Subject: [removed] Digest V2007 #236
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 8/15/2007 4:18 PM

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

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2007 : Issue 236
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      GROUCHO AND ME AND AFTERNOON TEA      [ PURKASZ@[removed] ]
      "Pete Kelly's Blues"                  [ "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@juno. ]
      Radio Speakers                        [ "Bob C" <rmc44@[removed]; ]
      Goodnight Gracie                      [ "Bill Scherer" <bspro@[removed]; ]
      Lone Ranger episode                   [ "Jim Nixon" <ranger6000@[removed] ]
      SAY GOODNIGHT, GRACIE--Tour           [ jameshburns@[removed] (Jim Burns) ]
      Phil Rizzuto dead at [removed]           [ Afanofoldradio@[removed] ]
      Memories of old time [removed]          [ Frank McGurn <[removed]@sbcglobal. ]
      8-15 births/deaths                    [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
      July 2007 Deaths                      [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
      BBC Archive News recordings           [ Graeme Stevenson <graemeotr@[removed] ]
      #OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Nig  [ charlie@[removed] ]

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

    Date: Tue, 14 Aug 2007 14:38:23 -0400
    From: PURKASZ@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  GROUCHO AND ME AND AFTERNOON TEA

    Derek:
    I'll tell the story of 'SUNDAY DINNER WITH GROUCHO MARX' and how it all came
    about when I see you and the folks at the Panel, incidentally thanks for
    inviting me, but right now let me close my eyes and spontaneously reach back
    into the memory glare of that Sunday afternoon in 1971-72, hmmmm, eyes here
    comes the [removed] recall the terror I suddenly felt as I was knocking at
    the
    door to Groucho's Lair in Holmby Hills.
    (Music  cue)
    Living in Southern California one gets used to the  heat and used to dressing
    very casually. I recall this Sunday was a scorcher and  I had left the house
    without much concern for how I was dressed.
    A habit that grows when your work involves other people  dressing you when
    you get to work.
    Anyway, as I knocked I  also looked down at myself and saw my reflection in a
    large window to my right.
    I was definitely NOT dressed the way I should have been  to go to Sunday
    dinner with an eminent and historical show-biz  personality!
    T-Shirt and baggy Peter Lorre pants, wrinkled  accompanied with old sandals!
    What was I  thinking!!!
    I panicked and was about to bolt back to my  1936 Buick parked in the drive
    way when the door began to open slowly.
    Expecting a butler or some other household help I was  getting ready to
    explain that I had an important stop to make but that it was  still early in
    the
    day and that I would be back in time for  dinner.
    The door opened fully [removed] walked  [removed] Bermuda shorts,
    sandals and an oversized Marx Brothers  T-Shirt!!!!!!!
    He looked me up and down and I did the same  to him.
    The silence was perfect.
    Then he said with the famous smirk,
    "Nice  suit."
    A calm came over me and instead of freezing up as I  thought I might, I
    replied,
    "You  too."
    He smiled big put his arm around my shoulders and  ushered me in with,
    "Chicken for [removed]  too."
    Then [removed], I'm telling too much so let me just say  this [removed]
    "See ya at the Panel on October 19th  folks"
    Michael C. Gwynne

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

    Date: Tue, 14 Aug 2007 14:41:43 -0400
    From: "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  "Pete Kelly's Blues"
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           If anyone is interested in 2 eps of "Pete Kellys Blues" starring Jack
    Webb, please contact me offlist.  The sound quality is good, but it'snot
    to my individual taste as far as OTR programs go.  I'll accept anything in
    trade (mystery, quiz shows, or comedy/variety).

           BTW, I've been wondering if any sports programs were ever broadcast
    on OTR, in particular, boxing matches.  Some of the greatest boxers in
    sports history, I'm told, fought at Madison Square Garden.  Were any of these
    fights broadcast on radio?  Are any of these broadcasts available?

    Another OTR Fan,

    Kenneth Clarke

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    Date: Tue, 14 Aug 2007 14:41:50 -0400
    From: "Bob C" <rmc44@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Radio Speakers

    Sloowwllllyyyyy, I turned ... page after page of Jim Cox's "Radio
    Speakers" since receiving it early in May, and I finished it last
    night. I recommend it for the joy of knowing a little more about
    the people you hear on those old programs (or saw on old TV).

    The book is not without its problems ... the kind that make
    authors, editors and publishers ask, "How did that get in there?"
    and "Didn't anyone proof this?"

    There's the entry that has Lorne Greene as "Hoss" in Bonanza and
    the one that says, "In 1934, former President Richard M. Nixon
    ...." There are references to United Press International, when
    there was no UPI (just United Press), and a mention of "sound
    byte" instead of "soundbite."

    What was especially maddening was the repeated misuse (more than
    a half-dozen times) of the word "infamous" when "famous" or its
    synonyms clearly should have been the words of choice, and there
    was a similar misapplication of "notorious" in describing Johnny
    Olsen's role on The Price Is Right.

    I found the manufactured "historiographer" nerve-grating, though
    I know Jim, having worked so closely with this for so long, felt
    he had to find some other name for a radio historian. His
    frequent use of "interlocutor" in place of announcer or emcee was
    like a speed bump to my eyes, getting in the way of a smoother
    reading. Actually, in using the book as it is meant, a go-to
    reference as needed rather than a cover-to-cover read, there's
    little need to stretch for alternative words.

    Having said all that, I go back to my recommendation in the
    book's favor. You'll find yourself saying, "So that's who that
    was!" or grabbing a show from your collection to once again
    connect the biography with the voice. It was fun to learn a
    little more about the men behind those voices: "Pall Mall Famous
    Cigarettes ... outstanding! ... And they are mild!" And the
    acknowledgment of some others you've heard freqently (such as
    Bern Bennett - carried over to TV's Beat the Clock, To Tell the
    Truth and the Rose Parade on CBS).

    I was appreciative, too, of the recognition afforded CBS News'
    B-team members, who nevertheless, were important parts of a Class
    A news operation and the news on the hour, World News Roundup and
    World Tonight broadcasts - reporters like the horn-rimmed Bill
    Downs, Alexander Kendrick and Peter Kalischer. (I was a tad
    disappointed that David Brinkley only was part of the list in the
    appendix ... if I recall correctly from his autobiography, he was
    on the air with reports for NBC in Washington in the 1940s; sure,
    his greater fame came later on TV, but the same can be said of
    Huntley, who was afforded more than two columns of space.)

    It's a good book. You'll like it.

    Bob Cockrum

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

    Date: Tue, 14 Aug 2007 14:37:23 -0400
    From: "Bill Scherer" <bspro@[removed];
    To: ""old-time radio digest">" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Goodnight Gracie

    Hi all,
    My wife bought my too Sons and I tickets to see Goodnight Gracie here in the
    twin cities when it came through
    a couple years back.  Gorsin was still alive and was fabulous.  Actually so
    was the offstage voice of Gracie.
    It was great fun for us to look around and see that my 2 boys were by far the
    youngest in the audience.  Both
    are big fans of George and Gracie.
    They will be 15 and 19 in the next couple months.  I think they got more than
    a couple looks as they sat there
    and laughed like crazy.
    Bill

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

    Date: Tue, 14 Aug 2007 17:50:53 -0400
    From: "Jim Nixon" <ranger6000@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Lone Ranger episode

    Joe Salerno asked about the episode of the Lone Ranger that was recently
    added to the National Recordings Registry.  Terry is correct about this.  It
    was a test episode recorded on Dec. 17, 1937.  However, it is circulating as
    "Silver Mine Surprise", episode No. 4, carrying the date of January 24th,
    1938.

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

    Date: Tue, 14 Aug 2007 17:51:01 -0400
    From: jameshburns@[removed] (Jim Burns)
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  SAY GOODNIGHT, GRACIE--Tour

    Hasn't Jamie Farr been playing George Burns, at least intermittently?

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

    Date: Tue, 14 Aug 2007 18:48:33 -0400
    From: Afanofoldradio@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Phil Rizzuto dead at [removed]
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    Though I live in Cardinals-Cubs region, it is with sadness that the death  of
    "The Scooter"-Yankees broadcaster Phil Rizzuto was aired today  (8-14-07)

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

    Date: Wed, 15 Aug 2007 01:14:09 -0400
    From: Frank McGurn <[removed]@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Memories of old time [removed]

    We of advanced age, like Ted Kneebone and me, have had exposure to early
    radio variety programs like the Shell Chateau, The Fleischmann Yeast
    Hour (Rudy Vallee) that had true variety, classical music, popular
    music, some  Opera Stars & sometimes Broadway stars reading from plays.
    Then we had The Telephone Hour, The metropolitan Opera broadcast and The
    Longine Symphonette, You Hit Parade, The Manhattan Merry-Go- Round. We
    had Big Bands on radio and Frank Sinatra, Dinah Shore and many others.

    I love music I have  LP's, CD's, and Cassettes and I don't have head
    phone stuck to my ears. I don't need to down load music from my
    computer. Most of it isn't worth it to me. I have what I want and
    [removed] much music can one person listen to ?

    I'm  really tired of dead bodies being dissected and Cops  and robbers
    and stupid sitcoms that I pay over $[removed] a month for poor  shows. The
    only reason I keep cable is for Sports, Base Ball and Foot Ball.

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

    Date: Wed, 15 Aug 2007 01:14:19 -0400
    From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  8-15 births/deaths

    August 15th births

    08-15-1879 - Ethel Barrymore - Philadelphia, PA - d. 6-18-1959
    actor: Hattie Thompson "Miss Hattie"
    08-15-1885 - Edna Ferber - Kalamazoo, MI - d. 4-16-1968
    author: "Cavalcade of America"; "Cables from Lisbon"; "Campbell
    Playhouse"
    08-15-1888 - Albert Spalding - Chicago, IL - d. 5-26-1952
    violinist: "Forecast"; "Pause That Refreshes . . . On the Air"
    08-15-1894 - Harry Akst - NYC - d. 3-31-1963
    writer: "The Barry Gray Show"
    08-15-1897 - Aben Kandel - d. 1-28-1993
    screenwriter: "Lux Radio Theatre"
    08-15-1897 - Charles Tobias - NYC - d. 7-7-1970
    songwriter: (Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree) :Music for Millions";
    "Great Moments to Music"
    08-15-1898 - Monroe Upton - d. 8-6-1990
    announcer, writer, comedian: KFRC San Francisco
    08-15-1901 - Ned Washington - Scranton, PA - d. 12-20-1976
    songwriter: "Dick Aurandt Show"
    08-15-1901 - Sam Perrin - d. 1-8-1998
    writer: "Jack Benny Program"; "Phil Baker Show"; "Tommy Riggs and
    Betty Lou"
    08-15-1903 - Jerry Cady - d. 11-7-1948
    writer: "Major Hoople"
    08-15-1907 - Margaret Brayton - d. 5-29-1992
    actor: "Burns and Allen"; "Lux Radio Theatre"
    08-15-1909 - Hugo Winterhalter - d. 9-17-1973
    pop-music conductor, arranger: "Johnny Desmond Program"; "Musical
    Showcase"
    08-15-1910 - Johnny Roventini - Brooklyn, NY - d. 11-30-1998
    commercial announcer: (Call for Phil-lip Mor-ress) "Ferde Grofe
    Show"; "Johnny Presents"
    08-15-1910 - Signe Hasso - Stockholm, Sweden - d. 6-7-2002
    actor: "Charlie McCarthy Show"; "Hollywood Star Time"; "Lux Radio
    Theatre"
    08-15-1912 - Wendy Hiller - Bramhall, Cheshire, England - d. 5-14-2003
    actor: Queen Vic "Original Dramatic Work"
    08-15-1914 - Eve Alwyn - Christ Church, New Zealand - d. 11-16-2005
    actor: WEAT West Palm Beacg, Florida
    08-15-1916 - Van Patrick - d. 9-29-1974
    detroit lions play-by-play: "Jean Shepard Show"
    08-15-1919 - Huntz Hall - NYC - d. 1-30-1999
    comedian: (The Dead End Kids) "Texaco Star Playhouse"
    08-15-1923 - Baby Rose Marie - Lower East Side, NYC
    singer: (Radio's first genuine child star) "Baby Rose Marie"
    08-15-1925 - Bill Pinkney - Dalzell, SC - d. 7-4-2007
    singer: (Drifters) "Grand Old Opry"; "Camel Rock and Roll Dance Party"
    08-15-1925 - Oscar Peterson - Montreal, Canada
    jazz pianist: "Oscar Peterson and Art Tatum"
    08-15-1935 - Joey Jay - Middletown, CT
    baseball pitcher: "Tops in Sports"

    August 15th deaths

    03-04-1888 - Fred Smith - Clarksburg, IN - d. 8-15-1976
    announcer: (America's first Ambassador of the Radio) "Newsacting"
    03-26-1907 - Clarence Stroud - Kaufman, TX - d. 8-15-1973
    actor: "Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy Show"
    04-04-1897 - Albert Bagdasarian - d. 8-15-1968
    newscaster: WNBZ Saranac Lake, New York
    04-04-1906 - John Cameron Swayze - Wichita, KS - d. 8-15-1995
    host. panelist: "Monitor"; "Who Said That?"
    05-03-1920 - Nina Bara - Buenos Aires, Argentina - d. 8-15-1990
    actor: Tonga "Space Patrol"
    05-26-1887 - Paul Lukas - Budapest, Austria-Hungary - d. 8-15-1971
    actor: Albert Einstein "Quick and the Dead"
    06-01-1909 - Ray Heatherton - Jersey City, NJ - d. 8-15-1997
    singer, host: "Old Gold Hour"; "Musical Cruise with Spearmint Crew"
    07-18-1906 - Clifford Odets - Philadelphia, PA - d. 8-15-1963
    playwright: "Fleischmann's Yeast Hour"; "Cresta Blanca Hollywood
    Players"
    07-24-1911 - Raymond Edward Johnson - Kenosha, WI - d. 8-15-2001
    actor: Raymond your host "Inner Sanctum Mysteries"; Don Winslow "Don
    Winslow of the Navy"
    07-28-1903 - Duane Thompson - Red Oaks, IA - d. 8-15-1970
    actor: Telephone Operator "Hollywood Hotel"
    08-26-1891 - Frayne Baker - d. 8-15-1968
    newscaster: KFYR Bismarck, North Dakota
    09-21-1907 - Jack Mather - California - d. 8-15-1966
    actor: Cisco Kid "Cisco Kid"
    10-23-1904 - Ford Bond - Louisville, KY - d. 8-15-1962
    announcer: "Cities Service Concert"; "Manhattan Merry-Go-Round";
    Highways in Melody"
    11-04-1879 - Will Rogers, Sr. - Oolagah,  Oklahoma Territory - d.
    8-15-1935
    humorist: (America's Greatest Humorist) "Gulf Headliners"
    11-28-1916 - Richard Tregaskis - Elizabeth, NJ - d. 8-15-1973
    author, war correspondent: (Guadalcanal Diary) "Lux Radio Theatre"

    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

    Date: Wed, 15 Aug 2007 01:14:30 -0400
    From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  July 2007 Deaths

    06-03-1927 - Boots Randolph - Paducah, KY - d. 7-2-2007
    saxophonist: "Grand Old Opry"
    05-25-1929 - Beverly Sills - Brooklyn, NY - d. 7-2-2007
    singer: "Major Bowes Capitol Family"; "Uncle Bob's Rainbow House"
    08-15-1925 - Bill Pinkney - Dalzell, SC - d. 7-4-2007
    singer: (Drifters) "Grand Old Opry"; "Camel Rock and Roll Dance Party"
    02-23-1927 - Regine Crespin - Marseille, France - d. 7-5-2007
    operatic soprano: "Voices"
    12-22-1912 - Lady Bird Johnson - Karnack, TX - d. 7-11-2007
    first lady: owner of radio station KTBC Austin, Texas
    09-03-1926 - Bill Flemming - Chicago, IL - d. 7-21-2007
    sports director: WUOM Ann Arbor, Michigan
    05-12-1936 - Tom Snyder - Milwaukee, WI - d. 7-29-2007
    talk show host: ABC Network
    08-10-1921 - Marvin Zindler - Houston, TX - d. 7-29-2007
    disk jockey, spot news announcer: KATL-AM, Houston, Texas

    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

    Date: Wed, 15 Aug 2007 10:57:29 -0400
    From: Graeme Stevenson <graemeotr@[removed];
    To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  BBC Archive News recordings
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    This weeks edition of Ariel ( the BBC staff magazine ) carried the following
    piece by Carla Parks :
      'How to find your piece of audio - in just a few seconds' :
      If you wanted a piece of audio from the global newswire team at Bush House
    ( BBC World Service HQ ) four years ago, you would have  had to visit the
    sixth floor of the building,go through a huge box of tapes and spool through
    perhaps 100 news items to find what you were looking for. In other words, you
    wouldn't get it in a hurry.
      Today, the same process takes just a few seconds because 350,000 news items
    - gathered by the former actuality unit since 1971 - have been archived
    online.
      Because of the archives size, it took ten technical assistants three years
    to play in the audio from 4500 reels of tape and to copy the material from
    500 double- sided magneto optical discs. Another 6 people spent two years
    transcribing 30,000 news stories. ' The project was driven by the need to
    preserve and digitise these fragile assets - analogue tapes, magneto optical
    discs and paper copies of scripts and cues - so that they could be used in a
    modern production environment ' explains media asset manager Russell Gould,
    who oversaw the [removed]
      ' It also includes unique news items from our language sections at Bush
    House - in the original language - which no other broadcaster or archive
    would have  ' says producer Jonathan Fenton-Fischer.

      Graeme Stevenson  Editor: Tune into Yesterday  ORCA / UK
      A link was given for the site but I suspect it can only be accessed by BBC
    staff:
      [removed]

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

    Date: Wed, 15 Aug 2007 11:17:47 -0400
    From: charlie@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  #OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Night!

    A weekly [removed]

    For the best in OTR Chat, join IRC (Internet Relay Chat), StarLink-IRC
    Network, the channel name is #OldRadio.  We meet Thursdays at 8 PM Eastern
    and go on, and on! The oldest OTR Chat Channel, it has been in existence
    over nine years, same time, same channel! Started by Lois Culver, widow
    of actor Howard Culver, this is the place to be on Thursday night for
    real-time OTR talk!

    Our "regulars" include OTR actors, soundmen, collectors, listeners, and
    others interested in enjoying OTR from points all over the world. Discussions
    range from favorite shows to almost anything else under the sun (sometimes
    it's hard for us to stay on-topic)...but even if it isn't always focused,
    it's always a good time!

    For more info, contact charlie@[removed]. We hope to see you there, this
    week and every week!

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2007 Issue #236
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