Subject: [removed] Digest V2006 #317
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 11/14/2006 9:08 PM

To: [removed]@[removed]

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2006 : Issue 317
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Barbara Jean Wong, "Judy Barton" in   [ Crow8164@[removed] (Dennis Crow) ]
      Recreation of OTR Show                [ "frank mCgurn" <[removed]@sbcgloba ]
      Full Day Broadcasts                   [ "margot ainsworth" <margotainsworth ]
      Mr Sayles                             [ "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed] ]
      Re: Hal Stone's 8H                    [ jameshburns@[removed] (Jim Burns) ]
      Re: Stu Erwin                         [ Thomas Butts <trbutts@[removed] ]
      Meredith Willson                      [ <otrbuff@[removed]; ]
      You might not know a [Sam] spade if   [ <otrbuff@[removed]; ]
      More on Stuart Erwin                  [ "frank mCgurn" <[removed]@sbcgloba ]
      Sleigh and Reindeer                   [ Keith Houdeshell <khowdy@[removed] ]
      OTR Under 40                          [ "Dale Clark" <wclark4121@[removed] ]
      Norman Corwin IS American Radio!      [ "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed]; ]
      OTR under 40, Name as Nash and Young  [ "Kelly Jack" <kjack@[removed]; ]
      Nash Seats                            [ <bjake@[removed]; ]
      October Deaths                        [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
      kids shows                            [ "EDWARD J. CARR" <edcarr@[removed] ]

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

    Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2006 13:54:05 -0500
    From: Crow8164@[removed] (Dennis Crow)
    To: [removed]@[removed] (Old Time Radio Digest)
    Subject:  Barbara Jean Wong, "Judy Barton" in THE
     CINNAMON BEAR

    Ron Sayles made note of Barbara Jean Wong's passing in yesterday's Digest
    (November 13). When she played Judy Barton, her most famous radio role, she
    was just 13.  She and her fictional brother, Jimmy Barton, were shepherded
    through Maybeland by the Cinnamon Bear, and it was Judy who always did the
    right thing, even feeling sorry for the Wintergreen Witch when she was
    confined to Looking Glass Valley surrounded by reflections of her hideous
    face.

    Wong led an active life. Journalist, Sam Chu Linn, in the Fall/Winter, 1999
    Newsletter of the Museum of Chinese American History, writes, "Once known as
    the Chinese Shirley Temple, Barbara Jean, with the encouragement of her
    mother, started her acting career as a five-year-old and became the first
    Asian American to appear regularly in dramatic network radio programs and
    comedy shows.

    "During her youthful days, she attended the Mar-Ken School of Professional
    Children in Hollywood. Actor Mickey Rooney was among her classmates.

    "Her family felt that her participation in the entertainment industry would
    help speed the process for other Asian Americans to be accepted into the
    mainstream.

    "A drama and English graduate of both the University of Southern California
    and Columbia University (in New York), Barbara Jean later branched out into
    motion pictures,  appearing with such stars as William Holden, Jennifer
    Jones, Alan Ladd, and Loretta Young. Her film credits included 'Love Is a
    Many Splendored Thing,' 'The Good Earth,' 'The Left Hand of God,' 'Calcutta,'
    and a co-starring role with Dale Robertson and Edgar Buchanan in the animated
    western movie, 'The Man from Button Willow.' "

    Eventually, Barbara relinquished her acting career in order to marry Robert
    Lee and start a family.  She later became an elementary school teacher and
    served the Los Angeles Public School System with distinction for twenty-three
    years.  She also dedicated her time and energy to many community
    organizations, including the Friends of the Chinese American Museum.  When
    she died of respiratory illness at age seventy-five on November 13, 1999, her
    daughters noted their mother's remarkable civic activity and credited her
    with blazing the trail for other Asian American women.

    Dennis Crow

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

    Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2006 13:54:35 -0500
    From: "frank mCgurn" <[removed]@[removed];
    To: "The Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Recreation of OTR Show

    Recreations are very popular around the Chicago area and have been for many
    years. I don't how many group are doing recreation but there are many.

    One group comes to the McHenry Library each year and has a been very well
    attended. I have gone to see what they are like. They group did a great job
    on a Jack Benny show, that I have had for years. The actors had their
    scripts, music and sound effects. all good. Dennis sung by tape.

    I really didn't enjoy the recreation, maybe it's because I knew the faces of
    Jack's cast and am to familiar with the sound of the real cast voices, but
    they did a great job. I have gone seveal more and came away feeling the same
    each time.

    Those young people were amazed on the what it took to put on a radio show. A
    lot of the older people had never seen a radio show, and enjoyed the show.

    Chuck Schaden had, on severl occasions, has had recreations on his Saturday
    afternoon "Thos Were The Days" Program, While they were faithful recreations
    I just couldn't enjoy them, because I have the original. I guess I'm just a
    fussy old man.

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

    Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2006 15:53:50 -0500
    From: "margot ainsworth" <margotainsworth@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Full Day Broadcasts

    At least twice in the past year someone has asked if there are any
    'full day broadcasts' aside from June 6 and WJSV.   I then wait to
    hear but no one ever [removed] someone must know
    [removed] if the answer is no?
    Margot

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

    Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2006 15:55:59 -0500
    From: "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Mr Sayles

>     Ron Sayles
>     singer: (Raybestos Twins) "Eddie Cantor Show"; Al Jolson Show"

    No kidding?

    Geez.  I didn't know.

    I suppose that there is some obvious demographic reason that so many of the
    birth dates in these amazing lists fall within such a comparatively short
    span of time.  They almost all seem to be between 1900 and 1920.

    In any case, thanks so much for keeping these lists.  I, for one, enjoy
    reading them immensely.

    Mark Kinsler

    512 E Mulberry St. Lancaster, Ohio USA 43130 740-687-6368
    [removed]

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

    Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2006 18:31:13 -0500
    From: jameshburns@[removed] (Jim Burns)
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Hal Stone's 8H

    Nice to hear Hal's memories of broadcasting summer eps of ARCHIE from
    NBC's huge Studio 8H, and of the others who used the room (Jolson, et
    [removed])

    'Interesting to note, that for over the last three decades, 8H also been
    the home to SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE--

    Which, once upon a time, was also funny.

    Jim Burns

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

    Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2006 18:31:51 -0500
    From: Thomas Butts <trbutts@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Stu Erwin

> >     Subject:  Stu Erwin

>     It is difficult to believe that he wouldn't have been a radio actor
>     as well at some point.  Does anyone know?

    Stu Erwin was in "Two Sharp Knives" the first time it was on Suspense in the
    early 1940's.

    Tom Butts
    Dallas, TX

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

    Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2006 18:32:12 -0500
    From: <otrbuff@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Meredith Willson

    Leslie Feagan ponders:

>     I'd love to get a list of the shows on which Meredith Willson had speaking

    parts

    Well, Leslie, while the speaking roles may not be spelled out precisely,
    methinks you could very likely deduce which of the 22 network radio features
    on which he was a recurring figure -- most especially the nine bearing his
    moniker in the title.  They're all identified along with his biographical
    sketch on p. 227 of my "Music Radio:  The Great Performers and Programs of
    the 1920s through Early 1960s."  Included are shows, years, networks and
    sponsors along with anecdotal matter about each performer's life.  There are
    hundreds of musicians spelled out there, incidentally.  Order from
    [removed] or 800-253-2187.

    Jim Cox

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

    Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2006 18:32:43 -0500
    From: <otrbuff@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  You might not know a [Sam] spade if you saw
     one

    I'm amused.  Several of our younger folk on this forum have stated in varied
    ways:

>     I've definitely never heard a live OTR show

    You boys just aren't old enough to realize that Grand Ole Opry, Music and
    the Spoken Word from the Crossroads of the West, The Lutheran Hour,
    Metropolitan Opera, Paul Harvey News and Comment, Hawaii Calls, Meet the
    Press and The Guiding Light extend from OTR and to the best of my knowledge
    are all still running -- live or live-on-tape -- somewhere right now, albeit
    a few in visual-and-sound incarnations.

    Heard any of those?  Then you've  heard a live OTR show (modern applications
    notwithstanding).  Maybe you aren't as young as you think ... or we aren't
    as old as we appear!

    Jim Cox

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

    Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2006 18:32:53 -0500
    From: "frank mCgurn" <[removed]@[removed];
    To: "The Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  More on Stuart Erwin

    I forgot to add Erwin was a cast member of "Jack Oakie's College" radio show
    1936- 1968 and had a summer show From June 11 to [removed]  Called the
    "The Stu Erwin Show" a comedy.

    Frank McGurn

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

    Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2006 18:49:44 -0500
    From: Keith Houdeshell <khowdy@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Sleigh and Reindeer

    I don't think it was nightbeat and Randy Stone. I seem to remember a
    Damon Runion  Theater  show and Broadway had to find them.
    PS  I recently listened to the Nightbeat pilot and on it the
    reporters name was Lucky Stone.

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

    Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2006 20:17:00 -0500
    From: "Dale Clark" <wclark4121@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  OTR Under 40

    Though I'm over 40 (45), I also missed the end of OTR live broadcasts. I
    got hooked on OTR in the mid 70's listening with my parents to CBS Radio
    Mystery Theater on KRLD-AM 1080, Dallas, TX. KRLD had a strong broadcast
    signal (and still does) and I remember laying on the backseat of the
    car, while traveling, being scared to death of the "creaking door" and
    the story that followed.
    KRLD always followed up the CBS RMT broadcast with true OTR broadcasts
    the next hour with such shows as The Shadow, Fibber McGee and Molly,
    etc. We lived 100 miles from Dallas, so OTR radio shows (IMHO) don't
    sound right if they don't have static and fade outs. Great Childhood
    Memories.

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

    Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2006 20:18:28 -0500
    From: "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Norman Corwin IS American Radio!
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    Hi Gang:

    This past week, I had an interesting exchange with a Talking Book narrator. He
    e-mailed me:

    Hi Derek-
    Down at the Museum of Television & Radio  <snip> they tend to bestow upon ol'
    Norman Corwin some kind of
    cult status. How do you old timey radio guys feel about that?

    Yes,of course like Jimi Hendrix,Bob Dylan and Bob Marley to name a few,he was
    undoubtedly a creative [removed] a [removed]

    [removed]'[removed]

    <name withheld>

    Never before had I felt like the spirit of New York Sun editor Frank Church
    when he editorialised "Yes, [removed]" This is what I wrote to the
    unbeliever:

    I strongly beg to differ with you about your stance that Norman Corwin's
    reputation of mythic proportions is unwarranted.  If someone hadn't once said
    "Irving Berlin has no place in American [removed] Berlin IS American
    music!" then it is quite conceivable that an OTR historian might have applied
    this formula to Corwin by replacing the name "Irving Berlin"  with "Norman
    Corwin"  and "American music"  with "American radio."

    Corwin was the conscious of America during difficult time. He was fiercely
    patriotic in a traditional sense while at the same time adhering to
    progressive ideas like civil rights. Like many folks who preached racial and
    religious tolerance in the mid-1940s, Corwin ran afoul of the blacklist in the
    early 1950s.

    Early in his career, Corwin attained a degree of excellence in his
    dramatisations extolling the American spirit and character. Along with Arch
    Oboler, Lucille Fletcher, Fletcher Markle, and a handful of others, Norman
    Corwin was one of the few "superstar" name-above-the-title radio writers and
    was able to extend this status to exalted programme titles like "Thirteen by
    Corwin" and "Columbia Presents Corwin."  Many folks consider him  THE greatest
    writer  American radio--old-time or any other--has ever produced.

    Whenever CBS needed a "prestige" programme to mark an historical occasion,
    they turned to Corwin. His "We Hold These Truths," commissioned to celebrate
    the 1941 sesqui-centennial of the [removed] Bill of Rights, aired about a week
    after "Pearl Harbour," effectively reminding theretofore isolationist
    Americans that this country and its rich history was very much worth fighting
    for. At the war's conclusion, Corwin gave us "On a Note of Triumph, "14
    August,"  and other similar shows to give  the radio audience  a sense of
    historical importance to both the triumph we celebrated and the challenges
    ahead. One such show was "Ballad for Americans" in which Paul Robeson sang a
    tone poem about the diverse religious, ethnic, and racial backgrounds we
    Americans share,  wrapped around dramatised sketches encouraging tolerance.
    Corwin's reputation for such still exists to this day. In 1999, NPR
    commissioned from him a 30-minute narrative which was narrated by Walter
    Cronkite "Memo to a New Milennium."

    Corwin was sthe undisputed master of  drama, comedy ([removed] "My Client Curley"),
    and fantasy ([removed] "The Plot to Overthrow Christmas") and rarely made forays
    into the realms of cinema, most notably the screen play for "Lust for Life,"
    in which Kirk Douglas gave the performance of a lifetime as the anguished
    artist Vincent Van Gogh.

    And then there was the time Corwin helped orchestrate FDR's winning a fourth
    term (loooong story).

    Norman Corwin was considered so important and noteworthy in his day, that
    there's an entry devoted to him on pages 1097-1098 in Volume One of  "The New
    Century Cyclopedia of Names" (1954)  that we use here at Talking Books.

    Corwin will be 97 next may 3rd. Longevity seems to run in his family. His
    brother retired recently from the postal service at the age of 99. Their
    father lived to be 110. I heard Norm  speak once and it looks like his
    politics have not shifted one iota since the 1940s. Maybe that';s a good
    thing. During the McCarthy era, character actor Ward Bond was one of the go-to
    guys (the others were Adolphe Menjou and John Wayne) that HUAC went to for
    clearance. If Bond or the others said a suspect was OK, then HUAC would back
    off. Bond said that he knew for a fact that Corwin was not a Communist, but
    then added the codicil "but he'll do until a real one comes along"--an
    incident chronicled in Howard Blue's "Words at War."

    So,  <name withheld> , you're barking up the wrong tree. This correspondent
    happens to dig Norman Corwin and feel that every accolade he has ever acquired
    is justifiably deserved.

    As Richard Brautigan once wrote, "this is all I have to say."

    <snip>

    It's I again knowing I probably got something wrong in the foregoing, but I
    most emphatically hope that I was able to my buddy & other non-OTR initiates
    at bay.  If the enlightened schoolteachers out  in the ether who teach their
    students radio dramatisation ( like  Randy Story) were to concentrate one
    semester solely to the works of Norman Corwin, they might have something
    worthwhile going there.

    There! I've said it and I'm glad!

    Derek Tague

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    Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2006 20:20:45 -0500
    From: "Kelly Jack" <kjack@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  OTR under 40, Name as Nash and Younger
     Listeners

    Hello everyone,
    I am responding to three subjects with one email:
    1. OTR under 40: At the age of 36, I am also a long time listener of OTR.  I
    have been listening to and collecting cassettes since I was about 10 yrs old
    when I rec'd my first cassette tape of the Burns and Allen show as a gift.
    I though it was the greatest thing ever.  I can remember sitting in the sun
    in front of our large glass window and listening to the show over and over.
    Ever since then I have been hooked on the OTR.  At that time the cassette
    had 15 mins on each side and as the internet and MP3 format has taken off, I
    am just amazed on how many shows you are able to get on one MP3 CD.  As
    other collectors I have my favorites and love trying new shows.

    2. Name as Nash: My 8 yr old son's first name is Nash. Not named after
    anything in particular, he is asked at least once a month if he was named
    after the Nash Rambler.  We are fortunate enough to live in Nebraska near
    Pioneer Village (located in Minden, NE) which has a large collection of  old
    cars.  Among the cars are a few Nash cars and he was able to have his
    picture taken near one.  Unfortunately we were not able to look inside to
    view the seats so I am not able to comment on the "bed like" interior.

    3. Younger Listeners:  Along with Scott Benson, I too have introduced OTR to
    my son.  His favorites are Fibber McGee and Molly and Sherlock Holmes. To be
    able to share the love of OTR with my children helps keep OTR alive and
    well.

    I also am a long time reader and enjoy learning so much from all the
    knowledge that is shared among the digest.

    Kelly Jack
    Silent in Lincoln, NE

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

    Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2006 23:07:32 -0500
    From: <bjake@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Nash Seats

    I had a 49 and a 51 Nash, and the entire front seat folded down to meet the
    back seat. They even had screens to go on the windows to keep out the bugs
    while you slept at night.
    Jake

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

    Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2006 23:07:58 -0500
    From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  October Deaths
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    Deaths in October

    09-14-1922 - Frances Bergen - Birmingham, AL - d. 10-2-2006
    actor: (Wife of Edgar, Mother of Candice) "New Edgar Bergen Hour"
    11-18-1907 - Gwen Meredith - Orange, Australia - d. 10-3-2006
    writer: "Blue Hills"; "The Lawsons"
    01-09-1921 - Lister Sinclair - Mumbai, India - d. 10-16-2006
    writer, actor: "American School of the Air"; "Stage Forty-Seven"
    03-23-1938 - Christopher Glenn - NYC - d. 10-17-2006
    news correspondent: "World News Roundup"; "The World Tonight"
    12-27-1911 - Anna Russell - London, England - d. 10-18-2006
    opera singer: "The Nutcraker Suite"
    08-12-1911 - Jane Wyatt - Campgaw, NJ - d. 10-20-2006
    actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Great Plays"; "[removed] Steel Hour"
    09-18-1929 - Phyllis Kirk - Syracuse, NY - d. 10-20-2006
    actor: "MGM Musical Comedy Theatre"
    06-26-1920 - Leonid Hambro - Chicago, IL - d. 10-23-2006
    pianist: "WQXR Halloween Party:
    09-20-1917 - Red Auerbach - Brooklyn, NY - d. 10-28-2006
    legendary baskeball coach: "The Inside Track"

    Ron Sayles

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    Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2006 23:08:23 -0500
    From: "EDWARD J. CARR" <edcarr@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  kids shows
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    hi
    good afternoon/evening or what evertime anyone is reading this.
    the thread about kid shows made me think of one which i found
    quite enjoyable and thats "the clitheroe kid,' it's a bbc show, i'am
    giving my opinion here, that compared to archie andrews or any
    other kid show of it's day they can't compare, given that the kid
    was done in the 50s/60s
    i find those shows not all that funny, a little amuseing yes,
    so in my hearing the kid is in
    ed carr, started collecting in the early 70s

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    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2006 Issue #317
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