Subject: [removed] Digest V2008 #196
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 8/13/2008 10:18 PM

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

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2008 : Issue 196
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Question regarding OTR [removed]    [ Peter Boe <boe5650@[removed]; ]
      Ain't nobody here but us Chicken Hea  [ "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed]; ]
      Norman Corwin assessment              [ jack and cathy french <otrpiano@ver ]
      8-12 births/deaths                    [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
      Age doesn't equal Maturity            [ Wich2@[removed] ]
      Another obscure reference             [ <radioaz@[removed]; ]
      Women on Radio                        [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
      mistakes on radio                     [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
      THE CHICKEN HEART of Arch Oboler      [ Ken Greenwald <kgradio@[removed]; ]
      8-13 births/deaths                    [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
      #OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Nig  [ charlie@[removed] ]
      Chicken Heart                         [ "Dave Adams" <dave@[removed]; ]
      Walter Winchell's coup                [ <otrbuff@[removed]; ]

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

    Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2008 20:41:43 -0400
    From: Peter Boe <boe5650@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Question regarding OTR [removed]

    Hello all,

    new member here, and I have a question about good
    source material (print) for old radio programs. I
    have an early copy of Dunning's work, but have been
    told that the new edition of that book leaves the
    first edition in the dust.  I have noticed that
    many, many programs I have are not listed in the
    early Dunning.

    What is generally considered to be THE definitive
    resource for OTR programs and other information
    about the genre?

    thanks much,

    pjb/

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

    Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2008 20:42:25 -0400
    From: "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Ain't nobody here but us Chicken Hearts
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    Our man Jack French posited about the classic Arch Oboler's "Lights Out"
    episode "Chicken Heart":

>     In the past few years, my friend has searched in many venues for a complete

    copy of the broadcast but has found only bits and pieces, which he suspects
    are re-creations anyway.

    Any Digester know if the complete show survived?

    Several years ago, the NYC-based re-creation group The Gotham Radio Players
    performed "Chicken Heart" at a Friends of Old-Time Radio (FOTR) convention
    here in [removed] The Gothams, under the direction of Steve Lewis with production
    help from Max Schmid and Anne Marie Hendrickson, did a quite extraordinary job
    of it.  However, the GRP is dedicated to presenting "lost" shows, [removed],
    programmes for which a script may exist but no audio does (if I'm not
    mistaken, this "lost show" caveat appears in their mission statement).

    I believe someone along the line found the original Oboler script in some
    archive somewhere. If Jack's buddy wants the "Chicken Heart" audio, he'll
    either have to search out the Gothams' version of it ... or check some old
    Bill Cosby comedy LPs for a hilarious send-up of it (which was also presented
    as a scary ghost story -- with visuals --  told around a campfire in an early
    episode of Cosby's "Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids").

    BTW, I would like to say that that IMHO, I wish more re-creation groups would
    perform more "lost" shows at OTR conventions and showcases. Many OTR fans have
    the savvy and werewithal of tracking down an episode where the audio exists
    should he/she take a liking to an "audio-transcribed" episode that's
    presented.

    Give the conventioneer something he/she cannot get at home or over the
    Internet.

    Yours in the ether,

    Derek Tague

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

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

    Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2008 20:42:49 -0400
    From: jack and cathy french <otrpiano@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Norman Corwin assessment

    Alan Bell is looking for an assessment of Norman Corwin's radio work.

    While it's certainly praiseworthy of Corwin (and has no contributions
    from a devil's advocate) the book "13 For Corwin" remains a thorough
    examination of his work by thirteen top contemporary writers. They
    include Ray Bradbury, Studs Terkel, Charles Kuralt, Norman Lear, Erik
    Barnouw, and Robert Lee.

    This softback was published by Barricade Books in 1985 and is an easy
    read with only 110 pages. Most used-book dealers on the Internet have
    it in stock at modest prices.

    Jack French
    Editor: RADIO RECALL
    <[removed]>

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

    Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2008 20:42:54 -0400
    From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  8-12 births/deaths

    August 12th births

    08-12-1881 - Cecil B. DeMille - Ashfield, MA - d. 1-21-1959
    host: "Lux Radio Theatre"
    08-12-1887 - Gus Van - Brooklyn, NY - d. 3-12-1968
    comedian: (Van and Schenck) "Eveready Hour"; "Sinclair Wiener Minstrels"
    08-12-1888 - Eric Snowden - England - d. 6-27-1979
    actor: John H. Watson "Sherlock Holmes"; Alvin "Parties at Pickfair"
    08-12-1892 - Alfred Lunt - Milwaukee, WI - d. 8-3-1977
    actor: "Cavalcade of America"; "Theatre Guild On the Air"; "Treasury
    Star Parade"
    08-12-1893 - Howard Smith - Attleboro, MA - d. 1-10-1968
    actor: Will Brown "Aldrich Family"; Jack Galloway "Jane Arden"
    08-12-1895 - Carol DeAngelo - Rome, Italy - d. 1-3-1962
    actor, director: "We Love and Learn"; "The Jack Benny Program"
    08-12-1897 - Bob Emery - Abington, MA - d. 7-18-1982
    host: "The Small Fry Club"; "This Wonderful World"
    08-12-1898 - Oscar Homolka - Vienna, Austria - d. 1-27-1978
    actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
    08-12-1904 - Kay Campbell - d. 5-27-1985
    actor: Evey Perkins Fitz "Ma Perkins"
    08-12-1907 - Joe Besser - St. Louis, MO - d. 3-1-1988
    comedian: ("No so faaaast! . . . oh, you craaaaze you!) "Jack Benny
    Program"
    08-12-1909 - Nat Asherton - NYC - d. 1-4-1987
    composer/pianist: Leo Reisman Orchestra, Lester Lanin Orchestra
    08-12-1911 - Dr. Olan Downes - West Roxbury, MA - d. 12-26-2001
    musicologist: "Texaco Metropolitan Opera"; "New York Philharmonic"
    08-12-1911 - Jane Wyatt - Campgaw, NJ - d. 10-20-2006
    actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Great Plays"; "[removed] Steel Hour"
    08-12-1912 - Sam Fuller - Worcester, MA - d. 10-30-1997
    producer, director: "The Aldrich Family"; "The Jack Carson Show"
    08-12-1914 - Guy Sorel - d. 4-5-1994
    actor: Larry Noble "Backstage Wife"
    08-12-1916 - Dorothy Allen - Oakland, CA - d. 4-25-1996
    singer: "Bob Crosby Show"; "Shep Fields Orchestra"
    08-12-1919 - Peter Luke - St. Albans, England - d. 1-23-1995
    writer: "The Other Side of the Hill"
    08-12-1921 - Marjorie Reynolds - Buhl, ID - d. 2-1-1997
    actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Cavalcade of America"; "Silver Theatre"
    08-12-1926 - John Derek - Hollywood, CA - d. 5-22-1998
    actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
    08-12-1927 - Porter Wagoner - West Plains, MO - d. 10-28-2007
    singer: "Grand Ole Opry"
    08-12-1929 - Buck Owens - Sherman, TX - d. 3-25-2006
    singer: "Here's to Veterans"
    08-12-1929 - Nancy Flannery - Bawler, South Australia
    writer: "Martina's Guinea Pigs"

    August 12th deaths

    01-06-1913 - Loretta Young - Salt Lake City, UT - d. 8-12-2000
    actor: "Family Theatre"; "Four Star Playhouse"
    01-26-1919 - Jan Bart - Poland - d. 8-12-1971
    traveled with Major Bowes for 7 years, had his own radio show
    02-08-1904 - Charles Sears - Hoopeston, IL - d. 8-12-1987
    tenor: "National Barn Dance"; "Musical Memories"
    03-13-1873 - Nellie Revell - Springfield, IL - d. 8-12-1958
    commentator: "Neighbor Nell"; "Meet the Artist"
    04-13-1932 - Jack Danon - St. Louis, MO - d. 8-12-1996
    singer: "Fibber McGee and Molly"
    05-16-1905 - Henry Fonda - Grand Island, NE - d. 8-12-1982
    actor: "Eyes Aloft"; "Romance"; "Suspense"
    05-28-1912 - Tom Scott - d. 8-12-1961
    folk singer, writer: "American School of the Air"; "Golden Gate
    Quartet Sings"
    06-06-1875 - Thomas Mann - Lubeck, Germany - d. 8-12-1955
    writer: Had works adapted for "Treasury Star Parade"
    06-18-1917 - Ross Elliott - The Bronx, NY - d. 8-12-1999
    actor: "Mercury Theatre"
    07-06-1925 - Merv Griffin - San Mateo, CA - d. 8-12-2007
    singer: "San Francisco Sketchbook/Merv Griffin Show"
    08-20-1918 - Henry Leff - NYC - d. 8-12-2007
    actor: Ray Mallard "Candy Matson, YU2-8209"
    08-25-1896 - Dick Ryan - Connecticut - d. 8-12-1969
    actor: "The Nebbs"
    09-05-1912 - John Cage - Los Angeles, CA - d. 8-12-1992
    composer: "The Columbia Workshop"
    09-09-1927 - "Mary" Olive Major - Santa Barbara County, CA - d.
    8-12-1998
    vocalist: "The Eddie Cantor Show"
    09-25-1894 - John Howard Lawson - NYC - d. 8-12-1977
    screenwriter: "Lux Radio Theatre"
    10-01-1905 - Wallace Magill - d. 8-12-1973
    producer, director: "The Telephone Hour"
    10-27-1896 - Eric Dressler - NYC - d. 8-12-1978
    actor: "Scattergood Baines"; "Young Widdr Brown"
    xx-xx-xxxx - Reed Kennedy - d. 8-12-1952
    vocalist: "Gulf Headliners"; "The Song Shop"

    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

    Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2008 20:43:25 -0400
    From: Wich2@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Age doesn't equal Maturity

     From: _vzeo0hfk@[removed]_ (mailto:vzeo0hfk@[removed])

>     I did an  interview of Hi Brown years ago ... when I asked him a question
>     about  Norman Corwin, Brown responded, "Who's Norman Corwin?"

    How toweringly childish.

    Best,
    -Craig W.

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

    Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2008 20:43:36 -0400
    From: <radioaz@[removed];
    To: "OTR Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Another obscure reference

    In an October 3, 1944 episode of Burns and Allen, George and Gracie are not
    talking to each other and ask Bill Goodwin to relay messages to one another.
    Orchestra leader Paul Whiteman enters and asks if they are playing "a
    message from Reuters?"  I know what Reuters is, but was there a popular game
    by that name at that time?  Or was this some kind of inside joke?

    Ted

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

    Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2008 20:43:48 -0400
    From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Women on Radio

    The Library of American Broadcasting in Maryland is offering an on-line
    exhibit featuring women in broadcasting (radio and television). Details of
    their work on radio and photos of them are available. The on-line exibit can
    be accessed through the following link.
    [removed]

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

    Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2008 20:44:01 -0400
    From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  mistakes on radio

    Jim Cox makes a valid point. Numerous organizations and foundations (and I'd
    like to add broadcasting stations) are prone to errors. We're all human. Many
    of these organizations rely on publisher reference books rather than their
    own collection of legal papers and collections. I saw a book make an error on
    a broadcast date and when the broadcasting company released the TV series on
    DVD, they reprinted the same error. The Museum of TV and Radio in NYC (now
    known as the Paley Center?) has so many flaws I laugh to the point of tears.
    Expert resident of the Digest Mike Biel can give ya all a list of errors the
    NYC museum contains . . .

    I remember visiting a special collection where the staff asked me to help
    flip through photos and identify the people in the photos. Wearing white
    gloves to handle the photos, I was pointing out who was on the glossies that
    I could identify, and they wrote the names in pencil on the back of the
    photos. Humphrey Bogart, Cagney, Davis, Arch Oboler, Roy Rogers, etc. Yet
    they had a display in glass in the lobby with many said photos and had wrong
    names advertised on display cards below!

    Finding an error in an institution isn't difficult. Whether they have a
    concern to make the correction is a whole 'nother ball game. If the Paley
    Center would take notes and make the corrections, they wouldn't still be the
    joke they were ten and more years ago.
    Martin Grams, Jr.

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

    Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2008 20:44:22 -0400
    From: Ken Greenwald <kgradio@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  THE CHICKEN HEART of Arch Oboler

    A complete broadcast of Chicken Heart DOES exist!
    Arch Oboler had a vast library of original ETs of his radio broadcasts.
    Among those shows are all the Lights Out shows, one of which is The Chicken
    Heart show.
    The reason the show is not available is due to his wishes as stated in his
    will.
    All his broadcasts are kept intact in a special cabinet with the proviso that
    none of the shows be released.
    And that includes Chicken Heart.

    Yet, there are a number of his shows available.
    Wonder how that [removed]

    Ken Greenwald

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

    Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2008 20:44:30 -0400
    From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  8-13 births/deaths

    August 13th births

    08-13-1878 - Harry A. Earnshaw - d. 4-14-1953
    Along with Raymond R. Morgan created "Chandu the Magician
    08-13-1886 - Aurania Rouverol - Utah - d. 6-23-1955
    author: "Andy Hardy"
    08-13-1895 - Bert Lahr - NYC - d. 12-4-1967
    comedian: "Hildegarde's Raleigh Room"; "Manhattan at Midnight";
    "Royal Vagabonds"
    08-13-1898 - Regis Toomey - Pittsburgh, PA - d. 10-12-1991
    actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Campbell Playhouse"
    08-13-1899 - Alfred Hitchcock - London, England - d. 4-29-1980
    host: "Murder by Experts"; "Once Upon a Midnight"
    08-13-1904 - Charles "Buddy" Rogers - Olathe, KS - d. 4-21-1999
    bandleader, actor: (America's Boyfriend) "Twin Stars"; "Pick-A-Date"
    08-13-1904 - Jonathan Hole - Eldora, IA - d. 2-11-1998
    actor: Paul Henderson "Ma Perkins"; Dr. Clifford "Bachelor's Children"
    08-13-1905 - Olga Albani - Barcelona, Spain - d. 6-3-1940
    singer: "Coca-Cola Hour"; "Silken String"
    08-13-1907 - Mabel Todd - Los Angeles, CA - d. 6-2-1977
    vocalist: "The Al Pearce Show"; "Your Hollywood Parade"
    08-13-1908 - Gene Raymond - NYC - d. 5-3-1998
    actor: John J. Malone "Amazing Mr. Malone"; "Witness"; "Hollywood Hotel"
    08-13-1909 - Dave Willock - Chicago, IL - d. 11-12-1990
    actor: Tugwell "Jack Carson Show, Sealtest Village Store"
    08-13-1909 - John Beal - Joplin, MO - d. 4-26-1997
    actor: Bonnie Doon "Amazing Mr. Tutt"; "Box 13"; "Favorite Story"
    08-13-1909 - Tristram Coffin - Mammoth, UT - d. 3-26-1990
    actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
    08-13-1910 - Gwen Pharis Ringwood - Anatone, WA - d. 5-24-1984
    writer: "New Lamps for Old"
    08-13-1910 - Skinnay Ennis - Salisbury, NC - d. 6-3-1963
    bandleader, singer: "Bob Hope Show"; "Abbott and Costello Show"
    08-13-1911 - Allan Aldous - Leederville, Western Australia - d.
    3-17-2000
    author: "Game as Ned Kelly"
    08-13-1913 - Melvin Frank - Chicago, IL - d. 10-14-1988
    film writer, producer, director: "Pepsodent Show"; "Lux Radio Theatre"
    08-13-1913 - Rita Johnson - Worcester, MA - d. 10-31-1965
    actor: Martha Curtis "John's Other Wife"; Joyce Jordan "Joyce Jordan,
    [removed]"
    08-13-1916 - Gloria Dickson - Pocatello, ID - d. 4-10-1945
    actor: "Warner Bros. Academy Theatre"; "Federal Theatre Special";
    "Lux Radio Theatre"
    08-13-1917 - Jay Bechtel - d. 12-30-2004
    sportscaster: WHOL, Allenton, Pennsylvania
    08-13-1918 - Bobb Carroll, Jr. - d. 1-27-2007
    writer: "It's A Great Life"; "My Favorite Husband"
    08-13-1919 - George Shearing - London, England
    sideman:  The Bert Ambrose Band
    08-13-1925 - Jane Webb - Chicago, IL
    actor: Peggy Mead "Aunt Mary"; Belinda Boyd "Those Websters"
    08-13-1929 - Pat Harrington - NYC
    actor: "Hollywood's Open House"
    08-13-1930 - Don Ho - Honolulu, HI - d. 4-14-2007
    singer: Interview on KINE
    08-13-1930 - John Cacavas - Aberdeen, SD
    orchestra leader: "Voices of Vista"

    August 13th deaths

    02-21-1916 - Norman Jolley - Adel, IA - d. 8-13-2002
    actor: Dr. Milingro "Space Patrol"
    03-12-1893 - Gene Morgan - Racine, WI - d. 8-13-1940
    actor: Rex Marvin "Myrt and Marge"; Bill Taylor "All My Children"
    04-08-1888 - Thornton Fisher - Cincinnati, OH - d. 8-13-1975
    sports reporter: "The Briggs Sports Review"
    04-17-1928 - Don West - Fredonia, KS - d. 8-13-2004
    announcer, writer, newsman: Clifton, Arizona
    05-23-1908 - Frederick Thwaites - Balmain, Australia - d. 8-13-1979
    writer: "Beyond the Rainbow"
    06-13-1913 - Bob Bailey - Toeldo, OH - d. 8-13-1983
    actor: Johnny Dollar "Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar"; George Valentine
    "Let George Do It"
    09-05-1895 - Craig Earl - Great Barrington, MA - d. 8-13-1985
    quizmaster: "Professor Quiz"
    09-08-1910 - Joe Bolton - Flushing, NY - d. 8-13-1986
    announcer: "The 1937 Radio Show"
    09-21-1866 - H. G. Wells - Bromley, England - d. 8-13-1946
    science fiction author: "A Discussion Between H. G. Wells and Orson
    Welles"
    09-25-1917 - Phil Rizzuto - Brooklyn, NY - d. 8-13-2007
    sportscaster: "Phil Rizzuto's Sports Caravan"; "Image Minorities"
    09-30-1917 - Tom Reddy - d. 8-13-1961
    announcer: "Chesterfield Supper Club"; "Fitch Bandwagon"
    10-15-1879 - Jane Darwell - Palmyra, MO - d. 8-13-1967
    actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
    10-20-1931 - Mickey Mantle - Spavinaw, OK - d. 8-13-1995
    baseball great: "Hear It Now"; "Feature Project"
    10-25-1884 - Florence Easton - Middlesborough, England - d. 8-13-1955
    soprano: "Metropolitan Opera"
    11-13-1913 - Helen Mack - Rock Island, IL - d. 8-13-1986
    producer, director: "Beulah Show"; "Affairs of Ann Scotland"
    11-24-1891 - Ben Gross - Birmingham, AL - d. 8-13-1979
    wrote newspaper column critiquing radio

    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

    Date: Wed, 13 Aug 2008 02:12:02 -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, 13 Aug 2008 11:25:31 -0400
    From: "Dave Adams" <dave@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Chicken Heart

> >     A pal of mine in Metro Washington OTR Club heard a LIGHTS OUT?broadcast
> >     of "Chicken Heart" when he was (snip)

    I am absolutely astounded to realize that the fabled Chicken Heart that I
    know only from near countless hours listening to a Bill Cosby record was in
    fact a real broadcast. There is truly no limit to the things I don't know
    about OTR.

    How mortifying!

    So can anyone tell me, who may have heard the Cosby skit in the 60s, if he
    does a reasonably accurate depiction of the affect of hearing the story (he
    doesn't do justice to the story itself certainly)?

    Dave Adams
    Senior Environmental Artist
    Amalgamated Pixels Studio

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

    Date: Wed, 13 Aug 2008 11:26:05 -0400
    From: <otrbuff@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Walter Winchell's coup

    In 1950, ABC signed a "lifetime contract" with Walter Winchell guaranteeing
    the journalist $10,000 weekly for as long as he was mentally and physically
    capable of providing his quarter-hour Sunday night revelations.  If he could
    no longer perform, the pact guaranteed him $1,000 monthly anyway.

    What happens in a case like this when the subject shifts to another network,
    as Winchell did in 1955?  Is it over, or do the provisions of a lifetime
    contract continue in force?  While the answer may seem logical, I'm unsure
    if the network is still on the hook.  Is there an automatic "out"?

    Jim Cox

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2008 Issue #196
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