Subject: [removed] Digest V2004 #369
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 11/19/2004 7:48 AM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2004 : Issue 369
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      First women DJ                        [ <whhsa@[removed]; ]
      sexy voices                           [ Clif Martin <martbart@[removed]; ]
      Norman Rose, OTR actor, dies          [ "HOWARD BLUE" <khovard@[removed]; ]
      Norman Rose obit                      [ Art Chimes <achimes@[removed]; ]
      Re: future of the hobby               [ Rodney W Bowcock <[removed]@ip ]
      Edward S. Walters                     [ Sandy Singer <sinatradj@[removed]; ]
      re: future of the hobby               [ <sweetedit@[removed]; ]
      Historical Marker for Original Lone   [ "Barnett, Tom L" <[removed]@acs ]
      Re:Splitting Larg MP3 Files           [ Don Shenbarger <donslistmail@sbcglo ]
      "Cinderella"                          [ Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed] ]
      Re: Sperdevac                         [ Brent Pellegrini <brentpl@rocketmai ]
      11-19 births/deaths                   [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
      If It Ain't Brokenshire               [ "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed]; ]
      Margo's last name                     [ "Matthew Bullis" <matthewbullis@run ]
      Lost in a Mailbox                     [ "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed]; ]
      Rochester's son                       [ Michael Berger <intercom1@attglobal ]

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

    Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 08:57:40 -0500
    From: <whhsa@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  First women DJ

    Dear Folks;
    Peace.
    In an interview with Frank Bingman, published in POW-WOW (Vol. 1 No 3)
    Spring 1987, Frank related that his wife Madelyn worked the first Ma Perkins
    shows at WLW in Cincinnati. Later at WKRC, where she had a two hour morning
    shows, she played recorded music. This was in 1935. Frank said he believed
    she may have been the first female DJ. Madelyn was a dancer by profession
    and when the couple moved to California she no longer did radio,
    Manituwah,
    Bill

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

    Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 08:58:15 -0500
    From: Clif Martin <martbart@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  sexy voices

    How about the lady with a name as unusual as her unforegettable voice:  Marth
    Lou Harp, laying herself down to dream of you.  I have an old Lp of hers
    around here someplace.  I'd play it but I'm too old for that much
    stimulation.  Add Dinah Shore to the list with her recording of "Lonesome
    Gal," to these ears lots hotter than the original gal's voice.  And we can't
    forget Peggy Lee, who did a voice in "Lady and the Tramp" and whose
    relatively unknown recording of "Mr. Wonderful"  purrs  right in my ear. And
    speaking of cat-like ladies, there's Eartha Kitt.  What can you say about
    her, except wow and double wow.  The sexiest male voice of the century has to
    be Arthur Godfrey.  He drove the female population nuts.   I still run into
    old ladies who rhapsodize about him and their grandkids who are shocked that
    granny was turned on by a radio star.

    Clif Martin

    ________________________________________
    PeoplePC Online
    A better way to Internet
    [removed]

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

    Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 10:21:03 -0500
    From: "HOWARD BLUE" <khovard@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Norman Rose, OTR actor, dies

     Today's "New York Times" features an obituary of old time radio actor
    Norman Rose. The obituary does not mention how Rose almost became a victim
    of the
    blacklist which affected Ken Roberts, Fredric March, Burgess Meredith and
    many other radio actors whose names we know from the OTR conventions and the
     shows we listen to.

     Howard Blue

     The following is a quote from my book, WORDS AT WAR (Scarecrow Press). See
    [removed] for more information

    "In 1948, actor Norman Rose was featured in "Communism, US Brand," a program
    that most communist sympathizers and many noncommunist liberals would have
    given wide berth. Two years later, Rose was employed as narrator for an NBC
    science fiction show called Dimension X. "Norman, You can't do the show any
    more," the show's director said to him out of the blue. You're listed in Red
    Channels." The network had ordered Rose's dismissal. "Well between you and
    me, I wouldn't be surprised if it would be [listed,]" Rose replied. "But I'm
    not listed in Red Channels." Rose was correct. The network's brass had
    misread Norman Rosten's name. Rose retained his job."

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

    Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 10:38:04 -0500
    From: Art Chimes <achimes@[removed];
    To: otr <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Norman Rose obit

    Norman Rose died Friday, according to an obituary in Thursday's New York
    Times and an AP story that moved early this morning. He was 87.

    Rose's extensive radio credits include "Dimension X," "CBS Radio Mystery
    Theatre," "Famous Jury Trials," WMCA's pioneering "New World A' Coming" and
    even "The National Lampoon Radio Hour."

    He also played both sides of the religious street, appearing in many episodes
    of "The Greatest Story Ever Told" and "The Eternal Light."

    His career also included much stage and television work, and he was the voice
    of Juan Valdez in a gazillion commercials.

    -Art Chimes

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

    Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 10:39:15 -0500
    From: Rodney W Bowcock <[removed]@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: future of the hobby

    In response to the question about whether or not old-time radio will live
    on after those who made it happen are gone, I think it's obvious that it
    will.  I don't think it'll be as well known as it is now, but I do think
    that there will always be a core group that are listening to the shows and
    working to preserve them.

    The question that I am uncertain about though is the state of the
    conventions that we all love to attend so much.  I do know from Bob
    Burchett that attendance at the Cincinnati convention has been the same
    give or take 3 or 4 people for the last few years.  Since obviously some of
    us are passing on, there do seem to be new folks taking their places.
    However, I've heard that attendance at Newark is down from several years
    ago, so that's another trend to consider.  The question really is, is there
    enough at conventions to warrant people attending even if there are no
    special guests?  This really isn't an exclusive question to the OTR hobby.
    I'm sure classic film conventions are facing the same issues.

    Rodney Bowcock

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

    Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 11:42:56 -0500
    From: Sandy Singer <sinatradj@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Edward S. Walters

    Emmy winner, broadcast writer, Kung Foo, Police Story, dies at age 74.

    [removed]

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

    Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 11:43:23 -0500
    From: <sweetedit@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  re: future of the hobby

    As someone who is certainly to the low end of the age spectrum on the list
    (28), I'd like to think the hobby will continue. While it is important to
    hear first-hand knowledge from those surviving OTR stars, I think the most
    important thing is the survival of the shows themselves. As long as there are
    shows out there, there will be fans.

    I myself stumbled upon the hobby about five years ago searching through the
    audio books at my local library looking for things to listen to on my long
    commute. We're lucky in South Central Wisconsin (Madison) to have a pretty
    extensive network of libraries, so I found quite a bit to listen to and got
    hooked. That commute is a thing of the past, but I still listen to OTR.

    The point I'm trying to make is that the biggest challenge for the hobby will
    be getting people exposed to it. I try to do my part by donating OTR to my
    local library. I recently gave them a pretty good selection of tapes as I've
    been upgrading to CD lately. I'd encourage all of you to do the same thing if
    you can.

    Jonathan Sweet
    sweetedit@[removed]

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

    Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 11:50:26 -0500
    From: "Barnett, Tom L" <[removed]@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Historical Marker for Original Lone Ranger's
     House in MI
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
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    It appears as if a metro Detroit city (Farmington Hills) is considering an
    National Historical Marker to what they refer to as the Original Lone
    Ranger, former home of Earl Graser. Earl was killed in 1941 in a car
    accident and was followed on the radio in the Lone Ranger role by Brace
    Beemer. The Lone Ranger originated from the WXYZ radio studios in Detroit.

    What is interesting to note is that the historical marker will not be
    standard green and white color scheme, but rather black and silver in homage
    the Masked Rider himself.

    [removed]

    Tom Barnett

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    Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 14:22:36 -0500
    From: Don Shenbarger <donslistmail@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re:Splitting Larg MP3 Files

    On Wed, 17 Nov 2004, Bill Scherer wrote:

>     Well first let me say that I haven't used MUSICMATCH but I would caution
>     using anything that will watch for the gaps or volume level type things.
>     If you were doing it from great sorces like Vinyl then maybe.  I probably
>     wouldn't do it with OTR reels unless you are very sure that the shows are all
>     in good quality.

    There could be a level and time interval problem Bill. The MusicMatch
    feature really is intended for transcribing vinyl LPs and commercial music
    tapes. But if the tapes such as the OTR tapes discussed have longer
    intervals of silence between programs, it should work with appropriate
    settings. Both the gap length and gap sound level are adjustable but can be
    tricked by program material.

    To address your alternative, splitting an MP3 file is possible and I have
    done that using a tool called Manns' MP3 Edit available at
    [removed] The tool lacks documentation but is able to
    trim, cut and split MP3 files on the internal frame lines successfully. It
    has a learning curve. The tool is also able to combine files.

    Splitting files in a normal audio editor usually involves an internal
    conversion to uncompressed format. Editors may keep two copies of the WAV
    type file in memory to enable the undo function and all this takes up a lot
    of memory. The result when I have done this with large files is it triggers
    virtual memory and an edit of any kind takes as long as an hour with all
    the memory page swapping. For someone with 2 GB of RAM, this may not be a
    problem.

    IF somebody is using an editor that can work in native MP3 format (without
    resampling for instance), I would like to know about it.

    Don Shenbarger

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

    Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 14:23:49 -0500
    From: Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed];
    To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  "Cinderella"

    Celebrated OTR publisher and author, Ben Ohmart, mentions the voice artists
    responsible for "Cinderella" as among his favorites.  He mentions  Verna
    Felton whose biography BearManor Media is publishing next year.  Verna
    played the Barton twins' Mother on "The Cinnamon Bear."

    The voice I most remember from "Cinderella" is that of Eleanor Audley who
    played the evil stepmother. She can be heard on such shows as "The Six
    Shooter," and "Father Knows Best," where she had a running part as the next
    door neighbor.  Of course she was in many others,  as well as early TV and
    movies.  I remember her well from two appearances.  She was  President
    Truman's secretary on a classic  Jack Benny television show, and had a
    featured part in James Stewart's "The FBI Story." Both she and Helen Kleeb
    (Mamie on "The Waltons") were great radio voices. Kleeb made a number of
    "Gunsmoke" appearances and was a regular on Jack French's favorite female
    detective show, "Candy Matson" [YUkon 28209].

    Dennis Crow

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

    Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 14:51:45 -0500
    From: Brent Pellegrini <brentpl@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Sperdevac

    I had a dissapointing experience with Sperdevac around 1989. I live in Seattle
    and called to see if I could pay at the door for one night at their
    convention.  Being a cruising
    sailor, I was especially interested in seeing their reenactment of Voyage of
    the Scarlet Queen
    which still gives me the old romantic chill despite 10 years of cruising off
    and on. I was assured
    I could pay at the door for the night they had the reenactment. So I drove
    from Seattle to
    Camarillo Cal where I stay. Then the night of show I drove to Santa Monica
    and picked up an old
    friend from my sailing days on Cape Cod in the 1970's, who was working in the
    movie biz and he was
    curious to some old radio action. Bottom line is, Barbara Watkins,I believe
    her name was, wouldn't
    let us in. Pretty dissappointing. That was a long drive.

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

    Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 16:48:06 -0500
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  11-19 births/deaths

    November 19th births

    11-19-1863 - Billy Sunday - Ames, IA - d. 11-6-1935
    preacher: "Back Home Hour"
    11-19-1864 - Geroge Barbier - Philadelphia, PA - d. 7-19-1945
    actor: "Song of the Islands"
    11-19-1889 - Clifton Webb - Indianapolis, IN - d. 10-13-1966
    actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
    11-19-1897 - Bud Green - Austria - d. 1-2-1981
    lyricist: "Great Moments to Music"
    11-19-1901 - Charles Webster - England - d. 2-1965
    actor: Dr. Kimball "Life Can Be Beautiful"; Tom Bryson "Backstage Wife"
    11-19-1905 - Eleanor Audley - NYC - d. 11-19-1991
    actress: Elizabeth Smith "Father Knows Best"
    11-19-1905 - Tommy Dorsey - Shenandoah, PA - d. 11-26-1956
    bandleader: "Jack Pearl Program"; "Fame and Fortune"; "Tommy Dorsey Show"
    11-19-1919 - Alan Young - North Shields, Northcumberland, England (Raised:
    Vancouver, Canada)
    comedian: "Alan Young Show"; "Tony Martin Show"; "Jimmy Durante Show"
    11-19-1919 - George Fenneman - Peking, China - d. 5-29-1997
    announcer, actor: "You Bet Your Life"; "Dragnet"; Buzz "I Fly Anything"
    11-19-1921 - Roy Campenella - Philadelphia, PA - d. 6-26-1993
    sports news: "Campy's Corner"
    11-19-1923 - Frank Reynolds - East Chicago, IN - d. 7-20-1983
    newscaster: Chicago radio
    11-19-1933 - Larry King - Brooklyn, NY
    talk show host: "WOR Diamond Julilee"; "Rambling with Gambling"
    11-19-1936 - Dick Cavett - Gibbon, NE
    talk show host: "Jean Shepherd Show"
    11-19-1939 - Garrick Utley - Chicago, IL
    news correspondent: "Second Sunday"

    November 19th deaths

    01-06-1903 - Francis L. Sullivan - London, England - d. 11-19-1956
    actor: "[removed] Steel Hour"
    05-01-1888 - Anna Appel - Bucharest, Romania - d. 11-19-1963
    actress: Mrs. Cohen "Abie's Irish Rose"
    05-30-1902 - Stepin Fetchit - Key West, FL - d. 11-19-1985
    comedian: "Hollywood Hotel"
    07-01-1907 - Bill Stern - Rochester, NY - d. 11-19-1971
    sportscaster: "Carnival of Champions"; "Colgate Sports Newsreel"
    --
    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

    Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 18:34:22 -0500
    From: "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  If It Ain't Brokenshire
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
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    Hi again, Gang;

    Does anybody know whether OTR-era network news commentator Norman Brokenshire
    pronounced the last syllable
    of his name "-SHEER" (to rhyme with "fear") or "-SHIRE" (to rhyme with
    "fire")?  For the life of me, I cannot remember
    & his name came up in a narrative being recorded here at Talking Books, where
    we always strive to provide precise and
    definitive pronunciations. Help!

    Ether!

    Derek Tague

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    Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 18:34:42 -0500
    From: "Matthew Bullis" <matthewbullis@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Margo's last name

    Hello, I keep hearing an actresss referred to as only Margo in Suspense.
    What was her last name? Was she so well-known back then as to only need one
    name like we have today with Shania and Reba in country music?
    Thanks a lot.
    Matthew

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

    Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 18:35:16 -0500
    From: "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Lost in a Mailbox
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
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    Hi!

    It's a long story why, but my Digest ether-buddy Andrew Godfrey and I were
    talking off-list about the early TV sitcom "It's a
    Great Life!" which starred James Dunn (best remembered as the hopeless father
    in the first film version of  "A Tree Grows in
    Brooklyn") and a pre-"Aunt Bee" Frances Bavier.

    Although I have never seen an episode of this lost gem, Andrew told me that he
    remembered an episode plot involving the
    show's principles needing to retrieve a letter from a postal collection box
    after it had been mailed,  and went on to comment on
    how this over-used  plot device occurred in many sitcoms to follow.

    With no disrepect, I wrote Andrew & said that I remember  hearing this
    stock-situation plot on an episode of "Fibber McGee &
    Molly." However, my recollection is hazy.  Can anybody out there help fill in
    the details? Also, I imagine the "mailing a letter
    prematurely" plot must've turned up on other radio sitcoms. Students?

    Best from the ether,

    Derek Tague

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    Date: Fri, 19 Nov 2004 09:40:54 -0500
    From: Michael Berger <intercom1@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Rochester's son

    One of Eddie Anderson's sons, Billy, was a star
    football player in the early 50s at Compton JC in
    southern California. He was a first round draft choice
    of the Chicago Bears in 1953 and played two seasons,
    mostly as a kick returner. He died at an early age,
    but I cannot recall the cause.

    This link has a bio of Eddie Anderson:

    [removed]

    Michael Berger

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2004 Issue #369
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