------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2008 : Issue 137
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
re: James Bond [ Ben Ohmart <benohmart@[removed]; ]
Yes, but? [ Wich2@[removed] ]
Re: James Bond [ rob haskins <everclean1@[removed]; ]
Questions [ "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@juno. ]
Bill Thompson [ Elizabeth Minney <epminney@hotmail. ]
Suggestion [ "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@juno. ]
LAWRENCE TIERNEY [ "belanger" <belanger@[removed]; ]
New OTR volume released [ <otrbuff@[removed]; ]
RE: Smith Ferebee [ mbensman@[removed] ]
5-30 births/deaths [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
Routing and timing of network shows [ "Sammy Jones" <sjones69@[removed] ]
Re: Suspense character name [ "R. R. King" <kingrr@[removed]; ]
Eddie Duchin [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 29 May 2008 11:28:17 -0400
From: Ben Ohmart <benohmart@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: re: James Bond
You're in luck! BBC Radio 4 is now doing Dr. No, so
you might be able to listen live or find more info at:
[removed]
Ben Ohmart
Old radio. Old movies. New books.
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 29 May 2008 11:29:15 -0400
From: Wich2@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Yes, but?
Dear Jim-
From: <otrbuff@[removed];
Alan Bell writes:
One of the answers given for the quiz states that Mel
Blanc supplied the voice for Wallace Wimple on ... Does that mean he did the
voice at some time, even though he wasn't the usual voice actor?
Your extended which [removed]
The other celebrated Thompson characterization, Wallace Wimple, was brought
out of mothballs to make his first appearance on FM&M on April 15, [removed]
...was interesting, but unless I missed something, did not answer the
question that you quoted?
Signed. "Curious in NYC."
-Craig W.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 29 May 2008 19:47:25 -0400
From: rob haskins <everclean1@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: James Bond
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Try this e-mail:
jckaelin@[removed]
This should help.
Rob
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Date: Thu, 29 May 2008 19:49:15 -0400
From: "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Questions
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I've got a couple questions I hope to get answers to. Last night,
I was listening to some eps of "The Fat Man" and the announcer mentioned
the creator was Dashiell Hammett (who also created "The Thin Man"). I was
wondering, were there any books with the Fat Man, Brad Runyon ever
published or was this character exclusive to radio?
Also, I'm looking for a series from the early 1940's called (I hope I
get this right) "I Deal in Crime". It sounds like one I might want to check
out.
Charlie, I'm using the correct computer address, but it keeps telling
me That some thing's wrong with the content. How can I avoid this?
Another OTR Fan,
Kenneth Clarke
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Date: Thu, 29 May 2008 19:53:29 -0400
From: Elizabeth Minney <epminney@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Bill Thompson
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In issue #136 of the OTR Digest Jim Cox gave us a wonderful resume on the
family of Bill Thompson characters -- Wallace Wimple and Mr. Old Timer being
perhaps the most memorable.
In 1957 Thompson became an executive in community relations for the
Union Oil Corporation in Los Angeles. He continued doing limited work
in animation, playing King Hubert in 1959's Sleeping Beauty and Touche
Turtle on TV's Touche Turtle and Dum Dum.
It is surprising to me to learn that Thompson set aside his voice work to
become an executive in an oil corporation. How did this come about -- did the
oil people recruit Thompson, perhaps figuring that his show-business
connections would provide an entree into the world of community relations?
I realize that radio was losing out to TV, but Thompson was doing a lot of
work in both TV and the movies.
Just a random, curious question.
Betty
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Date: Thu, 29 May 2008 19:53:58 -0400
From: "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Suggestion
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Is there a book out there about the announcers and or hosts of
programs? Heaven knows there would be enough material for someone should they
decide to write one. Right now, I'm looking for a book about the hosts of
game/quiz shows. Any ideas?
Another OTR Fan,
Kenneth Clarke
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Date: Thu, 29 May 2008 19:55:10 -0400
From: "belanger" <belanger@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: LAWRENCE TIERNEY
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I recently heard Hollywood bad boy, Lawrence Tierney playing Duke Mantee in a
radio version of PETRIFIED FOREST. The guy certainly had a unique sounding
voice. Does anyone know if he ever did any other radio?
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------------------------------
Date: Thu, 29 May 2008 19:55:16 -0400
From: <otrbuff@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: New OTR volume released
I'm pleased to announce that my newest work, "Sold on Radio: Advertising in
the Golden Age of Broadcasting," has just been released by McFarland & Co.
The 322-page hardback traces commercial radio from its historic antecedents
through a protracted controversy surrounding how radio was to be financed,
federal oversight, the profound effects of advertising agencies and audience
measurement systems, copywriters, announcers, musicians, creative promotions
applied to marketing on the ether, and the people backstage who made it
happen. A half-dozen background chapters supply insightful information on
an area vital to the success of radio which has heretofore been almost
altogether out of the spotlight.
Following those opening stanzas, 24 major U. S. corporations and their
involvement in and impact on radio advertising are examined in depth, along
with associated personalities and samples of their audio wares in text
treatments. They include:
American Home Products
American Tobacco Company
Bristol-Myers Company
Brown & Williamson Tobacco Company
Campbell Soup Company
Coca-Cola Company
Colgate-Palmolive-Peet Company
Ford Motor Company
General Foods Corporation
General Mills, Inc.
General Motors Company
Andrew Jergens Company
Kellogg Company
Kraft Foods Company
Lever Brothers Company
Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company
P. Lorillard, Inc.
Miles Laboratories, Inc.
Philip Morris Company
Procter & Gamble Company
Quaker Oats Company
R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
Standard Brands, Inc.
Sterling Drug, Inc.
In addition, there are 100 more major U. S. firms which also plugged their
commodities regularly on radio that are explored in summary profiles in one
of the book's trio of appendices. A glossary of advertising-broadcasting
jargon is included, plus myriad intriguing variants that supply compelling
insights into radio commercial development offering little-known secrets
outside the industry. There's also a handful of photographs, notes,
bibliography and index.
"Sold on Radio" is available now at $55 via any of these routes:
[removed], 800-253-2187, fax 336-246-4403.
Jim Cox
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 29 May 2008 19:56:44 -0400
From: mbensman@[removed]
To: OTRDigest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: RE: Smith Ferebee
This is a question for someone in this knowledgeable group to answer.
Post to the digest, but also send your comment and/or answer to:
ducibej@[removed]
- ---
Dr. Bensman:
My name is Jim Ducibella, and I am writing a book about a man named
Smith Ferebee. In 1938, Ferebee played 144 holes of golf in one day at
Chicago's Olympia Fields Country Club to win a Virginia Beach
plantation. According to Editor and Publisher magazine, the marathon
was broadcast, but the magazine does not say by which station. I have
written and called the Museum of Broadcasting in Chicago several times
and have received no answer; they are closed for renovation and while
they instruct you to leave messages, none are returned. There is also
a Chicago-area DJ who runs a broadcast history of Chicago site, but
I've e-mailed him a couple of times the last 18 months and never heard
back.
Is there someone in Chicago or 1930s radio historian that you know who
might be able to tell me which station would have been most likely to
send someone out to broadcast this event? Ferebee went on Ripley's
program a couple of nights after the marathon, and was in the studios
of WMAQ while Ripley was in NY, not that that means anything.
Thank you in advance for any guidance you can provide.
Jim Ducibella - ducibej@[removed]--
- ---
Professor Emeritus Marvin R. Bensman, [removed], [removed]
WESTON FL 33327-2439
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 30 May 2008 03:09:58 -0400
From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 5-30 births/deaths
May 30th births
05-30-1888 - James Farley - Crassey Point, NY - d. 6-9-1976
post master general: "Information Please"
05-30-1891 - Ben Bernie - Bayonne, NJ - d. 10-20-1943
bandleader: (The Old Maestro) "Ben Bernie Orchestra"; "Musical Mock
Trial"
05-30-1892 - Raymond Clapper - LaCygne, KS - d. 2-1-1944
commentator: (Killed During WWII) "News and Commentary for White Owl
Cigars"
05-30-1892 - Russ Brown - Philadelphia, PA - d. 10-19-1964
singer: "Ben Bernie, The Old Maestro"; "The Joe Penner Show"
05-30-1896 - Whispering Jack Smith - The Bronx, NY - d. 5-13-1950
singer: "Whispering Jack Smith"
05-30-1899 - Ruth Perrott - d. 1-6-1996
actor: Prudence Rockbottom "Meet Me at Parky's"; Dottie Brainfeeble
"Vic and Sade"
05-30-1901 - Cornelia Otis Skinner - Chicago, IL - d. 7-9-1979
actor: Mary "Johnny Presents"
05-30-1902 - Stepin Fetchit - Key West, FL - d. 11-19-1985
comedian: "Hollywood Hotel"
05-30-1904 - Carol Goodner - Katonah, NY - d. 11-29-2001
actor: "Keep It Dark"; "Advs. of the Red Feather Man"
05-30-1906 - Norris Goff - Cove, AR - d. 6-7-1978
actor: Abner Peabody "Lum and Abner"
05-30-1908 - Mel Blanc - San Francisco, CA - d. 7-10-1989
actor: Professor Pierre La Blanc "Jack Benny Program"; August Moon
"Point Sublime"
05-30-1909 - Benny Goodman - Chicago, IL - d. 6-13-1986
bandleader: (King of Swing) "Camel Caravan"; "Victor Borge Show"
05-30-1911 - Douglas Fowley - NYC - d. 5-21-1998
actor: "Hollywood Hotel"
05-30-1911 - Louise Campbell - Chicago, IL - d. 11-15-1997
actress: "The Star Maker"
05-30-1912 - Jerry D. Lewis - d. 8-7-1996
writer: "This Is Your FBI"
05-30-1912 - Julian Symons - London, England - d. 11-19-1994
crime writer: "Night Driver to Dover"; "Affection Unlimited"
05-30-1913 - Julian Blaustein - NYC - d. 6-20-1995
writer: "Cavalcade of America"
05-30-1914 - Bob Sherwood - Indianapolis, IN - d. 1-23-1981
music: "The Eddie Cantor Show"
05-30-1915 - Frank Blair - Yemasse, SC - d. 3-14-1995
newscaster, announcer: "America Looks Ahead"; "Fulton Lewis, Jr."
05-30-1917 - Peter Leeds - Bayonne, NJ - d. 11-12-1996
actor: Eugor "Rogue's Gallery"; "Bob Hope Show"; "Stan Freberg Show"
05-30-1920 - Franklin J. Schaffner - Tokyo, Japan - d. 7-2-1989
writer, director: "World Security Workshop"; "The March of Time"
05-30-1921 - Roy Neal - Philadelphia, PA - d. 8-15-2003
actor: "The Lost Continent"
05-30-1923 - Jimmy Lydon - Harrington Park, NJ
actor: Jimmy "Young Love"
05-30-1926 - Christine Jorgenson - The Bronx, NY - d. 5-3-1989
actor: "Whatever Became [removed]"
05-30-1927 - Dick Noel - NYC
announcer, vocalist: "The Breakfast Clug"; "Ray Anthony and His
Orchestra"
05-30-1936 - Keir Dullea - Cleveland, OH
actor: "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"
05-30-1944 - Meredith MacCrea - Houston, TX - d. 7-14-2000
actor: (Daughter of Gordon and Shelia MacCrea) "Sears Radio Theatre"
05-30-1961 - Ralph Carter - NYC
actor: "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"
May 30th deaths
02-12-1914 - Tex Beneke - Fort Worth, TX - d. 5-30-2000
tenor sax, singer, bandleader: "Glenn Miller and His Orchestra";
"Sunset Serenade"
03-01-1905 - Doris Hare - Bargoed, Monmouthshire, Wales - d. 5-30-2000
actor, host: "Navy Mixture"
04-03-1894 - Dooley Wilson - Tyler, TX - d. 5-30-1953
actor: "Theatre of Romance"; "New World A-Coming"; "Jubilee"
05-10-1911 - Paul Taubman - Winnipeg, Canada - d. 5-30-1994
organist/pianist: "Perry Mason"; "Mysterious Traveler"; "Family Doctor"
06-14-1912 - Peggy Ann Wood - Chiswick, England - d. 5-30-1998
actor: "The Cleverest Man at Oxford"
07-13-1924 - Patrick Campbell - d. 5-30-2003
actor: "The Chase"
08-06-1921 - Ella Raines - Snoqualmie, WA - d. 5-30-1988
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Red Cross Show"
08-18-1898 - Ken Sisson - Danbury, CT - d. 5-30-1947
conductor/arranger: "Maxwell House Coffee Time"; "Your Hit Parade"
09-03-1899 - Ezra Taft Benson - Whitney, ID - d. 5-30-1994
[removed] secratary of agriculture: "Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy Show"
09-05-1895 - William Hillman - NYC - d. 5-30-1962
newscaster: Teamed with Raymond Clapper on NBC BLUE, ABC
11-10-1889 - Claude Rains - London, England - d. 5-30-1967
actor: "Shakesperian Circle"; "This Is War!"; "Presenting Claude Rains"
11-13-1917 - Robert Sterling - Newcastle, PA - d. 5-30-2006
actor: Michael Shayne "Michael Shayne"
12-03-1897 - George Riley - Rochester, NY - d. 5-30-1972
comedian: "Furlough Fun"
12-05-1906 - William Spier - d. 5-30-1973
producer, director: "Advs. of Sam Spade"; "Suspense"
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 30 May 2008 03:11:11 -0400
From: "Sammy Jones" <sjones69@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Routing and timing of network shows
Hello all,
I've recently discovered the excellent NBC Chimes Museum website
([removed]). What a wonderful resource to get the story on
the NBC chimes! Reading about that great on-air trademark inspired me to
set the NBC net ID and chimes as my Windows logoff sound.
Veering back on topic: I didn't know that before the NBC production
facility was built in Hollywood in the late '30s, NBC shows originating from
the West Coast were fed directly to Chicago before being sent out on the
network. I suppose that meant KFI, Los Angeles (which was not an O&O)
received the feed of Hollywood shows only after they had made the trek to
Chicago and back! Were the chimes for West Coast shows rung in Hollywood or
Chicago?
All this info about chimes and routing on the site got me wondering if there
is any more info out there regarding the processes in routing network feeds.
Apparently the West Coast feed was only one way, with Los Angeles having no
way to monitor the rest of the net while it was feeding a program down the
line.
What was the relationship exactly between NBC and AT&T? I always assumed
that AT&T merely supplied the requisite phone lines, but apparently they had
quite a bit to do with routing and switching feeds to the different networks
and legs.
And finally, what was the exact timing of an NBC (or other network show)
supposed to be? Some sources indicate a half hour show was 29:30 exactly.
No matter what. I've also heard 20 seconds was the required amount in
between shows. The Chimes site says shows often ran long or short, and the
chimes were rarely rung exactly on time. Listening to airchecks from the
'30s seems to bear this out, with the KFI ID following the chimes on many
Jack Benny programs giving the time as, "10 seconds before 9." I just heard
one that said, "5 seconds before 9"! If the next show on the net originated
from Hollywood, I can imagine some poor engineer trying to get the circuit
turned around before 9, a task that it seems took about 15 seconds to do!
Interesting to note that it sounds like the Benny program from 6/21/36 uses
the Rangertone chimes at the end, but the very next show after the summer
break 10/4/36 uses the hand struck dinner chimes. Is there a precise date
known when the Rangertone chimes went into service?
When I first began collecting OTR I just assumed little was actually known
about how shows were produced and how networks operated on a day to day
basis. I reckoned all these shows just existed on cassette or reel and the
history behind them was lost. I've learned that's really not true. Books
like Michael Biel's "Making and Use of Broadcast Recordings" are eye
opening. There's lots of information already out there, and even more
waiting to be uncovered. Does anyone know the answers to my questions?
Thanks,
Sammy Jones
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 30 May 2008 03:12:47 -0400
From: "R. R. King" <kingrr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Suspense character name
Sometimes words do not come out clearly in recordings of radio
shows. ...
I have an obscure Suspense query of my own. In Antony Ellis' 1955
adaptation of Ray Bradbury's "Kaleidoscope," a cynical character named
Applegate keeps using an expression I can't make out. Sounds like "mar
sash." The context makes it seem like an expletive ...
***
APPLEGATE: Who's giving orders?
HOLLIS: I am.
APPLEGATE: Oh, [mar sash?] to you, friend.
***
... as if the character were saying "Nuts to you." The character uses
it later in other lines like: "Be my guest! Order me some more. You
gonna put me in chains till we land? [mar sash?] to you, Captain."
The expression doesn't seem to appear in Bradbury's short story or his
later stage adaptation. My first thought was that it's supposed to be
some kind of futuristic slang invented by Ellis. Anybody know anything
about this?
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 30 May 2008 09:26:35 -0400
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Eddie Duchin
A friend of mine is trying to solve a bit of a mystery. I suspect it was an
unintentional error in a script. One male lead comments that Eddie Duchin
offered the song, "The Lady in Red," but it appears he never performed the
song. Anyone help confirm?
Martin
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2008 Issue #137
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