------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2003 : Issue 392
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Hawaii Book Reviewers, Fires, etc. [ Kenneth Clarke <kclarke5@[removed]; ]
10-31 births/deaths [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
Viennese Hour NBC [ "RBB" <oldradio@[removed]; ]
Re: Jeopardy [ Steve Lewis <lewis@[removed]; ]
US-Canada broadcasts [ Art Chimes <[removed]@[removed]; ]
Fw: Ciphers in World War II [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
OTR in 2050? [ RickEditor@[removed] ]
RE: WOTW contest [ "Greg Addington" <gregadd@[removed] ]
FOTR 2003 PBS Coverage Update [ Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed] ]
Re: More on CBS Anniversary [ Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed] ]
Re: Johnny Olsen & Don Pardo [ "Brian L Bedsworth" <az2pa@[removed]; ]
volunteer researchers needed in N Y [ Howard Blue <khovard@[removed]; ]
"Two Gun Pete" & "St. Louis Kelley," [ Howard Blue <khovard@[removed]; ]
Annette Hanshaw [ "Gary Brown" <garyjbrown@[removed] ]
Re: Don Pardo [ Dixonhayes@[removed] ]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 15:01:09 -0500
From: Kenneth Clarke <kclarke5@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Hawaii Book Reviewers, Fires, etc.
Thanks to anyone and everyone who sent me
the contact information for the book reviewer at the
Hawaii Advertiser. Unfortunately, I've lost track of her
fax number. She wanted me to fax some information
about my book to her. If anyone remembers what it
happens to be, contact me off line.
BTW, should PJ Nunn be out there somewhere,
please contact me should you need any authors from
the Dallas area. I'd be happy to come. Just a thought.
Also, about how long does it take for news of a
book (authors name, book title, ISBN, etc.) to reach
the Ingram web site? My book is due out next week and
nothing has been entered there. Several stores have
shown an interest in stocking it, but tell me they order
books from this site. Does this vary from one publisher
to another?
[removed] publishers are in California. Does
anyone know of the ones who were in harm's way due to
the awful fires in California?
Sincerely,
Kenneth Clarke
"And Then You Die" (Final Cut Press, 2003)
ISBN 0-9744119-0-6
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 16:53:30 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 10-31 births/deaths
Halloween Day births
10-31-1896 - Ethel Waters - Chester, PA - d. 9-1-1977
blues singer: "American Revue"; "Command Performance"; "Jubilee"
10-31-1912 - Dale Evans - Uvalde, TX - d. 2-7-2001
actress, singer: (Queen of the Cowgirls) "Saturday Night Roundup"; "Roy
Rogers Show"
10-31-1922 - Barbara Bel Geddes - NYC
actress: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Ford Theatre"; "[removed] Steel Hour"; "Cavalcade
of America"
10-31-1926 - Shirley Dinsdale - San Francisco, CA - d. 5-9-1999
ventriloquist: Judy Splinters "Judy in Wonderland, Eddie Cantor Show"
10-31-1931 - Dan Rather - Wharton, TX
newscaster: Houston Radio
Halloween Day deaths
07-16-1882 - Charles Egelston - Covington, KY - d. 10-31-1958
actor: Shuffle Shober "Ma Perkins"; Humphrey Fuller "Just Plain Bill"
08-14-1889 - Robert Woolsey - Oakland, CA - d. 10-31-1938
actor: "Hollywood Hotel"
09-22-1902 - John Houseman - Bucharest, Romania - d. 10-31-1988
writer, producer: "Mercury Theatre on the Air"; "Campbell Playhouse"
11-18-1912 - Arthur Peterson - Mandan, ND - d. 10-31-1996
actor: Reverend John Rutledge "Guiding Light"; "World"s Great Novels"
12-09-1906 - Ken Niles - Livingston, MT - d. 10-31-1988
announcer: "Hollywood Hotel"; "Rudy Vallee Show"; "Date with Judy"
12-28-1915 - Dick Joy - Putnam, CT - d. 10-31-1991
announcer: "My Secret Ambition"; "The Saint"; "Danny Kaye Show"
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 16:54:01 -0500
From: "RBB" <oldradio@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Viennese Hour NBC
I've had an inquiry about an early NBC radio program called "The Viennese
Hour" with
singer Otto Englemann. Anyone have any information about either? Thanks
for the reply.
Russ Butler oldradio@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 16:54:29 -0500
From: Steve Lewis <lewis@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Jeopardy
At 03:21 PM 10/30/03 -0500, you wrote:
From: Sandy Singer <sinatradj@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: ORIGINAL HOSTS/ANNOUNCERS
Much prefer Art Flemming as host of Jeopardy over the pompous Alex
Trebek.
He might appear that way on TV, and it's all a matter of taste, but I
watched the taping of the show in New Haven recently, and when there was a
long gap while the judges were double-checking the validity of an answer,
Alex came down into the audience and entertained us the entire time with
stories and answering questions. Very friendly and personable.
Steve
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 19:59:23 -0500
From: Art Chimes <[removed]@[removed];
To: Old-Time Radio Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: US-Canada broadcasts
Dave Walter (Digest 391) notes that Mercury Theatre was broadcast on
the CBC as well as the CBS, at least in its earliest episodes. He also
notes mention in the Digest some time back of a CBS affiliate in
Toronto.
I was not aware of this. Was it at all a common arrangement during
this period for the Canadian network (or individual stations) to
broadcast shows from US networks?
These days, I wish there was more Canadian Content on the US airwaves
beyond the venerable As It Happens, which is broadcast on many public
radio stations.
(Some US listeners are under the impression that AIH is the Canadian
version of NPR's venerable All Things Considered. Actually, it's
probably more accurate to say it the other way around. AIH went on the
air 35 years ago, on November 18, 1968, more than two years before
ATC's premiere on May 3, 1971 - though in its earlier years would have
been heard south of the border only via clear channel DX or, as I used
to listen, on shortwave.)
Art
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 19:59:50 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Fw: Ciphers in World War II
Roby McHone notes,
There is no question that breaking the Japanese and German secret codes
helped us win the war. I wonder if they broke any of our secret codes.
One
code they didn't break was the Navajo code talker. The OTR connection to
this was that when they logged on they would say ...."This is Tonto to
Lone
Ranger." Then they would converse in the Navajo language. The code was
never broken." Clever those [removed];<
The "they" is a little ambiguous, but if speaking of the Japanese
cryptanalytical efforts alone,
"Japanese codebreakers never achieved any substantial penetration of
American codes [during World War II]. But when B-29 bombing raids began
in 1944, the monitoring of B-29s' radio traffic enables Japanese
intelligence analysts to predict the targets of air raids more than 70
percent of the time."
[Norman Polmar and Thomas B. Allen, The Encyclopedia of Espionage,
Gramercy Books, New York, 1997, ISBN 0-517-20269-7. p. 298]
The German cryptanalysts had better luck, but with the development of the
SIGABA (Army model M-134C and Navy CSP-888) cipher machine, they found
[removed] messages uncrackable. The Germans called it the American Big
Machine," and once they determined that a message was encrypted on the
SIGABA, they didn't attempt to cryptanalyze it.
"German efforts to solve the [SIGABA] system were suspended in mid-1943,
and Germany even stopped intercepting SIGABA/ECM traffic. By that point,
the Germans hadn't even deduced that the [removed] Army and Navy used
different sets of rotors. German cryptanalysts finally determined that
the [removed] system could not be solved analytically."
[Stephen B. Kelly, Big Machines, Aegean Park Press, Laguna Hills, CA,
2001, ISBN 0-89412-290-8, [removed]]
SIGABA was reputedly the only World War II machine cipher that was never
compromised.
Stephen A. Kallis, Jr., SS-4959
Secret Squadron Historian
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 20:05:51 -0500
From: RickEditor@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: OTR in 2050?
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain
Just a thought? What will radio-program buffs be collecting 50-odd years
from now from the shows we hear these days? "Prairie Home Companion" comes to
mind immediately. What do other folks think?
I recall listening to Jean Shepherd on WOR-AM in the
late-'50s/early-'60s and predicting that some day he would be "collectible."
Sure enough, he's
everywhere in MP3 format these days and is featured on dozens of web sites.
So, what will we be buying on E-bay under OTR in 2050?
rick selvin
philadelphia
end
*** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
*** as the sender intended. ***
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 20:14:23 -0500
From: "Greg Addington" <gregadd@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: RE: WOTW contest
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain
This morning the classical radio station's Brainstorm contest was a simple
question. What was the theme music for the War of the Worlds?
Care to guess?
The theme to WOTW is actually the regular theme for the Mercury Theater on the
Air (at least as far as I know the regular theme for most if not all Mercury
broadcasts, everyone can certainly keep me honest here). It is the Theme from
Piano Concerto No 1 in B-Flat Minor, also called Tonight We Love by
Tchaikovsky.
Greg Addington
Oak Ridge, Tennessee
*** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
*** as the sender intended. ***
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 20:24:07 -0500
From: Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: FOTR 2003 PBS Coverage Update
Thanks to everyone who wrote NJN to thank them for the piece on the 2003
Friends of Old Time Radio Convention.
The reporter, Desiree Taylor, sent the following note back today:
Dear Sean,
Thank you and all the OTR fans for the kind words. You and all the fans of
OTR were such a great help. It was enlightening and enjoyable to cover the
event. OTR does a great job of reminding us all about the great legends and
programs from the Golden Age of Radio, a time that should never be
forgotten. Keep up the great work.
Take care and thanks again.
Sincerely,
Desiree Taylor
NJN News
And of course, if you missed it the first time, you can still view the
segment here: [removed]
and you can write Peggy George, assignment editor at pgeorge@[removed] and
Desiree at dtaylor@[removed].
Sean Dougherty
SeanDD@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 20:25:26 -0500
From: Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: More on CBS Anniversary
Now I know I'm just going to get Mike Biel upset, but here's more coverage
of the CBS 75th Anniversary from The Miami Herald.
CBS Celebrates 75th Anniversary With Bash
Miami Herald, FL
... Bill Paley really brought radio into television," Cates said, "because
he took the radio shows, whether it was `Jack Benny' or `Red Skelton'
or `Burns and ...
[removed]
And an article on the passing of the Hotel Biltmore:
BILTMORE Hotel now a memory
The Desert Sun, CA
... grounds. In its heyday, the likes of Spencer Tracy, Jack Benny were
known to hole up in the Biltmore's sun-soaked cottages. Fireplaces ...
[removed]
Sean Dougherty
SeanDD@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 20:58:47 -0500
From: "Brian L Bedsworth" <az2pa@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: Johnny Olsen & Don Pardo
<otrbuff@[removed]; suggested that Dixon Hayes was confusing the original
Jeopardy! with the original Price Is Right in regard to whether or not the
latter ever featured the talents of Don Pardo.
Mr. Hayes' credits as an expert in the game show history field (consultant to
numerous network television specials; acknowledged by no less than Peter
Marshall as the greatest living authority on the Hollywood Squares) tends to
mitigate against such a notion.
Further, literally dozens of Don Pardo-announced original TPiR nighttime
programs ran on the Game Show Network in its earliest days. These shows may
have come from the program's NBC days, when the late Johnny Olsen could have
been on staff at CBS and precluded from working on another network, or
working on another program airing against TPiR at night (at a time when such
shows aired live on the east coast).
Finally, the fact that one (or more) reference works fail to credit a
performer doesn't mitigate against that performer having been associated with
that work. Staying with TPiR just as an example, I don't know how many times
I've read histories of the show and its various incarnations that credit
Olsen, Roddy, Cullen and Barker without mentioning Doug Davidson, Tom
Kennedy, Dennis James (modern syndicated TPiR hosts) or Arlene Francis
(longtime daytime original TPiR hostess) having any association with the
program. Which they most certainly did.
(Miss Francis, in addition to her television work, hosted numerous
entertainment and public affairs radio programs over the decades on a
New-York-local, northeast-regional and nationwide basis; she also took part
[as a What's My Line? panelist] in CBS' short-lived TV-to-radio experiment in
the early fifties, where shows that had done well on television were adapted
for radio broadcast. Which [barely] brings this back to being on-topic for
this list. :)
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 23:53:42 -0500
From: Howard Blue <khovard@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: volunteer researchers needed in N Y City
([removed] Lincoln Center library for the performing arts)
I recently posted a message connected with my research for a book about a
prominent actor of the 1940's and early 1950's. I've been requesting
assistance in Chicago and several other cities. I'm happy to say that I
received a number of very welcomed volunteers.
On a larger scale, I also need assistance for this project in New York
City. In this case, I need one or several people to work with me in a
couple of New York's libraries, including the Lincoln Center Library.
If you can spare just a few hours one afternoon, that would be fine. If
you can spare more time, even better. We may also do a photo tour of some
relevant and very interesting city landmarks connected with the actor's
life.
Thank you,
Howard Blue
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 23:53:57 -0500
From: Howard Blue <khovard@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: "Two Gun Pete" & "St. Louis Kelley," of
1940s Chicago
In connection with my research about a radio, film and stage actor of the
1940s, I am seeking information about
a. Sylvester Washington (AKA, "Two Gun Pete") a 1940's African American
Chicago policeman and
b. "St. Louis Kelley," a gangster active in Chicago in the early 40s
Howard Blue
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 23:54:33 -0500
From: "Gary Brown" <garyjbrown@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Annette Hanshaw
A couple of months ago Albert Kopec asked for more information
about Annette Hanshaw. She is indeed a delight from an era
before technology edited the life out of recordings.
Hanshaw was born either very wealthy in 1911 or of modest means
in 1901, depending on whose story you believe. Her backup
musicians were the who's who of later music and included Benny
Goodman, the Dorsey brothers, Red Nichols, Eddie Lang, Rudy
Valee (on sax). and Joe Venuti. Yet much of her recording was
relegated to discount labels under pseudonyms. She clearly loved
to sing and was quite playful when recording. Bu t, in later years she
claimed she swtiched from recording to radio because she didn't
have to hear herself sing! She was extremely shy and stage fright
caused her to quit in her mid-twenties (or thirties).
It would be wonderful it someone just happened to have copies of
some of her radio shows or anything else she did. I recently
received the seventh and last known CD of her music. I have some
other songs, downloaded from the net, not on any of the CDs so
there is more stuff out there. Any help in locating more would be
appreciated.
Best to all,
Gary
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 31 Oct 2003 16:22:56 -0500
From: Dixonhayes@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Don Pardo
I don't think so. Johnny Olsen was on The Price Is Right from day one, Nov.
26, 1956. And who was the host those first nine years? Bill Cullen.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television by Wesley Hyatt.
No, "The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television" is just plain wrong on this one.
A myriad of sources at my disposal indicate Don Pardo was indeed, the
original "Price is Right" announcer effective November 26, 1956. In fact
(according to "The Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows" by David Schwartz, Steve
Ryan and Fred Wostbrock) Pardo even guest hosted the show on camera on
December 31, 1959, and again on December 28, 1962. Pardo's unique way of
describing the prizes ("Not just any [removed]") has even been parodied during
his earliest days announcing on "Saturday Night Live."
In fact, I can't find a single source (except that aforementioned Daytime
Television book) that suggests Johnny Olsen *ever* announced during the
1956-65 run of the show. Apparently Pardo did the honors until the show left
NBC in 1963, after which Johnny Gilbert took over for the two remaining years
on ABC. Not that I would rule it out, but I haven't found anything else to
back it up either. But it would've had to be a guest announcing stint.
I have a suspicion Dixson may be thinking of Jeopardy
I remember Pardo annoucing on "Jeopardy" and did not confuse the two shows.
By the way it's "Dixon."
I really don't believe Pardo was ever on The Price Is Right
unless as a contestant.
Pardo was apparently everything *but* a contestant (I don't know about prize
model) at some point or another on the original run of "Price." Yet another
source: a clip of Pardo introducing Cullen, from NBC's 50th anniversary show
which I have on tape. Don Pardo and Johnny Olsen are *not* two voices that
can be easily confused with one another.
Now that I have all of *that* out of the way, a sincere [removed] anyone
acquaint me with any of Pardo's old time radio work, especially any
recordings that might be circulating? The oldest item I have is Pardo
announcing "The Colgate Comedy Hour" on NBC-TV.
Dixon
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #392
*********************************************
Copyright [removed] Communications, York, PA; All Rights Reserved,
including republication in any form.
If you enjoy this list, please consider financially supporting it:
[removed]
For Help: [removed]@[removed]
To Unsubscribe: [removed]@[removed]
To Subscribe: [removed]@[removed]
or see [removed]
For Help with the Archive Server, send the command ARCHIVE HELP
in the SUBJECT of a message to [removed]@[removed]
To contact the listmaster, mail to listmaster@[removed]
To Send Mail to the list, simply send to [removed]@[removed]