------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2006 : Issue 28
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
1-26 births/deaths [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
Re: Jeeps and Jungle Jim [ jameshburns@[removed] (Jim Burns) ]
Mrs Calabash [ "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed] ]
Jack Benny Scripts [ Dan Hughes <danhughes@[removed]; ]
(From Elmer) A good set of Microphon [ Elmer Standish <elmer_standish@telu ]
Obscure OTR shows [ jack and cathy french <otrpiano@ver ]
Lone Ranger and [removed] [ Melanie Aultman <otrmelanie@[removed] ]
1-27 births/deaths [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 26 Jan 2006 02:35:26 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 1-26 births/deaths
January 26th births
01-26-1880 - Douglas MacArthur - Little Rock, AR - d. 4-5-1964
general: "Special Broadcast from the Phillipines"; "Special Broadcast
from Tokyo"
01-26-1892 - Guy Robertson - Denver, CO - d xx-xx-xxxx
singing host: "Broadway Varieties"
01-26-1899 - Wyllis Cooper - Pekin, IL - d. 6-22-1955
producer, writer, director: "Lights Out"; "Quiet Please"
01-26-1905 - Charles Lane - San Francisco, CA
writer: "Dramatizations from Red Book Magazine"
01-26-1907 - Eddie Ballentine - Chicago, IL - d. 11-14-1995
orchestra leader: "Don McNeill's Breakfast Club"
01-26-1907 - Rita Ascot - d. 3-6-1988
actress: "Fay "Ma Perkins"; "Chicago Theatre of the Air"
01-26-1913 - Jimmy Van Heusen - Syracuse, NY - d. 2-6-1990
composer: "Amos 'n' Andy"; "Frank Sinatra Show"; "Command Performance"
01-26-1913 - William Prince - Nichols, NY - d. 10-8-1996
actor: "Crime Does Not Pay"; "Philco Radio Playhouse"; "Somerset
Maugham Theatre"
01-26-1914 - Jack de Manio - Hampstead, England - d. 10-28-1988
announcer: "Today"; "Jack de Manio Precisely"; "Woman's Hour"
01-26-1914 - Phoebe Ephron - New York, NY - d. 10-13-1971
author: "Lux RadioTheatre"
01-26-1918 - Vito Scotti - San Francisco, CA - d. 6-5-1996
actor: "Romance"; "Broadway Is My Beat"
01-26-1922 - Michael Bentine - Watford, Hertfordshie, England - d.
11-26-1996
comedian: "Goon Show"
01-26-1922 - Page Cavanaugh - Cherokee, KS
singer: (The Page Cavanaugh Trio) "The Jack Paar Show"
01-26-1925 - Joan Leslie - Detroit, MI
actress: "Screen Guild Theatre"
01-26-1927 - Billy Redfield - New York, NY - d. 8-17-1976
actor: Grayling Dennis "Brighter Day"; Willie Piper "Tales of Willie
Piper"
01-26-1935 - Bob Uecker - Milwaukee, WI
baseball announcer: "Milwaukee Brewers"
January 26th deaths
01-08-1909 - Jose Ferrer - Santurce, PR - d. 1-26-1992
actor: Philo Vance "Advs. of Philo Vance"; Minister "We Love and Learn"
02-14-1897 - Victor Lindlahr - d. 1-26-1969
commentator: "Talks on Diet"
04-02-1917 - Gertrude Warner - Hartford, CT - d. 1-26-1986
actress: Margo Lane "The Shadow"; Christy Allen "Against the Storm"
04-26-1922 - Eric Sinclair - Burkburnett, TX - d. 1-26-2004
actor: "Alias Jane Doe"
07-08-1908 - Nelson Rockefeller - Bar Harbor, ME - d. 1-26-1979
vice president: Helped fund "Hello Americans" with Orson Welles
08-09-1905 - Leo Genn - London, England - d. 1-26-1978
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
10-02-1900 - Cecil Roy - St. Paul, MN - d. 1-26-1995
actress: (Girl of a Thousand Voices) Junior Fitz "Ma Perkins"
11-06-1892 - Ole Olsen - Wabash, IN - d. 1-26-1963
comedian: (Olsen and Johnson); "Rudy Vallee Show"; "Breakfast Club"
12-05-1901 - Grace Moore - Jellico, TN - d. 1-26-1947
opera singer: "General Motors Concerts"; "Speed Show"; "Vicks Open
House"
12-12-1893 - Edward G. Robinson - Bucharest, Romania - d. 1-26-1973
actor: Steve Wilson "Big Town"
12-15-1915 - Margaret Hayes - Baltimore, MD - d. 1-26-1977
actress: "Silver Theatre"
xx-xx-1914 - J. Donald Wilson - d. 1-26-1984
creator, writer, producer: "The Whistler"; "Advs. of Nero Wolfe";
"Dark Venture"
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 26 Jan 2006 02:35:33 -0500
From: jameshburns@[removed] (Jim Burns)
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Jeeps and Jungle Jim
Whatever the quality of the final outing, there were many of us who grew
up wishing to see that union of the JETSONS and FLINTSTONES!
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 26 Jan 2006 07:52:43 -0500
From: "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed];
To: "OTR" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Mrs Calabash
Here's a sampling of newspaper reports about Mrs Calabash. Clear as mud.
First, here's something from the internet. In Calabash NC [described as a
quaint waterfront town, located on the Calabash River] some claim that Jimmy
Durante and his troupe ended up in a local restaurant there in 1940 owned by
28-year old Lucy Coleman. Jimmy beckoned Lucy over to his table for a
chitchat and told her 'he was going to make her famous'. As Mr Durante and
his group were leaving, recounts Lucy's daughter Clarice Holden, he turned
to her mom and said 'Goodnight Mrs. Calabash'. How old was Clarice. Mom
was 28. Clarice might even have been married since she had a different last
name. Nice try, Calabash, but no cigar.
Irene
==============
Hedda Hopper column - LA Times, Feb 5 1946
"Mrs. Calabash has become the $64 question in Jimmy Durante's life. When I
asked Jimmy about her, he said "He who pokes his nose in Durante's business
is headin' for dejection."
=============
"Jimmy Explains Mrs. Calabash" by Harvey Brett, New York Times, Sept 26,
1948
'Mrs. Calabash is the married name of a schoolgirl sweetheart. 'We used to
play hookey together." Jimmy said. He last saw her ten years ago when she
was married. About two and a half years ago, just before a broadcast, he
got to thinking about her. He decided to say good night -- out of fun and,
vaguely, with the hope that he might get a letter from her. He never has
gotten the letter, though there a lot of Calabashes who write him.
"Would he stop his mysterious and moving farewell if he did get a letter
from the Mrs. Calabash? Jimmy didn't think so. "Everywhere I go people ask
me about Mrs. Calabash. Elevator men in the buildings. Women in the
Copacabana. That Mrs. Calabash thing is so big, it's frightenin'"
============
Washington Post, Feb 29, 1952, Excerpt from the book 'The Schnozzolla'
Assuredly there is some disguised significance here, for Durante will change
the subject when questioned as to the identity of Mrs. Calabash. Nor will
he permit his writers to involve this character in a slapstick routine.
[Lou Clayton] '. . . it might very well be that he is saying goodnight to
the spirit of Jeanne and covering up his sentiment with a kind of public
privacy, if there's such a thing. That would be like him, to say it out
loud, where everyone can hear it, but keep the secret of his feelings inside
himself, like a prayer to somebody up in heaven'
==========
Larry Wolters, Chicago Tribune, June 29 1953
Of Mrs Calabash, Mr. D. will say nothing. "I stand on my rights under fifth
amendment and I decline to answer on grounds I might incinerate myself."
==========
Larry Wolters, Chicago Tribune, Nov 12, 1955
.....I've asked Jimmy and he's given an evasive answer. Now our Hollywood
operative says that Jimmy has confirmed that Mrs. C is really his late wife,
Jeanne, who died in 1943 after 22 years of marriage.
==========
Jack Eigen speaking, Chicago Tribune, May 11, 1957
Here's the true story even tho you may find it difficult to get Durante to
admit to it. There never was a Mrs. Calabash. Joe Pasternak, the noted
Hollywood producer, and Durante's close friend, gave Jimmy the idea and told
him to would pack a dramatic punch at the end of his shows. Jimmy liked it
and has been using it since.
==========
Laurence Laurent, Washington Post, July 20, 1957
Mrs Calabash--wherever she is--will be identified during the coming
television season. This is a promise from ..... Jimmy Durante
==========
Harriet Choice, Chicago Tribune, May 25, 1969
"Sitting on a couch behind the table, he tells the story of Mrs Calabash.
When Durante and his first wife traveled from New York to the west coast
they stayed in a little town that Jimmy called 'Calabash'.
'It was the kind of place with picket fences around the houses,' he rasps. .
. . 'My wife loved the place so I nicknamed her Mrs. Calabash. She died in
1943. And when I first said 'Goodnight Mrs Calabash, wherever you are,
everyone laughed. They thought it was a joke. But it did somethin' for
me"
==========
Westview, Burt Prelutsky, LA Times, Oct 19, 1969
Durante's 'Good Night Mrs Calabash. . . long mistaken for a gag line, was
actually a poignant tribute to his wife of 23 years who died in 1943.
==========
TV Talkback, LA Times, Feb 3 1974
Mrs. Calabash was his cat, who just wandered off one night. [that's a new
one!!]
===============
NY Times Obituary/Tribute, Jan 30, 1980
. . . Eventually, he confessed in an interview that she was a sweetheart of
his grammar school, the only school he attended.
================
Chicago Tribune Obituary, Jan 30, 1980
Indeed, after years of secrecy, Durante finally revealed, in 1954, that the
'Mrs. Calabash' actually was his late wife Jeanne. Mrs Calabash had been
his pet name for her.
===================
Harriet Choice, Memories of Durante, Chicago Tribune, Feb 3, 1980
She repeated what he had said in her interview with him reported May 25,
1969 (see above)
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 26 Jan 2006 12:03:16 -0500
From: Dan Hughes <danhughes@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Jack Benny Scripts
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X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain
There are some Jack Benny scripts here:
[removed];pattern=jack+benny+scripts&document_code=&date_op=&date=&records_per_page=25&sort_by=swishe_rank
I didn't look at everything there, but I noticed that Rochester's lines
are in ALL CAPS, but the lines of everyone else were in lower case.
Anybody know why?
---Dan "See ya in Cincy" Hughes
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------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Jan 2006 00:04:47 -0500
From: Elmer Standish <elmer_standish@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: (From Elmer) A good set of Microphone Links
MICROPHONE RELATED LINKS
Some will be of interest to OTR Fans
[removed]
[removed] - Start here if you want to
see all the Site has to offer.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Jan 2006 00:05:36 -0500
From: jack and cathy french <otrpiano@[removed];
To: OTRBB <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Obscure OTR shows
I recently came into possession of a 30 minute cassette, one side of
which consisted of openings of 13 different syndicated shows of the 30s
and 40s, mostly kids adventure shows.
Some of them were known to me (Jerry of the Circus, Tailspin Tommy) and
a few others I found citations for in Jay Hickerson's "Ultimate Guide &
History" ( Adventures of Frank Farrell, Bob Sterling American Ranger.)
There was one called "I Spy" of which Jay indicates there are 8
episodes around, although no one seems to know anything about cast &
crew.
But that still left me with a few for which I have no background
information whatsoever, so will toss this into the query box of the
Digesters in hopes the remaining five are known to someone out there.
1) "Dr. Decimal Seven" In opening, he is described as brilliant
scientist who has invented a "time machine" that can take him to the
farthest planets. His daughter, Distaff, is the offspring of a Martian
mother, to whom the good doctor was once married.
2) "Adventures with Admiral Byrd" (That pretty much describes
[removed] of ice, snow, and danger.)
3) "Adventures of Sailor Sam" An intrepid seagoing fellow, with his
pals, Buddy and Nancy, sailing on a schooner.
4) "The Flying Commandos" Capt. Ace Chandler and Sgt. Flanagan battle
the Axis powers
5) " Trobiond (phonetic) the Adventurer" Not sure how this adventurer
spells his name. He's a seagoing pearl dealer and in opening sequence,
is with assorted associates in bar in Tahiti.
Thanks for any help you may [removed]
Jack French
Editor: RADIO RECALL
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Jan 2006 00:06:30 -0500
From: Melanie Aultman <otrmelanie@[removed];
To: OTRDIGEST <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Lone Ranger and [removed]
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain
Sherman Alexie's _The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven_ Grove Press,
NY 1993 2005, is a book of short stories to do with life in and around a
Spokane Indian reservation. I don't have time to read the whole thing and
skimming the story with the above title, don't see the relevance of the
title. Anyone?
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*** as the sender intended. ***
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Jan 2006 00:06:38 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 1-27 births/deaths
January 27th births
01-27-1885 - Jerome Kern - New York, NY - d. 11-11-1945
composer: "Railroad Hour"; "Show Boat"
01-27-1888 - Harry "Singin' Sam" Frankel - Hillsboro, OH - d. 6-12-1948
singer: (The Barbasol Man) "Reminiscin' with Singin' Sam"
01-27-1895 - Harry Ruby - New York, NY - d. 2-23-1974
songwriter: "Thirty Minutes in Hollywood"; "Great Moments to Music"
01-27-1895 - Violet Heming - Leeds, Yorkshire, England - d. 7-4-1981
actress: Connie Wakefield "Right to Happiness"
01-27-1904 - Frankie Marvin - Butler, Indian Territory, Oklahoma - d.
1-18-1985
actor: "Gene Autry's Melody Rance"
01-27-1905 - Howard McNear - Los Angeles, CA - d. 1-xx-1969
actor: Doctor Charles Adams "Gunsmoke"; Ed Kremer "Fibber McGee and
Molly"
01-27-1908 - "Hot Lips" Page - Dallas, TX - d. 11-5-1954
jazz trumpeter: "Milt Herth Trio"; "Floor Show"; "Eddie Condon's Jazz
Concert"
01-27-1912 - Benay Venuta - San Francisco, CA - d. 9-1-1995
singer: "Benay Venuta's Program"; "Shell Chateau"; "Abbott and
Costello Show"
01-27-1916 - Merrill Mueller - New York, NY - d. 11-30-1980
reporter: "NBC Stands By"; "Morning News Roundup"; "The Navy Hour"
01-27-1918 - Skitch Henderson - Birmingham, England - d. 11-1-2005
bandleader: "Philco Radio Time"; "Songs by Sinatra"
01-27-1921 - Donna Reed - Dennison, IA - d. 1-14-1986
actress: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Star and the Story"; "Silver Theatre"
01-27-1924 - Sabu - Mysore, India - d. 12-2-1963
actor: "Confidential Close-Ups"
January 27th deaths
01-21-1904 - Allen Prescott - St. Louis, MO - d. 1-27-1978
host: "Wife Saver"; "Prescott Presents"
02-08-1915 - George "Doc" Abraham - Wayland, NY - d. 1-27-2005
gardner, host: "The Green Thumb"
02-20-1919 - Dick Wesson - Idaho - d. 1-27-1979
announcer: "Space Patrol"
03-16-1901 - Edward Pawley - d. 1-27-1988
actor: Steve Wilson "Big Town"
05-01-1918 - Jack Paar - Canton, OH - d. 1-27-2004
comedian: "Jack Paar Show"; "Take It or Leave It"
06-13-1887 - Edward 'Senator' Ford - Brooklyn, NY - d. 1-27-1970
panelist: "Can You Top This"
06-23-1910 - Edward P. Morgan - Walla Walla, WA - d. 1-27-1993
newscaster: "News and Commentary"
06-27-1908 - Bill Kennedy - Cleveland Heights, OH - d. 1-27-1997
announcer: "Nobody's Children"
08-12-1898 - Oscar Homolka - Vienna, Austria - d. 1-27-1978
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
08-22-1887 - Julia Sanderson - Springfield, MA - d. 1-27-1975
singer, emcee: "Blackstone Plantation"; "Battle of the Sexes"; "Let's
Be Charming"
10-13-1900 - Gerald Marks - Saginaw, MI - d. 1-27-1997
tin pan alley composer: "Great Days We Honor"
10-26-1911 - Mahalia Jackson - New Orleans, LA - d. 1-27-1972
gospel singer: (The Angel of Peace) "Mahalia Jackson Show"
xx-xx-1911 - Lou Crosby - Lawton, OK - d. 1-27-1984
announcer: "Rise Stevens Show"; "Gene Autry's Melody Ranch"; "Lum and
Abner"
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2006 Issue #28
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