Subject: [removed] Digest V2003 #467
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 12/31/2003 8:17 PM
To: <[removed]@[removed];

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2003 : Issue 467
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  Comments regarding Gary Giddins       [ "Lawrence T. Lewis" <L-Lewis1@[removed] ]
  Re: Jack Paar                         [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
  Serling and Oboler                    [ "Ivan G. Shreve, Jr." <iscreve@comc ]
  Les Tremayne and Mr. Magoo            [ KENPILETIC@[removed] ]
  Jack Paar                             [ ABCDiehl@[removed] ]
  Salmi on Twilight Zone                [ benohmart@[removed] ]
  Re: Daring Language -- and More!      [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
  Too Many Cassettes                    [ Thomasmartin245@[removed] ]
  Radio Premium Producers               [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
  Re: Rose Marie and Amsterdam          [ Christopher Werner <werner1@globalc ]
  New Year's Day births/deaths          [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
  Jack Parr and Baby Rosemarie.         [ William L Murtough <k2mfi@[removed]; ]
  'What Difference Does It Make?'       [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
  "The Cinnamon Bear"                   [ Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed] ]
  Calling All Cars                      [ "Jim Plummer" <[removed]@[removed] ]

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

Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 10:46:08 -0500
From: "Lawrence T. Lewis" <L-Lewis1@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Comments regarding Gary Giddins

In a recent post one of our members took Gary Giddins to task for the
accuracy of a comment he made in the NY Times regarding Jack Benny, The
comment may very well have been warranted, but it did not stop there.  It
went on to question the accuracy of Mr. Giddins research, which I think is
unwarranted.

I have no connection with Mr. Giddins of any type, but I have read his book
on Bing Crosby, "A Pocketful of Dreams: the Early Years 1904-1940".  I could
be wrong, but it appears to me that it is a scholarly book. It is over 500
pages of text that is extensively footnoted.  In addition it lists all of
Bing's recordings up to 1940 and all of his movies.  This is the first
volume of a two-volume set.  I am looking forward to the second volume.  My
only quibble with the book is that at times Mr. Giddins gets too technical
in analyzing the songs that Bing recorded.  Other than that is a very
interesting read.

I didn't discover Bing until probably 1950 or so when he has near the end of
his dominance, but not his career by any means.  I never fully realized the
magnitude and breadth of Bing as an entertainer in virtually every medium
until I read this book.

Regards,

Larry Lewis

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

Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 10:58:48 -0500
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otrd <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re:  Jack Paar

   Kenneth Clarke mused --

 >  My question is quite simple:  Was Jack Paar on OTR before he was on
television?  If so, on which programs?

   Jack Benny discovered Paar in the South Pacific in 1945 and, long
story short, Paar was Benny's summer replacement from June to September
1947, after being introduced on Benny's last show of the same in May.
(All shows are in circulation.  I have them on .mp3).
   Once the summer series ended, he was picked up by ABC in October,
also sponsored by Lucky Strike.  However, he always had a way of putting
his foot in his mouth and said he wanted to get away from the old-hat
comedy and Lucky Strike helped his request by canceling him in December
of that year.
   He continued in radio as a dj until moving to that other medium in
1956.  (Info gleaned from Dunning, pg. 365, other than my comments).
   He was always a favourite of mine, though The Tonight Show was on too
late for me, I always watched his Friday show.   That is where I came
"to know" Oscar Levant, whom I thought was hilarious in a dead-pan
manner.  Not to mention many others when a chat show was that: talk
about the person for some time, not merely plugging their latest work.
   The last I heard he was living quietly on a farm somewhere in New
England.
   Joe

--
Visit my homepage:  [removed]~[removed]

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

Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 11:22:14 -0500
From: "Ivan G. Shreve, Jr." <iscreve@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Serling and Oboler

Kenneth Clarke rapped the table for attention:

Whether Serling was influenced by any of the reigning writers of OTR
during his early years is debatable, but altogether possible. As you said,
Arch Oboler (one of OTR's most prolific and well respected writers) might
have been an influence.

Marc Scott Zicree's invaluable THE TWILIGHT ZONE COMPANION mentions that
Oboler's "What the Devil" (broadcast on LIGHTS OUT October 6, 1942) was at
one time a script candidate for TZ, but for some unknown reason was never
used.

Ivan
----
OTR Ramblings and Musings at Thrilling Days of Yesteryear:
[removed]

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

Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 11:22:27 -0500
From: KENPILETIC@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Les Tremayne and Mr. Magoo
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

Hi Gang -

Yesterday I watched an old videotape of "Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol".
In the closing credits, Les Tremayne was listed as the voice of one of
the characters in the story.   Does anybody know what part he played?
For that matter, does anybody know what parts any (all?) of the cast
members played?

Happy New Year - Ken Piletic - Streamwood, Illinois

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

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

Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 11:23:49 -0500
From: ABCDiehl@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Jack Paar

Re: Russ Butler's posting on Jack Paar.
      Jack is still on the planet, but has been in poor health for the past
couple of years due to a stroke.  He'll turn 86 next May.  I interviewed him
back in the mid 90's at the Friar's Club in New York  when they hosted an
event to publicize the release on Home Video of some of his old shows.  He
was a delight to chat with, or as Jack might say "I kid you not."  I believe
he still makes his home in Connecticut.

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

Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 11:26:39 -0500
From: benohmart@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Salmi on Twilight Zone

For those interested in Twilight Zone TV stuff, a new biography of Albert Salmi is 
coming out in March at [removed]. He starred in a few TZ's, plus Lost 
in Space, Kung Fu and just about everything else. 

Ben

The Paul Frees biography
[removed]

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

Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 11:27:42 -0500
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: Daring Language -- and More!

On 12/31/03 10:58 AM [removed]@[removed] wrote:

What I find remarkable is (1) that it was  performed on stage in the 1920s
and (2) that it
actually was filmed.  Still more surprising is that, in our own, more
permissive, time,
Groucho's line is censored in most prints of the movie.

This line was actually extraordinarily tame compared to much of what was
seen and heard on the Broadway stage in the 1920s -- sex jokes abounded
in the musical revues of the day, delivered with a sort of smirking
knowingness that pandered to the adult sophistication of the sort of
people who attended Broadway shows in formal evening clothes and then
adjourned to illegal speakeasies to drink the rest of the night away.
This was *not* the tourist-oriented Disneyfied Broadway of today.

Fred Allen recalled that during his tenure as comic monologist in a
mid-twenties revue called "The Greenwich Village Follies" his spots were
immediately proceeded on the program by a series of dance tableaux
enacted by a procession of bare-breasted chorus girls. After this
spectacle, Allen would come out on stage in front of the closed curtain
and talk for twelve minutes -- describing his role in the production as
that of "an antidote to sex."

The twenties and early thirties were many things, but prudish wasn't one
of them.

Elizabeth

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

Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 13:09:34 -0500
From: Thomasmartin245@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Too Many Cassettes
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

Hi gang-
I too have had the problem of excess cassettes over the years, as John
Ruklick has had. Some made from MP3s and some just copies to travel with. A
few
years ago I tried to sell them on Ebay and didn't get one look. After I was
forced
to retire for health reasons I got set up at the Veterans Administration (a
wonderful group of people). I now give any extra tapes to them as well as a
local retirement home and Hospice. I would suggest that if you are so
inclined
many local charities would be more than welcome to accept them. Best- Tom

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

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

Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 13:10:01 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Radio Premium Producers

Russ Butler notes,

I'm curious about the folks who actually designed, produced, packaged,
mailed and delivered these keepsakes of a child's imagination.

In the Tomart's Guide to Radio Premium and Cereal Box Collectibles, by
Tom Tumbusch, from page 10 through page 12, there is a discussion of the
designers.

Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 13:47:13 -0500
From: Christopher Werner <werner1@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Rose Marie and Amsterdam

James Yellen inquired:

Could you please tell me what Phil Harris program RoseMarie and
Shelton Leonard appeared on. I'm an avid fan of the Phil Harris/Alice
Faye show and don't recall
ever hearing RoseMarie or Shelton Leonard on the program. Was it a
show prior to the Fitch Show?

As I mentioned, I was reading a book on the Dick VanDyke Show by Vince
Waldron and this info came from there.
Page 58 (the subject is casting the role of the third writer on the show):

[Sheldon Leonard is calling Rose Marie to invite her to a job interview]
[Directly quoted from book]

...it seems ironic that her first response was, "Sheldon! What took you so
long?"
"I'd know Sheldon Leonard for years," she explains, recalling personal and
professional ties that went all the way back to radio, where Rose Marie had
played Leonard's sister on The Phil Harris Show.

[This is during Carl Reiner's first interview with Rose Marie for her job]

Before her matter-of-fact interview drew to a close, Rose Marie made one
additional, and as it would turn out, very significant suggestion to her
new producers. "Have you got anyone in mind for the third writer?" she asked.
"No," Reiner replied, "we haven't picked him yet."
"Good," she declared, "because Morey Amsterdam would be just right for
this." Carl Reiner paused to consider the suggestion while Rose Marie
elaborated. "He used to be a writer for Fanny Brice and Milton Berle and
Fred Allen. And he's also a comic"
[background info deleted here]
"Do you know where Morey is?" Reiner finally asked Rose Marie.
"Are you kiddin'?" she shot back, still flushed with enthusiasm. "I'm his
daughter's godmother! I've know Morey since I was eleven years old when we
did the Al Pierce Show---"
[End of direct quoting]

So, it sounds like it was the later Phil Harris show. Hence my initial
query of whether recordings exist. Terry S?

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

Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 15:47:10 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  New Year's Day births/deaths

Today in history:
1892 - A processing center for arriving immigrants opens on Ellis Island in
New York harbor.

New Years Day 2004, Where did last year go?

Holidays:

1st - New Year's Day
1st, 2nd, 3rd - Shogatsu (Japan)
12th - Seiji No Hi (Japan)
22nd - Chinese New Year
26th - Australia Day (Australia)

Flower - Carnation
Birthstone - Garnet

Necrology of all those on my list who passed on during the year of 2003.

01-18 - Dick Crenna
01-25 - Robert Rockwell
02-04 - Jerome Hines
02-13 - Stacy Keach, Sr.
03-01 - Nadine Conner
03-18 - Peggy Conklin
05-14 - Robert Stack
05-15 - June Carter Cash
05-28 - Martha Scott
06-11 - David Brinkley
06-12 - Gregory Peck
06-15 - Hume Cronyn
06-21 - George Axelrod
06-29 - Kathrine Hepburn
07-04 - Tyler McVey
07-06 - Buddy Ebsen
07-14 - Benny Carter
07-27 - Bob Hope
07-28 - Tex McCrary
08-04 - True Boardman
08-27 - Jinx Falkenburg McCrary
09-05 - Gisele Mackenzie
09-12 - Johnny Cash
09-27 - Donald O"Connor
09-28 - Elia Kazan
11-11 - Irv Kupcinet
11-13 - Penny Singleton
11-16 - Art Carney
12-06 - Ellen Drew
12-14 - Jeanne Crain
12-19 - Les Tremayne

New Year"s Day births

01-01-1889 - Charles Bickford - Cambridge, MA - d. 11-9-1967
actor: "Radio Hall of Fame"
01-01-1897 - Walter Greaza - St. Paul, MN - d. 1973
actor: "Columbia Workshop"; "Suspense"
01-01-1900 - Xavier Cugat - Tirona, Spain - d. 10-27-1990
bandleader: (King of the Rhumba) "Camel Caravan"
01-01-1909 - Dana Andrews - Collins, MS - d. 12-17-1992
actor: Matt Cevetic "I Was A Communist for the FBI"
01-01-1916 - Earl Wrightson - Baltimore, MD - d. 3-7-1993
singer: "Highways in Melody"; "Getting the Most Out of Life"
01-01-1917 - Ted Cott - Poughkeepsie, NY - d. 6-12-1973
announcer, emcee: "So You Think You Know Music?"; "Music You Want"
01-01-1919 - Carole Landis - Fairchild, WI - d. 7-5-1948
actress: "Warner Brothers Academy Award"; "Command Performance"
01-01-1929 - Terry Moore - Los Angeles, CA
actress: Shirley 'Bumps" Smith "Smiths of Hollywood"
01-01-1938 - Norma Jean Nilsson - Hollywood, CA
actress: Kathy Anderson "Father Knows Best"; Cookie Bumstead "Blondie"

New Year"s Day deaths (What a bad way to start the new year)

02-15-1907 - Cesar Romero - NYC - d. 1-1-1994
actor: "Movietone Radio Theatre"
04-25-1919 - Albert Aley - NYC - d. 1-1-1986
actor: Hop Harrigan "Hop Harrigan"; Bob James "Stella Dallas"
05-16-1896 - Margaret Sullavan - Norfolk, VA - d. 1-1-1960
actress: "Electric Theatre"; "Hollywood Playhouse"
09-12-1888 - Maurice Chevalier - Paris, France - d. 1-1-1972
actor, singer, host: "Chase & Sanborn Hour"; "This is Paris"; "Bing Crosby
Show"
09-17-1923 - Hank Williams - Georgiana, AL - d. 1-1-1953
singer: "Louisiana Hayride"; "Grand Ole Opry"; "Health and Happiness"

Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 15:47:49 -0500
From: William L Murtough <k2mfi@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Jack Parr and Baby Rosemarie.

When I first came to New York to visit my sister I stopped in to have
lunch with an announcer friend at WHN. It was the fall of 1936. In the
course of the visit I met their Chief Engineer. About a week later I had
a call from this chap asking me if I could come in and see him
immediately. By early that afternoon I had joined their engineering
staff. I remember that they had a daily commercial live program at about
6:00 pm sponsored by Sally's Furs. Staff conductor Don Albert conducted
the staff orchestra. Ray Saunders was the announcer and Otto Graybow was
the engineer. Old time vaudevilian Al Shane was the male vocalist. Five
year old "Baby" Rose Marie was the other vocalist. The show originated
from WHN's studio A on the top floor of the Lowe's State Theater building
at 45th Street and Broadway on Times Square. For some reason the child's
parents were not permiited in the studio so would bring her to the ground
floor lobby where a   WHN staff member would meet them and take the child
up to the studio, returning her to her parents after the show.

I do remember the show with Jack Parr. As I recall it was the summer
replacement for the Jack Benny TV show (not radio). The show would open
with Parr wheeling a wheelbarrow full of gold or silver coins into the
picture and I do recall that Benny had met Parr while doing his show at a
military base. Parr lived in the same town where I commuted from and
patronized the same barber. However I never encountered him. Durward
Kirby, who I had known since my Hollywood days also lived there and we
did ride the commuter train together. Durward was amused that Parr would
have the barber turn his chair so that the passers by wouldn't recognize
him even though his car was parked at the curb with his name on the
vanity license plate.

That'e thirty's for now. (Anyone remember who used that for his
sign-off?)

Bill Murtough

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

Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 17:55:44 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  'What Difference Does It Make?'

Max Schmid, speaking of Jean Shepherd, notes,

Shepherd was a storyteller, not a historian.  He scoffed at people who
believed that every story he told was true, and felt it belittled his
art. His stories also changed over the years

Yeah, but some stories are accepted by folk who didn't grow up when he
did.  And as such, he does a disservice to the medium that made him
famous.

Particularly as the OTR world fades into the mists of time, there already
are urban legends -- Uncle Don's "the little bastards" alleged comment
springs to mind -- and many are accepted as fact.

In a book on cryptology, *Secret Messages -- Concealment, Codes, and
Other Types of Ingenious Communications* By William S. Butler and L.
Douglas Keeney (Simon & Schuster, 2001, ISBN 0-684-896998-5), the authors
state, "A Captain Midnight decoder ring in good condition will today
bring five hundred dollars at auction."  Serious radio premium collectors
are aware that there is and never has been a Captain Midnight Decoder
Ring, yet that Urban Legend has been repeated in  cryptological
literature.

Those who care about preserving as much of the actual OTR tradition as
possible get concerned when an inaccuracy is repeated as fact.

Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 18:59:38 -0500
From: Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed];
To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  "The Cinnamon Bear"

I hope those of you who listened to "The Cinnamon Bear" this year enjoyed
it.  Many OTR Digesters have remarked that "The Cinnamon Bear" has become
an annual tradition.

When Kenosha, Wisconsin resident,   Don Jensen,  founded  the Cinnamon Bear
Brigade (subsequently managed by Carolyn Kolibaba and me  of Portland,
Oregon), we were amazed that we had so many folks join us in promoting the
wonderful bear with the "shoe button eyes." During the five years which our
organization existed, we had more than 500  members, including columnist
Tom Shales of The Washington Post.

Paddy O'Cinnamon  is a special bear and he continues to appeal to  children
of all ages.  Since the cast of the 26 episode series  contains more than a
dozen of  the golden age of radio stars, using CB with your kids  is one
way to keep the magic of old-time  radio alive, as well as the artistry of
many of the  actors we of the Digest have come to love.  The program was
recorded at Radio Recorders in Los Angeles in marathon sessions in the
early fall, 1937.  Somewhere in America, the magic of CB  sparkles each
Christmas.  I know that Portland, Oregon,  has run the series every year
since 1937. Other cities, like Chicago, Illinois, almost equal that record.

Carolyn and I are moving ever closer to solving the mystery of who played
Jimmy Barton, the one cast member yet to be identified.  We hope to have
the answer by summer.  We have just recently developed some exciting
"leads."

I wish for all of you a happy and prosperous new year!

Dennis Crow

Meanwhile, I wish for all of you peach and prosperity in 2004.

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

Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 19:47:42 -0500
From: "Jim Plummer" <[removed]@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Calling All Cars
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

I recently saw the Tyrone Power "Jessie James" and noticed that the theme
music is the same as used on "Calling All Cars". I'm surprised that Fox would
use a radio theme in one of their 'a' features. Does anyone know the story
behind this?

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

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #467
*********************************************

Copyright [removed] Communications, York, PA; All Rights Reserved,
  including republication in any form.

If you enjoy this list, please consider financially supporting it:
   [removed]

For Help: [removed]@[removed]

To Unsubscribe: [removed]@[removed]

To Subscribe: [removed]@[removed]
  or see [removed]

For Help with the Archive Server, send the command ARCHIVE HELP
  in the SUBJECT of a message to [removed]@[removed]

To contact the listmaster, mail to listmaster@[removed]

To Send Mail to the list, simply send to [removed]@[removed]