Jack Benny Show recreations on Saturday night probably
    would have worked better if the actors weren't competing with an
    unfortunately scheduled wedding that was taking place on the other side of a
    very thin wall in the back of the performance space.  The latin music
    reverberating through however did lead to an absolutely Benny-esque ad-lip
    by Carroll.  When the plot of the episode they were recreating shifted to
    Mexico, he put in a line about "sounds like the party next door" and broke
    up the audience and the cast in true "Drear Pooson" fashion, so kudos for
    that.

    That said, the thrill of the convention was meeting and sharing two meals
    with June Foray - whose real voice sounds more like Witch Hazel than Granny
    or Rocky the Flying Squirrell.  As usual with the biggest stars, she was a
    delightful lady and quite gracious to me.  She even gave me her copy of her
    Gildersleeve script (she performed admirably as Birdie - I'm not sure anyone
    told her the character is black, which almost certainly helped).

    Interestingly - she noted that she gets no royalties from the very popular
    DVD collections of Rocky & Bullwinkle ("not that I need the money," she
    added) but did seem a bit peeved at the Ward heirs for the way they are
    handling things.  She also noted that the last time she flew was to Japan to
    receive an award and the flight blew both her eardrums.  As she is still an
    in-demand voice-over artist and being deaf puts a crimp in your style in
    that profession, she has decided never to fly again, much to the chagrin of
    anyone recruiting for other OTR conventions.  She also related that she
    turned down a part on "Fraiser" because being on camera is too much trouble
    for the money they pay you.  A true radio person even now!

    It was also very special to see Stan Freberg in person introducing the
    recreations on Saturday night and noting that he is SPERDVAC member #1.
    While I didn't get a chance to speak with him directly, it was amusing to be
    out in the hall between performances calling my wife to say good night and
    notice that he was about three feet away from me doing the same thing (well,
    it was his wife, not my wife, but you get my point).

    It was also a pleasure catching up with cartoon voice-over actress Corrinne
    Orr, who was just back from the premier of the new "Speed Racer" movie and
    noted that she and Suspense writer Peter Fernandez have cameos in it.  As
    far as the quality of the movie - "they made some interesting choices," is
    as much as I'll relate in public.  She is hoping to return to Newark for
    FOTR this year and perhaps once again share the stage with Simon Jones (we
    can only hope).

    I also had an extended Sunday morning conversation with Ivy Bethune
    ("Superman") who at 90 is still working and recently fired her agent for
    causing her to miss out on casting opportunities on "Malcolm in the Middle"
    and a movie.  Ivy has a part as a crazy Russian woman in the upcoming "Get
    Smart" remake.  She noted sadly that people she knows who have seen the
    trailer think it is dated and is afraid the movie won't do well.  Bethune is
    herself Russian and a union organizer back when, which together caused her
    to be blacklisted.  That led her to put her daughter in show business, as
    sympathetic casting agents who couldn't use her cast her daughter as a
    Gerber Baby or something so the family would have some income.  She had
    thought about returning to Russia during that period but knew she would
    never be allowed back in the [removed] if she tried it, so she stuck it out until
    the mess blew over.  She also notes as a life-long union person that Equity
    is at this point pricing its members out of a lot of work and wonders if the
    current system is really serving all of its membership.

    Equally delightful was Marsha Hunt, who appeared with Edgar Bergen and among
    other roles played Blanche Bickerson opposite Don Ameche when Frances
    Langford was travelling with the Bob Hope show during the war.

    She had many great stories and memories about Norman Corwin as well.

    Seeing Fred Foy and his family also never gets old - another great Lone
    Ranger recreation on Saturday night.  Foy's friends Richard Benjamin and
    Paula Prentiss were in the audience.  You rarely get surprise guests that
    famous at conventions in Newark in Seattle.  Beverly Washburn was also
    tremendous, and even gave me her Jack Benny script (she played Mary), which
    was interesting to read through as there were so many ad-libs in the
    performance.

    And last, and certainly first, was being able to meet, shake hands with and
    speak with Norman Corwin on Sunday morning just before rushing to the
    airport to be early for my flight (the hotel was really conservative with
    the estimate on how long it would take me to get back to LAX).  What a
    tremeous thrill to be able to thank him for all he has given to radio and to
    have him express thanks to the audience for a standing ovation when he
    entered the room.  That was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I will
    remember forever.  Considering that his life these days must consist 90% of
    strangers bothering him while he's eating to say something he's heard
    thousands of times and won't remember 30 minutes later - he exactly how you
    would hope your idol would be if you meet him.

    I don't mean to slight all the fun I had with the not-so-famous people who
    were hanging around but that might not be of as general interest to the
    digest, but hi to Stuart, Rich, Gary, Walden, Barbara, Bobb, Bryan, Joy,
    Penny, Anthony, and so on.

    I also want to commend the SPERDVAC audience for actually asking questions
    that don't require a 15-minute preamble during the panel sessions.  It is
    possible.

    Thanks very much to Waldon and all the little Hugheses for making this great
    event possible for treating me so well as a guest.  I hope he was serious
    when he said on Saturday that he's taking only one week off before starting
    on the next convention.

    If they remain in May I may make a habit of it!

    Sean Dougherty
    SeanDD@[removed]

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

    Date: Tue, 6 May 2008 08:16:25 -0400
    From: Wich2@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Once more, with feeling

    Dear Kermyt-

    From: Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed];

>     I  remember
>     reading someplace that The Lost Special could have been a Holmes  story

    As I posted here recently, that depends on how you mean "could have  been."
    Arthur Conan Doyle emphatically wrote it as a NON-Sherlock tale; there is
    even
    a little in-joke in the original about that.

>     I wonder
>     if the Escape script was perhaps recycled or inspired  by one of the
>     earlier Holmes radio adaptations? Do the scripts of these lost  Holmes
>     versions exist

    As I wrote, one certainly does. It was the source of Bill Nadel's excellent
    recreation a few FOTR's ago. I don't know if the script is generally
    available,  though; Bill is a member of the Edith Meiser (she who wrote it)
    Foundation.

>     and if so, could somebody see if they were reused  for
>     Escape?

    It would've taken massive re-working, as Edith had done a  great deal of same
    weaving The Great Detective and The Good Doctor into the  tale.

>     Incidentally, the text of "The Lost Special" is widely  available
>     online

    The estimable Fred Berney may be able to furnish interested parties with a
    recording of the our FOTR version. It went over very well, thanks to a cast
    including Bill Owen, Kevin Scullin, Corinne Orr, Bobb Lynes, George Ansbro,
    Barbara Watkins, Ruth Last, Jimmy [removed]

    ...and meself as Sherlock Holmes (though, mysteriously, you wouldn't  have
    known that from that year's Program!)

    Best,
    -Craig Wichman

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

    Date: Tue, 6 May 2008 08:17:22 -0400
    From: "Stewart Wright" <stewwright@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  RE: The Lost Special

    In The Old-Time Radio Digest!
    Volume 2008 : Issue 115
    Kermyt asked regarding The Lost Special:

>     I wonder if the Escape script was perhaps recycled
>     or inspired by one of the earlier Holmes radio adaptations?

    	In all probability the script for the February 12, 1949 ESCAPE
    production of The Lost Special was not recycled from an earlier HOLMES radio
    adaptation. It was adapted from the Conan Doyle story for ESCAPE by Les
    Crutchfield.  The lead role of Scotland Yard Inspector Collins was played by
    Ben Wright.  Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson do not appear in this
    production.

>     Do the scripts of these lost Holmes versions exist,
>     and if so, could somebody see if they were reused for
>     Escape?

    	Several copies of the SHERLOCK HOLMES script for The Lost Special,
    which was broadcast on November 18, 1934, exist in the
    Edith Meiser Collection
    University of Minnesota Libraries
    Elmer L. Andersen Library
    222-21st Ave S
    Minneapolis, MN 55455

    	She donated her collection of Sherlockian manuscripts and related
    material to the University of Minnesota in 1986.

    Signing off for now,

    Stewart

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

    Date: Tue, 6 May 2008 08:17:43 -0400
    From: jameshburns@[removed] (Jim Burns)
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: "O Superman"

    Gee whiz.

    I got all excited there for a moment because I thought Dave Rogers was
    about to announce a BBC radio production of the erotic classic, THE
    STORY OF [removed]

    As it might have happened, on Krypton!

    (In the Phantom Zone?)

    Did Mort Weisenger create an erogenous zone, for members of the bottled
    city of Kandor?

    In all [removed]

    ;-)

    Jim Burns

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

    Date: Tue, 6 May 2008 11:36:08 -0400
    From: seandd@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  SPERDVAC in the News

    SPERDVAC's Jerry Williams gets some local media coverage today:

    [removed]

    Sean Dougherty
    SeanDD@[removed]

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

    Date: Tue, 6 May 2008 12:59:30 -0400
    From: Ben Ohmart <benohmart@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  RIP Ted Key

    I know he doesn't have much of a connection to otr,
    but I lament greatly the passing of cartoonist Ted
    Key, best known for creating Hazel. He did have a
    radio play published in one of the Best of series. He
    was also a good friend of mine. We traded letters for
    a number of years until last Sept. when he had a
    stroke and physically/mentally couldn't continue. I'll
    be publishing his autobiography sometime soon - he
    kept saying he wasn't in a hurry; now I'm sorry he
    didn't live to see it published. Neither did Robie
    Lester. But Ted died peacefully, and can now join all
    his old cartoonist friends.

    Ben Ohmart

    Old radio. Old movies. New books.
    [removed]

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

    Date: Tue, 6 May 2008 13:00:14 -0400
    From: "Tony Bandy" <[removed]@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  High Book Prices

    Dear List,

    I have not really posted much, mostly just enjoying the information, but
    considering the book publishing, I found a site called [removed]

    I've never used it, not endorsing it, but just throwing it out for everyone
    to know about.  Evidently, there is no charge to publish the [removed]
    what I can tell.

    Of course, one might want to consider writing books for the [removed]
    be a great way to introduce everyone to OTR?

    Thanks for being a great list!

    Tony

    Tony Bandy
    [removed](at)[removed]
    BLOG: [removed]

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

    Date: Tue, 6 May 2008 13:16:50 -0400
    From: Jody Davis <baroygis@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  L. Welk
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    I'm not sure how many Lawrence Welk fans know that he hosted a syndicated
    radio show after the syndie television show ended. "Broadcasting" magazine
    used to run display ads for the show almost every week in the mid-80s. I know
    this because I have an aircheck of one such show. I'm on the road now, so I
    can't access [removed] it's from 1985, give or take a year. I was considering
    buying a minority interest in an AM station in southern Indiana and was
    looking for possible programming.

    The syndicated radio Welk show was professionally produced, with the host
    making sure he maxed out his trademark catchphrases each week. The dialogue
    between the maestro and the announcer (can't remember his name without
    listening to the aircheck) was a tad contrived. But [removed] fan of the
    TV show would have made it appointment listening each week.

    Jody Davis

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

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

    Date: Tue, 6 May 2008 17:59:08 -0400
    From: Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Bob [removed]

    Folks;

       A reminder that on today's Bob Edwards Show on XM Satellite Radio, Bob
    Edwards interviews Bob Elliott - lots of interspersed clips of classic Bob
    and Ray bits, too!

       You can hear the interview by going to XM OnLine at
    [removed] and signing up for a free sample account. Once you
    have it set up, tune to XM channel 133 any time until tomorrow morning at
    8:00am eastern (the show loops there all day long), or check it out this
    weekend where it will run every fifth hour all weekend long in rotation with
    the shows from the rest of the week.

             Charlie

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2008 Issue #116
    *********************************************

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