------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2006 : Issue 138
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
5-18 births/deaths [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
Another Candidate for Too short run [ "Tim Lones" <tlones1@[removed]; ]
Link to Granby's Green Acres episode [ "Tim Lones" <tlones1@[removed]; ]
Anne Francis on OTR [ "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed] ]
Too Short [ "whhsa" <whhsa@[removed]; ]
Shot runs of Radio Show [ "Frank McGurn" <[removed]@sbcgloba ]
MacDonald's works [ "otrbuff" <otrbuff@[removed]; ]
Race cars and OTR [ "Holm, Chris " <[removed]@[removed] ]
Dick Van Patten on Radio [ "Karen Lerner" <[removed]@[removed] ]
A NEW HOUDINI MOVIE [ Sandy Singer <sinatradj@[removed]; ]
shows that ran too long [ Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed]; ]
STAN FREBERG [ Sandy Singer <sinatradj@[removed]; ]
Norman Corwin Question on Jeopardy [ "John Weber" <wjweber@[removed] ]
OTR connection [ "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@juno. ]
SPRING REVERB 2 [ "Dave Adams" <daveadams-hollywood@c ]
5-19 births/deaths [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 17 May 2006 23:32:50 -0400
From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 5-18 births/deaths
May 18th births
05-18-1892 - Ezio Pinza, Rome, Italy - d. 5-9-1957
singer: "Telephone Hour"; "Ezio Pinza's Children Show"; "Stagestruck"
05-18-1893 - Jean Goldkette - Patras, Greece - d. 3-24-1962
bandleader: "The Studebaker Champion Program"
05-18-1897 - Frank Capra - Bisacquino, Sicily - d. 9-3-1991
film director: "Gulf Screen Theatre"; "NBC Theatre"; "Lux Radio Theatre"
05-18-1900 - Lew White - Philadelphia, PA - d. 3-4-1955
organist: "Lucky Strike Dance Orchestra"; "Break the Bank"; "Betty
Moore"
05-18-1900 - Raymond Paige - Wausau, WI (R; Los Angeles, CA)- d.
8-7-1965
conductor: "Hollywood Hotel"; "Musical Americana"; "Stage Door Canteen"
05-18-1902 - Meredith Willson - Mason City, IA - d. 6-15-1984
conductor, composer: "Maxwell House Coffee Time"; "Meredith Willson/
Music Room"
05-18-1904 - Fred Shields - Kansas City, MO - d. 6-30-1974
actor: Bill Fraser "Tarzan"
05-18-1907 - Clifford Curzon - London, England - d. 9-2-1982
pianist: "March of Dimes"
05-18-1908 - Alastair McBain - d. 12-xx-1980
author: "Cloak and Dagger"
05-18-1908 - Del King - Kansas City, KS
announcer: "Avalon Time"; "Tommy Dorsey's Kool Show"
05-18-1908 - Ted Malone - Colorado Springs, CO - d. 10-20-1989
commentator: "Between the Bookends"; "Pilgrimage of Poetry"
05-18-1908 - Tommy Tucker - Souris, ND - d. 7-13-1989
bandleader: "Lucky Strike Show with Walter Winchell"; "George Jessel
Show"
05-18-1912 - Perry Como - Canonsburg, PA - d. 5-12-2001
singer: "Perry Como Program"; "Chesterfield Supper Club"
05-18-1922 - Bill Macy - Revere, MA
actor: "Earplay"
05-18-1922 - Kai Winding - Aarhus, Denmark - d. 5-7-1983
musician: "Stan Kenton and His Orchestra"; "One Night Stand"; "Jubilee"
05-18-1924 - Jack Whitaker - Philadelphia, PA
disc jockey, sportscaster: "Jack the Bachelor"; "Sports Shots"
05-18-1931 - Robert Morse - Newton, MA
actor: "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"
05-18-1936 - Joel Kupperman - Chicago, IL
panelist: "Quiz Kids"
May 18th deaths
02-06-1888 - Lucille Gleason - Pasadena, CA - d. 5-18-1947
actor: "Jimmy Gleason's Diner"
03-21-1893 - Sidney Franklin - San Francisco, CA - d. 5-18-1972
film producer, director: "Academy Awards Program"; "Screen Guild
Theatre"
03-25-1892 - Andy Clyde - Blaingowrie, Scotland - d. 5-18-1967
actor: California Carlson "Hopalong Cassidy"
05-03-1919 - Doris Rich - Canada - d. 5-18-1971
actor: Hannah O'Leary" Houseboat Hannah"; Miss Daisey "Portia Faces
Life"
06-13-1890 - Elmer Davis - Aurora, IN - d. 5-18-1958
newscaster: "Elmer Davis and the News"
06-18-1919 - Ed Simmons - d. 5-18-1998
writer, director: "The Martin and Lewis Show"; "The Quiz Kids"
06-29-1908 - Leroy Anderson - Cambridge, MA - d. 5-18-1975
compser, arranger: " Contemporary Composers Concerts"; "Must for
America"
08-31-1908 - William Saroyan - Fresno, CA - d. 5-18-1981
writer: "Columbia Workshop"; "The Free Company"; "Biography in Sound"
09-09-1927 - Elvin Ray Jones - Pontiac, MI - d. 5-18-2004
jazz drummer: "Newport Jazz Festival"
10-12-1906 - Daniel Saidenberg - d. 5-18-1997
conductor: "Alec Templeton Time"
11-16-1912 - Paul Dudley - Massachusetts - d. 5-18-1959
writer: "Pot o' Gold"; "Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar"
11-23-1912 - Tyree Glenn - Corsicana, TX - d. 5-18-1974
trombonist, vibraphonist: "Duke Ellington Carnegie Hall Concert"
11-27-1925 - Marshall Thompson - Peoria, IL - d. 5-18-1992
actor: "Free World Theatre"; "Lux Radio Theatre"
11-29-1905 - Mario Braggiotti - Florence, Italy - d. 5-18-1996
pianist, composer: "Fray and Braggiotti"
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Birthplace of Johnny Jacobs
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 18 May 2006 02:22:58 -0400
From: "Tim Lones" <tlones1@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Another Candidate for Too short run
series-Granby's Green Acres
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There was a series called Granby's Green Acres that aired July 3-August
21, 1950 on [removed] Bea Benaderet and Gale Gordon as a City couple who
move to a farm in the [removed] that premise sounds familiar, it is because
The 1960's TV series Green Acres was based on this show. Jay Sommers wrote,
produced and directed the radio show and was creator of the TV
series.(produced by Paul Henning) Differences between Radio and TV versions:
Radio:Couple Named Granby
TV:Douglas
Radio:Granby-Bank Teller
TV-Douglas-Attorney
Radio:Granbys had a daughter
TV:Douglases had no children
Radio:Eb is played as an old wisened farmhand
TV:Eb is played as young-not too bright farmhand
Radio:County Agent:Actually has a clue
TV:County Agent (Kimball)doesnt know where he is half the time
Radio:General Store:Run by Mr. Kimball (absent minded similar to Alvy Moore's
county agent Kimball in the TV series)
TV:General Store Run by Level headed Sam Drucker (was in Petticoat Junction
before Green Acres and appeared simutaneously in both shows)
Radio:Small town dont think was mentioned
TV:Hooterville (Paul Henning actually took the idea behind this radio
series-and set it in Hooterville)
The radio version had enough talent behind it that it could have lasted
[removed] it had found a sponsor
Tim Lones
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------------------------------
Date: Thu, 18 May 2006 02:23:09 -0400
From: "Tim Lones" <tlones1@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Link to Granby's Green Acres episodes
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In my previous post about Granby's Green Acres I meant to include a link for
listening to four [removed] are included in a Green Acres website with
more info on the radio show
[removed]
Tim Lones
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------------------------------
Date: Thu, 18 May 2006 02:23:33 -0400
From: "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed];
To: "OTR" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Anne Francis on OTR
Actress Anne Francis (75) is being honored in SF this Friday and there was a
lengthy interview with her in last Sunday's paper. Am I the only one
unaware of her radio work as a kid?
"Born Ann Marvak in Ossining, [removed], her career started at age 5."
"I grew up in New York working in the radio soap opera 'When a Girl
Marries,' " she says. "The reason I got the job: I had strep throat and
sounded like the kid actor they were replacing. I did hundreds of radio
shows after that, including 'Let's Pretend.' Then the Broadway stage entered
my life." [at age 11]
-Irene
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 18 May 2006 09:24:34 -0400
From: "whhsa" <whhsa@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Too Short
Dear Folks;
Peace be with you.
In the list of short run shows I must add, Straight Arrow! The show lasted
only three seasons on the nationwide Mutual Network, 1949-1951. It had one
season on the Don Lee Network, starting in 1948, before making the
nationwide jump in 1949. The show had a most impressive list of
actors/actress supporting the main characters which made it one of the
better shows only leaving the air waves because NABISCO, which owned all
rights to the show, turned its advertising dollars to that new media waiting
in the wings, TV!. Straight Arrow received high marks in the ratings for a
children show, as well as breaking into the top ten in the adult market.
Manituwah,
Bill
PS You will be able to read all about it in BearManor Media's, soon to be
released, definitive study of the Straight Arrow promotion. Stay tuned!
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 18 May 2006 09:24:54 -0400
From: "Frank McGurn" <[removed]@[removed];
To: "The Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Shot runs of Radio Show
The business of entertainment hasn't changed weather it's radio or TV
ratings count on programs living or being canceled.
Take Mel Banc's 42 episodes 1946 -47 Mel had a sponsor, Colgate, and a
great cast of very good radio actors, but the show was silly and juvenile
for prime time at 8:30 PM Tuesdays on CBS. He was up against NBC's strong
line up of Suspense, Fibber McGee & Molly, Bob Hope & Red Skelton. I may not
be typical radio listener,but I didn't ever listen to Mel's show. I guess
not many did either. Mel was great talent as a character on Jack Benny ,
Judy Canova,or Burns & Allen and other shows.
When Television was beginning it was slow to cover the whole country because
coaxial cable had to be laid from coast to coast so Radio was, in some
areas, still king. In the 1950' s TV devastated motion pictures. Movie
Theaters were closing and becoming banquet hall, bowling alleys or being
torn down. People were staying home watching TV. Radio still had to fill the
air with entertainment, with or with out sponsors. Then we hear the term
participating sponsors, usually a nationally known product as Anacin, hair
care products or cigarettes. Some time we hear a local sponsor on show.
along with a national product. That is the way Radio Sprits does business
[removed] show is pre- recorded with National Sponsors and space for the
local station to have local sponsors.
Someone mentioned Stan Freberg who, in the summer of 1957, was up against
TV's Colgate Comedy Hour, Steve Show Alan and Ed Sullivan's Toast of the
Town. Stan had a good cast and Stan was great writer, but wild satire like
Stan's on only good for a [removed] Berle and Henry Morgan did satire
also, and did not last to long. Stan was always begging for a sponsors.
Wrong time and place.
I grew up listening to radio until TV became popular and that was the end of
radio, except to and from work in the car. .
My oldest son is 53 ( born in 1952) I asked him what he remembers about
radio when he was young. He never remembers radio until the 60s and Rock &
Roll music. Like most kids since the 50's it was TV only.
Sorry to take up so much space by had to tell it as I remember it. My family
and friends don't want to hear this so maybe OTR people will agree and add
to what I have written.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 18 May 2006 09:25:14 -0400
From: "otrbuff" <otrbuff@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: MacDonald's works
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I've noted that the mention of J. Fred MacDonald's works is recurring on this
forum so maybe it isn't too late to add a few observations. I carried a newly
purchased copy of "Don't Touch That Dial!" with me on a journey to Hawaii a
number of years ago and found it so fascinating that whenever I could find a
few moments to tear myself away from the incredible aura that is Hawaii, I
buried my nose in MacDonald's book. It is all that has been said here
already: for the OTR researcher, paradise found, in a style that is not only
informative and compelling but also comprehensive and not difficult to absorb.
I learned a great deal there and have quoted MacDonald in several of my own
works. He exhibits a great amount of skill and depth in performing his
investigation. Even the casual collector might enjoy it and be informed.
Someone hinted here that MacDonald hadn't been heard from in perhaps 20 years.
I had several exchanges with him a couple of years ago and he was healthy and
productive then so I assume he's still active, then running a film-related
enterprise, as I recall. He lives in the Chicago area and has written several
media-related books. He's among those cited in my "Historical Dictionary of
the American Radio Soap Opera" which includes brief biographies on a number of
folks who wrote volumes with significant contributions to the genre.
MacDonald covers multiple breeds, of course.
I'm happy to add an endorsement for this particular book by J. Fred MacDonald.
It's a classic that all serious vintage radio researchers have been familiar
with for a long time and I consider it well above the average by almost any
measure.
Jim Cox
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------------------------------
Date: Thu, 18 May 2006 09:25:25 -0400
From: "Holm, Chris " <[removed]@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Race cars and OTR
In #137, Karen Lerner asked
Someone asked me today if I could find them any
OTR shows about race cars. I haven't heard any.
Does anybody out there have any suggestions?
One that immediately comes to mind is an episode of Suspense. It's
about a race around the world during the early days of automobiles. I'm
at work, so I don't have the title or date.
-chris holm
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 18 May 2006 12:45:22 -0400
From: "Karen Lerner" <[removed]@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Dick Van Patten on Radio
Hi Walden,
Dick Van Patten, in addition to appearances on Duffy's Tavern and Theater
Guild, also appeared on the classic children's program Let's Pretend. In
addition, he was in a comedy (based on a comic strip by Gene Byrnes) called
Reg'lar Fellers in 1941, and was on an episode of Cavalcade of America about
Abraham Lincoln that same year. A bit down the line, from 1944 - 1945, he
was in a serial Drama called Miss Hattie with Ethel Barrymore (he played one
of her children).
Karen Lerner
Radio Spirits, Inc.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 18 May 2006 12:45:35 -0400
From: Sandy Singer <sinatradj@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: A NEW HOUDINI MOVIE
A new Houdini movie is underway. In it Catherine Zeta Jones plays a
"gypsy" whom Houdini has a love interest in. Two [removed]
1) Has anyone else heard about this?
2) Did this actually happen or is it being scripted for the sake of
selling tickets? To the best of my knowledge Houdini was faithful to
Bess.
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 18 May 2006 12:45:50 -0400
From: Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: shows that ran too long
In contrast to the thread on shows that didn't run long enough, I'd
like to open a discussion regarding shows that ran too long. By that I
don't mean shows that were so awful they should never have been on the
air. Nor do I mean your personal least favorite show. I mean shows that
started out great, and then for some reason (personnel change, new
writers, change of characters or storyline) it lost the magic. "Jumped
the shark," to use contemporary slang. In other words, shows that would
have been better off had they been cancelled at their peak, rather than
living on for years as a mere shadow of what they had been.
I actually can't think of any examples right now. I confess the Jack
Benny show lost a lot after Phil Harris left (plus many of the scripts
were recycled from earlier years); still, I certainly would never wish
Jack had gone off the air several years earlier than he did! Similarly,
Bob Hope's show was never quite as funny after he lost Jerry
Colonna--but it was still pretty good.
I remember hearing an interview with Bret Morrison in which he said the
last few years of The Shadow were pretty bad. However, since only one
show survives from the last five years, that's difficult to judge. I
also gather that Captain Midnight's final season or so (if I'm
remembering correctly) threw out a lot of the character's backstory and
wasn't very good. Again, though, I haven't heard any of those shows.
Anybody else have any other suggestions for shows that ran too long?
Kermyt
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 18 May 2006 12:45:56 -0400
From: Sandy Singer <sinatradj@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: STAN FREBERG
Like Police Squad, on television, the Freberg show was way 'over the
head' of most radio listeners -- Stan had one of the most creative minds
in the biz, somewhat like that of Ernie Kovacs -- sadly, few 'understood'
their comedy.
Here is a link to a recent Freberg interview on the BBC:
[removed]
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 18 May 2006 12:48:18 -0400
From: "John Weber" <wjweber@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Norman Corwin Question on Jeopardy
Norman Corwin was the subject of a question on Tuesday's edition of
Jeopardy.
I only caught the last bit of it. Did anyone see exactly what the
question was?
-- John Weber
[removed] <[removed];
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 18 May 2006 13:48:54 -0400
From: "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: OTR connection
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I noticed the listing on a recent edition of the mailing list
regarding
Clarabell the Clown on the old "Howdy Doody Show". The writer mentioned
the name Brian Gari and said there might be an OTR connection. Ya think?
Brian Gari, if it's the one I'm thinking of, was related to a very famous OTR
performer, Eddie Cantor. (I believe he is Eddie's grandson.) I think Brian
is involved with The Eddie Cantor Fan Club as well.
Cantor was a very important (depending who you speak with) vaudeville
and OTR performer. I believe he was involved with the Ziegfeld Follies and
appeared on not only his own radio show, but others such as "Texaco Town"
and "The Ipana Troubadours". Ipana was a toothpaste company who was one of
his long time sponsors.
Cantor had built a reputation for being very outspoken, both on the
air
and off the air as well, much to the chagrin of his sponsors. Some of the
songs
I remember him singing were "Ida, Sweet As Apple Cider" and "Oh Suzanna,
Dust Off That Old Piana". My mother happened to mention that he had a
[removed]"Old Banjo Eyes" and when he was represented in some various
cartoons during the early twentieth century his caricatured image accentuated
his eyes in the shape of round banjos.
He was a very talented comedian and his radio shows were highly rated
in
popularity polls.
Another OTR Fan,
Kenneth Clarke
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------------------------------
Date: Thu, 18 May 2006 17:10:24 -0400
From: "Dave Adams" <daveadams-hollywood@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: SPRING REVERB 2
Back in the days of Top 40 radio, we installed one of Damon's units.
Interesting reverb story re the Harmonicat's recording of Peg O' My
Heart. I was recorded at the NBC studios in Chicago, using their small
room, made of marble. The audio was fed into the room, 'bounced' off the
walls, into a mic. The 'round-robbin' method of reverb had not been
discoverd yet.
Not run wildly off topic but long after we had spring reverb available we
often skipped it in favor of various placement schemes; usually involving a
second, "detereoriated" mic recording 20 feet from the source and pointed
at a wall of garage tools that shimmered like a distant heavenly chorus.
Damon's unit (I'm assuming) was installed in the tops of Fender Twin Reverb
amps, which we discovered quite by accident would take a shock to the
cabinent as a cue to let out a horrendous crash of analog thunder. Thus was
born rock and [removed] something like that.
-Dave at Digital Domain
(recently aquirred by Michael Bay, so they tell me.)
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 18 May 2006 22:47:44 -0400
From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 5-19 births/deaths
May 19th births
05-19-1870 - Wright Kramer - Somerville, MA - d. 11-14-1941
actor: Walter Jamison "Showboat"
05-19-1894 - Henry Busse - Magdeburg, Germany - d. 4-23-1953
orchestra leader: "Fitch Bandwagon"; "Spotlight Bands"
05-19-1906 - Bruce Bennett - Tacoma, WA
actor: "Proudly We Hail"
05-19-1919 - George Auld - Toronto, Canada - d. 1-8-1990
bandleader: "Saturday Night Swing Session"
May 19th deaths
02-02-1915 - Frank Telford - d. 5-19-1987
producer: "This Is Our Enemy"
02-09-1891 - Ronald Colman - Richmond, Surrey, England - d. 5-19-1958
actor: William Todhunter Hall "Halls of Ivy"; "Jack Benny Program"
02-12-1867 - Joe E. Howard - NYC - d. 5-19-1961
singer, composer: "Gay Nineties Revue"
03-14-1913 - Jay Barney - Chicago, IL - d. 5-19-1985
actor: Bugsy O'Toole "The Romance of Helen Trent"
03-31-1915 - Henry Morgan - NYC - d. 5-19-1994
comedian: "Here's Morgan"; "Henry Morgan Show"
05-07-1895 - Thomas Darcy, Jr. - Vancouver, WA - d. 5-19-1968
conducted the United States Army Band on CBS during the 1938 season
06-14-1907 - Nappy Lamare - New Orleans, LA - d. 5-19-1988
jazz guitarist: "The Bob Crosby Show"
06-17-1921 - Earl Hammond - NYC - d. 5-19-2002
actor: "Coounterspy"; "Martin Kane, Private Eye"
07-29-1869 - Booth Tarkington - Indianapolis, IN - d. 5-19-1946
writer: "Maude and Cousin Bill"
08-19-1902 - Ogden Nash - Rye, NY - d. 5-19-1971
poet: "Three Ring Time"; "Kaleidoscope"
11-16-1916 - Daws Butler - Toledo, OH - d. 5-19-1988
actor: "Sears Radio Theatre"; "Stan Freberg Show"; "That's Rich"
11-21-1904 - Coleman Hawkins - St. Josephs, MO - d. 5-19-1969
tenor sax: (Father of the tenor sax) "Saturday Night Swing Club"
12-12-1913 - Winston Burdette - Buffalo, NY - d. 5-19-1993
newscaster: (protege of Edward R. Murrow) "CBS World News Round Up"
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Birthplace of Stacy Keach, Sr.
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2006 Issue #138
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