------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2006 : Issue 74
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Who played Babe Ruth? [ "WILLIS G Saunders" <saunders8@veri ]
Shell Chateau Hour [ [removed]@[removed] ]
Rhoda Williamss [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
3-12 births/deaths [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
Have Gun, W. T. [ "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed] ]
Fireside Chats [ <otrbuff@[removed]; ]
Trout and Fireside Chat [ "Bob C" <rmc44@[removed]; ]
Baseball game recreations [ "Donald P. Tuttle" <dobbsi5@[removed] ]
Corwin's On a Note of Triumph: the b [ <vzeo0hfk@[removed]; ]
OLDE TYME RADIO NETWORK [ "Jerry Haendiges" <jerryhaendiges@c ]
OTR era catalin radios [ Rutledge Mann <cliff_marsland@yahoo ]
Re: Subject: most confusing series t [ "Michael Ogden" <michaelo67@hotmail ]
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 11 Mar 2006 19:34:27 -0500
From: "WILLIS G Saunders" <saunders8@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Who played Babe Ruth?
Hi Folks, Me Again,
The actor who Played Babe Ruth on "The Adventures of Babe Ruth" was Charles
Irving. He also appeared in such shows as "Young Doctor Malone", where he
played the title role for several years; "Bobby Benson and the B Bar B
Riders", where he played Tex Mason, the ranch forman; and "The Fatman",
where he was the announcer advertising Norwich Pharmical Company products.
He also did occasional roles on "Gangbusters" and "innersanctum Mysteries".
Just to add a little more possibly interesting information, the actor who
played steve, Babe's newspaper friend and narrator of the show, was Grant
Richards.
Buck Saunders
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 11 Mar 2006 19:34:46 -0500
From: [removed]@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Shell Chateau Hour
I have read that this music variety show was originally designed as a vehicle
for Al Jolson but according to the logs I have seen, during the time attributed
to him, Walter Wincell (one time) and Wallace Beery substituted for him, Jolson
returned briefly then left again.
Just wondering if anyone had any thoughts on this show as I am not finding much
on the Internet, but one site said it was very popular for the two years it was
on NBC.
Paul Urbahns
Radcliff, KY
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 11 Mar 2006 19:35:00 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Rhoda Williamss
Are there two Rhoda Williams?
03-07-1937 - Rhoda Williams - Birmingham, AL
actress: Betty Anderson "Life with Father"
07-19-1930 - Rhoda Williams - Galveston, TX - d. 3-8-2006
actress: "One Man's Family"; "Life of Riley"
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 11 Mar 2006 19:35:08 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 3-12 births/deaths
March 12th births
03-12-1888 - Hall Johnson - Athens, GA - d. 4-30-1970
choral director: (Hall Johnson Choir) "Paducah Plantation"; "Show Boat"
03-12-1890 - Lou Clayton - Brooklyn, NY - d. 9-12-1950
partner: "The Jimmy Durante Show"
03-12-1893 - Gene Morgan - Racine, WI - d. 8-13-1940
actor: Rex Marvin "Myrt and Marge"; Bill Taylor "All My Children"
03-12-1899 - Amparo Iturbi - Valencia, Spain - d. 4-22-1969
concert Pianist: (Jose's sister) "Concert Hall"
03-12-1900 - Harlow Wilcox - Omaha, NE - d. 9-24-1960
announcer: "Fibber McGee and Molly Show"; "Suspense"; "Amos 'n' Andy"
03-12-1905 - Milton Merlin - California - d. 10-29-1966
writer: "The Halls of Ivy"; "The Man Called X"; "Presenting Charles
Boyer"
03-12-1908 - Eugene Conley - Lynn, MA - d. 12-18-1981
operatic tenor: "NBC Presents Gene Conley"; "Voice of Firestone"
03-12-1908 - William Lally - New York - d. 8-20-1956
actor: "The NBC University Theatre"
03-12-1910 - Tony Galento - Orange, NJ - d. 7-22-1979
boxer, actor: "[removed] Marine Band"
03-12-1912 - Paul Weston - Springfield, MA - d. 9-20-1996
conductor: "Chesterfield Supper Club"; "Paul Weston Orchestra"
03-12-1916 - Mandel Kramer - Cleveland, OH - d. 1-29-1989
actor: Johnny Dollar "Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar"
03-12-1917 - Googie Withers - Karachi, India
actress: "Theatre Royale"
03-12-1921 - Gordon MacRae - East Orange, NJ - d. 1-24-1986
singer: "Texaco Star Theatre"; "Railroad Hour"
03-12-1924 - Betty Barclay - Macon, GA
singer: (Sammy Kaye Band) "So You Want to Lead a Band"
03-12-1928 - Edward Albee - Washington [removed]
writer: "Earplay"
March 12th deaths
01-03-1886 - Josephine Hull - Newtonville, MA - d. 3-12-1957
actress: Miss Julia "Miss Julia"; Mrs. Kayden "The O'Neills"
01-07-1896 - Arnold Ridley - Bath, Somerset, England - d. 3-12-1984
actor: Arthur 'Doughy' Hood "The Archers"; Charles Godfrey "Dad's Army"
04-22-1916 - Yehudi Menuhin - NYC - d. 3-12-1999
classical violinist: "New York Philharmonic"; "Pause that Refreshes"
05-10-1899 - Lois Holmes - Galion, OH - d. 3-12-1986
actress: Jane Waters "Second Mrs. Burton"
05-11-1902 - Bidu Sayao - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - d. 3-12-1999
sopranist opera singer: "The Metropolitan Opera"; "The Telephone Hour"
05-20-1906 - Lyda Roberti - Warsaw, Poland - d. 3-12-1938
actor, singer: Freelance; Sang with Al Jolson two days before her death
06-02-1884 - Frank Hummert - St. Louis, MO - d. 3-12-1966
producer: "Backstage Wife"; "American Album of Familiar Music"
06-03-1901 - Maurice Evans - Dorchester, England - d. 3-12-1989
actor: "Keep 'Em Rolling"; "Texaco Star Theatre"
06-03-1914 - Roy Glenn - Pittsburg, KS - d. 3-12-1971
actor: "The Beulah Show"
06-26-1916 - Alex Dreier - Honolulu, Hawaii Territory - d. 3-12-2000
reporter: "Morning News Roundup"; "NBC D-Day Coverage"; "Weekly War
Journal"
08-10-1887 - Hugh Herbert - Binghamton, NY - d. 3-12-1952
actor: Pop "That's My Pop"; "Rudy Vallee Hour"; "Family Theatre"
08-12-1887 - Gus Van - Brooklyn, NY - d. 3-12-1968
comedian: (Van and Schenck) "Eveready Hour"; "Sinclair Wiener Minstrels"
08-29-1920 - Charlie Parker - Kansas City, MO - d. 3-12-1955
jazz musician: "This Is Jazz"
08-31-1900 - Cedric Foster - Hartford, CT - d. 3-12-1975
commentator: "News and Commentary"
09-09-1898 - Frankie Frisch - The Bronx, NY - d. 3-12-1973
baseball broadcaster: (Baseball Hall of Fame) New York Giants
11-02-1886 - Philip Merivale - Rehutia, Manickpur, India - d. 3-12-1946
actor: Reverend Spence "One Foot in Heaven"
11-18-1899 - Eugene Ormandy - Budapest, Hungary - d. 3-12-1985
conductor: "Roxy's Gang"; "Phildelphia Orchestra"
12-12-1910 - Morris Mamorsky - d. 3-12-2003
composer, musical director: "The Eternal Light"; "Wanted"; "Words at
War"
xx-xx-1927 - William E. Greene - Georgia - d. 3-12-1970
actor: Dr. Fred Thompson "One Man's Family"
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 11 Mar 2006 19:35:28 -0500
From: "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Have Gun, W. T.
>From memory:
Have Gun Will Travel reads the card of a man,
A knight without armor in a savage land
The something something something meets the something wind
This soldier of fortune is a man called Paladin
Paladin, Paladin, where do you roam?
Paladin, Paladin, far, far from home.
This deathless piece of music (well, I suppose it is deathless or I wouldn't
have remembered as much as I did) was written by one Johnny Western. In an
interview, Mr Western said that he'd written it in about twenty minutes and
made a lot of money from it.
M Kinsler
who hopes that everyone _else_ will now be singing it in their heads for the
next week or [removed]
512 E Mulberry St. Lancaster, Ohio USA 43130 740-687-6368
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 11 Mar 2006 23:30:38 -0500
From: <otrbuff@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Fireside Chats
Roosevelt's famous Fireside Chats.
The name, incidentally, was coined by newsman, Robert Trout. He thought
that the President sounded as if he was sitting with us in living rooms
all over the nation next to a roaring fire, just telling it like it was.
Intending to take nothing away from a superior CBS newsman, Robert Trout, my
research indicates that some historiographers have gotten this wrong. While
Trout introduced most of FDR's talks from the White House, actually it was
WJSV
station manager Harry Butcher who proposed it because FDR spoke from the
Diplomatic Reception Room furnished with a fireplace. Thus, as millions of
citizens tuned in, it was as if the chief executive was right by people's home
firesides, speaking one-on-one, Butcher reasoned. The idiom clicked and Trout
introduced it to the common man's everyday vernacular. Butcher, then and now,
was seldom credited for what he had offered.
Jim Cox
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 11 Mar 2006 23:31:50 -0500
From: "Bob C" <rmc44@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Trout and Fireside Chat
Re Joe Mackey's "This week in radio history" entry about Robert
Trout coining the description "fireside chat." I had an
opportunity to interview Trout when he was in Dallas in 1984 to
cover the Republican National Convention for ABC Radio. Here's a
bit of the transcript of his response to my, "You're the creator
of that bit of Americana."
"In a way. I did not invent it. The new station, when it was on
the network, was run by a man named Harry Butcher, who later, I
might say, for another digression, became quite famous when he
went to war as General Eisenhower's naval aide and later wrote a
book about it called, 'My Three Years with Eisenhower.' But Harry
Butcher an Iowa farm boy originally, and he went to Washington as
editor of something - I don't recall the exact title - but it was
something like 'The Fertilizer Review.' His friends never let him
forget it. (chuckling) Somehow he got into broadcasting; he
became the representative - which is another way of saying
'lobbyist,' I think - for CBS in Washington, when [it] had no
station
there. But he was responsible for rounding up senators and making
friends with them and putting them on the air occasionally to
make speeches and all that sort of thing.
"So when President Roosevelt was inaugurated the first time, on
Saturday - those days the inauguration was March 4th - that was
the last March 4th inauguration - and it was a Saturday and all
the banks were closed. That was the first thing he did, was to
close the banks, and for the whole week they were closed. And
things were a little difficult ... it was hard to get enough
money for ordinary living ... during that period.
"A week went by and the following Sunday, that would be eight
days after the inauguration, the president said he wanted to go
on the air and make a speech from the White House and talk about
the banks, which would be re-opened on Monday, explain why they
had been closed, how they would be opened, the whole thing, tell
it to the country. So I was picked to be the one to go over and
introduce him at the White House on the air.
"I think it was Friday, before the Sunday, I sat down at a
typewriter in the little broadcasting station and Harry Butcher
was there, and he was talking and I was talking, and he was
dictating and I would type and sometimes I would talk. We wrote
two introductions for me to use. One of them was quite formal and
dignified, you know, 'Ladies and gentlemen' sort of thing. And
the other one was more folksy, which was really Harry Butcher's
style - that's why I [mentioned] his being an Iowa farm boy
originally. 'Fireside chat' was exactly the way he thought and
spoke. And the second introduction, the very informal one, said
that the president wants to come to talk to you now, just as if
he had the privelege and were able to be invited into your homes
and to come in and sit down beside the fire and have a fireside
chat at the hearth and talk to you.
"So that's the way I wrote the second introduction, and then we
sent them both over to the White House. A little bit later,
Friday afternoon, Marvin McIntire, the president's secretary,
telephoned and said the president likes that folksy one. And
that's the one I used, so that was the first time it was used on
the air."
In short, it was a collaborative effort, with Trout giving
Butcher most of the credit. I must say that Mr. Trout was every
bit as interesting as I had imagined him from years of listening
to OTR and, of course, seeing him on CBS Television -
particularly, at one time, when I was a teenager, as he gave a
half-hour news report on Saturdays. He told me that was a sort of
trial run to see if there was actually enough news to fill a
half-hour and work out the logistics of doing it.
Bob Cockrum
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 11 Mar 2006 23:32:07 -0500
From: "Donald P. Tuttle" <dobbsi5@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Baseball game recreations
I belong to a group called Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), a
bunch of certified
nuts about baseball, its history, stats, you name it. I am thinking about
doing a piece for SABR's
quarterly research journal on baseball game recreations (actually,
recreations is not an entirely
accurate word since the games were being played at the time of the broadcast
but were announced
by the visiting team's home radio station by information supplied by
telegraph. The format
typically was based on a relay of pitch by pitch sequence originated by a
telegraph operator in
the home ball park, translated by an operator in the receiving radio station
and passed on to the
announcer. Ronald Reagan, it is said, made his trademark breakthrough on WHO,
Des Moines, by this
method. At any rate, the announcer might have recorded crowd noise, sound
effects (knocking two
sticks together for the "crack of the bat" sound, and, in one instance that I
personally saw, a
rubber band wrapped around the announcer's wallet for the "thump" of the ball
in the catcher's
mitt. Does anyone out there remember such items as when this "recreation"
started, various
methods used to relay the game's events, techniques used by the announcers,
[removed] Well, you get
the picture. Appreciate any info. Thanks.
Donald P. Tuttle
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 11 Mar 2006 23:32:58 -0500
From: <vzeo0hfk@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Corwin's On a Note of Triumph: the book
I have an extra copy of the book version of On A
Note of Triumph by Norman Corwin. Interested?
Please contact me off line: Khovard@[removed]
Howard Blue
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 12 Mar 2006 09:51:01 -0500
From: "Jerry Haendiges" <jerryhaendiges@[removed];
To: "Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: OLDE TYME RADIO NETWORK
Hi Friends,
Here is this week's schedule for my Olde Tyme Radio Network. Here you may
listen to high-quality broadcasts with Tom Heathwood's "Heritage Radio
Theater," Big John Matthews and Steve "Archive" Urbaniak's "The Glowing
Dial," Lee Michael's "The RADIO Show" and my own "Same Time, Same Station."
Streamed in high-quality audio, on demand, 24/7 at
[removed]
=======================================
SAME TIME, SAME STATION
Happy St. Patrick's Day
LITTLE OLD HOLLYWOOD
Episode 15 3-11-40 Guests: Priscilla Lane, Al Levy
Host: Ben Alexander
With Gogo Delys, Robert L. Red's "Two Happy People" and Gordon Jenkin's
Orchestra
THE QUIZ KIDS
Episode 560 3-11-51 "St. Patrick's Day Diamond"
Quizmaster: Joe Kelly
LUX RADIO THEATER
Episode 783 3-17-52 "Top O' the Morning"
Stars: Barry Fitzgerald, Anne Blyth and Dennis Day
==================================
HERITAGE RADIO THEATER
FORCAST/SUSPENSE
CBS 7/21/40 - The On The Air "audition" show, "The Lodger" Starring
Herbert Marshall with Edmund Gwenn. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
SUSPENSE
CBS 6/17/42 - The first program of the series that stayed on CBS for 20
years. "The Burning Court" from the novel by John Dixon Carr, starring
Charlie Ruggles & Julie Hayden.
FIBBER McGEE & MOLLY
NBC 10/7/53 - The 4th episode in the NBC 15 minute series. Fibber & Molly
buy a parakeet.
====================================
THE GLOWING DIAL
The Jack Benny Program - "Orson Welles guest hosts, Phil Returns After 3
Months"
originally aired March 14, 1943 on NBC
Starring: Orson Welles, Dennis Day, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Don Wilson,
Phil Harris, Frank Nelson, Verna Felton.
Special Note: Audio restoration on "The Jack Benny Program" was done by
Jerry Haendiges.
The Jack Benny Program - "Orson Welles guest hosts, Mary Returns"
originally aired March 21, 1943 on NBC
Starring: Orson Welles, Mary Livingstone, Dennis Day, Eddie "Rochester"
Anderson, Don Wilson, Phil Harris, Frank Nelson, Verna Felton.
Special Note: Audio restoration on "The Jack Benny Program" was done by
Jerry Haendiges.
The Jack Benny Program - "Orson Welles guest hosts, Too Much Mayonnaise"
originally aired March 28, 1943 on NBC
Starring: Orson Welles, Mary Livingstone, Dennis Day, Eddie "Rochester"
Anderson, Don Wilson, Phil Harris, Bill Morrow & Eddie Beloin (Benny's
writers), Verna Felton.
Special Note: Audio restoration on "The Jack Benny Program" was done by
Jerry Haendiges.
The Jack Benny Program - "Orson Welles guest hosts, Little Red Riding Hood"
originally aired April 4, 1943 on NBC
Starring: Orson Welles, Mary Livingstone, Dennis Day, Eddie "Rochester"
Anderson, Don Wilson, Phil Harris, Andy Devine, Bill Morrow & Eddie Beloin
(Benny's writers), Verna Felton.
Special Note: Audio restoration on "The Jack Benny Program" was done by
Jerry Haendiges.
The Jack Benny Program - "Orson Welles, Jack Returns After a 5 Week Illness"
originally aired April 11, 1943 on NBC
Starring: Jack Benny, Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris, Dennis Day, Eddie
"Rochester" Anderson, Don Wilson, Frank Nelson, Orson Welles, Verna Felton.
Special Note: Audio restoration on "The Jack Benny Program" was done by
Jerry Haendiges.
==================================
The RADIO Show
SPEED GIBSON OF THE INTERNATIONAL SECRET POLICE
Another Speed Gibson Special, as we accelerate the storyline with the next
four episodes of The Atlantian Syndicate Adventure
A Word from Our Sponsor:
The Bill Cosby Radio Program
"The Gentleman Of Golf" starring Bill Cosby with Frank Buxton (Syndicated
for Coca-Cola, 1968)
===================================
If you have any questions or request, please feel free to contact me.
Jerry Haendiges
Jerry@[removed] 562-696-4387
The Vintage Radio Place [removed]
Largest source of Old Time Radio Logs, Articles and programs on the Net
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 12 Mar 2006 15:13:00 -0500
From: Rutledge Mann <cliff_marsland@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: OTR era catalin radios
Hi,
I'm clearly not an expert on the field, but I admire
the look of some of the catalin radios (mostly
'37-41). However, real ones in nice shape go for
outrageously expensive prices (2,000-11,000). I never
cared much for the wood ones, nor the post-war ones.
I was thinking that it would be a good idea for some
enterprising person to make accurate-looking repros of
some of the better models that haven't been repro'd
yet. In the back could be an mp3/wav HD player or a
CD/mp3 drive. I would never alter an original unless
it was gutted to begin with, but I wouldn't mind a
repro having all the modern amenities tastefully done.
A lot of the Emerson models are nice, some Bendix,
the Garod commander, some Motorola. The Fada bullet's
already been repro'd but it could stand to have a
better one. I would love to listen to OTR on a
realistic repro with decent parts.
Trav
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 12 Mar 2006 17:44:33 -0500
From: "Michael Ogden" <michaelo67@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Subject: most confusing series to
log/catalog?
In a recent posting Trav characterized THE WITCH'S TALE as "the most
confusing series to catalog." Yowzah, I'll second that notion!
There's two main "becauses" for the confusion:
(1) Because between 1931 and 1943 there were eight different versions of the
series. The WOR-Mutual series, two 1934 transcription series, three Los
Angeles series, and two Australian.
(2) Because all of the MP3 dealers have been using WOR broadcast
dates--"borrowed" from Dave Siegel's great WITCH'S TALE book--and attaching
them inaccurately to shows from the various later transcription series.
MP3ers, [removed] DOING THAT!!!!! It's, like, annoying.
Of all the WITCH'S TALE shows in circulation, only TWO are from the original
WOR series--"The Magic Skin--Part 1" and "In the Devil's Name--Part 1" (both
of which, incidentally, feature the late Miriam Wolfe as Old Nancy). All
other circulating WITCH'S TALES are from either (a) the 1934 All-Star
transcriptions, (b) the 1934 Group Broadcasters transcriptions, (c) the
1939-1940 Australian transcriptions, or (d) the 1942-1943 Australian
transcriptions.
The book I'm working on will have a complete log for the All-Star series,
and nearly complete logs for the Group Broadcasters series and the three Los
Angeles series. I'm also making some progress towards a decent log for the
Australian shows, thanks to the recent kind help of an Australian
collector/researcher.
Trav also mentioned the WITCH'S TALE disc entitled "Devil Hands" It is
clearly Australian and has the Macquarie label on it. But the episode
numbering refers to the WOR series, and the opening music is different from
what was used in the regular Australian series. My guess is that this was an
audition disc done sometime in 1938 or 1939, just as a tryout in advance of
actually doing the series. The fact that it clocks in at 35 minutes
indicates to me that, as an audition, they weren't going for timing but to
determine the potential appeal of the series to their listeners or to
sponsors.
Oh, and to add to the overall confusion, there is also in circulation a 1941
broadcast of STAR SPANGLED THEATRE which features a re-creation of the
WITCH'S TALE script "The Gypsy's Hand." When I sent a copy of it to Miriam
Wolfe in the mid-Nineties, she didn't remember doing the show, but after she
heard it, she confirmed my belief that she did indeed play Old Nancy (and
doubled as a hospital nurse and a gypsy hag).
Mike Ogden
(who still likes to draw up to the fire and gaze into th' [removed] into
'em [removed])
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2006 Issue #74
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