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