Subject: [removed] Digest V2005 #103
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 3/31/2005 5:18 PM

To: [removed]@[removed]

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2005 : Issue 103
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Re: Don Pardo                         [ Patrick Franzis <old_radios@[removed] ]
      Re: Stan Freberg and the Twilight of  [ "Brian L Bedsworth" <az2pa@[removed]; ]
      Re: MP-3 Players                      [ "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed] ]
      Re: Chris Steinbrunner and the shado  [ Anthony Tollin <sanctumotr@earthlin ]
      Re: Better on TV                      [ "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed] ]
      "John Zacherle And Sebastian"         [ Bob Slate <moxnix1961@[removed]; ]
      Don Pardo                             [ "George Tirebiter" <tirebiter2@hotm ]
      best detective/mystery                [ "david rogers" <david_rogers@hotmai ]
      best actor                            [ "bcockrum" <rmc44@[removed]; ]
      Request for [removed]                   [ Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed] ]
      Location Productions                  [ Richard Fish <fish@lodestone-media. ]
      donald vorhees                        [ JayHick@[removed] ]
      WOTW                                  [ dougdouglass@[removed] ]
      Mea culpa to Jim Burns                [ Lee Munsick <damyankeeinva@earthlin ]

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

    Date: Wed, 30 Mar 2005 15:43:02 -0500
    From: Patrick Franzis <old_radios@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Don Pardo

    I remember seeing Don Pardo when I saw a live TV session in New York
    City of "Jeopardy" with then host Art Flemming.

    Pat

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

    Date: Wed, 30 Mar 2005 15:43:40 -0500
    From: "Brian L Bedsworth" <az2pa@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Stan Freberg and the Twilight of OTR

    David Loftus <dloft59@[removed]; asked:

>     Does anybody know who did the terrific voice of the Abominable Snowman in
>     the
>     various Freburg sketches? Was that Butler or Peter Leeds?

    Neither; the voice of the Snowman was none other than Stan himself. If you
    listen near the end of the first interview segment, Stan and the Snowman are
    exchanging rapid-fire monosyllabic responses with one another in which Stan
    is straining to stay in character during switches. The audience goes mad and
    responds with some of the strongest applause I've ever heard immediately
    upon the bit's conclusion.

    Incidentally, I've heard that Stan's doctor =hated= to hear him do that
    particular voice, as the means by which it's produced (inhaling rather than
    exhaling through the vocal chords) can cause serious, long-term, possibly
    irreperable damage to one's speaking voice.

>     But by the last two shows, the humor includes rueful references to
>     Freburg's
>     inability to land sponsors

    =That= is a bit of an urban myth. Stan had several offers to sponsor his
    show, but refused them all on moral grounds.

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

    Date: Wed, 30 Mar 2005 15:45:57 -0500
    From: "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed];
    To: "OTR" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re:  MP-3 Players

    Richard Fisher spoke of portable DVD players that also play mp3 CDs.

    I bought one myself a couple of months ago - at UBid on the internet for
    $[removed] made by Polaroid but with no remote.   Very happy with it.  My
    grandaughter is also very happy with it when she visits every week!

    [removed] (formerly Egghead), a very reliable dealer,  features one made by
    GoVideo - [removed] inch screen with remote at $245 and at least for now, $1
    shipping charge, not to mention no sales tax unless you live in California.
    I've been very satisfied with the GoVideo combo DVD-VHS players I bought at
    Costco which also play mp3 and if I hadn't bought a portable player already
    I'd consider theirs.  Another feature of the GoVideo that extends its use as
    an entertainment center is that you can turn it into a portable TV with an
    optional 181-channel TV Tuner,   Plays DVDs, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, Music CDs,
    Picture CDs, mp3 audio and JPEG image files CD-R/RW.  Built in stereo
    speakers.  [removed] hours of playback and rechargable battery.   [removed]

    I think all of the models on the market now play mp3 and photo discs.   I
    actually bought it for running slideshow picture cds to help my husband in
    therapy for post-stroke loss of short term memory, and also for his viewing
    movies from a close range.

    No connection to any of the companies and websites I've mentioned.

    -Irene

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

    Date: Wed, 30 Mar 2005 16:35:06 -0500
    From: Anthony Tollin <sanctumotr@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Chris Steinbrunner and the shadow of
     Walter Gibson

    on 3/30/05 1:31 PM, Jim Burns wrote:

>     But, also when a young man--Tony Tollin would remember if this had been
>     based strictly on a spec submission--Steinbrenner wrote one of the last
>     episodes, of THE [removed]

    ***The episode in question was "A Smuggler's Secret," broadcast August 16,
    1953  with the author credit "COLIN CHRISTIAN."  (That's approximately 16
    months before THE SHADOW ended its long MBS run.)  While Chris scripted the
    episode, the plot was developed by Chris and his lifelong friend Charles
    Collins, hence the pseudonym.  And yes, the script was purchased after Chris
    submitted it on spec.***

>     Nearly three decades later, when Chris was co-producing the 1983 edition
>     of the annual Bouchercon <SNIP> he booked Walter Gibson, as one
>     of their main guests. <SNIP> Was Gibson now in his eighties?

    ***Are you sure that particular Bouchercon was in 1983.  I recall Walter
    calling me at DC to visit him at the con, at a time when I was still on
    staff (pre-1982).  Yes, Walter was born in 1897 and turned 86 in 1983.  In
    October of 1983, Walter made his third appearance at the annual FRIENDS OF
    OLD-TIME RADIO CONVENTION to take part in my SHADOW reunion panel and view
    the first OTR recreation I ever directed. --Anthony Tollin (who dearly
    misses his wonderful friend and mentor, who passed away in 1985 at the age
    of 88)

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

    Date: Wed, 30 Mar 2005 17:04:04 -0500
    From: "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed];
    To: "OTR" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re:  Better on TV

    Brian Bedsworth wrote about shows better on TV than radio.

    I don't agree with a couple of them.

>     Father Knows Best (far superior talent on the video side's cast)

    I would argue for the actor who played Bud on the radio.   I thought he was
    excellent.  Great flat, deadpan delivery.

    The TV show, a favorite of mine, made 'father' more warm and fuzzzy.   I was
    surprised when I listened to the earliest radio episodes how acerbic
    'father' was, not at all the sensitive parent he became later.   They did
    tone him down on the radio program as time went on.  His early personna
    definitely would not have qualified him for father of the year.

>     Our Miss Brooks (no worse than the second-best long-running TV sitcom of
>     its era)

    I think it's too close to call.    Our Miss Brooks was one of the radio and
    TV shows I could not miss.  The radio and TV casts were the same for the
    most part and both programs were of top quality.

    -Irene

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

    Date: Wed, 30 Mar 2005 17:05:09 -0500
    From: Bob Slate <moxnix1961@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  "John Zacherle And Sebastian"
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    I first heard of John Zacherle in 1958 here in California when he cut that
    great parody record, "Dinner With Drac" Parts I & [removed] was an absolute riot!
    The band that had that wailing sax and guitar was a studio band called, "
    Dave Appell &The Appel Jacks'"from Philadelphia. I believe they were on "The
    Cameo-Parkway"label, which Dick Clark, when he had his "American Bandstand"
    show in Philadelphia , had a big interest [removed] head of the studios,
    daughter, saw John Zacherle on his show when he was known as "Roland" and I
    believe gave him the idea to cut the [removed] course we all know because of
    all the notoriety from the record, that he went to WOR in New York, and just
    became "Zacherle."I must have seen him in 1959 on WOR  at the NYC USO
    building on television doing his zany horror show with all the bubbling test
    tubes, spaghetti, and [removed] just kept you in stiches, especially with that
    demented [removed] was at Ft. Monmouth, New Jersey at the [removed] had a west
    coast counterpart
     in Fresno, Calif. called "Sebastian" in 1958 on either KJEO-Channel 47, or
    KFRE-Cannnel 12, now  [removed] show was called "Nightmare" and Sebastian
    would laugh and carry on at commercial breaks, between the old horror
    [removed] wore white facial make up, that made him look like a skull
    [removed] anyone who lived in the San Joaquin Valley in 1958-1959 know who
    played Sebastian and whatever became of him, please?Thank you !   Bob Slate

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

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

    Date: Wed, 30 Mar 2005 20:12:41 -0500
    From: "George Tirebiter" <tirebiter2@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Don Pardo

    Don Pardo still announces Saturday Night Live.  Don't know if he still does
    it live or on tape, but I would guess it is live in case the host or musical
    guest has to back out at the last second.  DP may not be an NBC employee,
    though.  The show is now produced by Lorne Michael's production company
    ("Broadway" something) and that may be where his paycheck comes from,  not
    NBC.

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

    Date: Wed, 30 Mar 2005 20:12:51 -0500
    From: "david rogers" <david_rogers@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  best detective/mystery

    When my wife and I go away on holiday we love listening to Paul Temple.  The
    plots are good and the charaters are great.  When I listen to Paul Temple I
    feel like I am wearing slippers and sitting by the fire.
    There is nothing like a good murder to help you to relax.

    Love as always, David Rogers

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

    Date: Wed, 30 Mar 2005 20:54:11 -0500
    From: "bcockrum" <rmc44@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  best actor

    While we're on the topic of radio's best (sound effects/detective shows),
    how about radio's best actor from the movies. I forget which program I heard
    Glenn Ford on. I always enjoyed him in the  movies, although I know some
    critics thought of him as Dorothy Parker once did of Katharine Hepburn,
    describing her as showing emotions that ran the gamut "from a to b." But in
    this particular show, Ford definitely showed all the signs of mike fright.

    I can't say who, among the actresses from film I would give the "best" award
    to, but among the men, no contest, Jimmy Stewart. Superb at comedy as a
    guest on Jack Benny and Bing Crosby, great in Suspense and other
    anthologies, excellent in adaptations of his movies, and outstanding in "The
    Six Shooter" -- here was a man who could play to the microphone as well as
    the best of the radio professionals! Who needed pictures with his expressive
    voice?

    Bob Cockrum

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

    Date: Wed, 30 Mar 2005 21:34:06 -0500
    From: Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Request for [removed]

       Received this request for info this evening; the requestor has been
    invited to join our little group, but you might want to copy him directly on
    anything you send to the list.

             Charlie

    --- begin forwarded text

    From: Dan Gingold <dgingold@[removed];
    To: webmaster@[removed]
    Subject: Inquiry

    Hi, Charlie.

    I'm a pretty-much retired TV producer/director who spent many years at
    KTSL/KNXT, both at 1313 Vine and
    at Columbia Square. As you may know, the Square has been sold to a
    development group and is destined to
    meet the wrecker's ball in the next couple of years.

    I'm in the process of developing a documentary memoir of Columbia Square
    and its glorious history as a
    radio factory and television production center. Having discovered your
    website, I'm wondering if you can
    lead me to any archival materials relating to C-Sq and to some of the
    surviving vets of the early days in radio
    and TV there. I'm a member of Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters and am
    beseeching those folks as well.

    Any help you can give will be appreciated.

    Dan Gingold
    dgingold@[removed]
    (818) 784-4368

    --- end forwarded text

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

    Date: Wed, 30 Mar 2005 23:19:22 -0500
    From: Richard Fish <fish@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Location Productions

    Many thanks to Messrs. King and Parker for their info on early location
    efforts. That "Flying Time" broadcast sounds like it could qualify as
    the first live-broadcast effort in this area. Is there a recording of
    this show extant anywhere?

    The "Empire Builders" programs are fascinating, and I'd love to get
    copies of those too. It looks like they really tried hard to push the
    envelope in this direction. But it's not quite the technique I was
    referring to.

    There is some evidence that location audio theatre may have been done as
    early as 1894, but that was not, of course, for broadcast! It was done
    on a cylinder.

    Say, there's a general question: does the radio theatre that was created
    before there was any radio broadcasting qualify as "Old-Time Radio?"

    The modern technique, at any rate, is always a recording. Going on
    location for a live broadcast would certainly be fraught -- with
    anything you can think of. In the years when all radio plays had to be
    performed live, taking your cast and microphone out of the studio, and
    giving up that total control over what the mic picks up, must have
    looked like a bizarre risk. Not to mention wind, rain, and birds flying
    overhead.

    In Location technique, done under ideal conditions, there are no sound
    effects people needed. The actors create footsteps as they walk, open
    doors, pour drinks, etc., as they deliver the lines. Scenes are blocked,
    and the microphone really is used like a camera -- either fixed in place
    or on a boom, moving with the action. Even scenes in a car are performed
    in a car, driving along.

    The resulting recordings, in a perfect world, would then just cut
    together, like film.

    The BBC does some of this in their studio productions today. If there
    is, say, a scene where the characters gather in a living-room and take
    tea, they will set up a sofa, chairs and low table in the studio, and
    have a tea-tray available with all the acoutrements. The actors will
    walk, sit, pour and drink tea, etc., as they speak.

    "Hayward Sanitarium" and some other modern productions go way beyond
    that -- but it's not live on the air. We performed a whole episode
    outside, at night, in a graveyard, because that's where the script put
    the action. Worked great, too.

    Since we were recording, we could deal with unexpected sounds. We took
    take after take, sometimes, because extraneous sounds would interrupt.
    "Hold it, car coming, cut!" was our motto a lot of the time, outside.

    The result, though, is quite remarkable. The sounds and voices are heard
    to excite the same accoustics. The FX exactly match the actor's timing
    and [removed] apparent location. Outside scenes really sound outside,
    not just "dead." You get an extremely detailed and co-ordinated sound
    picture without a lot of careful foley work or finicky postproduction.

    The use of the binaural technique, such as Tom Lopez has done, can be
    absolutely spectacular when you listen on headphones. It's like you're
    really there, an invisible "fly on the wall," overhearing the action.
    And isn't that the goal of radio theatre production?

    If the location concept was around as early as the 1890s, then it stands
    to reason it was probably tried at least somewhat, sometimes, during the
    Golden Age. I'm trying to learn what early experiments may have been
    made, and this group is a wonderful resource!

    Thanks again,

    Richard Fish

    --
    "Post proofs that brotherhood is not so wild a dream as those who profit
    by postponing it pretend." -- Norman Corwin, 1945

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

    Date: Wed, 30 Mar 2005 23:19:37 -0500
    From: JayHick@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  donald vorhees

    Can anyone help Catherine?

    I've been reading Martin Grams's website about the Cavalcade of America.

    I'm looking for information about Don Voorhees's activities in radio from
    the 1920s, mainly in connection with William Grant Still, who worked for
    him as an arranger c 1926-30.

    Thanks in advance,

    Catherine Parsons Smith
    Professor Emerita
    University of Nevada Reno <smithcp@[removed];

    -

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

    Date: Thu, 31 Mar 2005 08:46:04 -0500
    From: dougdouglass@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  WOTW

    New Jersey's Acting Governor Richard J.  Codey talking about a massive
    terrorism drill planned for next week, said "Don't be alarmed. We don't
    want this to turn into 'War Of The Worlds'. It happened before and it
    could happen again."

    Doug Douglass

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

    Date: Thu, 31 Mar 2005 10:20:29 -0500
    From: Lee Munsick <damyankeeinva@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Mea culpa to Jim Burns

    Jim, I regret that I did not credit you as the person who identified "Brother
    Theodore".

    Anthony Tollin posted information about Theodore also.  Tony sent his posting
    direct to me, thus I received it on my PC before it appeared in the OTR
    Digest.  So I thanked him.  But I see that in fact your posting ran first.

    And now I thank you both!  I appreciate the help of both of you!  And several
    others who contributed information about John Zacherly and Brother Theodore,
    both via OTR-D and in direct communications to me.

    Bestus, Lee Munsick

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2005 Issue #103
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