Subject: [removed] Digest V2008 #76
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 3/24/2008 7:03 PM

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

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2008 : Issue 76
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      I've Got a Secret on DVD              [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
      Memphis Film Festival                 [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
      Akira Who?                            [ jack and cathy french <otrpiano@ver ]
      3-24 births/deaths                    [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
      Desperately Seeking Robert Pinget's   [ CBWeimer@[removed] ]
      Re: listening to OTR on the web       [ Don Shenbarger <donslistmail@sbcglo ]
      Captain Salty revisted                [ David Ballarotto <[removed]@ ]
      JACK BENNY ON PBS                     [ "Andolina, Joe" <Joe_Andolina@cable ]
      Classical singing [removed]      [ "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed] ]
      Sam Hayes, Los Angeles radio announc  [ "Jim Hilliker" <jimhilliker@sbcglob ]
      24/7 radio stations in 1964           [ "Jim Hilliker" <jimhilliker@sbcglob ]
      JERRY LESTER                          [ Durangokid@[removed] ]
      Jeff David                            [ stevenl751@[removed] ]
      Flashbacks and soft-sell              [ <otrbuff@[removed]; ]

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

    Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2008 20:47:19 -0400
    From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  I've Got a Secret on DVD

    Larry Jordan asked:

>     I wish I'd thought to DVR this episode of the show. It's too bad wedon't
>     know about these in advance. Larry Jordan

    That episode exists (logo free) complete on DVD and has for some time.  Was
    available on [removed] for the past few years (at least since 2002).
    Copies will also be available at the Cincy OTR Convention.  The same DVD
    features a number of OTR related film shorts including a couple vintage OTR
    cartoons.
    Martin

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

    Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2008 20:47:42 -0400
    From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Memphis Film Festival

    The Memphis Film Festival has apparently changed the name of their convention
    to The Memphis Film, Radio & TV Festival, as per latest convention flier.
    For anyone living within driving distance of Memphis, Tenn., the convention
    held June 5 - 7 at the Whispering Woods Hotel and Conference Center will be
    featuring a number of OTR-related events.  Among the list:

    Lum and Abner Film Presentation by Tim Hollis
    Gary Yoggy will be hosting a radio panel

    Radio guests include Dick Beals and Fred Foy.

    For more info, contact Ray Nielsen at rnielsen@[removed]

    Just passing on the news to interested OTR fans.

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

    Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2008 20:48:22 -0400
    From: jack and cathy french <otrpiano@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Akira Who?

    On Mar 23, 2008, while listing famous OTR personalities born this
    day, Ron Sayles included:

    03-23-1910 - Akira Kurosawa, Tokyo, Japan - d. 9-6-1998
    film director: NHL Tokyo, Japan

    While I realize there are some gaps in my OTR history, including
    Japanese OTR, I'm still at a loss to place Mr. ([removed]) Kurosawa in the
    firmament of broadcasting.

    Possibly Ron is just warming up for April First? Or perhaps he
    promised his lovely wife that he'd give her favorite relative a plug
    on the OTR Digest on Uncle Akira's  birthday?

    Or, as they say in the Land of the Rising Sun, could just be
    "Okugi" (translation: mystery or secret purpose)

    Jack French
    Editor: RADIO RECALL
    <[removed]>

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

    Date: Mon, 24 Mar 2008 08:21:57 -0400
    From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  3-24 births/deaths
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
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    March 24th births

    03-24-1867 - Harry Neville - Launceston, Tasmania - d. 1-25-1945
    actor: "Sherlock Holmes"; "John's Other Wife"
    03-24-1885 - Joseph Granby - Boston, MA - d. 9-22-1965
    actor: Mead Connors "We Are Always Young"
    03-24-1892 - Roy Harvey - Monroe County, WV - d. 7-11-1958
    guitarist: "Charlie Poole and his North Carolina Ramblers"
    03-24-1895 - Paul Specht - d. 4-11-1954
    bandleader: Made very first broadcast of dance Music 9-20-1920 WWJ
    Detroit
    03-24-1902 - Sir Lancelot - Cumuto, Trinidad, West Indies - d. 3-12-2001
    calypso singer: "Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy"
    03-24-1902 - Thomas E, Dewey - Owosso, MI - d. 3-16-1971
    presidential candidate: "Jack Benny Show"; "Racketbusters Roundtable"
    03-24-1906 - Julian Funt - d. 4-8-1980
    writer: "Young Doctor Malone"
    03-24-1907 - Martin Kosleck - Barkotzen, Germany - d. 1-16-1994
    actor: "Treasury Star Parade"
    03-24-1910 - John V. Ambrose - d. 11-7-1995
    sportscaster: WTAG Worcester, Massachusetts
    03-24-1910 - Richard Conte - Jersey City, NJ - d. 4-15-1975
    actor: "Theatre Guild On the Air"; "Hallmark Playhouse"; "Hollywood
    Star Playhouse"
    03-24-1911 - Enrique Jorda - San Sebastian, Spain - [removed]
    conductor: "San Francisco Symphony Orchestra"
    03-24-1915 - Bill Bivens - Wadesboro, NC - d. 1-15-1984
    announcer: "Fred Waring Show"; "Vox Pox"
    03-24-1916 - David M. Bohme - Poland - d. 1-6-2004
    on staff of WLS and WGN radio
    03-24-1918 - Bill Aya - d. 10-28-1985
    sportscaster: KEVE Seattle, Washington
    03-24-1925 - Duncan Wood - Bristol, England - d. 1-11-1997
    producer: "Hancock's Half Hour"
    03-24-1928 - Sue Bennett - Indianapolis, IN - d. 5-8-2001
    vocalist: "Your Hit Parade"
    03-24-1928 - Vanessa Brown - Vienna, Austria - d. 5-21-1999
    panelist: "Quiz Kids"

    March 24th deaths

    01-10-1882 - Olive Higgins Prouty - Worcester, MA - d. 3-24-1974
    writer: "Stella Dallas" based on Prouty's novel without her approvals
    02-02-1918 - Imogen Carpenter - Hot Springs, AR - d. 3-24-1993
    actor: "Command Performance"
    02-03-1910 - Nelson Case - Long Beach, CA - d. 3-24-1976
    announcer: "Hour of Charm"; "New Carnation Contented Hour"
    02-08-1828 - Jules Verne - Nantes, France - d. 3-24-1905
    pioneering science fiction writer: "Mercury Theatre"; "This Is My Best"
    03-08-1891 - Sam Jaffe - NYC - d. 3-24-1984
    actor: "Fannie Hurst Presents"; "New World A-Coming"; "Cavalcade of
    America"
    03-10-1927 - Dick Alarie - d. 3-24-2000
    sortscaster: WPCT Putnam, Connecticut
    03-20-1922 - Ray Goulding - Lowell, MA - d. 3-24-1990
    comedian: "Bob and Ray Show"
    03-21-1893 - Aileen Stanley - d. 3-24-1982
    vocalist: (The Victrola Girl) "RCA Thesaurus Music Hall Varieties"
    04-01-1914 - Philip Yordan - Chicago, IL - d. 3-24-2003
    screenwriter: "Lux Radio Theatre"
    04-26-1907 - Holland Engle - Wheeling, WV - d. 3-24-1988
    announcer, emcee: "Ladies Fair"; "Variety Fair"
    05-18-1893 - Jean Goldkette - Patras, Greece - d. 3-24-1962
    bandleader: "The Studebaker Champion Program"
    06-17-1914 - John Hersey - Tientsin, China - d. 3-24-1993
    author: "Bell for Adano"; "Hiroshima"
    06-25-1939 - Harold Melvin - Philadelphia, PA - d. 3-24-1997
    lead singer: (Blue Notes) "Music On Deck"; "Join the Navy"
    07-30-1914 - John Meston - Pueblo, CO - d. 3-24-1979
    writer: "Gunsmoke"; "Escape"; "Fort Larmie"
    08-04-1890 - Carson Robison - Oswego, KS - d. 3-24-1957
    singer: "Eveready Hour"; "Dutch Masters Mimstrels"
    09-03-1876 - Dick Teela - Wisconsin - d. 3-24-1971
    singer: "The Breakfast Club"
    10-26-1904 - Igor Gorin - Ukraine, Russia - d. 3-24-1982
    singer: "The Voice of Firestone"
    11-15-1881 - Franklin Pierce Adams - Chicago, IL - d. 3-24-1960
    panelist: "Information, Please"
    11-22-1906 - Howard Petrie - Beverly, MA - d. 3-24-1968
    announcer: "Jimmy Durante Show"; "Judy Canova Show"
    xx-xx-1901 - Clyde Kittell - Bemus Point, NY - d. 3-24-1955
    announcer: "Hello Peggy"; "Name Three"

    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

    Date: Mon, 24 Mar 2008 08:25:07 -0400
    From: CBWeimer@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Desperately Seeking Robert Pinget's Nuit
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    Greetings to  one and all --

    Would anyone happen to know of an archive for French radio  drama?  I am
    looking for a copy of a broadcast of French novelist and  playwright Robert
    Pinget's 1970s radio play Nuit, and I've had no luck so  far.

    Thank you!

    Christopher Weimer

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

    Date: Mon, 24 Mar 2008 11:50:07 -0400
    From: Don Shenbarger <donslistmail@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: listening to OTR on the web

    On 3/23/2008 Barbara Watkins wrote:

>     My favorite site for OTR mp3s for listening or downloading is [removed]
>     Some of the shows are in really great sound quality, for instance , the
>     multi-part Yours Truly Johnny Dollars!

    I like [removed] The programs are available in Real Audio format
    and the menu is nice. These programs cannot be downloaded but many
    are available for purchase.

    Don

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

    Date: Mon, 24 Mar 2008 11:50:57 -0400
    From: David Ballarotto <[removed]@[removed];
    To: Old Time Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Captain Salty revisted

    Thanks for the input a few weeks ago about the program a friend of a friend
    recalls.  He's an older man who used to listen to the program when he was a
    kid. Here's a little more if it helps anyone think of anything.

    I also suggested to her that she check her library's microfilm of daily
    newspapers to see what was listed. I'm sure she and her friend Freddy would
    appreciate any help in trying to figure it out.

    She also added this in a separate email:

    He
    was describing it again last night, and how it
    [removed]  a bell dinging, and the peg leg dragging
    across the wood of the ship, as he got closer and
    closer, athe noise got [removed]  Got me all curious!

    Thanks again if this rings any bells.

    ----- Forwarded Message ----
    From: Sondra <greyfloppysocks@[removed];
    To: David Ballarotto <[removed]@[removed];
    Sent: Sunday, March 23, 2008 10:31:45 PM
    Subject: another idea

    Remember that radio I asked you about a month or so
    ago?

    Freddy and I were talking about it [removed] He said it
    was sponsored by Diamond Crystal [removed] and that that
    could be why he thought it was Captain Salty.

    I tried to do searches but came up empty.

    Maybe you could ask your friends about shows from the
    1930's that Diamond Crystal Salt may have sponsored?
    Maybe we could find the show or something that way?

    Do you know of some sort of OTR museum??

    Just some [removed]

    thanks!

    PRAY for your [removed]  You never know when one needs help and won't ask.

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

    Date: Mon, 24 Mar 2008 11:51:14 -0400
    From: "Andolina, Joe" <Joe_Andolina@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  JACK BENNY ON PBS

    Hey all,
    Someone on this list mentioned about Jack Benny on The Lawrence Welk
    Show
    just recently on the weekend of the Academy Awards on PBS. Well, for
    anybody in the Seattle area, KCTS Channel 9 will be broadcasting that
    particular episode coming
    up on 3/30. I believe it'll be at 12 noon. Need I say I'll be recording
    it? And
    don't forget to keep supporting The International Jack Benny Fan club
    and Laura's endless effort in keeping Benny alive and at our fingertips
    for out listening and viewing pleasure!
    Joe

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

    Date: Mon, 24 Mar 2008 13:07:49 -0400
    From: "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed];
    To: "Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Classical singing [removed]

    Yes, Joe there are very few classical music singing commercials.  But since
    we are on the subject, I refer you to PDQ Bach's rendition of a commercial
    for a headache and pain reliever sung as an operatic aria!  "Oh, the pain,
    the pain, the [removed]"  I think it's on his LP called "On the air."  Peter
    Schickele is PDQ Bach, and I think he continues to record the endless works
    of the other famous Bach.

    Ted Kneebone. 1528 S. Grant St., Aberdeen, SD 57401
    Phone:  605-226-3344. Email: tkneebone1@[removed]
    OTR:  [removed]

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

    Date: Mon, 24 Mar 2008 13:19:09 -0400
    From: "Jim Hilliker" <jimhilliker@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Sam Hayes, Los Angeles radio announcer/newscaster

    Hi,

    In response to Robert Birchard's request for information about radio
    announcer Sam Hayes, I've searched through Los Angeles Times radio logs, and
    it looks like he did mostly newscasts and /or news reports and commentaries
    for KHJ in 1937, KNX in 1938 and 1939, and for most of the 1940s for KFI
    radio and after 1945 on and off for KHJ and KFI, and KFI again in the
    early-1950s, then for KABC and KHJ in 1955, and KHJ again in the late-1950s.

    I have no idea when he his work in Los Angeles radio ended or when he died.

    I have a couple of ads for his newscasts from 1940s Radio Life magazines.

    Jim Hilliker
    Monterey, CA

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

    Date: Mon, 24 Mar 2008 13:22:21 -0400
    From: "Jim Hilliker" <jimhilliker@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  24/7 radio stations in 1964

    In response to Larry Jordan asking if there were radio stations on the air
    24-hours-a-day, 7 days a week, I believe in 1963-'64, which I think you said
    was when this TV program on "I've Got a Secret" aired, it was mainly only
    the bigger AM stations in the largest cities that were on the air 24 hours a
    day, and not always all of them then either!  Even in the larger cities,
    there were still at that time stations that went off the air at midnight or
    1 am and came back on air at 5 or 6 am, which was mostly the case in smaller
    cities and towns until quite a few years later.

    In 1964, tt certainly was not like it is today with virtually almost all AM
    and FM stations on the air 24/7.

    Jim Hilliker
    Monterey, CA

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

    Date: Mon, 24 Mar 2008 15:17:57 -0400
    From: Durangokid@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  JERRY LESTER

    Ronald Sayles list of births/deaths states on MAR/22nd:
    ***02-16-1910 - Jerry Lester - Chicago, IL - d. 3-23-1995
    ***actor: John Benson "Life of Mary Sothern"

    I would say Jerry Lesters "claim-to-fame" as the host
    of BROADWAY OPEN HOUSE (1950 TV), a late night show that
    became the "THE TONIGHT SHOW". .

    Lester appeared in a number of Broadway musicals and
    a few Hollywood films in the 1940's. He was also familiar
    to radio audiences and broke into late-night television
    in 1950 . . .

    He was stricken with Alzheimer's in 1975 and never performed
    again . .

    To say he was an actor dosen't say who he was . . .

              Glenn E. Mueller
              Rowland Heights, CA

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

    Date: Mon, 24 Mar 2008 15:20:25 -0400
    From: stevenl751@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Jeff David
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
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    I regret to let you all know that Jeff David suffered a major heart attack
    last week and is not expected to recover. Jeff has been a guest at the
    Friends of Old-Time Radio Convention for the past couple of years and quickly
    became a favorite of both the fans and the directors there. The Gotham Radio
    Players recorded a show with him last month, which we are currently editing
    for a May or June broadcast, which will probably be his final production.
    Speaking as the director of that show, it was a pleasure to have him in our
    cast. He was a generous and patient actor who was a perfectionist in the art
    of audio drama. I feel lucky to have had the chance to work with him.

    - Steve Lewis
    director, Gotham Radio Players

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    Date: Mon, 24 Mar 2008 21:03:08 -0400
    From: <otrbuff@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Flashbacks and soft-sell

    One of the most inspired scribes of daytime drama and one of my mentors was
    Orin Tovrov (1911-80) who had the good fortune for more than two decades to
    put words in the mouths of Ma Perkins, Shuffle, Evey, Fay, Willie, Junior,
    John, and all the other denizens of Rushville Center.  Over that epoch from
    1939-60 those homespun characters evolved into familiar visitors in the
    homes of millions of matinee listeners.

    One of Tovrov's techniques, fascinating to me, was how he segued into
    sporadic flashback sequences which, over the course of that durable run,
    really wasn't applied that often.  On those occasions Tovrov invariably had
    Charlie Warren (pseudonym for announcer Dan Donaldson) lapse into something
    like this epithet:  "Well, let's turn the clock back for a [removed]"  It
    was never an abrupt disclosure (as on so many other narratives) like
    "Yesterday we overheard Alice saying to [removed]" and a replay of some
    labored conversation that might go on and on ad infinitum (sometimes for
    several minutes!).  An imaginative Tovrov used only the barest essentials of
    a previous exchange to bring the fans that might have missed that episode
    up-to-date, saving the narrator from excruciating detail, and quickly moving
    into fresh dialogue.  He never overused that facet, and it was one of many
    gifts he gave listeners that set the show's dialogue well out in front of
    most of the rest of the pack.

    I loved the way Tovrov also made the next chapter seem almost obligatory to
    juiced-up fans.  For instance, one day in 1950 as the serial was departing,
    Charlie Warren allowed:  "And so, Evey does what Sylvester told her to do:
    she lies to Ma.  What's going to happen now?  Well, one thing I do know:  We
    must never underestimate Ma's wise old eyes.  Ma sees more than she lets on
    ... as we learn ... tomorrow."  On another occasion:  "On Monday, Fay
    considers the proposal of marriage, while Shuffle wonders about those
    ulterior motives ... and there's that matter of the missing funds from the
    charity ball.  We've got lots to listen for in the days just ahead."  Who --
    caught up in the fantasy of it all -- could possibly turn it off?

    I'm glad there was an Orin Tovrov.  His sparkling metaphors and innovative
    style gave daytime drama a much better name than it was to be branded with
    otherwise.

    Jim Cox

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2008 Issue #76
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