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	    [removed]   Volume 95 : Issue 457


Articles in this issue of [removed]:

	 Re: Dennis & Rochester
	 P-A-L-M-S-P-R-I-N-G-S
	 Tonto
	 Bob Hope
	 Rochester Again

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

Date: 17 Dec 95 23:14:21 EST
From: Steve Lewis <[removed]@[removed]>
To: Old Time Radio Digest <[removed]@[removed]>
Subject: Re: Dennis & Rochester
Message-ID: <[removed]@[removed]>

Sean Dougherty (who is a friend of mine) submitted a posting a couple of days
ago about the role of Rochester on the Jack Benny shows.  I'd like to respond:

Sean, You've not been listening to enough Jack Benny shows.  It's only in the
early 1940's programs that Rochester is isolated from the rest of the cast by
having him talk to Jack on the phone.  Most of the later (Lucky Strikes) shows
take the audience out to Jack's home, where Rochester is there in person.  And
although he probably interacts less with Dennis than with the other cast
members, there are numerous shows in which the two of them do exchange dialogue
that goes beyond just greeting each other at the door. Usually it's a joke at
Dennis' expense.  As far as the rest of the cast is concerned, Mary has frequent
conversations with Rochester, and Phil also exchanges many funny lines with him.
I don't have dates handy, but I can dig them up if you wish.  Yes, because
Rochester was black the writers were limited by conventions of the time as to
what they could have him say and do, but DESPITE these limitations, think of all
the extremely funny scenes in which Rochester  is a vital cog.  And frequently
in the late 40's and 50's his part is one of the largest supporting roles on the
show.  It's pretty obvious, too, by the studio audience's reaction to his lines
that Rochester was as popular with them as any of the other cast members.  Now
I'm the first one to admit that many of Rochester's early 1940's appearances
were racist, but most of the jokes of that nature vanished as the show headed
into the Lucky Strike era.  Looking back on the show now, and comparing it to
other shows of that era with black supporting cast members, it's pretty obvious
just how progressive the Benny show was for the time in which it was produced.
And how Eddie Anderson was allowed to shine just as brightly as Dennis, Phil,
Don, and all the other supporting players.

Steve Lewis   

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

Date: Sun, 17 Dec 1995 23:16:51 -0600 (CST)
From: Bruce Toews <bruce@[removed]>
To: otr@[removed]
Subject: P-A-L-M-S-P-R-I-N-G-S
Message-ID: <[removed]@[removed]>

Here's a little clarification ... the rest ... of the rest ... of the 
story, if you will.

The episode where Jack sells Polly to a pawn broker because he's too 
cheap to take her to the vet was an episode where Jack and the gang 
prepare to visit New York (01-29-50). The Palm Springs episode was from 
12-12-54. Now you know. I personally think the Palm Springs routine with 
Polly is also a must-have for Benny collectors.

Bruce

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

Date: Mon, 18 Dec 1995 00:27:37 +0001 (EST)
From: "'A. Joseph Ross'" <lawyer@[removed]>
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Tonto
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>

> Date: Sat, 16 Dec 1995 09:53:25 -0500
> From: ALFLOR@[removed]
> To: [removed]@[removed]
> Subject: Re: Kemo Sabe
> Message-ID: <951216095323_74163623@[removed]>
> 
> About Tonto.  The radio show was broadcast from the studios of WJZ in
> Detroit.  (Later, those call letters went to the ABC station in [removed]).  There
> was no live audience to the broadcast, but I was told the Tonto was played by
> a little, old bald gentlemen.  Far from being a native American he was a
> native Irishman.  I was also told that he would often doze of during the
> broadcast and had to be nudged awaked when it was time for him to read his
> lines.  Jay Silverheels, of course, came much later and played Tonto in TV
> versions.  If anyone can recall the name of the radio Tonto (I can't) or add
> further to this subjet lets hear from you.     Alflor@[removed]
 
According to =The Great Radio Heros= by Jim Harmon, a book which actually
excited my interest in otr back in the late 1960s, the LR originated on
WXYZ in Detroit.  Tonto was played by John Todd, a former Shakespearian
actor.  "He was a thin, gray-haired man who wore stiff collars and string
ties.  When he began the role, he was in his sixties, and he was past
sighty when he acted in the last live Lone Ranger broadcast." 

Incidentally, we think of the Lone Ranger as having been played on radio 
by Brace Beemer, but there were several others who played the role before 
Brace Beemer.   According to Harmon, the LR was first played by a man 
named Deeds, whose first name is unknown.  After six performances, Deeds 
was replaced by George Stenius, who later became a major movie producer 
under the name George Seaton.  After three months, Brace Beemer played 
the role for three months, then left to open his own advertizing agency.  
Then the role was played by Earle W. Graser, who kept the role for many 
years until he was killed in an auto accident in 1941.

In the story line, the LR was critically wounded and lay unconscious for 
several days, while Tonto carried on without him.  Eventually, the LR 
began to recover, again played by Brace Beemer, who held the role for the 
rest of the show's run.

Which raises the question:  Why have we never heard any recordings of the 
LR played by anyone other than Beemer?

======================================================================
A. Joseph Ross, [removed]                                      617/367-0468
15 Court Square                                   lawyer@[removed]
Boston, MA 02108-2573                    [removed]~lawyer/
======================================================================

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

Date: Mon, 18 Dec 1995 00:39:33 +0001 (EST)
From: "'A. Joseph Ross'" <lawyer@[removed]>
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Bob Hope
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>

I've mentioned this in private e-mail, but it seems appropriate to post it
to this forum, too.  American troops are being sent to Bosnia-Hercegovina,
away from home and loved-ones during the holiday season. 

And Bob Hope is not going to entertain them.  In a way it's not 
surprising.  In fact, I was surprised when he went to the Persian Gulf 
because I thought I had read or heard that he had said previously that he 
was through doing his holiday shows.  I guess when troops went to the 
Persian Gulf, he couldn't stay away.  But this time, he apparently isn't 
up to it.  It's the end of an era!

Somehow I thought he'd always be there.  I mean, didn't he entertain the 
troops at Valley Forge?  (Or was that Jack Benny?)

======================================================================
A. Joseph Ross, [removed]                                      617/367-0468
15 Court Square                                   lawyer@[removed]
Boston, MA 02108-2573                    [removed]~lawyer/
======================================================================

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

Date: Mon, 18 Dec 1995 00:44:06 +0001 (EST)
From: "'A. Joseph Ross'" <lawyer@[removed]>
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Rochester Again
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>

> Date: Sat, 16 Dec 1995 22:03:02 -0500
> From: Kubelski@[removed]
> To: [removed]@[removed]
> Subject: Rochester Again
> Message-ID: <951216220259_56308050@[removed]>
> 
> Also, all of the negro guests on the show were Rochester's friends (Joe
> Louis, the Ink Spots, [removed]), a reference to the stereotype that all blacks
> know each other.

Not to mention the show which depicted Rochester working for Amos 'n' 
Andy's cab company when Jack first met him.

======================================================================
A. Joseph Ross, [removed]                                      617/367-0468
15 Court Square                                   lawyer@[removed]
Boston, MA 02108-2573                    [removed]~lawyer/
======================================================================

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

    


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---- 
End of [removed] Digest V95 Issue #457

