Subject: [removed] Digest V2005 #390
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 12/20/2005 6:37 AM
To: [removed]@[removed]

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2005 : Issue 390
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                             [removed]
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  Prof. Irwin Corey on radio            [ Lee Munsick <damyankeeinva@earthlin ]
  Amos n' Andy sponsors                 [ Bob Slate <moxnix1961@[removed]; ]
  Library theme on radio                [ Bob Slate <moxnix1961@[removed]; ]
  A tale of titanic proportions         [ <otrbuff@[removed]; ]
  David Sarnoff / Titantic              [ "WEH" <nbcblue@[removed]; ]
  Polly and Bugs Bunny                  [ "Laura Leff" <president@[removed] ]
  Another Movie Amos 'N Andy Reference  [ "George Tirebiter" <tirebiter2@hotm ]
  Re: King Kong and OTR                 [ "R. R. King" <kingrr@[removed]; ]
  Kate Smith and basketball?            [ jack and cathy french <otrpiano@ver ]
  David Sarnoff / Titanic               [ Michael Shoshani <mshoshani@sbcglob ]
  Fast and Loose                        [ "RadioAZ@[removed]" <radioAZ@bas ]
  12-20 births/deaths                   [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
  Died on Birthday                      [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
  Billboard                             [ George Kelly <gkelly1@[removed]; ]

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

Date: Mon, 19 Dec 2005 14:34:58 -0500
From: Lee Munsick <damyankeeinva@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Prof. Irwin Corey on radio

Back during all the hoopla in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of WOTW,
Anthony Tollin and I participated in the events in Windsor Township, just
south of Princeton, New Jersey (actually, there are two, East Windsor and
West - I forget in which one the Martians "landed" in Grovers Mill, and where
they had the week long celebratory parade, carnival, shows, etc.).

At the celebration, for some reason the connection of which we could not
fathom other than somebody's brilliant casting against the venue, one of the
performers present was Irwin Corey - always a favorite of mine.  I thankfully
took the opportunity to get to know him.  Just fresh from FOTR a few days
before, I told him about it and said we'd love it if he would participate the
next year.  He said he'd love to.  I asked if he had a radio background.  He
answered with a string of credits (no double talk) in which most of the
programs I knew, 'though not about his connection with them.

Perfect physical makeup for a clown:  Tiny, lithe, wiry, athletic.  A worker
in the CCC during the depression, he bragged that he was the CCC champion
112-pound fighter!   When we talked, he was a charming little guy, very
sincere, soft-spoken - the antithesis of his stage persona.   I told him that
I had been in the audience to see him perform 30-some years before in a
delightful, nonsense musical called "Flahooley".  This was set up as a
vehicle to capitalize on the over-hyped talents of "zoftic" singer Yma Sumac,
but Irwin Corey stole it from the moment he went on stage, and kept the
audience in the palm of his hand throughout.  He had the funniest song (also
for those times the raciest) in the show.  As he had before, he played a
genie-like Arab character.  Sadly, it only lasted a month - 40 performances.

Flahooley featured Bil & Cora Baird and their marvelous puppets, Broadway
regulars Barbara Cook and Jerome Courtland, veteran actor Ernest Truex, and a
young arab-impersonating Nehemiah Persoff!  It would have made a fantastic
film!   Corey played "Abou Ben Atom" (sic), sort of a magical genie, who
bounced all over the stage like a rubber doll.  He is credited in six
Broadway shows, from "Heaven on Earth" in 1948 (which had an even shorter run
than "Flahooley", through the revival of "Sly Fox" in 2004.  This one had a
better chance:  Look at some of the performers:  Richard Dreyfuss, Rene
Auberjonois, Bronson Pinchot, and Peter Scolari!  Ooh, I wish I'd been a fly
on the balcony wall at that one!

I had the wonderful opportunity to work with Bil & Cora Baird a dozen or so
years later.  A wonderful, kindly, very hard-working, incredibly talented
pair, with an equally competent supporting team.

Back to The Little Professor on radio:  Sad to say, at this point nearing 20
years later, I recall only his saying that he regularly broke up Edgar Bergen
- with his specialty of incredible double-talk, who knows what kind of
conversations he must have had with Charlie McCarthy?  I do not recall the
names of any of the other programs he mentioned.  I could not find him in any
of the standard radio reference works at my fingertips.

However, here's part of his IMDb listing:  Corey thrived on the radio,
memorably appearing on Edgar Bergen's radio show as a tutor to Charlie
McCarthy!  Television was another natural medium for the professor, and he
appeared as a regular on "The Jackie Gleason Show" and also made the rounds
of the talk show circuit of the 1950s, '60s and '70s, appearing with Steve
Allan, Jack Paar, Johnny Carson, Dick Cavett, Merv Griffin, and Mike Douglas.
He also appeared frequently on "The Ed Sullivan Show," as well as appeared
with the new lessor of the Ed Sullivan Theater, David Letterman.  That last
line indicates that perhaps he's still performing, or at least has recently.

Irwin Corey is listed as being born in January 1912, or July 1914, depending
on "Who d'ya read?".  I see no record of his passing.  Wouldn't someone love
to find him and sit down and probe that insanely funny mind!  New Yorkers:
Hint, hint!  I kept in touch and tried to get him to appear at FOTR but never
got a commitment.  Too bad - he would have broken up the place, much along
the experience we had several times with Will Jordan, although their acts are
completely different.  He has been described by critic Kenneth Tynan in this
way:  He is Chaplin's clown with a college education.

Best wishes to all for the holidays and a healthful, successful New Year!
Lee Munsick

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

Date: Mon, 19 Dec 2005 16:51:25 -0500
From: Bob Slate <moxnix1961@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Amos n' Andy sponsors
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Don't forget, Amos n' Andy was sponsored by the Rexsol Drug Company in the
late 1940'[removed] the slogan, "Good health to all from Rexso?!"Was'nt some
of their last shows sponsored by by a motor company such as "The Amos n' Andy
Music Hall" up to the time they went off the air around 1960?  Bob Slate

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

Date: Mon, 19 Dec 2005 16:51:55 -0500
From: Bob Slate <moxnix1961@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Library theme on radio
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Some early "Lum n' Abner"shows from the early 1940's has a series of programs
where the old fellers have added on to their "Jot Em Down Store,"a Library
and a [removed] OTR dealers have this complete series.  Bob Slate

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

Date: Mon, 19 Dec 2005 16:52:28 -0500
From: <otrbuff@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  A tale of titanic proportions

Andrew Steinberg inquires about Robert Sarnoff and the Titanic disaster.

David Sarnoff [was] a nine-year-old Jewish lad who immigrated to this
country in 1900 from the Russian province of [removed]

By age 15, Sarnoff had acquired an interest in the growing technology that
surrounded modern telegraphy.  Hoping to become a telegraph operator, he
took a job with the American Marconi Co., a recognized leader in that
industry.  The vital role of wireless telegraphy in the Titanic disaster in
1912 created growth opportunities for both Sarnoff's employer and himself.
Then 21, Sarnoff visualized a role for the wireless beyond merely
transmitting business messages over long distances.  He was among the first
to glimpse the potential of radio as an entertainment and information medium
for the masses.

In 1916, he projected a "Radio Music Box" to the management of the Marconi
Co.  "I have in mind a plan of development that would make radio a household
utility in the same sense as the piano or phonograph," said he.  "The idea
is to bring music into the home by wireless ... also events of importance
can be simultaneously announced and received."  Marconi officials weren't
impressed, believing Sarnoff's concept impractical.

--from "Music Radio:  The Great Performers and Programs of the 1920s through
Early 1960s" (McFarland, 2005; [removed], 800-253-2187) ... see
pp. 108-112 and added references for more on Robert Sarnoff

Jim Cox

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

Date: Mon, 19 Dec 2005 17:06:44 -0500
From: "WEH" <nbcblue@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  David Sarnoff / Titantic

Andrew Stienberg asks:

My understanding is that David Sarnoff was not a radio operator receiving
reports from the Titantic as it sank. What is the true story?

According to Alex Magoun, the curator of the David Sarnoff collection in
Princeton N. J., Sarnoff (who IMHO was a shamless self promotor) was not on
duty the night the Titanic sank. According to a scrapbook he kept, the first
message he received was on April 16.

Bill H.

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

Date: Mon, 19 Dec 2005 20:25:29 -0500
From: "Laura Leff" <president@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Polly and Bugs Bunny

Steve Salaba asks:

Milt mentions a show where Jack
takes Polly the Parrot to an animal psychiatrist and Jack has an argument
with Bugs Bunny in the waiting room. This is a show I'd love to hear -

Sounds like 9/27/53.  That's available in our audio library
([removed], then Programs, then Audio Library).  Enjoy!

--Laura Leff
President, IJBFC
[removed]

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

Date: Mon, 19 Dec 2005 20:25:54 -0500
From: "George Tirebiter" <tirebiter2@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Another Movie Amos 'N Andy Reference

The discussion of the A & A billboard in KING KONG (which I missed when I
saw the film on Saturday) reminds me of a "stealth" reference to A & A in
the film CHICAGO from a couple of years ago.  The film takes place in (of
course) Chicago in an unspecified year in the 1920s, however the costumes
etc. seem to suggest it is towards the end of the decade. Roxie Hart's
(Renee Zellweger) husband, played by John C. Reilley, is named "Amos".  Her
lawyer, Billy Flynn,(Richard Gere) repeatedly calls Amos by the name "Andy"
to his face, despite being corrected multiple times.

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

Date: Mon, 19 Dec 2005 20:28:54 -0500
From: "R. R. King" <kingrr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: King Kong and OTR

Max Steiner, who wrote the score for the 1933 King Kong, seems to have
had an unusual OTR connection, according to this February 12, 1922 Los
Angeles Times article, recently posted in [removed]:

MILLION TO HEAR MUSICAL COMEDY.

WIRELESS TO BROADCAST NEW YORK'S LATEST MELODY SHOW.

This evening at 8 o'clock the largest audience which ever heard a
musical comedy in the annals of the theater will hear Carle Carlton's
supermusical production "Tangerine," now current at the Casino Theater
[in] New York, when for the first time in the history of the world an
entire musical comedy will be presented to 1,000,000 persons in
America and on the high seas at the same instant.

This epoch-making event will be made possible through the Westinghouse
radio broadcasting station at Newark, N. J., and will enable entire
families in every State in the Union to sit by their firesides and
hear Julia Sanderson, Frank Crumit, Jenette Methven (the South Sea
vamp) and the Tangerine Quartet sing "Sweet Lady," "Listen to me,"
"The Isle of Tangerine," "Love is a Business," and the other song hits
of the production, and to laugh at the comedy quips of Richard Carle,
James Gleason, Allen Kearns, Harry Puck and the balance of the
comedians of the big cast, as though from front-row seats at the
Casino Theater.

The entire cast of principals and chorus, together with the Casino
Theater Orchestra under the direction of Max Steiner, will journey to
Newark this evening and, under the personal direction of Mr. Carlton,
give a performance in the wireless recording-rooms of the Westinghouse
Company. The performance will then automatically be open to every
radio station within a radius of 5000 miles.

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

Date: Mon, 19 Dec 2005 20:29:38 -0500
From: jack and cathy french <otrpiano@[removed];
To: OTRBB <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Kate Smith and basketball?

While reading a page of the Oakland (CA) Tribune of December 30, 1935
(provided to me by ace OTR researcher Irene Heinstein in San Francisco)
I ran across this piece on one of America's favorite singers:

"Kate Smith, who recently purchased the original Celtics, world's
professional basketball champions, takes a keen interest in her team.
She went to Pittsburgh last Saturday to watch her team play on the
court of Duquesne University."

Any Kate Smith fans know what the heck this is all about?

Jack French
Editor: RADIO RECALL

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

Date: Mon, 19 Dec 2005 20:30:37 -0500
From: Michael Shoshani <mshoshani@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  David Sarnoff / Titanic

Andrew Steinberg <otrdig1@[removed]; telegraphed:

My understanding is that David Sarnoff was not a radio operator receiving
reports from the Titantic as it sank. What is the true story?

The true story is that no one on land was receiving anything from the
Titanic as it was sinking - the ship was completely out of range.  As
the Carpathia approached within range of transmission to North
America, there are records of survivors sending reservations by the
ship's radio equipment to New York hotels.

David Sarnoff was, at the time, the operator of a "showpiece" radio
station that the Marconi Company kept for public display atop the
Wanamaker department store building in New York.  In his book "Empire
Of The Air", Tom Lewis points out that this station kept the same
hours as the store itself, which meant that the station was closed
that Sunday night when the Titanic sank.  Sarnoff did not report for
work until the next day, and within the next 24 hours the Marconi
Company closed down all their stations except for four, to prevent
interference.  The Wanamaker station was among those closed down.

The New York Times front page for Tuesday, April 16, 1912 gives a
partial (and partially garbled) list of survivors, transmitted from
the Carpathia, and relayed from the Olympic to the Marconi station at
Cape Race, Newfoundland. This despite the fact that the Carpathia
herself steadfastly refused all inquiries from newspapers (and from
President Taft) concerning survivors.

Michael Shoshani
Chicago

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

Date: Tue, 20 Dec 2005 00:02:44 -0500
From: "RadioAZ@[removed]" <radioAZ@[removed];
To: "OTR Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Fast and Loose

This past weekend I went to a Christmas program at a local church, mainly
because they advertised the show as featuring music of the 40s as well as
live radio re-enactments.  The play itself was a purchased piece, not
something they wrote themselves.  But whoever wrote it sure played fast and
loose both with radio and history.

Examples:

--They had Fibber McGee and Molly on Sunday afternoon, sponsored by Maxwell
House Coffee.

--There was a brief piece from Suspense with the LaMont Cranston and Margo
Lane.

--They advertised Coca-Cola with the Pepsi jingle.

--In the initial news annoucement about Pearl Harbor they were able to give
a complete casualty and damage report.

--One of the characters was immediately sent off to the Solomon Islands
following Pearl Harbor.

--They sang "White Christmas" about 9 months before it was written.

It was all quite bad.    I suggest you avoid seeing a play called "I'll Be
Home for Christmas."  The writers have no knowledge or appreciation of
radio.

Ted

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

Date: Tue, 20 Dec 2005 07:56:19 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  12-20 births/deaths

December 20th births

12-20-1889 - Ernest LaPrade - Memphis, TN - d. 4-20-1969
conductor: "Collier's Hour"; "Orchestra of the Nation"
12-20-1898 - Irene Dunne - Louisville, KY - d. 9-4-1990
actress: Susan Armstrong "Bright Star"; "Family Theatre"; "Hallmark
Hall of Fame"
12-20-1900 - Ted Fio Rito - Newark, NJ - d. 7-22-1971
bandleader: "Presenting Al Jolson"; "Wonder Show"; "Jack Haley Show"
12-20-1905 - Albert Dekker - Brooklyn, NY - d. 5-5-1968
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
12-20-1906 - Marion Talley - Nevada, MO - d. 1-3-1983
singer: "Ry-Krisp Presents Marion Talley"
12-20-1907 - Al Rinker - Tekoa, WA - d. 6-11-1982
singer (member of The Rhythm Boys) "Paul Whiteman Presents"
12-20-1914 - Patti Pickens - Macon, GA - d. 11-16-1995
singer: (Pickens Sisters) "The Pickens Sisters"; "The Magic Key"
12-20-1918 - Audrey Totter - Joliet, IL
actress: Millie Bronson "Meet Millie"; Bonnie "Bright Horizon"
12-20-1923 - Charita Bauer - Newark, NJ - d. 2-28-1985
actress: Mary Aldrich, "Aldrich Family"; Bert Bauer, "The Guiding Light"
12-20-1931 - Mala Powers - San Francisco, CA
actress: "Stars Over Hollywood"
12-20-1952 - Jenny Agutter - Tounton, Somerset, England
actress: Alex Price "An American Werewolf in London"

December 20th deaths

01-28-1887 - Artur Rubinstein - Lodz, Poland - d. 12-20-1982
pianist: "Music America Loves Best"; "Telephone Hour"; "Concert Hall"
02-27-1902 - John Steinbeck - Salinas, CA - d. 12-20-1968
novelist: "Radio Hall of Fame"; "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Screen
Director's Playhouse"
05-09-1914 - Hank Snow - Liverpool, Novia Scotia, Canada - d. 12-20-1999
country singer: "Grand Ole Opry"
05-11-1912 - Foster Brooks - Louisville, KY - d. 12-20-2001
disc jockey: "Foster Brooks Show"; "Melody, Inc."; "Million Dollar
Ballroom"
05-14-1936 - Bobby Darin - New York, NY - d. 12-20-1973
singer: "The Bobby Darin Show"; "Cancer Crusade"; "Vocies of Vista"
06-12-1914 - William Lundigan - Syracuse, NY - d. 12-20-1975
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"; announcer in early radio
07-11-1909 - Irene Hervey - Venice, CA - d. 12-20-1998
actress: "Lux Radio Theatre"
07-21-1863 - C. Aubrey Smith - London, England - d. 12-20-1948
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
08-15-1901 - Ned Washington - Scranton, PA - d. 12-20-1976
songwriter: "Dick Aurandt Show"
09-09-1900 - James Hilton - Leigh, Lancashire, England - d. 12-20-1954
host: "Hallmark Hall of Fame/Hallmark Playhouse"; "Ceiling Unlimited"
10-24-1904 - Moss Hart - The Bronx, NY - d. 12-20-1961
panelist: "Who Said That?"

Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

Date: Tue, 20 Dec 2005 08:36:03 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Died on  Birthday

Thought that might be of interest. A list of people who dies on their
birthday.

02-12-1899 - Ray Knight - Salem, MA - d. 2-12-1953
actor: Ambrose J. Weems "Cuckoo Hour"; shopkeeper "House in the Country"
03-18-1893 - George Olsen - Portland, OR - d. 3-18-1971
bandleader: "Jack Benny Program"; "Royal Gelatin Revue"
04-07-1901 - Gavin Gordon - Chicora, MS - d. 4-7-1983
actor: Doctor Norfolk "Brenthouse"
04-12-1912 - Herbert B. Mills - Picqua, OH - d. 4-12-1989
singer: (The Mills Brothers) "Mills Brothers Quartette"
04-23-1564 - William Shakespeare - Stratford-upon-Avon,England - d.
4-23-1616
playwright, poet: "Julius Caesar"; "Hamlet"
05-14-1897 - Sidney Bechet - New Orleans, LA - d. 5-14-1959
soprano sax, composer: "Eddie Condon's Jazz Concerts"
06-13-1874 - Major Edward Bowes - San Francisco, CA - d. 6-13-1946
emcee: "Capitol Family"; "Original Amateur Hour"
07-25-1910 - Ted Dale - d. 7-25-1975
orchestra leader: :Carnation Contented Hour"
07-25-1918 - Nan Grey - Houston, TX - d. 7-25-1993
actress: Kathy Marshall "Those We Love"
07-28-1910 - Frank Loesser - New York City, NY - d. 7-28-1969
composer: "Cavalcade for Victory"; "Abe Burrows Show"; "Heartbeat of
Broadway"
08-29-1915 - Ingrid Bergman - Stockholm, Sweden - d. 8-29-1982
actress: "Everything for the Boys"; "Lux Radio Theatre"
08-30-1914 - Julie Bishop - Denver, CO - d. 8-30-2001
actress: "Harold Lloyd Comedy Theatre"; "Lux Radio Theatre"
09-06-1885 - Otto Kruger - Toledo, OH - d. 9-6-1974
actor: "Nobody's Children"
11-09-1883 - Edna Mae Oliver - Malden, MA - d. 11-9-1942
actress: Miss Tuttle "Remarkable Miss Tuttle"
12-08-1891 - Percy Crosby - Brooklyn, NY - d. 12-8-1964
"Skippy" a juvenile serial was based on Crosby's comic strip

Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

Date: Tue, 20 Dec 2005 08:36:46 -0500
From: George Kelly <gkelly1@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Billboard

The billboard had been replaced
by 1933, and thus is an anachronism in Jackson's film.

Tthe billboard in "King Kong" is a mistake; it would only be an
anachronism if  billboards didn't exist in 1933.

George Kelly

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2005 Issue #390
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