Subject: [removed] Digest V2008 #6
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 1/7/2008 10:18 PM

To: [removed]@[removed]
Reply-to: [removed]@[removed]

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2008 : Issue 6
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      1-7 births/deaths                     [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
      Satire on the Opera                   [ Larry Jordan <midtod@[removed] ]
      Re: ralph bell, arnold moss and othe  [ "Bob Scherago" <rscherago@[removed] ]
      Paul Frees                            [ Ken Greenwald <kgradio@[removed]; ]
      Ernest Tubb                           [ Bill Knowlton <udmacon1@[removed] ]
      "The Greats could do no wrong" (?)    [ Wich2@[removed] ]
      William Powel                         [ Jim Harmon <jimharmonotr@[removed] ]
      Keeping Chiristmas (Carols) [removed]   [ Wich2@[removed] ]
      Re: Diction on the Air                [ lawrence albert <albertlarry@yahoo. ]
      bill idelson obit in Chicago Tribune  [ Afanofoldradio@[removed] ]
      SPERDVAC January 12,2008 Meeting gue  [ bobb lynes <iairotr@[removed]; ]
      Re: Barrymore Scrooge                 [ "Dan Wildt" <dwildt@[removed]; ]

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    Date: Sun, 6 Jan 2008 23:23:32 -0500
    From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  1-7 births/deaths

    January 7th births

    01-07-1873 - Adolph Zukor - Ricse, Austria-Hungary - d. 6-10-1976
    film executive: "Time Capsule"; "Flashback"; "Cavalcade of Stars"
    01-07-1887 - H. Leopold Spitalny - Odessa, Ukraine - d. 10-xx-1971
    conductor: "Goin' To Town"; "Serenade to America"; "Vest Pocket
    Varieties"
    01-07-1888 - Myrtle Vail Damerel - Joilet, IL - d. 9-18-1978
    actor: Myrtle Spear "Myrt and Marge"
    01-07-1889 - H. R. Baukhage - La Salle, IL - d. 1-31-1976
    commentator: "Four Star News"; "News and Comments"
    01-07-1896 - Arnold Ridley - Bath, Somerset, England - d. 3-12-1984
    actor: Arthur 'Doughy' Hood "The Archers"; Charles Godfrey "Dad's Army"
    01-07-1896 - Marjorie Crossland - d. 11-xx-1954
    actor: "Myrt and Marge"
    01-07-1898 - Art Baker - NYC - d. 8-26-1966
    announcer, emcee: "People Are Funny"; "Dinah Shore Show"
    01-07-1900 - Mary Lewis - Hot Springs, AR - d. 12-31-1941
    soprano: "Metropolitan Opera"
    01-07-1903 - Alan Napier - Birmingham, England - d. 8-8-1988
    actor: "Campbell Playhouse"
    01-07-1903 - Betty Hanna - d. 10-25-1976
    actor: Deborah Matthews "Ma Perkins"; Luella Hayworth "Step Mother"
    01-07-1906 - Betty Bolton - England - d. 4-2-2005
    performed on British radio in the 1930s
    01-07-1908 - Eliot Daniel - Massachusetts - d. 12-6-1997
    music: "Fabulous Dr. Tweddy"; "The King's Men"; "Rudy Vallee Show"
    01-07-1910 - Joe Bigelow - d. 2-20-1976
    writer, producer: "Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy Show"
    01-07-1913 - Shirley Ross - Omaha, NE - d. 3-9-1975
    actor, singer: "Raleigh and Kool Cigarette Program with Tommy Dorsey"
    01-07-1922 - Vincent Gardenia - Naples, Italy - d. 12-9-1992
    actor: "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"
    01-07-1929 - Terry Moore - Los Angeles, CA
    actor: Shirley 'Bumps' Smith "Smiths of Hollywood"
    01-07-1930 - Douglas Kiker - Griffin, KS - d. 8-14-1991
    nbc newsman: "Meet the Press"
    01-07-1937 - Ron Chudley - Dunedin, New Zealand
    writer: "CBC Stage"

    January 7th deaths

    01-28-1904 - Irene Beasley - Whitehaven TN - d. 1-7-1980
    actor: Old Dutch Girl "Red Hook 31"
    02-08-1905 - Don Ball - Block Island, RI - d. 1-7-1974
    staff announcer for CBS during the 1930s.
    03-13-1896 - Leona Powers - Salida, CO - d. 1-7-1970
    actor: Mrs. Bixby "My Son Jeep"; [removed] Brown "Aldrich Family"
    04-29-1901 - Emperor Hirohito (Showa) - Tokyo, Japan - d. 1-7-1989
    emperor: End of war speech
    08-30-1905 - Sarah Selby - St. Louis, MO - d. 1-7-1980
    actor: Grace Graves "Junior Miss"; Wife "My Mother's Husband"
    09-26-1912 - Jacqueline de Wit - Los Angeles, CA - d. 1-7-1998
    actor: Ruth Thompson "Meet Mr. McNutley"; Valerie "Second Husband"
    09-29-1913 - Trevor Howard - Cliftonville, England - d. 1-7-1988
    actor: "London Playhouse"
    10-22-1895 - Clair Loring Farrand - d. 1-7-1981
    inventor of the cone radio loudspeaker
    10-29-1889 - Anna Case - Clinton, NJ - d. 1-7-1984
    singer/actor: WJZ New York City
    12-31-1910 - Richard Kollmar - Ridgewood, NJ - d. 1-7-1971
    actor: John Perry "John's Other Wife"; Boston Blackie "Boston Blackie"

    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

    Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2008 00:09:41 -0500
    From: Larry Jordan <midtod@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Satire on the Opera

    A couple of years ago, on a public radio station, I heard excerpts
    from a recording made in the 1950s which featured a female comedian
    who did a satirical play-by-play of an opera, along the lines of the
    Andy Griffith hayseed interpretation of "Hamlet." The female routine
    was VERY funny. She did this running commentary in sort of a "mock"
    high brow or pretentious fashion, as an opera was being performed in
    the background.

    At the time, I looked her up on the internet and it seemed to me she
    also had been a radio star. Unfortunately, I have since lost the
    bookmark and no longer remember the name of this woman.

    Does anybody happen to know the lady to whom I am referring?

    Any info would be appreciated.

    Larry Jordan

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    Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2008 00:20:20 -0500
    From: "Bob Scherago" <rscherago@[removed];
    To: "Old Time Radio" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: ralph bell, arnold moss and others

    Kurt Yount <blsmass@[removed]; wrote:

>     I remember . . . Arnold (Moss) best from talking
>     books for the blind. . . voices really stood out as
>     did Leon Janney . . . Statts Katsworth, (sic) Guy
>     Sorrel, Mary Jane Higby and  . . .  Alexander
>     Scourby . . .

    You can hear interviews with all these radio greats
    as well as samples of their work at
    [removed]
    ---------------------------
    Bob Scherago
    Webmaster

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

    Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2008 08:48:59 -0500
    From: Ken Greenwald <kgradio@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Paul Frees

    Mark Higgins wrote:

>     In the discussion of head to head between the great voices of radio and
>     television commercial characters, I would be remiss if I didn't throw into
>     the ring Paul Frees, who was often known to debate himself in his occasional
>     radio talk show interviews.

    Paul Frees was an amazingly prolific voice actor. One reason was he could
    change the timber of his voice. It's like changing the characteristics that
    tell you "oh, that's Hans Conreid playing that character", or "oh, that's
    Richard LaGrand." Conreid, LaGrand and others could play characters, but
    could not change the timber of their voice, so you could identify who the
    actor/actress was playing different roles. Those who could change their
    timber faired better in voice work. Frees was one, so was Mel Blanc. A
    perfect example would be Edgar Bergen. When he played Charlie McCarthy or
    Mortimer Snerd there was a complete change in voice timber or pattern, and
    Charlie and Mortimer sounded completely different from Edgar.
    Not only did Frees do different characters for The Rocky and Bulwinkle show,
    but he did most of the voices for the Disneyland Haunted House tour AND most
    of the voices for the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.
    Towards the end of his life, Frees was so well established as a voice over
    person that he never bothered to leave his home in Tiberon, California. He
    had a digital line installed and when hired to do a voice for a commercial,
    he was sent the copy and he read it into a mike that sent his voice across
    the digital line directly to the sponsor and the production house!

    I'm glad to count Skip Craig as a good friend. Skip edited all the
    Rocky/Bullwinkle shows and he allowed me the good fortune to listen to some
    of the master voice tapes. Frees had a wry sense of humor and often got Bill
    Conrad into hysterical laughter by his "play on words." On one of the tapes I
    listened to Frees got Conrad laughing so hard he simply could not go on
    voicing the role of the narrator. Jay Ward, who was in the directors booth,
    would turn the "talk back" on and say "Come on, fellas, we've got to finish
    this session. Paul, cut it out!" To which Frees would respond, in all "fake"
    innocence: "What, Jay? What have I done? All I'm doing is standing here ready
    to work. It's Bill who's messing everything up." Of course, this would send
    Conrad into another laughing spree!
    I wish those "outtakes" would be released on a CD.

    Ken Greenwald

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

    Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2008 11:07:37 -0500
    From: Bill Knowlton <udmacon1@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Ernest Tubb
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>     1950 - Ernest Tubb made his first appearance at The Grand Ole Opry in
>     Nashville, TN. Ernest also did a 15-minute radio program each day that became
>     very popular in West Texas. So popular, in fact, that he bought the radio
>     station that had aired the program for years and years: KGKL in San Angelo,
>     Texas

    Um, Ernest Tubb joined the Grand Ole Opry in February 1943. And it the
    mid 40s he started the "Midnight Jamboree," still heard each week over WSMBILL
    KNOWLTON, "Bluegrass Ramble," Sundays: 9 pm to midnight (EDST) over WCNY-FM
    ([removed]) Syracuse, WUNY ([removed]) Utica, WJNY ([removed]) Watertown NY, also:
    [removed]

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    Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2008 11:08:28 -0500
    From: Wich2@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  "The Greats could do no wrong" (?)

    from: _DanHaefele@[removed]_ (mailto:DanHaefele@[removed])

>     Evan Torch's observation that Dick Powell  was a "lazy reader" who  "misreads
>     constantly" is very accurate.

    Especially perhaps as an actor myself, it is painfully obvious to me in  much
    of Welles' SHADOW work, that he hasn't touched the script until  airtime.

    As many of you know I'm a very big Orson fan - but in this area, he  was no
    magician! Yes, he generally says the right words, in the right order; but  as
    the story progresses, you can hear that his intent and emphasis is often
    totally wrong.

    Because as my teacher (and Orson acquaintance) Stella Adler used to  say,
    "the End is in the Beginning" - and he doesn't see how the pieces all fit
    together!

    Best,
    -Craig W.

    [removed] - Now, in the case of William Powell as Nick Charles - might the
    implied inebriation have been intentional? In the novel and early films, Nick
    is  a
    borderline lush.

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

    Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2008 11:08:53 -0500
    From: Jim Harmon <jimharmonotr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  William Powel
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    William Powel may have slurred his words because he was ACTING, doing his
    part of Nick Charles, the Thin Man. Remember the CHARACTER was supposed to
    always be half-lit. I am reminded of a story screen Superman, Kirk Alyn told
    me. He was in a stage play with a fellow actor who was running in place
    backstage. "Why?" 'I'm supposed to be rushing into the scene, breathless."
    Kirk regarded the younger actor with a steady gaze. "Have you ever tried
    ACTING?" -- JIM HARMON

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    Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2008 11:10:12 -0500
    From: Wich2@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Keeping Chiristmas (Carols) [removed]

    From: TIMOTHY M KELLEY _tmk1_99@[removed]_ (mailto:tmk1_99@[removed])

>     As I've always  understood it, the reason John Barrymore performed the '37
>     "Christmas Carol"  was the death of Lionel's wife Irene.  Not Lionel's  own
>     health.

    Dear Tim (& Elizabeth, & gang)-

    Either a date, or an event, is confused here:

    As per THE BARRYMORES and DAMNED IN PARADISE, the time Jack Scrooged for
    Lionel was Christmas Day, 1936. His long-ailing wife, Irene, had died that
    Christmas Eve.

    The reason he missed the 1938 Mercury Carol, may have been the same reason
    he passed on the film version that had been planned for him that year -
    ongoing
     problems with the broken hip that never healed (now acknowledged to have
    likely been complicated by syphilis, for which Louis B. Mayer procured him
    grey-market treatment for the rest of his life.)

    Best,
    -Craig W.

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

    Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2008 13:52:25 -0500
    From: lawrence albert <albertlarry@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Diction on the Air
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>     I was recording for  SPERDVAC the Lux production of "After the Thin
>     Man" (6-17-1940) and found that  William Powell (who I am NOT confusing with
>     Dick Powell) seems to be slurring a  lot of his words, almost sounding a
>     little intoxicated.  Not exactly the  kind of diction we expect of radio
>     performers!

      It may have been that Mr. Powell was playing the character of Nick Charles as the quasi-alcoholic type he and MGM had decided he (Charles) was.  In both the The Thin Man and After the Thin Man Powell played Hammet's detective as a man in constant serach of a drink.
      Larry Albert

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    Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2008 15:29:06 -0500
    From: Afanofoldradio@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  bill idelson obit in Chicago Tribune
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    If you can get a copy of the chicago tribune for 1-7-08 check out page 10
    [removed] for the obit for bill idelson with a big story and big _picture-
    .afanofoldradio@[removed] (mailto:.afanofoldradio@[removed])  ed kienzler
    springfield
    illinois

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    Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2008 17:53:12 -0500
    From: bobb lynes <iairotr@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  SPERDVAC  January 12,2008 Meeting  guest speaker
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    Hi All,
    BARBARA FULLER, actress on many, many radio shows and best known as "Claudia"
    on Carlton Morse's "One Man's Family", will be SPERDVAC's guest speaker at our
    first meeting of 2008  this Saturday, January 12th.  Barbara is returning to
    share more of her memories with us.
    The meeting will be held in the South Pasadena Library Community Room, located
    in the 1000 block of El Centro in So. Pasadena.
    The meeting starts at 12 noon , is free and open to the public.
    See you all there!!
    Bobb

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    Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2008 17:54:02 -0500
    From: "Dan Wildt" <dwildt@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Barrymore Scrooge
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    Tim Kelley reported in OTR Digest Issue #5:

>     As I've always understood it, the reason John Barrymore performed the '37
>     "Christmas Carol" was the death of Lionel's wife Irene. Not Lionel's own
>     health.

    IMDb lists Irene Fenwick's death on Christmas Eve 1936, one year prior to
    the 1937 broadcast. So the likely reason for Lionel Barrymore's absence from
    the 1937 Scrooge radio broadcast we indeed his poor health from his broken
    hip.

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    End of [removed] Digest V2008 Issue #6
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