Subject: [removed] Digest V2007 #32
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 1/27/2007 9:33 PM
To: [removed]@[removed]

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2007 : Issue 32
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                             [removed]
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  Update on Shawn Wells                 [ James Widner <jwidner@[removed]; ]
  Allen's Alley                         [ "A. Joseph Ross" <joe@attorneyross. ]
  More on Mae Questel, Etc.!            [ Ljk2476@[removed] ]
  Eddie Carrol Sighting                 [ Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed] ]
  This week in radio history 28 Januar  [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
  Olive Oyl, and Taking the Lift, With  [ jameshburns@[removed] (Jim Burns) ]
  Theme Song for B-Bar-B                [ jack and cathy french <otrpiano@ver ]
  Lost Show?                            [ K & J Hammel <haml@[removed]; ]
  Library of Congress American Folklif  [ Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed] ]
  1-28 births/deaths                    [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]

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

Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2007 23:27:33 -0500
From: James Widner <jwidner@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Update on Shawn Wells

Just wanted to update this digest that after some extensive checking
and with the help of Dick Judge and others, Shawn Wells, who used
to run the otr-shop web site is alive and well. His current whereabouts
are not known, but we do know that he was not killed in an auto accident
as had been previously mentioned. I believe the confusion came from
another Shawn (Shawn Thomas) who had died prematurely several years ago
who also maintained a web site devoted to old time radio and had also
been a member of this digest. Since there is no new email address on
Shawn Wells, I cannot say if he is planning on getting back into the
hobby or not.

Jim Widner

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

Date: Sat, 27 Jan 2007 10:05:10 -0500
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <joe@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Allen's Alley

Date: Thu, 25 Jan 2007 22:53:05 -0500
From: wgaryw@[removed]

it's interesting to me that it seems the more the radio performers stuck to
the original conception of their shows when moving to tv, the less successful
they were.  fred allen's failed attempts to recreate "allen's alley" are
another good case in point. . .

I don't know if that can be stated as a general rule.  Jack Benny was
plenty successful on TV, even though many of us think he was funnier
on radio.  Bob Hope did a TV show that was similar to his radio show,
though he never did it weekly.  Groucho Marx transferred his show
wholesale to TV with great success.

Outside the ranks of commedians, a number of shows managed to
transition successfully to television, while keeping the same
concept.  For example The Lone Ranger, Rin Tin Tin, Sgt. Preston, and
Dragnet.

And there were other game and audience participation shows that
followed Groucho's lead and did the same show on radio and
television:  Truth or Consequences, People Are Funny, Strike it Rich,
for example, and they all did well.

I didn't know that Fred Allen tried to to Allen's Alley on TV.  Tell
us more.

--
A. Joseph Ross, [removed]                           [removed]
 15 Court Square, Suite 210                 Fax [removed]
Boston, MA 02108-2503           	         [removed]

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

Date: Sat, 27 Jan 2007 10:09:19 -0500
From: Ljk2476@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  More on Mae Questel, Etc.!
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

I believe the information is correct  regarding the POPEYE radio show, that
Olive Lamoy (or LaMoy) did the voice of  "Olive Oyl" based on the four
mid-'30s radio shows that are in general  circulation. From what I've been
able to
find out, Mae Questel did NOT play  "Swee'pea" on this radio version. The tyke
was replaced by an older kid called  "Matey." (A character NOT in the original
THIMBLE THEATRE comic strip by [removed]  Segar.)
    I can't remember if there were TWO  gentlemen who played "Popeye" on the
radio or not (it was on NBC and then, I  think on CBS later), but Floyd
Buckley is the name most associated with the  radio version. It's okay, but
Mr.
Buckley was NO Jack Mercer - voice-wise, when  it came to portraying the
heroic
sailor. (He did the voice for  one POPEYE cartoon, which I believe is called
BE
KIND TO AMINALS  around 1935, and it just didn't seem to work!) The original
cartoon voice of POPEYE belonged to William Costello, known in vaudeville as
"Red Pepper Sam." He violated his contracted with Paramount and Fleischer when
 he did recordings using the POPEYE voice like "Let's All Sing Like the
Birdies  Sing," etc. and he was soon fired. Luckily, an animator by the name
of
Jack  Mercer started imitating the sailor for fun, and an employee at
Fleischer's
 thought he could take over as the voice of Popeye. Mercer did it for the
rest of  his life, for close to 50 years!
    When Mercer was drafted during World  War II, Mae Questel was hired to
try to do "Popeye" and she did a pretty decent  job, according to what the
late
Jackson Beck told me. You CAN hear the  difference though, in the voices.
Watch ROCKET TO MARS sometime! It was  released in 1946, but it may have been
in
production during WWII  and held  back in release. At times, Popeye sounds
like
Mae Questel and other times sounds  like Jack Mercer. Jackson Beck seemed to
remember that Mercer was drafted toward  the start of World War II and believe
that this is when he was hired to do the  voice of "Bluto," but the first
credited POPEYE cartoon where Beck's voice has  been spotted is THE ANVIL
CHORUS
which had a release date of 1944. This cartoon  may also have been made
earlier, and held back for release.
    One small error in John Dunning's  great radio book, ON THE AIR: Dunning
claims that Jackson Beck played "Bluto" in  the radio show. As far as I've
been able to check - with information from some  members of the Official
Popeye
Fanclub - the "Bluto" character was never part of  the radio show. Beck did
start his radio career sometime in the mid or early  '30s, but he told me
that he
didn't have any involvement with the "Bluto"  character until sometime in
World War II. (POPEYE fans have decided that "Bluto"  and "Brutus" are twin
brothers who are deadly rivals. The "Bluto" character was  called "Brutus"
when the
cartoons were made for TV for King Features Syndicate  in the early 1960s.
Lawyers at King Features Syndicate were under the mistaken  impression that
the
Fleischer's and/or Paramount owned the rights to the "Bluto"  character,
forgetting until the 1970s, that "Bluto" was created by [removed] Segar  himself
for a
long adventure in his comic stirp back in 1932. The cunfusion  between "Bluto"
and "Brutus" has been there ever since!
    Let's get back to the POPEYE radio  show! While I love Mae Questel's
"Olive Oyl" on the animated  cartoons, Olive Lamoy did a wonderful job playing
"Olive Oyl" and give even  more of a comic satiric takeoff on actress Zasu
Pitts
than Questel did - in my  opinion, anyway! However, Mae Questel - as I said
before - made the character  her own in the animated cartoons. She was not the
first to voice "Olive" or  "Betty Boop" for the cartoons, but she was the best
at doing the  voices.
    Singer Helen Kane actually played  "Betty Boop" in live action for a
Paramount short in the HOLLYWOOD ON  PARADE series in 1933 that supposedly
took
place in a wax museum  in Hollywood. A wax figure of Dracula (played,
naturally
by Bela Lugosi)  warns her that "You haff booped your lahst boop" and then Ms.
Boop  screams. In 1934, Helen Kane decided to sue Paramount and the Fleischer
 Studios over the BETTY BOOP character, claiming that they based the
character entirely on her personality, and sued for damages. Quick thinking
Paramount attorneys were able to successfully prove that Kane had actually
taken  part
of her "Boop-Oop-A-Doop" style of singing and moving from a black  singer. (I
don't have the name handy, sorry!) Helen Kane lost her lawsuit, much  to the
relief of Paramount and Max Fleischer and Co. (It is ironic that  when this
clip from the HOLLYWOOD ON PARADE short has been shown on some  documentaries,
Helen Kane has been misidentified as Mae  Questel!)
    I was not aware that Mae Questel had  done the voice of "Betty" for the
radio versions of BETTY BOOP, but I do know  the music for the POPEYE and
BETTY
BOOP radio shows was produced by the same  orchestra that played the music
for the Max Fleischer cartoons in New York:  Victor Irwin's Cartoonland Band.
(My old animation teacher Gordon Sheehan - who  worked at Fleischer's and then
Famous Studios from 1933 through 1944 - recalled  the BETTY BOOP radio show
and
Victor Irwin's Cartoonland Band playing the music,  but wasn't aware (or had
forgotten) about the POPEYE radio show.
    What I love about the POPEYE radio  shows is the music heard in them -
they sound much like soundtrack music from  the Fleischer cartoons, and well
they should. One piece of music - depicting a  runaway trolley-car - is a
variation of a little music later used in A CLEAN  SHAVEN MAN (c. 1936) - a
classic
POPEYE cartoon! I believe most or all of the  music was composed by Sammy
Timburg for the Fleischer cartoons, so Irwin either  used Timburg's music, or
was
allowed to improvise from it.
    The other great thing about the POPEYE  radio show was the voice actor
who portrayed "J. Wellington Wimpy." I can't seem  to find out who did HIS
voice, but it was almost as good as Jack Mercer's  rendition of the
hamburger-eating moocher. Apparently, E. C. Segar himself  enjoyed the radio
shows immensely!
I wish there were more than the four episodes  in general circulation! Are
there any more??? - Lenny  Kohl

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

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

Date: Sat, 27 Jan 2007 10:20:02 -0500
From: Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Eddie Carrol Sighting

America's favorite Jack Benny impersonator is performing in Texas this week.

Details here:

[removed]

Sean Dougherty
SeanDD@[removed]

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

Date: Sat, 27 Jan 2007 10:36:59 -0500
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otrd <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  This week in radio history 28 January to 3
 February

 From Those Were The Days --

1/28

1934 - As a result of a compliment paid on this day, by Walter Winchell,
in his newspaper column; a local disc jockey began receiving several
offers from talent scouts and producers. The DJ became known as the
Redhead, adored by thousands in Washington, DC and, later, by millions
across the country on CBS radio and TV. His trademark (strumming a
ukulele and delivering down-home patter) endeared him to fans for many
years. We remember the broadcasting legend, Arthur Godfrey. "I wanna go
back to my little grass [removed]"

1940 - Beat the Band made its debut on NBC, with the Ted Weems band.
Beat the Band was where listeners' questions were selected in the hopes
of stumping the band. If a listener's question was chosen, he or she
received $10.  The questions were posed as riddles: What song title
tells you what Cinderella might have said if she awoke one morning and
found that her foot had grown too large for her glass slipper? If the
band played the correct musical answer, Where Oh Where Has My Little Dog
Gone?, the listener lost.

When Raleigh cigarettes sponsored Beat the Band, the listener who beat
the band won $50 and two cartons of cigarettes ... Raleighs, of course.
When the sponsor changed to General Mill's Kix cereal, if the listener
beat the band, he/she won twenty bucks and a case of Kix cereal.

1/30

1933 -- The Lone Ranger was heard for the first time.

1/31

1936 - The Green Hornet was introduced by its famous theme song, The
Flight of the Bumble Bee. The radio show was first heard on WXYZ in
Detroit, MI on this day. The show stayed on the air for 16 years. The
Green Hornet originated from the same radio station where The Lone
Ranger was performed. You may remember that the title character in The
Green Hornet was really named Britt Reid. He was, in fact, supposed to
be the great nephew of John Reid, the Lone Ranger. Both popular series
were created by George Trendle and Fran Striker.

2/2

1946 - The Mutual Broadcasting System presented Twenty Questions for the
first time on radio. Bill Slater was the master of ceremonies.

Joe

-----
Visit my homepage: [removed]~[removed]

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

Date: Sat, 27 Jan 2007 13:38:22 -0500
From: jameshburns@[removed] (Jim Burns)
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Olive Oyl, and Taking the Lift, With [removed]

I have no idea how anyone would gain access to this--

I'm not sure that NBC has easy access to the old TOMORROW SHOW
archives--

But I can remember Mae Questal doing a rather good interview, with Tom
Snyder, some time in the late '70s.  She also used to pop up with some
regularity, I think, on THE JOE FRANKLIN SHOW.

(This would have been at the time of what became her greatest visual
fame, anyway, as Aunt Bluebell, in a long running series of TV [removed])

An odd POPEYE memory:

In the late '70s, on one of my first trips to the Billy Rose Research
Library, at Lincoln Center, I stepped into the elevator with a handful
of folks, doing that elevator thing of sort of minding one's own space.

But two young fellows seemed to have an older guy kind of cornered,
asking him a bunch of questions.

I can't remember if his voice was instantly recognizable, although it
was a bit gravelly, but the senior was Jack Mercer--

The voice, for decades, of Popeye.

(One of the many interesting facets of the Billy Rose, is the number of
old-timers who will check out the voluminous, and absolutely
extraordinary files, to essentially just stroll down memory lane.)

It was a remarkable, New York moment, to be side by side, with this
voice from my, and my father's, childhoods.

But what also was striking was that when the young guys asked Mercer if
they could set up an interview, for a college newspaper, or whatever,
the actor told them they would have to clear it with King Features,
first.

Mercer was still making dough, playing Popeye in some of the
commercials, and other stuff, that was being produced.

I found it interesting, and sad, that the corporation kept such a tight
leash on the performer.

Or, at least, that he had been compelled to feel so.

Jim Burns

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

Date: Sat, 27 Jan 2007 16:15:47 -0500
From: jack and cathy french <otrpiano@[removed];
To: OTRBB <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Theme Song for B-Bar-B

I bring all fans of the Cowboy Kid glad tidings of great joy:  the
origin of theme song for the Mutual version of "Bobby Benson" has been
discovered.

We can all thank Russell S. Hudson of Bethlehem, PA for solving this
mystery. Russell is one of the readers for SPERDVAC, who turns an issue
of "Radiogram" into an audio copy for the vision impaired members. He
is also an authority on the music of silent motion pictures.

The January issue of "Radiogram" contains my cover story on the history
of the two Bobby Benson series. Since Russell usually adds some
background audio to his readings so for my article, he also  recorded
the introduction to the Mutual version. Something about the theme
tickled his memory. He reached back into his LP library and pulled out
an album entitled "Music from the Golden Age of Silent Movies" played
by Gaylord Carter on a mighty Wurlitzer theatre organ. On this LP, he
found the theme used for "Bobby Benson"; it's a piece called "Westward
Ho!" written by Dr. Hugo Reisenfeld to accompany the 1923 silent film,
"The Covered Wagon."  This motion picture, dirtected by James Cruze,
was based upon the novel by Emerson Hough.

Congratulations to Russell Hudson!

Jack French
Editor: RADIO RECALL
<[removed]>

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

Date: Sat, 27 Jan 2007 16:16:05 -0500
From: K & J Hammel <haml@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Lost Show?

Hello Digesters,

Speaking of lost shows, does anyone know anything about a show called "The
Ghost of Benjamin  Sweet"?  I was browsing a September 1938 "Radio Guide"
last night and saw an article about this.   The lead ghost is played by
Karl Swenson, and Ed Latimer plays one of the side kick ghosts, Theobald
Tubbs.

I can't find much on the [removed] From online radio logs it appears there
might be a connection to Columbia playhouse, but the article seems to
indicate it was it's own [removed] heard Sundays on CBS at 10 pm EST.  It
was written by husband and wife writing team, Pauline Gibson and Fred
Gilsdorf.  The premise is a 'light hearted, good hearted" ghost who
performs good deeds, sort of a supernatural Robin Hood.

If there are any existing episodes, I'd sure like to hear a show or two,
and would appreciate being pointed in their direction.

Kathy H.

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

Date: Sat, 27 Jan 2007 18:23:44 -0500
From: Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Library of Congress American Folklife Center

   From [removed]

On The Bob Edwards Show Friday, a new regular segment was announced, one that
sounds like it is going to be absolutely fascinating. Introducing the
segment, Edwards said, in part, "In a special section of the Library of
Congress in Washington, [removed], the American Folklife Center is the guardian of
this heartbeat, the collected sounds tapping out the rhythm of life in
AmericaEach month, the Folklife Center will open its archive to us; youll
hear things few ears ever have."

The opening segment is more an explanation of the American Folklife Center
and how it came to be, although there are some of the over three-million
selections in the archives; you can hear this program repeated every fifth
hour all day today and tomorrow on the on-line service (which is free with
your XM Satellite Radio subscription; if youre not a subscriber, consider
signing up for a free trial at [removed] ), and on the
satellite service at 7:00 am EST Monday morning (4:00 am PST). The last
Friday of every month, Peggy Bulger will return with more recordings - the
sounds of America. Next month, sounds from the Black American experience.

If you subscribe to XM, you really want to hear this.

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

Date: Sat, 27 Jan 2007 23:34:56 -0500
From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  1-28 births/deaths

January 28th births

01-28-1882 - Richard Barrows - Buffalo, NY - d. 8-xx-1969
actor: "Death Valley Days", "Ellery Queen"; "Second Husband"
01-28-1887 - Artur Rubinstein - Lodz, Poland - d. 12-20-1982
pianist: "Music America Loves Best"; "Telephone Hour"; "Concert Hall"
01-28-1892 - Ernst Lubitsch - Berlin Germany - d. 11-30-1947
film director: Intermission Guest "Lux Radio Theatre"
01-28-1900 - Mahlon Merrick - Farmington, IA - d. 8-7-1969
music: "Jack Benny Program"; "Skippy Hollywood Theatre"
01-28-1904 - Irene Beasley - Whitehaven TN - d. 1-7-1980
actor: Old Dutch Girl "Red Hook 31"
01-28-1910 - Arnold Moss - Brooklyn, NY - d. 12-15-1989
actor: Philip Cameron "Against the Storm"; Reed Bannister "Big Sister"
01-28-1911 - Donald Briggs - Chicago, IL - d. 2-3-1986
actor: Frank Merriwell "Advs. of Frank Merriwell"
01-28-1912 - Monty Masters - New Haven, CT - d. 12-xx-1969
actor, producer: "The Mad Masters"; "Candy Matson"
01-28-1914 - Nelson Olmstead - Minnesota - d. 4-8-1992
actor: Joe Huston "Bachelor's Children"
01-28-1914 - Tom Neal - Evanston, IL - d. 8-7-1972
actor: "I Am An American"; "The Unexpected"
01-28-1921 - Jerry Appy - d. 6-24-1990
sportscaster: KXXX Colby, Kansas
01-28-1926 - Randy Armbrister - d. 9-xx-1968
disk jockey: WYVE Whytheville, Virginia
01-28-1935 - Nicholas Pryor - Baltimore, MD
actor: "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"

January 28th deaths

02-17-1881 - Arthur Judson - d. 1-28-1975
executive: Founder of the Columbia Broadcasting System
03-02-1923 - Jean Metcalfe - Reigate, England - d. 1-28-2000
announcer, presenter: "Two-Way Family Favourites"
03-29-1923 - Bob Stanton - White Plains, NY - d. 1-28-1989
vocalist: (Brother of Dick Haymes) "The Sealtest Village Store"
03-31-1923 - Thomas Arim - d. 1-28-2003
disk jockey: "Birthday Party"
04-24-1897 - Alfred Brown - d. 1-28-1978
actor: Og "Og, Son of Fire"
04-29-1912 - John MacVane - Portland, ME - d. 1-28-1984
newscaster: "United or Not"
05-24-1911 - Lilli Palmer - Posen, Germany - d. 1-28-1986
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
06-17-1923 - Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch - Wausau, WI - d. 1-28-2004
pro football hall of fame, host: "Elroy Hirsch Sports Show";
"Touchdown Tips"
07-20-1905 - Murray Forbes - Chicago, IL - d. 1-28-1987
actor: Willie Fitz "Ma Perkins"; Benny Fox "Foxes of Flatbush"
08-15-1897 - Aben Kandel - d. 1-28-1993
screenwriter: "Lux Radio Theatre"
09-12-1919 - Norma Jean Ross - Fremont, NE - d. 1-28-1983
actor: "Scattergood Baines"; "Author's Playhouse"
09-26-1900 - Ray Kinney - Hawaii - d. 1-28-1972
interpreter of Hawaiian rhythm: Sporadic timeslots on the Blue Network
10-13-1901 - Frank Remley - d. 1-28-1967
left handed guitarist: The Phil Harris Orchestra
10-22-1907 - Roger DeKoven - Chicago, IL - d. 1-28-1988
actor: Professor Allen, "Against the Storm"
xx-xx-xxxx - Alan Devitt - d. 1-28-1955
actor: "Famous Jury Trial"; "The March of Time"

Ron Sayles

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2007 Issue #32
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