Subject: [removed] Digest V2004 #128
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 4/10/2004 4:18 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2004 : Issue 128
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Dec. 7, 1941                          [ Udmacon@[removed] ]
      Encyclopedia of Radio                 [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
      another current movie with OTR        [ "Alain Altounian" <[removed]@[removed] ]
      RE: Gene Klavan                       [ "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed] ]
      Re: Dennis Day                        [ "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed] ]
      Sara Berner                           [ "Ivan G. Shreve, Jr." <iscreve@comc ]
      4-11 births/deaths                    [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
      This week in radio history 4/11-17    [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]

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

    Date: Fri, 9 Apr 2004 19:50:51 -0400
    From: Udmacon@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Dec. 7, 1941

    I'd be interested to know what kind of a program Jack Benny hosted on Dec. 7,
    1941. Was it low key?

    I've heard the Fibber McGee & Molly broadcast immediately after the Pearl
    Harbor attack; it was well done and the audience finished the show singing a
    patriotic song (senior moment; I forget which one).

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

    Date: Fri, 9 Apr 2004 20:30:18 -0400
    From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Encyclopedia of Radio

    Russ Butler, noting the existence of the Encyclopedia of Radio, notes,

>     Produced in association with The Museum of Broadcast Communications in
>     Chicago. Christopher H. Sterling and Michael Keith, are the Editors with
>     an extensive list of contributors who are scholars and experts.

    Several of the scholars and experts are contributors to the Encyclopedia.
     The renowned Elizabeth McLeod was an extensive contributor.

    The Encyclopedia contains some OTR entries, but don't throw away your
    Dunning.  Its aims to cover the entire span of radio, from the earliest
    beginnings to the present.  To do that in three volumes means that a lot
    of stuff was either truncated or entirely omitted.  Admittedly, the major
    shows are represented (Lone Ranger, Jack Benny, etc.), but the more
    obscure programs ([removed], Speed Gibson) are necessarily absent.

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Sat, 10 Apr 2004 00:30:38 -0400
    From: "Alain Altounian" <[removed]@[removed];
    To: "Old. Time. Radio" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  another current movie with OTR

    The film "Contact" w/Jodie Foster (released ~4 years ago, based on novel by
    astronomer Carl Sagan, now often on TV).

    I believe the opening sequence is a tracking shot starting at Earth and
    taking us through our solar system and beyond.

    The accompanying audio goes backwards in [removed] with the present
    and eventually reaching OTR period, then just static(ie-before audio signals
    generated from our planet)....

    I thought this was a neat reminder that all radio signals - including OTR -
    are still out there, but they are moving away from us.

    I'm curious; do radio signals decay over space and time? If at least some
    signals survive, how far out are the OTR era's signals? And, could ET (or
    some other extra terrestrial) conceivably be listening to Jack Benny right
    now using a regular AM receiver? 8)

    Alain

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

    Date: Sat, 10 Apr 2004 03:14:05 -0400
    From: "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed];
    To: "OTR" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  RE:  Gene Klavan

    I remember when Gene Rayburn left the show and Klavan replaced him.   They
    woke me up in the morning on my clock-radio when I was in HS and I wondered
    if they had hired Klavan because his name sort of rhymed with Rayburn,
    especially since they had the same first name.    After I got over the
    change I really enjoyed the Klavan and Finch morning shows.

    The obit mentioned that one of his sons was Andrew, but  nothing  about him.
    He did not inherit his Dad's zaniness.   Quite the contrary.    Andrew is a
    popular thriller/mystery writer who has won a couple of Edgar awards and
    whose novel 'True Crime' was made into a film  by and  with Clint Eastwood.
    Another scary film based on a Klavan novel was 'Don't Say a Word' with
    Michael Douglas.

    I have known Andrew's wife, Ellen,  since she was a child when her late
    father Thomas Flanagan was an English Prof at UC Berkeley. She  was very
    surprised that I  knew about her father-in-law.  :))

    Her side of the family is also very literary.   Her sister Caitlin Flanagan
    has been a writer for 'Atlantic Monthly' until recently  when she became a
    staff writer for 'The New Yorker' magazine.   Ellen writes children's
    stories.   Their father Thomas Flanagan wrote a trilogy of books about Irish
    history -- 'Year of the French', 'Tenants of Time,' and 'The End of the
    Hunt' which brought him great acclaim, especially in Ireland where he spent
    the summers hanging out, especially at the local pub.

    All four of  Gene Klavan's sons pursued careers in the arts.   Laurence is
    also a mystery writer and Edgar Award winner.  Scott is primarily a stage
    actor. and Ross is a screenwriter.

    I often wonder about the offspring of OTR personalities.   I bet that there
    are more than a few who have pursued careers in the arts.   Bob Elliot's son
    Chris immediately comes to mind.   They are an untapped resource IMHO for
    another personal perspective on OTR.

    Irene

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

    Date: Sat, 10 Apr 2004 03:14:15 -0400
    From: "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed];
    To: "OTR" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re:  Dennis Day

    The episode I have as the first show is 'Masquerade Ball', 10/3/46, which I
    can't vouch for but which seems likely to be true.   Jack Benny is not on
    the program, although Dennis  is introduced as  the singer from the Jack
    Benny Program.

    It sounds like a first show since after Dennis' opening song, many of the
    regular characters are asked to describe Dennis, which seems introductory.
    Additionally, at the end listeners are urged to tune in next week, which
    doesn't sound like an audition show.

    That's about all I know, or surmise.

    -Irene

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

    Date: Sat, 10 Apr 2004 11:23:15 -0400
    From: "Ivan G. Shreve, Jr." <iscreve@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Sara Berner

    Laura Leff stated authoratively:

>     On the December 16, 1945 show, this is interspersed
>     with another running gag of Jack tuning the radio and repeatedly running
>     into Sara Berner singing "Melancholy Baby" in a voice so nasal that it
>     would have given Fred Allen a run for his money.

    Hearing Berner sing that way always cracks me up -- I just got finished
    listening to the October 27, 1946 program, and when Jack hears her he
    wonders out loud whether it's just his radio.

    Also in this show, Jack has a wild nightmare in which he's put on trial for
    killing the Sportsmen Quartet.  One of the witnesses is Gertrude (Bea
    Benaderet), who testifies that she's on NBC switchboard #1, Mabel's on #2,
    "and Greenberg's on third."

    Ivan
    ----
    OTR Ramblings and Musings at Thrilling Days of Yesteryear:
    [removed]

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

    Date: Sat, 10 Apr 2004 15:26:31 -0400
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  4-11 births/deaths

    April 11th births

    04-11-1893 - Lou Holtz - San Francisco, CA - d. 9-22-1980
    comedian: "Fleischmann Hour"; "Kraft Music Hall"
    04-11-1904 - Paul McGrath - Chicago, IL - d. 4-13-1978
    actor, host: Host "Inner Sanctum Mysteries"; Robert Allison "My Son Jeep"
    04-11-1907 - Paul Douglas - Philadelphia, PA - d. 9-11-1959
    announcer, sportscaster, actor: Lawyer Feldman "Meyer the Buyer"
    04-11-1909 - Sylvia Picker - NYC - d. 9-25-1981
    actress: Suzy "Box 13"
    04-11-1912 - John Larkin - Oakland, CA - d. 1-29-1965
    actor: Perry Mason "Perry Mason"; "Dimension X; " Ford Theatre"
    04-11-1921 - Toni Darnay - Chicago, IL - d. 1-5-1983
    actress: Evelyn Winters "Strange Romance of Evelyn Winters"; Nona Dutell "Nona
    from Nowhere"

    April 11th deaths

    04-02-1878 - Leo Curley - NYC - d. 4-11-1960
    actor: Ed Jackson "Backstage Wife"; Mike Shaw "Tom Mix"
    05-11-1907 - Kent Taylor - Nashua, IA - d. 4-11-1987
    actor: "Hollywood Hotel"
    06-15-1894 - Leo Cleary - MA - d. 4-11-1955
    actor: Bailiff "His Honor, the Barber"
    06-26-1907 - Ynez Seabury - OR - d. 4-11-1973
    actress: Libby Collins "Lux Radio Theatre"
    08-03-1905 - Dolores Del Rio - Durango, Mexico - d. 4-11-1983
    actress: "Hollywood on the Air"
    09-08-1921 - Harry Secombe - Swansea, Wales - d. 4-11-2001
    comedian: Major Bloodkock, Min, Moriarity "Goon Show"
    09-29-1903 - Ted de Corsia - Brooklyn, NY - d. 4-11-1973
    actor: Flip Corkin "Terry and the Pirates"; Dan McGarry "McGarry and His Mouse"
    10-23-1904 - Oliver Barbour - d. 4-11-1968
    producer, director: "Life Can Be Beautiful"; "Parker Family"; "When a Girl
    Marries"
    11-27-1904 - Florence Lake - Charleston, SC - d. 4-11-1980
    actress: (Sister of Arthur Lake) Tess Terwilliger "David Harum"
    --
    Ron Sayles
    For a complete list:
    [removed]

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

    Date: Sat, 10 Apr 2004 16:27:40 -0400
    From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
    To: otrd <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  This week in radio history 4/11-17

     From Those Were The Days --

    4/11

    1921 - The first live sports event on radio took place this day over
    KDKA.  Pittsburgh sports writer, Florent Gibson, gave an account of the
    action in  the lightweight boxing match between Johnny Ray and Johnny
    Dundee.

    1943 - Nick Carter, Master Detective debuted on Mutual.

    4/12

    1932 - The thrill-comedy, Joe Palooka, which would also be a popular
    comic strip, made its debut on CBS.

    4/17

    1933 - Backed by the On the Trail portion of the magnificent Grand
    Canyon Suite, Johnny Roventini, pillbox hat and all, uttered the words
    "Call for Philip Morris" for the first time on radio. The famous phrase
    was said in perfect B flat pitch and tone to perfectly match the
    accompanying music. This "Call for Philip Morris" phrase became one of
    the most famous in all of advertising.

    1935 - People gathered around to listen for the first time to what would
    become the ultimate horror show on NBC, Lights Out.

    Joe

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2004 Issue #128
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