Subject: [removed] Digest V2006 #41
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 2/8/2006 4:23 PM

To: [removed]@[removed]

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2006 : Issue 41
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Cincy Hotel Reservations              [ Dan Hughes <danhughes@[removed]; ]
      Jack Benny's violin playing           [ "Laura Leff" <president@[removed] ]
      Joe Besser                            [ Melanie Aultman <otrmelanie@[removed] ]
      Jack Benny's violin skills            [ "David Ballarotto" <balla@earthlink ]
      self-reference and irreverence        [ "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed] ]
      Time For Benny                        [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr" <skallisjr@j ]
      OTR-related authors                   [ <vzeo0hfk@[removed]; ]
      Breaking radio's 4th wall             [ Bill Jaker <bilj@[removed]; ]
      Re: Breaking the fourth wall          [ Jim Widner <widnerj@[removed]; ]
      2-8 births/deaths                     [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
      Frank Gaby                            [ JayHick@[removed] ]
      #OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Nig  [ charlie@[removed] ]
      Ron Sayles, This Budd's For You!      [ "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed]; ]
      CART                                  [ Larry Gassman <lgsinger@[removed] ]
      ITTA3                                 [ benohmart@[removed] ]

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

    Date: Tue, 7 Feb 2006 19:05:16 -0500
    From: Dan Hughes <danhughes@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Cincy Hotel Reservations

    When I called in my reservations for the Cincinnati convention, a lady
    answered the phone and I asked for "reservations."  She connected me to
    the NATIONAL reservation board, and they couldn't give me the convention
    discount!  I had to hang up and call back, and this time I told the lady
    who answered to let me make a reservation locally - don't connect me to
    headquarters!  So be [removed]

    By the way, the convention rate for a room with two double beds is just
    $69, and ALL the rooms now have small refrigerators, microwave ovens, and
    coffee makers.

    ---Dan

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

    Date: Tue, 7 Feb 2006 19:10:09 -0500
    From: "Laura Leff" <president@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Jack Benny's violin playing

    Kenneth Clarke asks:

>           I've often wondered if all of the jokes about Jack Benny's violin
>     expertise (or lack thereof) were justified.  I've never actually heard him
>     play the violin.  I remember his OTR show and some of his TV shows,
>     but don't remember him performing on the violin.  Did he know how to
>     play it or was it just a running joke which he (and other comedians) used
>     to get laughs?

    For the ultimate answer on this, I asked Isaac Stern when I interviewed him
    a few years back.  His response was (essentially), "What you saw was what
    you got.  Jack played no better than the best he ever played in public."
    However, I have had multiple performers who were not violinists say that
    Jack serenaded them beautifully in the dressing rooms.

    Watch the television show with guest Stuart Canin, and you'll see Jack
    playing an absolutely straight violin number.  He also talks about the
    "cheats" he uses to fool audiences in his concert performances in an
    excellent interview with David Frost.  Both are available in our video
    library.

    And just stealing from my own FAQ on [removed]:

    " There are a variety of observations on this topic. Jack did study violin
    and perform in vaudeville for a time as a pure violinist. However, he
    enjoyed performing more than practicing, so never became the Mischa Elman (a
    Jewish violin virtuoso in the early part of the century) that his parents
    had wanted.

    "Jack said that if he tried to play badly, it wouldn't be funny. He claimed
    that he would try to play as well as possible, but create comedy in his
    missing the mark. Later in life he found the discipline for regular practice
    (for sometimes hours at a stretch), but Mary found the noise so unpleasant
    that she would make him practice in a far corner of their upstairs floor.
    Jack also used a wolf mute (heavy lead) to quiet the sound of his
    practicing. His daughter, Joan, also maintains that her father's practicing
    was fairly unpleasant. On the other hand, I have heard several other people
    say that Jack played reasonably well.

    "My suggestion is to listen to some of his performances and decide for
    yourself. Try the movie "Hollywood Canteen", or some of the television shows
    with Gisele MacKenzie or Toni Marcus. Pick up a violin yourself for a few
    minutes and see what you can do with it. Once you have an appreciation for
    the precision required by a violin, you may feel a little differently about
    what Jack-although not a virtuoso-could do with it."

    --Laura Leff
    President, IJBFC
    [removed]

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

    Date: Tue, 7 Feb 2006 20:14:34 -0500
    From: Melanie Aultman <otrmelanie@[removed];
    To: OTRDIGEST <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Joe Besser
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    In _Once a Stooge, Always a Stooge_ , Joe Besser talks about his work in
    radio.  I haven't checked the various sources for availability yet.  Does
    anyone have suggestions for programs that have Besser in them?  Or any
    comments to make regarding his radio career?

      *** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
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    ------------------------------

    Date: Tue, 7 Feb 2006 20:15:11 -0500
    From: "David Ballarotto" <balla@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Jack Benny's violin skills

    Kenneth Clarke wondered in yesterday's digest about Jack Benny's violin
    skills. I'm sure Laura will be able to give a very detailed answer, but
    Jack Benny certainly was talented when it came to the violin. His humor
    evolved from his vaudeville act as a fiddler.  At any rate, late in his
    career, he would perform in better concert halls playing the violin.  If
    you have GSN and watch or tape "What's My Line?" you should see an episode
    coming up in a matter of weeks or months his appearance on the program as a
    contestant for whom the panel is blindfolded (as opposed to being a Mystery
    Guest.)  He signs in as Benny Kubelsky and this episode aired just before a
    violin concert in New York.  But like so many other aspects of Benny's
    character, which he played so convincingly, the humor surrounding his
    violin playing is based on fantasy and not fact.

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

    Date: Tue, 7 Feb 2006 20:15:23 -0500
    From: "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  self-reference and irreverence

    When I first started to listen to OTR I was struck by the self-references in
    Fibber McGee and Molly, as well as the general lack of reverence afforded to
    the sponsors of that show and several others.  Now, the sponsors certainly
    weren't belittled, but anyone brought up on a childhood of high-pressure
    Anacin and Pall Mall TV ads might be forgiven for being a bit shocked at the
    breeziness with which McGee taunted Harlow Wilcox, ever the Defender of
    Johnson's Wax.

    Much the same was true with the Masonite Marvel himself, Charlie McCarthy.
    Nobody on TV could have gotten away with the stuff he did--though Arthur
    Godfrey, Steve Allen, and to an extent Johnny Carson certainly approached
    it.

    M Kinsler
    512 E Mulberry St. Lancaster, Ohio USA 43130 740-687-6368
    [removed]

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

    Date: Tue, 7 Feb 2006 20:16:15 -0500
    From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr" <skallisjr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Time For Benny

    Kenneth Clarke notes,

>     I've often wondered if all of the jokes about Jack Benny's violin
>     expertise (or lack thereof) were justified.  I've never actually heard
>     him play the violin.  I remember his OTR show and some of his TV shows,
>     but don't remember him performing on the violin.

    He appeared on a television show playing a duet with some famous
    violinist (the name escapes me: it'll probably surface after I hit
    "send").  They played together, though Mr. Benny did drop an occasional
    note.

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Tue, 7 Feb 2006 22:26:20 -0500
    From: <vzeo0hfk@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  OTR-related authors

    Regarding Trav's posting about "OTR related authors"---

    Although Trav seems to have a specific interpretation of the phrase, I urge
    those who like mysteries to take a look at some of John Dunning's (author of
    the great encyclopedia of OTR)

    Howard Blue

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

    Date: Tue, 7 Feb 2006 22:26:50 -0500
    From: Bill Jaker <bilj@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Breaking radio's 4th wall

        One of the neat examples of a radio show jumping out of the studio's
    Fourth Wall was an inside joke on the syndicated "Comic Weekly Man"
    program.  Taking a break from reading that Sunday's Hearst newspaper
    funny pages, the Comic Weekly Man has a chat with his friend Little Miss
    Honey.  She makes a very clever deductive comment.
        COMIC WEEKLY MAN: Why, Miss Honey, you must be a really good detective.
        MISS HONEY: Of course, because I always listen to "Nick Carter,
    Master Detective".
        The joke -- which probably few in the young audience would have
    understood -- was that Nick Carter was played by Lon Clark, who was also
    (uncredited) the jolly Comic Weekly Man.
                              --Bill Jaker
                                (who had to listen to the Comic Weekly Man
    on the radio since my parents wouldn't allow a Hearst newspaper in the
    house).

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

    Date: Tue, 7 Feb 2006 22:27:14 -0500
    From: Jim Widner <widnerj@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Breaking the fourth wall

    Joe Mackey wrote:
     >  I can't remember exactly which show it was, probably Richard Diamond,
     > where the hero is conked on the head.  When he comes to someone asks how
     > often that happened, to which the hero replied, "oh, about once a week".

    I believe that might have been "Rogue's Gallery." Another Dick Powell
    radio vehicle in which the character was knocked out each week and is
    visited by his "conscience" Eugor (Rogue backwards) who would help him
    solve a crime.  It sounds like something Dick Powell would somehow be
    involved in.

    I have always felt Powell was one of radio's unsung heroes in terms of
    his ability to so naturally create character by his vocal emotions.
    Another one who was good at it was Howard Duff.

    Jim Widner

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

    Date: Tue, 7 Feb 2006 22:27:52 -0500
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  2-8 births/deaths

    February 8th births

    02-08-1828 - Jules Verne - Nantes, France - d. 3-24-1905
    pioneering science fiction writer: "Mercury Theatre"; "This Is My Best"
    02-08-1886 - Charlie Ruggles - Los Angeles, CA - d. 12-23-1970
    comedian: "Texaco Star Theatre"; "Suspense"; "This Is My Best"
    02-08-1888 - Edith Evans - London, England - d. 10-14-1976
    actress: "Kaleidoscope"
    02-08-1890 - Irving Kaufman - Syracuse, NY - d. 1-3-1976
    singer: "Champion Sparkers"; "Broadway Vanities"
    02-08-1894 - King Vidor - Galveston, TX - d. 11-1-1982
    film director, screenwriter: "Screen Director's Playhouse"; "Hedda
    Hopper's Hollywood"
    02-08-1902 - Lyle Talbot - Pittsburgh, PA - d. 3-2-1996
    actor: "Your Hollywood Informer"; "Calling All Cars"; "The Unexpected"
    02-08-1905 - Don Ball - Block Island, RI - d. 1-7-1974
    staff announcer for CBS during the 1930s.
    02-08-1905 - Henry King - d. 8-8-1974
    orchestra leader: "Burns and Allen"
    02-08-1905 - Truman Bradley - Sheldon, MO - d. 7-28-1974
    announcer: "Easy Aces"; "Red Skelton & Co."; "Drene Show"
    02-08-1907 - Ray Middleton - Chicago, IL - d. 4-10-1984
    actor: Abraham Lincoln "Honest Abe"
    02-08-1907 - Phil Davis - Cincinnati, OH - d. 12-xx-1985
    musician: "Avalon Time"; "Scramby Amby"
    02-08-1908 - Myron McCormick - Albany, IN - d. 7-30-1962
    actor: Christopher Wells "Advs. of Christopher Wells"; Walter Manning
    "Portia Faces Life"
    02-08-1911 - Judith Allen - New York, NY - d. 10-5-1996
    actress: Margo Lane "The Shadow"
    02-08-1913 - Betty Field - Boston, MA - d. 9-13-1973
    actress: Mary Aldrich "Aldrich Family"
    02-08-1914 - Margot Stevenson - New York, NY
    actress: Margo Lane "The Shadow"
    02-08-1915 - George "Doc" Abraham - Wayland, NY - d. 1-27-2005
    gardner, host: "The Green Thumb"
    02-08-1917 - Robert Dryden - d. 12-16-2003
    actor: Doctor West "We Love and Learn"; Sergeant Maggio "Call the
    Police"
    02-08-1920 - Lana Turner - Wallace, ID - d. 6-29-1995
    actress: "Abbott and Costello"; "Lux Radio Theatre"
    02-08-1920 - Robert Garnett "Buddy" Blattner - St. Louis, MO
    announcer: Armed Forces Radio, Guam
    02-08-1925 - Jack Lemmon - Boston, MA - d. 6-27-2001
    actor: "Dimension X"; "X Minus One"; " No Love Lost"; "Road of Life"
    02-08-1931 - James Dean - Byron, IN - d. 9-30-1955
    actor: "Hallmark Playhouse"
    02-08-1941 - Martin Huston - Lexington, KY - d. 8-8-2001
    actor: Jeep Allison "My Son Jeep"

    February 8th deaths

    01-13-1903 - Charles Kullman - New Haven, CT - d. 2-8-1983
    singer: "The Palmolive Beauty Box Theatre"
    01-14-1920 - George Herman - New York, NY - d. 2-8-2005
    newsman: CBS news writer
    02-17-1897 - Ben Alley - West Virginia - d. 2-8-1970
    singer: (the Golden Tenor) "Melody Lane"; "Sweethearts Of the Air"
    06-04-1917 - Helen Wood - Clarksville, TN - d. 2-8-1988
    actress: Elaine Dascomb "Those We Love"
    06-22-1916 - Johnny Jacobs - Milwaukee, WI - d. 2-8-1982
    announcer: "Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar"; "Frontier Gentleman";
    "Granby's Green Acres"
    07-18-1913 - Marvin Miller - St. Louis, MO - d. 2-8-1985
    actor: Ben Lyon "Jeff Regan, Investigator"; Gil Whitney "Romance of
    Helen Trent"
    09-10-1909 - Raymond Scott - Brooklyn, NY - d. 2-8-1994
    conductor, composer: "Your Hit Parade"; "Chicago Theatre of the Air"
    10-05-1905 - Harriet MacGibbon - Chicago, IL - d. 2-8-1987
    actress: Lucy Kent "Home, Sweet Home"
    10-07-1898 - Alfred Wallenstein - Chicago, IL - d. 2-8-1983
    conductor: "Virtuosos"; "Voice of Firestone"
    11-01-1919 - John Secondari - Rome, Italy - d. 2-8-1975
    novelist: "As Europe Sees the Marshall Plan"; "Prologue"
    12-08-1928 - Jimmy Smith - Norristown, PA - d. 2-8-2005
    jazz organist: Won a radio talent contest in Philadelphia at the age
    of 9
    12-22-1862 - Connie Mack - East Brookfield, MA - d. 2-8-1956
    baseball manager: "The Shell Show"; "A Tribute to Lou Gehrig"
    12-24-1913 - Myrtle 'Lulubelle' Wiseman - Boone, NC - d. 2-8-1999
    singer: (Lulubelle and Scotty) "The National Barn Dance"

    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

    Date: Tue, 7 Feb 2006 23:31:26 -0500
    From: JayHick@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Frank Gaby

    Can anyone help Cindy?

    I have been scouring the Internet for anything related to the Vaudeville,
    Broadway, and Movie actor Frank Gaby. I came across some information listing
    him
    on a 2-18-1937 broadcast of the Royal Gelatin Hour which also features Edgar
    Bergen. I would like to know if there is any way I could obtain a copy of that
    program. I would appreciate any information, websites, or people in which you
    might put me in touch. I am searching for anything related to Frank Gaby
    because he has a son, Michael Gaby,who was born thee months after Frank
    allegedly
    committed suicide.
    Michael never got to see or hear his father and it means a great deal to him
    now at age 60 to know his father at least artistically. Thank you for your
    time and I hope to hear from you soon.
    Cindy Bounds <moongoddess@[removed];

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

    Date: Wed, 8 Feb 2006 02:12:00 -0500
    From: charlie@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  #OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Night!

    A weekly [removed]

    For the best in OTR Chat, join IRC (Internet Relay Chat), StarLink-IRC
    Network, the channel name is #OldRadio.  We meet Thursdays at 8 PM Eastern
    and go on, and on! The oldest OTR Chat Channel, it has been in existence
    over nine years, same time, same channel! Started by Lois Culver, widow
    of actor Howard Culver, this is the place to be on Thursday night for
    real-time OTR talk!

    Our "regulars" include OTR actors, soundmen, collectors, listeners, and
    others interested in enjoying OTR from points all over the world. Discussions
    range from favorite shows to almost anything else under the sun (sometimes
    it's hard for us to stay on-topic)...but even if it isn't always focused,
    it's always a good time!

    For more info, contact charlie@[removed]. We hope to see you there, this
    week and every week!

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

    Date: Wed, 8 Feb 2006 07:53:56 -0500
    From: "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Ron Sayles, This Budd's For You!
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    Ron Sayles posted that thanks to the efforts of his friend Rianne Schroeder
    that he was fianlly able to ascertain the heretofore elusive deathdate of
    Wilbur Ball "Bud" Hulick.

>     The other was the Florida Death Index and a date of
>     March 1961 was given for Wilbur Ball Hulick. I think that all of this
>     hangs together and that the OTR Hulick died in Florida in March 1961.

    As a fan of  the vastly underrated 1930s radio comedy team of "Colonel
    Stoopnagle and Budd," I'm glad Ron & Rianne were able to "nip this in the
    Budd," or as Lemuel Q. might spoonerise, "bid this in the nup!"
    Congratulations, gang!

    "10-4! Ether and out!"

    Terek  Dague

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

    Date: Wed, 8 Feb 2006 09:14:21 -0500
    From: Larry Gassman <lgsinger@[removed];
    To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  CART

    Hi all,

    In my last Post I mentioned Peggy Webber.
    I told her that I would plug some of the performances coming up in
    the near future.
    For those of you who like OTR recreations, you may want more
    information about some upcoming performances.
    For those of you outside the Los Angeles area, you can also order
    the cassettes or listen to specific NPR stations to hear The
    California Artists Radio Theater.
    For more information go to their web page:

    [removed]

    For over 50 years CART has been presenting award-winning stage
    productions, as well as the best in classic and modern audio drama.
    What makes CART unique
    is both its prolific and varied repetoire, as well as its
    distinguished company. The CART company is a Who's Who of the
    most respected National Theatres of Great Britain and Ireland,
    and the best of American Broadway Theatre, film, and
    television.

    Special Valentine's Day Performance of
    The Affairs of Anatol
    by Arthur Schnitzler

    Tuesday, February 14th
    1:30 pm and 7:30 pm performances
    Tickets are a $15 donation--Seniors and Students: $10
    To order tickets call (213) 683-3422

    Starring William Windom, JoAnne Worley, Samantha Eggar, Peter
    Dennis, Deanne Mercer Dennis, Katherine Winslow, Bairbre Dowling,
    Cornelia Hayes O'Herlihy,
    and Martin Maguire as Anatol
    And your announcer John Harlan

    This performance to take place at the
    Beverly Garland Holiday Inn

    4222 Vineland Avenue
    North Hollywood, CA 91602-3399
    Tula's Kitchen in the Hotel open for lunch and dinner

    Upcoming performances include:

    Something's Out There
    A Comedy by Ferde Grofe

    Love's Wild Desire
    Poetry of the 16th and 17th Centuries

    The Miraculous Revenge
    by George Bernard Shaw

    Nell's Place
    A Comedy by Jill Hughes

    Klondike Kate
    A One-Woman Show by Willard Manus

    Larry Gassman

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

    Date: Wed, 8 Feb 2006 16:41:21 -0500
    From: benohmart@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  ITTA3

    I apologize to everyone who ordered It's That Time Again 3. I know it was
    supposed to
    be out months ago, but due to overworked typesetters, one of whom had a
    computer
    accident, the book hasn't been put together yet. I hope to do this as SOON as
    possible,
    so please bear with me. Thanks for your patience.

    Ben

    Old radio. Old movies. New books.
    [removed]

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2006 Issue #41
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