Subject: [removed] Digest V2007 #188
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 6/27/2007 5:15 PM

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

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2007 : Issue 188
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      6-27 births/deaths                    [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
      Amos & Andy                           [ "A. Joseph Ross" <joe@attorneyross. ]
      Godfrey MacArthur Cambridge           [ Frank McGurn <[removed]@sbcglobal. ]
      #OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Nig  [ charlie@[removed] ]
      Revisioning Amos and Andy             [ John Mayer <mayer@[removed]; ]
      Amos'n'Andy & movie stars             [ "Bob C" <rmc44@[removed]; ]
      Internet Broadcast                    [ <hbhoward@[removed]; ]
      Re: A&A on History Detectives         [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
      Re: movie stars who were radio stars  [ FabFicBks@[removed] ]
      "Amos 'n' Andy: Anatomy of a Controv  [ "Arthur Funk" <Art-Funk@[removed]; ]
      Favorite Radio Stars                  [ "Jan Bach" <janbach@[removed]; ]
      Re: Amos N Andy                       [ Cnorth6311@[removed] ]
      Michael Gwynne and William Conrad     [ PURKASZ@[removed] ]

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

    Date: Wed, 27 Jun 2007 12:23:43 -0400
    From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  6-27 births/deaths

    06-27-1862 - May Irwin - Whitby, Canada - d. 10-22-1938
    actor: "The Eveready Hour"
    06-27-1875 - Reginald Mason - San Francisco, CA - d. 7-10-1962
    actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
    06-27-1880 - Helen Keller - Tuscumbia, AL - d. 6-1-1968
    deaf and blind lecturer: "Fleischmann's Yeast Hour"; "Meet the Press"
    06-27-1892 - Robert Ellis - Brooklyn, NY - d. 12-29-1974
    actor: Del Tremaine "Arnold Grimm's Daughter"
    06-27-1900 - Milt Mabie - d. 9-5-1973
    singer: (The Westerners) "National Barn Dance"; "Plantation Party";
    "Show Boat"
    06-27-1900 - Rev. James G. Keller - Oakland, CA - d. 2-7-1977
    priest: "The Christophers"
    06-27-1905 - Sydney Mason - NYC - d. 4-11-1976
    announcer, actor: "Famous Jury Trials"; "Johnny Presents"
    06-27-1907 - John McIntire - Spokane, WA - d. 1-30-1991
    actor: Benjamin Ordway "Crime Doctor"; Lt. Dundy "Advs. of Sam Spade"
    06-27-1911 - Dr. Jay Morton - Hollywood, CA - d. 9-6-2003
    Best know for the catchphrase "Look; up in the sky, etc." on "Superman"
    06-27-1912 - Audrey Christie - Chicago, IL - d. 12-19-1989
    actor: Assistant to Peter Standish "Peter Standish, Medical Examiner"
    06-27-1912 - Bill Kennedy - Cleveland Heights, OH - d. 1-27-1997
    announcer: "Nobody's Children"
    06-27-1914 - Noboru Kirishima - Iwaki City, Japan - d. 4-24-1984
    enka singer: "This Week's Star"
    06-27-1918 - Ed Fleming - Baraboo, WI
    newscaster, announcer: "Ed Fleming and the News", "Our Gal Sunday"
    06-27-1918 - Michael Sheldon - London, England
    writer for CBC Radio
    06-27-1920 - Betty Bryant - Bristol, England - d. 10-3-2005
    actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
    06-27-1924 - Rosalie Allen - Old Forge, PA - d. 9-24-2003
    yodeling cowgirl: "Grand Ole Opry"
    06-27-1925 - Chuck Balding - d. 6-10-2000
    sportscaster: WOAY Oak Hill, West Virginia
    06-27-1933 - Gary Crosby - Los Angeles, CA - d. 8-24-1995
    singer: "Gary Crosby Show"; "Bing Crosby Show"
    06-27-1934 - Anna Moffo - Wayne, PA - d. 3-10-2006
    soprano: "Voice of Firestone"
    06-27-1938 - Kathryn Beaumont - London, England
    actor: "Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy Show"

    June 27th deaths

    02-08-1925 - Jack Lemmon - Boston, MA - d. 6-27-2001
    actor: "Dimension X"; "X Minus One"; Dr. Brent "Road of Life"
    06-09-1910 - George Bryan - NYC - d. 6-27-1969
    announcer: "Helen Hayes Theatre"; "Arthur Godfrey Talent Scouts"
    08-12-1888 - Eric Snowden - England - d. 6-27-1979
    actor: John H. Watson "Sherlock Holmes"; Alvin "Parties at Pickfair"
    10-14-1908 - Allan Jones - Old Forge, PA - d. 6-27-1992
    singer: "Chicago Theatre of the Air"; "New Old Gold Show"
    10-22-1913 - Jay Owen - d. 6-27-2005
    worked in radio in Washington [removed] and New York City
    11-04-1893 - Howard Hoffman - Ohio - d. 6-27-1969
    actor: Chandu "Chandu the Magician"
    11-24-1927 - Eileen Barton - Brooklyn, NY - d. 6-27-2006
    singer: "Frank Sinatra Show"; "Eileen Barton Show"; "MGM Musical
    Comedy Theatre"

    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

    Date: Wed, 27 Jun 2007 12:24:04 -0400
    From: "A. Joseph Ross" <joe@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Amos & Andy

    I've enjoyed the "History Detectives" show for a number of years, but
    I agree with many commentators here that the treatment of Amos & Andy
    was rather superficial and stereotyped.  What I thought particularly
    odd was to hear the narrative talk about the racial stereotypes on
    Amos & Andy, while on screen we saw a scene from the TV show in which
    Andy and Kingfish appear in court before a BLACK JUDGE.

    Amos & Andy, in its various incarnations, was a product of its times
    and undoubtedly contained many stereotypes that bother us today.  But
    so do many other shows of former times.  The TV Amos & Andy not only
    showed a black judge, but also black doctors, black lawyers, and even
    a black Santa Claus, long before such things became common.  In fact,
    I don't think a white person ever appeared on the show.

    The black Santa Claus was Andy, who got a job playing Santa in a
    department store (with black bosses).  When I saw it, my reaction
    was, "But Santa Claus isn't colored!"  And my father replied, "to
    colored people, he can be colored."  It was years before I again saw
    a black Santa Claus depicted anywhere.

    --
    A. Joseph Ross, [removed]                           [removed]
     92 State Street	                                  Fax [removed]
    Boston, MA 02109           	         [removed]

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

    Date: Wed, 27 Jun 2007 12:24:21 -0400
    From: Frank McGurn <[removed]@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Godfrey MacArthur Cambridge

    I believe the Black comedian that is being referred to was  Godfrey
    MacArthur Cambridge who died in 1972. one of his credits is A Time for
    Laughter: A Look at Negro Humor in America
    <[removed]; (1967) TV Episode.

    I found his biograph by searching Google. I away enjoyed Godfrey when he
    appeared on the /Tonight S// //how.

    Frank McGurn
    /

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

    Date: Wed, 27 Jun 2007 12:25:57 -0400
    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, 27 Jun 2007 12:27:13 -0400
    From: John Mayer <mayer@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Revisioning Amos and Andy

    Karl Tiedemann - NYC wrote:

>     But, perhaps I should thank THE HISTORY DETECTIVES for giving me
>     another reason--
>     one I can place alongside such other irritants as Wayne Dyer, Bill Moyers,
>     and "Disco Explosion!"-- to continue not supporting my local PBS station.

    I was with you all the way until that last line. Funny, Bill Moyers
    is one of the main reasons I DO support PBS (and Mark Shields, of
    course), despite the channel's having until recently been run by
    Republican Kenneth Tomlinson. Tukufu Zuberi is Director of the Center
    for Africana Studies and Professor of Sociology at the University of
    Pennsylvania. He is not an historian. That he has a particular point
    of view is not surprising, but it's unfortunate that he chooses to
    color, so to speak, his description of Correll and Gosden's work as
    "putting blackface on their voices."

    I suspect that he relied entirely upon his experts Ms. McLeod and Mr.
    Melvin Patrick Ely, author of _The Adventures of Amos 'N' Andy: A
    Social History of an American Phenomenon_ for historical perspective,
    and interpreted what they said in the light of his own
    preconceptions. My impression from reviews online is that Mr. Ely
    attempted to do a balanced study of the show; unless I miss my guess,
    one of the reviewers calling themselves simply "Reader" on the Amazon
    site and giving Mr. Ely's book good marks is not unknown to
    subscribers to this digest. Mr. Ely confesses he only had personal
    familiarity with the TV show, but says he's read many of the earlier
    radio scripts. But he doesn't seem to have fully grasped the
    transition in tone. The Kirkus Review of his book mentions, "Nor were
    [Amos and Andy's] critics consistent--some who had praised it in the
    30's damned it in the 50's, and vice versa," never hinting that maybe
    it was the style of the shows from the different eras that was
    inconsistent.

    I think I have to agree that Mr. Zuberi was less than precise with
    his statements. "Both Terry [the man who discovered the disk] and I
    watched reruns of the old Amos 'n' Andy TV show, which came after the
    radio show. The jokes and storylines were similar, only now African
    Americans were doing the acting." Zuberi seems baffled and, perhaps,
    a little annoyed that so many black people of the 30's actually
    enjoyed Amos and Andy. He doesn't seem willing to acknowledge that
    maybe it's not fair to expect people of the better part of a century
    ago to have the enlightened sensibilities of the present day, nor
    that, perhaps Amos and Andy did more good than harm and helped to
    engender our enlightenment. For many white people back then Amos and
    Andy and friends were the first black people they'd ever met, and
    they laughed with them as well as at them, and, as the millions of
    anguished letters sent to Andy warning him of the machinations of
    Madame Queen proved, cared about them.

    It's not clear to me if their malapropisms were intended to mock
    blacks - many of the city blacks they interacted with were perfectly
    "well-spoken" - or were intended to depict the unlettered country
    bumpkin the characters were, competing against more sophisticated
    city slickers. And their verbal lapses were no worse than those of
    Chester Riley or Archie, Manager of Duffy's Tavern. The problem, I
    think, was that there were not, in addition to comical black
    characters, the occasional black Lone Rangers or Johnny Dollars.

    Zuberi also says, "This form of entertainment was not only degrading
    to African Americans, it excluded them from participating on the
    stage. This is the mindset of Amos 'n' Andy." Plainly he wasn't
    referring to the TV show which had almost no white performers, and
    wherein all the professional people were black and presented as
    well-educated and responsible. And I understand that the radio show,
    despite having its two main black characters voiced by the white men
    who created the show, had more regular black performers than any
    other radio show of the time. Mr. Zuberi had not one but two
    authorities to seek clarification from and didn't bother or
    disregarded their more measured considerations of the show. I think
    it's fair to say that this detective is following his own footprints.

    I have written to PBS in the past without any response; I hope you
    have better luck and will share with us any correspondence you
    receive from them. The website for the show at least offers a brief
    look at other old radio shows. Also, anyone who has not seen the show
    in question can download a complete transcript of it. The URL (if
    permitted) is
    [removed]
    You might have better luck contacting Mr. Zuberi directly from his UP
    site: [removed]

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

    Date: Wed, 27 Jun 2007 12:27:29 -0400
    From: "Bob C" <rmc44@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Amos'n'Andy & movie stars

    Let me add my feelings of dismay re the "History Detectives"
    piece on Amos 'n' Andy. Maybe those of us on this list were a bit
    impatient for the report to get on with it in tracking down the
    truth and significance of the aluminum disc.

    I will grant you that a little background is in order for those
    who know nothing about A&A ... I can even see as valid a brief
    mention of the TV version since the disc's owner and the
    "detective" were only slightly aware of A&A through it, BUT the
    report sure went off on an unbalanced tangent when it got into
    the sociological aspects of the program, its creators, etc.

    Just as when we discover a significant mistake in a book, it
    makes us wonder whether other "facts" are askew in it or any of
    the the author's other efforts ... so it is that I will disregard
    a lot of the stuff in future "History Detectives" until they get
    to the bottom line of what something is, whether it's authentic
    -- and even then, I will have some doubt.

    -0-

    As for movie stars on the radio, I'll add my vote to those of
    others for James Stewart as one of the best. Whether it is The
    Six Shooter or one of his appearances on Lux or Suspense, Crosby
    or Benny, the guy was as expressive as any of the other radio
    pro's.

    Bob Cockrum

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

    Date: Wed, 27 Jun 2007 12:27:53 -0400
    From: <hbhoward@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Internet Broadcast

    This Friday, June 29, at 8 PM CENTRAL time, the National Audio Theatre
    Festivals annual
    Audio Theatre Workshop will present an evening of live audio drama.  The
    program
    will be streamed by local radio station KKDY  ( [removed] ).

    While not OTR, you may  find the the show of interest.

    For more information visit  [removed]

    This year's performance will include:

    The Art of Narration: featuring short readings about life in and around West
    Plains. Special guest Simon Jones (known to many as Arthur Dent from the
    Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series) will reading from "West Plains as I
    Knew It."

    Improvisational Sketches: See what the audience has in mind as they decide
    what stories these sketches will tell.

    Histories: From playwright Michael Wright, this NATF Script Competition
    winner, tells the story of a father and son, struggling both in their
    personal and professional relationships, as they try to run a music store
    together.

    The Freshman Class will feature a new work call "Avian Invasion" created
    throughout the week from new producers to the workshop.

    The Peach Seed: Winner of the Native Radio Theater projects script
    competition, this play by Navajo author Rhiana Yazzie tells the story of how
    the Navajo desert came to be.

    Sonic Force: A composition for jet engine, helicopter and voice. This is the
    story of the pilots who fly the A-10 warthog jets and the relationship they
    have with their planes. Sonic Force features in-field recordings of all
    aircraft and a live vocal chorus telling the story.

    Performance: Friday, June 29, 2007
    Broadcast: 8:00pm - 10:30pm CENTRAL
    Visit [removed]

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

    Date: Wed, 27 Jun 2007 12:29:04 -0400
    From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: A&A on History Detectives

    One of the most important things I learned in my years of working in the
    media was this: there's no point in debating someone who controls the
    final edit. So the basic tone of the piece didn't really surprise me. My
    interview took place immediately after the interview with Melvin Ely, and
    between the two of us, there must've been a good six hours of material
    taped that day -- but naturally, there's no way all of that is going to
    be used, and as is always the case with infotainment-type programs, the
    material that does get used will be that which fits the script already
    laid out by the producers. It may not sound like good journalism -- but
    infotainment is not journalism.

    Dr. Zubari -- who's a very nice guy, agree with him or not -- *does* have
    a copy of my book, because I signed it for him after the interview.
    Basically my purpose in being there was to authenticate the disc -- the
    producers had already arranged with Prof. Ely to discuss the social-issue
    angle before contacting me, and I realized early on that I wasn't going
    to get a fair chance to really state my own perspective on the topic. At
    one point, the producer did suggest adding a bit of drama to the
    interview by staging a confrontational discussion about whether the
    lawyer heard on the recording was intended to be white or black -- but
    both Dr. Z and I refused to do it under those conditions, and that was
    that. (Lawyer Collins, who spoke with no dialect and who was very skilled
    in the courtroom, was, in fact, portrayed by Correll and Gosden as an
    African-American, a fact demonstrated from script evidence in both my
    book and in Prof. Ely's.)

    One thing I did discuss, which they left on the cutting room floor
    unfortunately, was Correll and Gosden's skill as radio performers and the
    contextual reasons why the Breach of Promise storyline was so compelling.
    Given that one of the issues to be addressed in the piece was supposed to
    be why A&A were so popular in their day, I was a bit surprised that they
    didn't include any of this material.

    The mispronounced name did peeve me a bit though. Nobody's called me
    "McClod" since second-grade gym class.

    Elizabeth

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

    Date: Wed, 27 Jun 2007 12:29:12 -0400
    From: FabFicBks@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: movie stars who were radio stars

    I have been reading with interest the comments of  people concerning movie
    actors who were also successful on radio.  It seems  to me that most people
    are
    concentrating on the really big name stars who did  occasional radio programs.
        I would like to mention a few people who did really  well in both the
    radio and the movie formats.  How about William  Bendix?  Star of the long
    running "Life of Riley" radio show, guest on many  other programs, he also
    made
    close to one hundred movies, playing all types of  roles from heroes to
    heavies
    and everything inbetween.  While he starred as  Riley and did those radio
    guest
    shots in the 1940s he was also busy making  between three and four movies a
    year.  When TV came along his career really  boomed, and not just because he
    continued his Riley role on the tube from 1953  thru 1958 (217 weekly
    episodes).
    He was one of the most sought after  guests on TV during the 50s.
        Then there was one of the most versital actors  around, Victor Jorey, who
    did close to two hundred movies, and had a radio show  "Dangerously Yours"
    which quickly evolved into "Matinee Theater," an outstanding  program which
    ran
    for years in the middle forties with Jorey playing a  completely different
    leading role every single show.
        I'm also really surprised everybody forgot one of  the biggest box office
    stars of the era, who, along with his wife easily  mastered radio in the long
    running Roy Rogers show.

    ---Bob Jennings

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

    Date: Wed, 27 Jun 2007 12:29:27 -0400
    From: "Arthur Funk" <Art-Funk@[removed];
    To: "OTR Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  "Amos 'n' Andy: Anatomy of a Controvery:

    The narrator on that 1986 documentary was George Kirby.  I found that it is
    available on the internet for $[removed]

    Regards to all,
    Art Funk

    Art's Militaria
    (813) 840-9606
    [removed]

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

    Date: Wed, 27 Jun 2007 12:29:46 -0400
    From: "Jan Bach" <janbach@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Favorite Radio Stars

    Hello again --

    I've mentioned this before, but it bears repeating. Cornel Wilde, the
    dashing, romantic "hunk" in films of the 'forties, was a surprisingly good
    radio actor, with the ability to change his voice from role to role. Just
    for a few examples, compare his roles on "Suspense;" you'd never know it was
    the same actor, you'd never know the voice belonged to a stage and screen,
    not radio, actor.

    When I went to the Internet Movie Database ([removed], preceded by www) to
    look up the spelling of his name, I was surprised to learn that he was born
    in Hungary and learned several languages growing up in Europe. Cornelius
    Wilde was his real name, not a stage name. And he was a natural athlete and
    a champion fencer on the U. S. Olympic team, in fact, it was while fencing
    as Tybalt in Olivier's Broadway production of Romeo and Juliet that he was
    discovered by Hollywood. And if you want to see a better example of his
    screen acting than The Greatest Show on Earth or A Song to Remember, take a
    look at The Naked Prey, which he filmed at age 51, and which required him to
    run around in a loin cloth for most of the movie. How many of us OTR couch
    potatoes would dare such a role at any age?
    yOurs TRuly,
    Jan Bach

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

    Date: Wed, 27 Jun 2007 12:29:55 -0400
    From: Cnorth6311@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Amos N Andy

    The name of the black comedian no one can remember the name of in the
    current Amos N Andy thread is, George Kirby.

    Charlie

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

    Date: Wed, 27 Jun 2007 19:14:59 -0400
    From: PURKASZ@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Michael Gwynne and William Conrad
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    OK Ryan, you asked for it.
        Bill WAS as jovial as they get considering he  usually always played a
    stern kinda character.
        Maybe it's a reaction from all the roles but I  remember very early in my
    Hollywood career being advised by a few character  actors from the old days
    that if I was invited to go hang out after a day's  shooting I should always
    hang with the guys who play 'heavies' as they are the  most fun.
        Leading men were secondary if only because they  usually had no friends
    and because they were rich and so usually bought all the  drinks.
        Last of all and to be avoided at all costs  [removed]
        A surly, mean-spirited and whiny lot by and large  tho I have no
    empirical experience other than a few nightmare events with  John Belushi and
    that
    crowd.
        Well, back to Bill.
        I went to my favorite Deli in Studio City called  'Art's' where every
    sandwich WAS a work of Art, and was told by my regular  waitress that I had
    just
    missed a fun scene with Bill Conrad and his wife.
        It went like this:
        They were bickering about something and as my  waitress passed by she
    heard the wife say something like,
        "Look at you you're so sloppy. You have gravy on  your tie now."
        Bill smiled broadly, picked up the rest of the  gravy in the bowl and put
    his entire tie into it, saying,
        "Now THAT'S a gravy stain."
        The laughter around them eased the tension and even  Art found a chuckle
    that day.
        By the way, while in Southern California ya gotta  go to Art's on Ventura
    just West of Laurel Canyon.
        Tell 'em I sent ya.
        See ya in Newark Ryan at FOTR in October.
                            Michael  C. Gwynne

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    End of [removed] Digest V2007 Issue #188
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