Subject: [removed] Digest V2003 #302
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 8/6/2003 5:39 PM
To: <[removed]@[removed];

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2003 : Issue 302
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  Woollcott, Glick and Gluck            [ Bhob Stewart <bhob2@[removed]; ]
  "suspense"                            [ Richard Carpenter <sinatra@ragingbu ]
  RCA Victorola                         [ rscherago@[removed] ]
  "Bird Book"                           [ "Harry Machin Jr" <harbev5@earthlin ]
  Ad-Libbing                            [ "Scott Eberbach" <saeberbach@earthl ]
  RCA Victorola                         [ Lee Munsick <leemunsick@[removed] ]
  Grandma [removed]                      [ "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed] ]
  Re: MP3 players                       [ Garpboy@[removed] ]
  Topical humorists                     [ "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyro ]
  Today in radio history                [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
  True Eames Boardman, RIP              [ Max Schmid <max@[removed]; ]

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

Date: Tue, 5 Aug 2003 16:10:49 -0400
From: Bhob Stewart <bhob2@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Woollcott, Glick and Gluck

A few more Zimbalist linkages and curiosities:

Stephanie Zimbalist (b. 1956) is the daughter of East Coast socialite Stephanie
Spaulding and actor Efrem Zimbalist Jr. (b. 1918). Stephanie Zimbalist’s
brother,
Efrem Zimbalist III, is president and CEO of Times Mirror. He has four
children:
Kristina, 33; Efrem Zimbalist IV, 31; McNair, 20; and Alexis, 22.

Alma Gluck (1882-1938) was born Reba Feinsohn (sometimes given as Feirsohn) in
Romania, came to NYC at age five, worked as a stenographer, married insurance
man
Bernard Glick in 1902 and became Reba Glick. In 1909 she adopted the stage name
Alma Gluck and made her Met debut as a soprano, first recording for Victor in
1911.
Glick and Gluck split up in 1912.

The daughter of Glick and Gluck was Abigail Marcia, aka the writer Marcia
Davenport
(1903-1996), who was friends with Toscanini, Gershwin and many others in the
music
world. Davenport left her staff position at THE NEW YORKER (1928-1931) to
write her
acclaimed biography MOZART (1932), followed by the novels that became the films
EAST SIDE, WEST SIDE (1949) with Barbara Stanwyck and THE VALLEY OF DECISION
(1945)
with Gregory Peck. Oddly, her novel MY BROTHER’S KEEPER (1954), inspired by the
1947 case of the weird, reclusive Collyer Brothers (Homer and Langley, not
Bud),
has never been filmed despite many movie options stretching over decades by
filmmakers aware of the book’s PHANTOM OF THE OPERA-styled elements. Marcia
Davenport appeared on INFORMATION PLEASE in 1943:
[removed]

The violinist-composer Efrem Zimbalist Sr. (1889-1985) and Gluck married in
1914
around the time Gluck's recording of "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny" became the
first Red Seal record to sell over one million copies. Hear Gluck sing "The
Bird of
the Wilderness": [removed]

Zimbalist also did pop music. He was the composer of the 1920 Broadway musical
HONEYDEW, and he appeared as an actor in the 1928 short film drama THE WALLS
HAVE
EARS. A singing angel and a violin are carved above the doorway of the
Zimbalist
House (225-227 E. 49th Street), built in 1926 and once shared by Gluck,
Zimbalist
and Davenport. After Henry Luce lived there, it became the 17th Precinct
Station
House during the 1950s and later was divided into apartments.

Marcia Davenport was present during Alexander Woollcott’s on-the-air death
(January
23, 1943), and she later claimed she had killed him. She recalled that when
she was
a child she was regularly insulted by Woollcott during his visits with Gluck.
It
was the beginning of a lifelong feud, and they genuinely despised each other.
Davenport arrived as a last-minute replacement for the CBS panel discussion,
THE
PEOPLE'S PLATFORM, joining the group that included Woollcott and Rex Stout to
discuss "Is Germany Incurable?" Prior to the broadcast, Davenport and
Woollcott had
an exchange of verbal abuse and bitter invective. Seconds later, they were on
the
air live. Within minutes, Woollcott scribbled "I am sick" on a piece of paper
and
gasped for his glycerin tablets as he was struck down by a heart attack and a
cerebral hemorrhage. Paralyzed on his left side, he was taken to Roosevelt
Hospital
and died. After he was cremated, his ashes went to the wrong place, finally
arriving at the proper destination with 67 cents postage due.

Bhob @ VINTAGE NEWSPAPER COMIC STRIPS @ [removed]

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

Date: Tue, 5 Aug 2003 16:11:51 -0400
From: Richard Carpenter <sinatra@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  "suspense"

  Lately I've been on a "Suspense" kick, listening to
dozens of programs. The chiller-thriller show deserves
its reputation as one of radio's best series, but that
doesn't mean all shows were created equal. I think the
unsponsored programs at the beginning and end of the
series' long run, were the dullest. The shows
sponsored by Roma Wine were good, and the Auto
Lite-sponsored shows, with a famous guest star
virtually every week, were best. But oh those cornball
Harlow Wilcox commercials! One other observation: If
the show is set in England and you hear actors with
phony Britishish accents, you can almost be certain
that the program will be a snoozer.
                                      -- [removed]

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

Date: Tue, 5 Aug 2003 16:38:31 -0400
From: rscherago@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  RCA Victorola

Martin Grams, Jr. <mmargrajr@[removed];
wrote: " . . A friend of mine . . . is
"cleaning house" and . . .owns an original
RCA Victorola. . . How much could it be
worth? . . ."

First, if it has a crank it's not an RCA -
it's a Victor. RCA bought Victor long after
the acoustic recorders that I assume you're
referring to. I've seen these "Victrolas"
both in tabletop nodels and consoles for
anywhere from $100 to $500 or more in
antique stores. Chances are if it's a table
model it's worth more like $200 or so rather
than $400.

Bob Scherago
Fairfax Station, VA

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

Date: Tue, 5 Aug 2003 16:41:41 -0400
From: "Harry Machin Jr" <harbev5@[removed];
To: "Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  "Bird Book"

Just 2 quick questions:  Was Mr. Kitzel the character who talked about
his "bird book"?  I remember that amusing way a character said those
words.  And was Kitzel the man who talked about his "mean old wife"?

Harry Machin Jr
harbev5@[removed]
Why Wait?  Move to EarthLink.

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

Date: Tue, 5 Aug 2003 16:11:31 -0400
From: "Scott Eberbach" <saeberbach@[removed];
To: "OTR Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Ad-Libbing
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

Let's not forget Fred Allen who was IMHO one of the best ad-libbers on Radio.
Scott

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

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

Date: Tue, 5 Aug 2003 17:16:07 -0400
From: Lee Munsick <leemunsick@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  RCA Victorola

For Martin Grams, who asked about an old record player for free:

If your friend is advertising this as an RCA Victorola, there is
something very [removed]

It is very, very unlikely that this is a Victorola.  The name is
Victrola.  And as I read your information, I believe you're speaking of
an "antique" machine which should not say RCA on it.  Wrong era.

Now we're past that, it's impossible to give you a value here.  There
were so many talking machines made and so many terms mistakenly used as
generic terms (like "Edison  Victrola" or "Victor Phonograph") that it's
very hard to come up with true ideas.

If indeed a Victrola, it should have an enclosed horn, with doors which
act for appearance to close the machine to give it a finished look, but
more importantly to act as a volume control.  Is it an upright or a
console--meaning wider than as tall?   It would help if you could get
the complete serial number, which should appear stamped into a plate on
the board on which are mounted the turntable, tone arm, etc.  If there
are letters in front of any number, they are important, such as "VV".

Generally speaking, the upright Victrolas were so plentiful and so easy
to keep running that they are ubiquitous and therefore not demanding a
lot of money, but then of course there is always the uneducated buyer
who will offer $400, or because he just HAS to have that thing, which is
like the one he ruined when a kid visiting his grandmother.   Depending
on the model, I would say that $400 is high; the more usual value would
perhaps be $200 to $250.  I know, you'll see them priced much higher in
fancy antique [removed] will they sell for that?  Not to anyone who
knows the market!

If you really want it, by all means get it, but I suggest that you
thoroughly check it out to make sure everything works properly.  Make
sure not to wind it (or any springwound device) too tightly.  You can
probably find a talking machine guy somewhere near you who could come
check it out for you.  It should sound good,  with no rattling noises
indicating something loose inside the sound passageway.

Sorry can't be more detailed in this.  If you wish to pursue this with
more information, let me know and I can relay it to get more detailed
information for you.  I suspect you'll get numerous other responses as well.

Bestus, Lee Munsick

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

Date: Tue, 5 Aug 2003 20:52:01 -0400
From: "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed];
To: "Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Grandma [removed]

Someone on this newsletter asked for a copy of the NBC Biography in Sound
about Grandma Moses.  I discovered I have the program called "America's
Grandma" that aired 9/4/56 with W. W. Chaplin as host.  If that person still
needs the program, I can dub a cassette.

Ted Kneebone/1528 S. Grant [removed], SD 57401/605-226-3344
OTR: [removed]

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

Date: Tue, 5 Aug 2003 22:58:35 -0400
From: Garpboy@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: MP3 players

Check out the Creative Nomad Jukebox Zen and Zen NX players.

Both are hardrive players but have 3 very desirable OTR (and book on CD
features:
1. These models have a bookmark feature - - great for picking up where you
left off at shutdown
2. You can speed the play up when the going gets slow- - great in playing
back mp3s of lectures
3. The NX has instant on if you played your machine anytime in the past 24 hrs.

The machine come in 20(Zen and Zen NX models), 30 (Zen NX only) and 60gb
(Zen only) versions.  I just bought the 20 gb Zen and will publish my review
in a week or two.

You can visit their website, [removed], for the specifics.

I bought the 20gb instead of the 60gb because once I load on, let's say, all
my YTJD, Suspense, etc, I can erase the episode once I listen to it to make
room for another series.  I have a simple ear- I'm not concerned about
original playdates, west coast versus east coast versions, or whether or not
there were 211 or 212 episodes of  "Johnny Gets a Life".

Special note to our blind friend who recently queried us about mp3 players:
Ask a sighted friend to investigate if some sort of software can be loaded
onto this type of machine which would enunciate the series name and episode
name for you ease.  This gizmo certainly seems to have many of the features
you were looking for while you commute to work.

Regards to all; and thanks to those who can see the leafs on the branches on
the trees in the forest. Sometimes I can't see the trees, much less the
forest.

Gazza

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

Date: Wed, 6 Aug 2003 10:18:49 -0400
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Topical humorists

Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2003 14:39:30 -0400
From: "Brian Johnson" <CHYRONOP@[removed];

The topical humorist seems to wane quickly. Have you ever heard any of
Johnny Carson's old monologues from "The Tonight Show"? Most are really
dreadfully dull today. Satire on cuurent events is lost once the outcome
of a historical event is [removed]

I don't know, Nixon jokes still seem funny.  I remember a monolog -- I think
it was Jack Paar -
- after the "Saturday Night Massacre," when Nixon retreated and agreed to
appoint another
special prosecutor.  Paar said that Nixon claimed separation of powers --
people were
threatening to separate him from his powers.

And, in the mid-1990s, long after the events at Chappaquiddick, when the QE2
ran aground
off Martha's Vinyard, there was a joke going around the Boston area which
eventually made
Jay Leno's monolog, about what the QE2 ran around on:  Ted Kennedy's car.

--
A. Joseph Ross, [removed]                           [removed]
 15 Court Square, Suite 210                 lawyer@[removed]
Boston, MA 02108-2503           	         [removed]

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

Date: Wed, 6 Aug 2003 10:20:15 -0400
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otrd <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Today in radio history

 From Those Were The Days --

1928 - One of radio's first serials, Real Folks, debuted on NBC.

1939 - After becoming a success with Ben Bernie on network radio, Dinah
Shore started her own show on the NBC Blue network. Dinah sang every
Sunday evening.

Joe

--
Visit my homepage:  [removed]~[removed]

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

Date: Wed, 6 Aug 2003 13:55:12 -0400
From: Max Schmid <max@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  True Eames Boardman, RIP

Funny how this obit hit the Mystery Science Theatre 3000 list but not the
OTR list. Too many  Bob Hope memories, perhaps?

To avoid copyright issues, I will only quote one  line from their obit:

He was the screenwriter for the movie in episode 510- THE PAINTED HILLS.

That was a Lassie movie. His radio writing credits include Family Theater
and Silver Theater.

Thanks to the fine research skills of our moderator, here is a link an
on-line obit from the Associated Press.

[removed]

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #302
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