Subject: [removed] Digest V2012 #17
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 1/30/2012 10:11 AM

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

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2012 : Issue 17
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      1-28 births/deaths                    [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
      Desert Island Discs                   [ Michael Berger <[removed]@yaho ]
      This week in radio history 29 Januar  [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
      Re: GI Jill                           [ Gregg Oppenheimer <gopp@[removed]; ]
      Green Hornet mystery                  [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
      1-29 births/deaths                    [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]

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

    Date: Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:08:51 -0500
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  1-28 births/deaths

    January 28th births

    01-28-1882 - Richard Barrows - Buffalo, NY - d. 8-xx-1969
    actor: "Death Valley Days", "Ellery Queen"; "Second Husband"
    01-28-1886 - Hidetsugu Yagi - Osaka, Japan - d. 1-19-1976
    radio antenna designer
    01-28-1887 - Artur Rubinstein - Lodz, Poland, Russian Empire - d.
    12-20-1982
    pianist: "Information Please"
    01-28-1892 - Ernst Lubitsch - Berlin Germany - d. 11-30-1947
    film director: Intermission Guest "Lux Radio Theatre"
    01-28-1898 - Alwyn E. W. Bach - Springfield, MA - d. 5-14-1993
    announcer: "Enna Jettick Melodies"; "Luden's Orchestra"; "Real Folks"
    01-28-1900 - Mahlon Merrick - Farmington, IA - d. 8-7-1969
    music: "Jack Benny Program"; "Skippy Hollywood Theatre"
    01-28-1904 - Constance Crowder - Chicago, IL - d. 5-30-1994
    actor: Jane Webster "Those Websters"; Gert Truitt "The Truitts"
    01-28-1904 - Irene Beasley - Whitehaven TN - d. 1-7-1980
    actor: Old Dutch Girl "Red Hook 31"; "Grand Slam"
    01-28-1907 - Martin Ryerson - NYC - d. 7-7-2003
    writer: "Suspense"; "Molle Mystery Theatre"; "Gangbusters"
    01-28-1910 - Arnold Moss - Brooklyn, NY - d. 12-15-1989
    actor: Philip Cameron "Against the Storm"; Reed Bannister "Big Sister"
    01-28-1911 - Donald Briggs - Chicago, IL - d. 2-3-1986
    actor: Frank Merriwell "Advs. of Frank Merriwell"
    01-28-1911 - William Palmer - d. 6-6-1996
    co-creator of the Palmer-Mullin tape deck first used by Bing Crosby
    01-28-1912 - Monty Masters - New Haven, CT - d. 12-9-1969
    actor, producer: "The Mad Masters"; "Candy Matson"
    01-28-1914 - Arthur Gary - NYC - d. 10-31-2005
    announcer: "The Amazing Mr. Malone"; "The Colgate Sports Newsreel"
    01-28-1914 - Nelson Olmsted - Minneapolis, MN - d. 4-8-1992
    actor: Joe Huston "Bachelor's Children"
    01-28-1914 - Tom Neal - Evanston, IL - d. 8-7-1972
    actor: "I Am An American"; "The Unexpected"
    01-28-1915 - Jud Denaut - Walkerton, IN - d. 4-5-1999
    bassist: "Woody Herman and His Orchestra"
    01-28-1921 - Alfred Marks - London, England - d. 7-1-1996
    actor: "Beginners Please"
    01-28-1921 - Jerry Appy - d. 6-24-1990
    sportscaster: KXXX Colby, Kansas
    01-28-1926 - Randy Armbrister - d. 9-xx-1968
    disk jockey: WYVE Whytheville, Virginia
    01-28-1929 - Bill Gilliand - Memphis, TN - d. 5-9-2008
    announcer: "Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar"
    01-28-1931 - Ezio Flagello - NYC - d. 3-19-2009
    opera singer: "The Metropolitan Opera"
    01-28-1933 - Myles Wilder - NYC - d. 4-20-2010
    writer: "The Whistler"
    01-28-1935 - Nicholas Pryor - Baltimore, MD
    actor: "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"
    01-28-1937 - Ken Hill - Birmingham, England - d. 1-23-1995
    writer: "Night Season"

    January 28th deaths

    02-17-1881 - Arthur Judson - d. 1-28-1975
    executive: Founder of the Columbia Broadcasting System
    03-02-1923 - Jean Metcalfe - Reigate, England - d. 1-28-2000
    announcer, presenter: "Two-Way Family Favourites"
    03-29-1923 - Bob Stanton - White Plains, NY - d. 1-28-1989
    vocalist: (Brother of Dick Haymes) "The Sealtest Village Store"
    03-31-1923 - Thomas Arim - d. 1-28-2003
    disk jockey: "Birthday Party"
    04-21-1927 - Jose Miguel Agrelot - San Juan, Puerto Rico - d. 1-28-2004
    comedian: Torito "The College of Happiness"
    04-24-1897 - Alfred Brown - d. 1-28-1978
    actor: Og "Og, Son of Fire"
    04-29-1912 - John MacVane - Portland, ME - d. 1-28-1984
    newscaster: "United or Not"
    05-04-1902 - Al Dexter - Jacksonville, TX - d. 1-28-1984
    singer, songwriter: (Pistol Packn' Mama) "Command Performance"
    05-24-1911 - Lilli Palmer - Posen, Germany - d. 1-28-1986
    actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
    06-03-1922 - Joy Shelton - London, England - d. 1-28-2000
    actor: "PC 49"
    06-17-1923 - Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch - Wausau, WI - d. 1-28-2004
    pro football hall of fame, host: "Elroy Hirsch Sports Show";
    "Touchdown Tips"
    07-20-1905 - Murray Forbes - Chicago, IL - d. 1-28-1987
    actor: Willie Fitz "Ma Perkins"; Benny Fox "Foxes of Flatbush"
    08-14-1913 - Ferrucio Tagliavini - Reggio Emilia, Italy - d. 1-28-1995
    lyric tenor: "Encores from the Bell Telephone Hour"
    08-15-1897 - Aben Kandel - d. 1-28-1993
    screenwriter: "Lux Radio Theatre"
    08-24-1916 - Hal Smith - Petosky, MI - d. 1-28-1994
    singer, piccolo: "California Melodies"
    09-07-1886 - Alan Devitt - d. 1-28-1955
    actor: "Famous Jury Trial"; "The March of Time"
    09-12-1919 - Norma Jean Ross - Fremont, NE - d. 1-28-1983
    actor: "Scattergood Baines"; "Author's Playhouse"
    09-16-1910 - Herta Glaz - Vienna, Austria - d. 1-28-2006
    mezzo soprano: "NBC Summer Symphony"; "Metropolitan Opera"
    09-26-1900 - Ray Kinney - Hawaii - d. 1-28-1972
    interpreter of Hawaiian rhythm: Sporadic timeslots on the Blue Network
    10-13-1901 - Frank Remley - d. 1-28-1967
    left handed guitarist: The Phil Harris Orchestra
    10-17-1907 - Helen Choate - Boston, MA - d. 1-28-2010
    actor: Patsy Bowen "Nick Carter, Master Detective"
    10-22-1907 - Roger DeKoven - Chicago, IL - d. 1-28-1988
    actor: Professor Allen, "Against the Storm"

    Ron

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

    Date: Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:09:03 -0500
    From: Michael Berger <[removed]@[removed];
    To: otr <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Desert Island Discs

    On the 70th anniversary of the BBC radio show Desert Island Discs, the Financial Times published a piece on the show's history. You can read it at this link:

    [removed];ftcamp=crm/email/2012128/nbe/ArtsLeisure/product#axzz1kjvFK2n0

    Michael Berger

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

    Date: Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:09:12 -0500
    From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
    To: otr-digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  This week in radio history 29 January to 4
     February

     From Those Were The Days

    1/30

    1933    The Lone Ranger was heard for the first time.

    1/31

    1936   The Green Hornet was introduced by its famous theme song, The
    Flight of the Bumble Bee. The radio show was first heard on WXYZ in
    Detroit, MI on this day. The show stayed on the air for 16 years. The
    Green Hornet originated from the same radio station where The Lone
    Ranger was performed. You may remember that the title character in The
    Green Hornet was really named Britt Reid. He was, in fact, supposed to
    be the great nephew of John Reid, the Lone Ranger. Both popular series
    were created by George Trendle and Fran Striker.

    2/2

    1946   The Mutual Broadcasting System presented Twenty Questions for the
    first time. Bill Slater was the master of ceremonies.

    Joe

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

    Date: Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:09:50 -0500
    From: Gregg Oppenheimer <gopp@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: GI Jill

>     Date: Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:25:56 -0500
>     From: "jsalerno@[removed]" <jsalerno@[removed];
>     Subject:  GI Jill and her not so secret identity

>     GI Jill was Martha Wilkerson, co-producer and wife of producer Robert M.
>     Warner, who played the part of Jack.

    GI Jill was Martha Wilkerson, all right, but her husband's name was Mort
    Werner, not "Robert M. Warner."

    We always knew her as "Marty." Her husband Mort, who was my father's best
    friend starting in high school, began his career in the mid-1930s as an
    entertainer, singing and accompanying himself on the piano on Radio Station
    KFRC in San Francisco. (At the time, part of the Don Lee-Columbia Network.
    KFRC's General Manager at the time was one Sylvester "Pat" Weaver.) In the
    1960s and 1970s, Mort Werner was NBC-TV's Vice President in charge of
    Programming.

    Mort came down to Hollywood and when WWII started he ran the Office of War
    Information which was located in the Taft Building, on the corner of
    Hollywood and Vine, and which produced "GI Jill's" radio program. My father,
    Jess Oppenheimer, was in the Coast Guard, Special Services, assigned to a
    desk in the Taft Building just down the hall from the [removed], writing a Coast
    Guard recruiting radio program.

    Every week Mort would walk down to the biggest record store in Hollywood,
    Wallichs' Music City (at the corner of Sunset and Vine), where my mother, who
    was Manager of the Popular Records Department ( -
    [removed] - ), picked out a bunch of the
    latest hit records for "Jill" to play that week. One day Mort brought my dad
    along, and that's how my parents met. So I guess if it hadn't been for "GI
    Jill" and her radio show, I wouldn't be here!

    - Gregg Oppenheimer
    [removed]

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

    Date: Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:10:27 -0500
    From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Green Hornet mystery
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    Jim Nixon commented:

>     Gordon Gregerson wrote in a few days ago to report that
>     he believed Ted Johnstone was voice of Sgt. Burke on the WXYZ broadcasts of
>     The Green Hornet.  Gordon went on to add that Ted also voiced Tonto on The
>     Lone Ranger on some occasions when John Todd, the regular actor who played the
>     role, was unavailable.  I don't have any additional information on Sgt. Burke,
>     since my Hornet recordings are at my summer home and I can't go check.  But
>     I'm somewhat doubtful that Ted Johnstone ever voiced Tonto on the Lone Ranger.
>     Ted had a very distinctive voice, cultured and higher in pitch that John Todd
>     by quite a bit.  In fact, he sounded a little like H. V. Kaltenborn, the
>     newscaster of that age.  He was best known as The Inspector on Challenge of
>     the Yukon, Sgt. Preston's boss.  Again, I can't refute Gordon since I don't
>     have the Union Pacific Lone Ranger series available here, but I can only say
>     that it's possible he's mistaking Ted for a different actor.

    I have to second Jim's comment. I too cannot refute it, but I cannot say it's
    a fact, either. When Terry Salomonson and I did the book on THE GREEN HORNET,
    we came across this complication -- who to credit for the role of Sgt. Burke.
    We had NO paperwork stating who it was, and even though the entire cast was
    handwritten by an actor on the last page of most of the radio scripts, none of
    the lists ever said what characters they played. Avoiding guesswork from
    listening to the recordings, since there was NOTHING to verify who played the
    role, we both agreed not to even state who played the role of Sgt. Burke. We
    were not being inaccurate or falsely misleading by this decision, we simply
    chose not to even bother stating who played the role. This would avoid
    confusion later on, and someone taking an "assumption" as a "fact." The fourth
    and final broadcast of the Union Pacific story arc does have a different
    person as Tonto (John Todd played the role in the first three episodes). But
    we do not know for certain (100 percent) who played the role and until
    something like a VARIETY review provides us with more than just listening to
    the episode and applying guesswork, it'll remain a mystery.

    What Gordon probably meant to say (having been forwarded a private e-mail from
    someone else who asked Gordon directly) was he listened to the recordings and
    assumed Ted Johnstone played the role. Jim Nixon's posting simply validates
    this so someone reading Gordon's posting doesn't make the "assumption" that it
    is a fact and Ted Johsntone starts getting credited for the role of Tonto
    without verification. Lord knows we don't want that to start another myth.

    On this same subject, the recent and fascinating discussion regarding the
    difference between a fact and an "assumption" is all dependent on how the
    author phrases their statement on the printed page. Professional jealousy and
    nit-picking isn't beneficial to the hobby, nor does it provide anything of
    value to the hobby. All of the old-time radio rumors and popular myths of the
    past three or four decades originated from assumptions that were mistaken as
    fact (such as Kato becoming Japanese the day after Pearl Harbor and The Lone
    Ranger's name being John, etc.). Even the late author Jim Harmon (a friend of
    mine) admitted that a few of these myths grew from his own published writings.
    I can find no fault to Jim Harmon or anyone for that matter who made an effort
    to research an old-time radio subject in the past or present because new
    information will always come up and shed new light. The facts were accurate at
    the time they went to print, and bound to become revised the day after the
    work goes to press. Even a few facts in old books I wrote have since been
    corrected in magazine articles. (And for clarification, I have never
    criticized anyone's efforts to do research, ONLY criticism when they steal or
    lift material word for word and never provide the proper credit.) Rather than
    try to knock the efforts of others, especially in an attempt to make one's
    self look better or more knowledgeable (that never works, nor gains respect in
    doing so), we should also avoid stating facts without having something
    hardcore to back those facts. What is a known fact is that everyone's memory
    is not accurate and should always be taken with a grain of salt, especially
    when they are recounting something more than 30, 40, 50 or 60 years ago. I
    have conducted over fifty interviews over the past decades and every comment
    from every person I ever interviewed about old-time radio was verified before
    it went to print (with one exception: I added a footnote to state the
    correction). This is why I have never printed an entire interview
    word-for-word, I've only quoted in the form of a single paragraph or two at
    most. Half of the comments from interviews I conducted have never gone to
    print because I've never been able to verify what they said. I'm just glad
    Terry agreed with me that unless we absolutely knew it as a fact, we didn't
    print it. And to this day, we still don't know for definite who played Sgt.
    Burke or Tonto for that one Union Pacific broadcast.
    Martin

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

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

    Date: Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:10:34 -0500
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  1-29 births/deaths

    January 29th births
    01-29-1874 - John D. Rockefeller, Jr. - Cleveland, OH - d. 5-11-1960
    rich person: "The Collier Hour"
    01-29-1874 - Owen Davis - Portland, ME - d. 10-14-1956
    writer: "The Gibson Family"; "Pulitzer Prize Plays"
    01-29-1880 - W. C. Fields - Philadelphia, PA - d. 12-25-1946
    comedian: "Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy Show"
    01-29-1885 - Leadbelly (Huddie Leadbetter) - Louisiana - d. 12-6-1949
    jazz musician: "Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin street"
    01-29-1902 - Florence Rinard - d. 10-18-1984
    panelist: "Twenty Questions"
    01-29-1911 - Bryan Coleman - London, England - d. 7-4-2005
    actor: John H. Watson "BBC Light Programme"
    01-29-1913 - Daniel Taradash - Louisville, KY - d. 2-22-2003
    film writer: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Cavalcade of America"
    01-29-1913 - Joe Parker - Venice, CA - d. 4-28-1970
    director: "Sara's Private Caper"
    01-29-1914 - Bonnie Prudden - NYC
    fitness expert: "House Party"
    01-29-1915 - Victor Mature - Louisville, KY - d. 8-4-1999
    actor: "Hollywood Star Playhouse"
    01-29-1916 - Bill Lawrence - Lincoln, NE - d. 3-2-1972
    newsman for the ABC network
    01-29-1917 - John Raitt - Santa Ana, CA - d. 2-20-2005
    actor, singer: "MGM Musical Comedy Theatre"
    01-29-1917 - Lloyd Perryman - Ruth, AR - d. 5-31-1977
    singer: (Sons of the Pioneers) "The Roy Rogers Show"
    01-29-1918 - John Forsythe - Penns Grove, NJ - d. 4-1-2010
    actor: "NBC Star Playhouse"; "Best Plays"
    01-29-1923 - Martin Ragaway - d. 4-20-1989
    writer: "The Abbot and Costello Show"; "The Milton Berle Show"
    01-29-1923 - Paddy Chayefsky - The Bronx, NY - d. 8-1-1981
    writer: "Theatre Guild On the Air"
    01-29-1927 - Don Morrow - Stamford, CT
    announcer: "Advs. of Rin Tin Tin"; "The Dizzy Dean Show"
    01-29-1927 - Peter Fernandez - NYC - d. 7-15-2010
    actor: George Bigelow "The Aldrich Family"; Skip "Right to Happiness"
    01-29-1942 - Robin Morgan - Lake Worth, FL
    actor, Former president of NOW: "Cavalcade of America"
    01-29-1943 - Tony Blackburn - Guildford, England
    disc jockey: "Midday Spin"; "Junior Choice"

    January 29th deaths

    01-14-1914 - Harold Russell - North Sydney, Canada - d. 1-29-2002
    world war II hero, actor: "A Salute to the [removed]"; "NBC University
    Theatre"
    01-22-1899 - Anne Elstner - Lake Charles, LA - d. 1-29-1981
    actor: Stella Dallas "Stella Dallas"; Mary Weston "Wilderness Road"
    02-02-1875 - Fritz Kreisler - Vienna, Austria - d. 1-29-1962
    violinist, composer: "Telephone Hour"; "Concert Hall"; "Gospel In Song"
    02-10-1893 - Jimmy Durante - NYC - d. 1-29-1980
    comedian: (Da Schnozz) Claudius 'Brainy' Bowers "Jumbo Fire Chief
    Program"
    02-17-1924 - Margaret Truman - Independence, MO - d. 1-29-2008
    coloratura: "The Big Show"; "The Railroad Hour"; "Authors in the News"
    02-22-1925 - Stratford Johns - Pietermaritzburg, South Africa - d.
    1-29-2002
    actor: Pennington "Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile"
    03-04-1921 - Harry Besse - d. 1-29-1994
    disk jockey: KSWI Council Bluffs,Iowa
    03-12-1916 - Mandel Kramer - Cleveland, OH - d. 1-29-1989
    actor: Johnny Dollar "Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar"
    04-11-1912 - John Larkin - Oakland, CA - d. 1-29-1965
    actor: Perry Mason "Perry Mason"; "Dimension X; " Ford Theatre"
    04-12-1904 - Frankie Masters - Saint Marys, WV - d. 1-29-1991
    music: "Edgar A. Guest"
    04-19-1915 - Albert Buhrman - Springfield, MO - d. 1-29-1999
    organist: "Murder at Midnight"; "Advs. of Sherlock Holmes"
    07-02-1892 - Jack Hylton - Great Lever, England - d. 1-29-1965
    bandmaster: CBS 1935-1936 Sundays at 10:30 PM Standard Oil
    07-09-1915 - Joan Tompkins - d. 1-29-2005
    actor: Nora Drake "This Is Nora Drake"; Siri Allen "Against the Storm"
    07-25-1896 - Leo Russotto - d. 1-29-1978
    musical coach and arranger: "Roxy and His Gang"
    07-31-1908 - [removed] "Bill" Shadel - Milton, WI - d. 1-29-2005
    newscaster: Reported the D-Day landings for CBS
    08-04-1913 - Barbara Townsend - Oakland, CA - d. 1-29-2002
    actor: "Theatre Guild on the Air"; "Cavalcade of America"
    09-03-1913 - Alan Ladd - Hot Springs, AR - d. 1-29-1964
    actor: Dan Holliday "Box 13"; "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Proudly We Hail"
    09-09-1930 - Martha Jean "The Queen" Steinberg - d. 1-29-2000
    Owned WQBH-AM Detroit, Michigan
    10-27-1911 - Leif Erickson - Alameda, CA - d. 1-29-1986
    actor: Richard Rhinelander III "My Friend Irma"
    11-25-1887 - William Steinke - Slatinton, PA - d. 1-29-1958
    host: "Jolly Bill and Jane"; "No School Today"
    11-28-1894 - Frank Black - Philadelphia, PA - d. 1-29-1968
    conductor: "Jack Benny Program"; "NBC String Symphony"; "Cities
    Service Concert"

    Ron

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2012 Issue #17
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