------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2005 : Issue 62
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
2-25 births/deaths [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
Passing of Dan O'Herlihy [ "John Abbott" <mraastro@[removed] ]
Re: Jack Armstrong question. [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
Springfield Illinois [ Rentingnow@[removed] ]
Baseball & OTR [ "John edwards" <jcebigjohn41@hotmai ]
Montague/Hidden Vitamins [ "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed]; ]
Re: Lets Pretend [ Hal Stone <otrjug@[removed]; ]
OTR Movies on TCM [ "Don and Kathy Dean" <dxk@ezlinknet ]
Springfield(s) [ "bcockrum" <rmc44@[removed]; ]
The Life of Arthur Godfrey [ Lee Munsick <damyankeeinva@earthlin ]
Helfer-Gleason and Allen-Barber base [ Jer51473@[removed] ]
Disillusioned About Popeye [ John Mayer <mayer@[removed]; ]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2005 17:22:02 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 2-25 births/deaths
February 25th births
02-25-1879 - Frank McIntyre - Ann Arbor, MI - d. 6-8-1949
actor: Captain Barney "Maxwell House Showboat"; Captain Henry
"Showboat"
02-25-1901 - Zeppo Marx - Yorkville, NY - d. 11-30-1979
comedian: (Marx Brothers) "American Review"
02-25-1904 - Marion Claire - Chicago, IL - d. 2-24-1988
singer: "Chicago Theatre of the Air"
02-25-1906 - Warren Hymer - NYC - d. 3-25-1948
actor: "Screen Guild Theatre"
02-25-1908 - George Duning - Richmond, IN - d. 2-27-2000
composer: "Bud's Bandwagon"
02-25-1910 - Wini Shaw - San Francisco, CA - d. 5-2-1982
actress: Air Trailers "Good News of 1935 and In Caliente"
02-25-1912 - Richard Wattis - Wednesbury, England - d. 2-1-1975
actor: "Brothers In Law"
02-25-1913 - Jim Backus - Cleveland, OH - d. 7-3-1989
comedian: Hubert Updike "Alan Young Show"; Chester Fenwick "Sad Sack"
02-25-1914 - John Arlott - Basingstoke, England - d. 12-14-1991
BBC radio cricket commentator
02-25-1917 - Brenda Joyce - Kansas City, MO
actress: "Good News of 1940"; "Stars Over Hollywood";
"AmericanShowcase"
02-25-1921 - Patricia Ryan - London, England - d. 2-15-1949
actress: Amy March "Little Women"; Claudia Naughton "Claudia and
David"
02-25-1923 - Larry Gelbart - Beverly Hills, CA
writer: "Bob Hope Show"; "Duffy's Tavern"; "Jack Parr Show"
02-25-1927 - Dickie Jones - Snyder, TX
actor: Henry Aldrich "The Aldrich Family"
02-25-1927 - Ralph Stanley - Stratton, VA
bluegrass singer: (The Stanley Brothers) "Farm and Fun Program"
02-25-1932 - Faron Young - Shreveport, LA - d. 12-10-1996
country singer: "Town and Country Time"; "Country Style [removed]";
"Country Hoedown"
02-25-1938 - Diane Baker - Hollywood, CA
actress: "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"
February 25th deaths
02-20-1914 - John Charles Daly - Johannesburg, South Africa - d.
2-25-1991
newscaster, emcee: "What's My Line"; "CBS Is There"; "Columbia
Workshop"
03-17-1884 - Frank Buck - Gainesville, TX - d. 2-25-1950
wild animal hunter: "Bring 'em Back Alive"
03-21-1908 - Vincent Pelletier - Minneapolis, MN - d. 2-25-1994
actor: Victor Powell "This is Life"; Robin "Calling All Detectives"
03-26-1911 - Tennessee Williams - Columbus, TN - d. 2-25-1983
author: "Drama Critics Award"; "Lux Radio Theatre"
07-31-1904 - Billy Hillpot - Red Bank, NJ - d. 2-25-1985
singer: Trade "Smith Brothers: Trade and Mark"; "Camel Pleasure Hour"
09-14-1925 - Bill Christy - Seattle, WA - d. 2-25-1946
actor: Franklin Dexter "Meet Corliss Archer"
09-23-1907 - Rudd Weatherwax - Engel, Sierra County, NM - d. 2-25-1985
trainer: "Lassie"
12-09-1903 - Matty Malneck - Newark, NJ - d. 2-25-1981
bandleader: "Campana Serenade"; "Duffy's Tavern"
--
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2005 18:45:31 -0500
From: "John Abbott" <mraastro@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Passing of Dan O'Herlihy
The Washington Post reported on the death of Dan O'Herlihy last week. I
believe that he was 90.
The obit went into a great bit of detail about his stage and movie roles,
but alas, not a mention of his OTR roles, which RadioGoldindex tallies as
87.
Hopefulkly, I got the right Dan O'Herlihy.
John C. Abbott
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2005 18:46:02 -0500
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Jack Armstrong question.
Robert Coppedge replied to my query --
The man's name in the series was Vic Hardy (sp). He once had a very
shady past and was known as "The Silencer."
Thanks Bob!
Joe
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2005 18:46:20 -0500
From: Rentingnow@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Springfield Illinois
Lincoln. Need I say more? He does predate OTR slightly though. If you are
interested in a view of a Springfield here is one.
[removed] ([removed])
Larry Moore
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2005 18:46:45 -0500
From: "John edwards" <jcebigjohn41@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Baseball & OTR
Hi, I am glad Ken Stockinger has brought baseball & OTR. It was a part of
the Golden Age of Radio & for that matter is still an important part of
radio today. There are a few broadcasts of baseball games from the 1930s,
more from the 1940s & quite a few around from the 50s on. Baseball
broadcasts from the 1930s that I have heard were a little like OTR from the
early [removed] little stiff & lacked the flair that announcers developed
over the years. It may be that the radio games I remember listening to were
from about 1951 [removed] I was lucky to listen the St Louis Browns games as
well as Cardinal baseball with Ole Harry. Living close enough to Chicago I
enjoyed the Cubs games & though my dad was a White Sox [removed] Elson
though an excellent announcer seemed dull & boring to a teenager. Some of
my favorite memories were tuning around the AM dial to pick up games from
Detroit w/Ernie Harwell, games from [removed] Prince & getting the
Twins games once in awhile. There are still some excellent play by play
announcers but perhaps not quite as outstanding as those from the late 40s,
50s & 1960s. At least that is the way it seems to me. John
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2005 18:47:21 -0500
From: "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Montague/Hidden Vitamins
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Hi Gang:
I wish to posit a pair of questions:
With the recent mention of the OTR sitcom "The Magnificent Montague," I wanted
to ask about one
of its characters. Was this the show that had a spinsterish character, an aunt
or the like, who would answer
questions with a high-pitched "erYess!" ? It's kind of hard to replicate this
in a print-forum, but as a point
of reference, the same type of voice was used for the character Miss Prissy, a
spinsterish hen who turned up
in several "Foghorn Leghorn" cartoons for Warner Bros.
Also, what was the name of the candy bar with the radio jingle that had the
lyric "Vitamins are hiding in that
candy [removed]" and is this product still being manufactured?
Students?
Derek Tague (rhymes with "vague," not with "Magoo")
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------------------------------
Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2005 20:06:48 -0500
From: Hal Stone <otrjug@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: Lets Pretend
Patrick @ <cooldown3@[removed] asks;
Subject: Let's Pretend help Please
Patrick asks a bunch of questions about that program.
I'm not sure if my friend, the venerable "Let's Pretender" Arthur Anderson,
has the answer to all your questions in the book he wrote, titled,
coincidentally.
"Let's Pretend" A HISTORY OF RADIO'S BEST LOVED CHILDREN'S SHOW BY A
LONGTIME CAST MEMBER
I believe there is a new printing. Maybe by McFarland. But it could be a
different publisher. I'm just not sure.
In Appendix C , there is a complete lost of the shows written and/or adapted
by Nyla Mack, with dates of first broadcast.
The book also gives the dates of the Cream of Wheat sponsorship.
9/1943 to 12/1952.
If you don't have the book, it's a must for Let's Pretend fans.
(Particularly since I'm mentioned in it) :)
Anyway, maybe Jay Hickerson of FOTR Convention fame (who usually monitors
this digest has more info re the new printing of Arthur's book, and can
inform you how to obtain a copy.
Hope this helps
Hal(Harlan)Stone
Jughead
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2005 20:12:48 -0500
From: "Don and Kathy Dean" <dxk@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: OTR Movies on TCM
In case you missed them before, here's your chance to see them once more.
In April, Turner Classic Movies is running movie marathon' s of many of the
comedy teams from the movies & old time radio. Time's are Eastern
April 1 - Laurel and Hardy marathon from 6 AM to 2 AM April 2
April 4 - Charley Chase marathon from 6 AM to 12:30 PM
Fatty Arbuckle marathon from 1 PM to 6:45 PM
Harold Lloyd marathon from 8 PM to 6 AM April 5
April 8 - The Marx Bros. marathon from 8:30 AM to 2 AM April 9
April 9 - Gildersleeve's Bad Day - 3:30 AM
Gildersleeve's Ghost - 4:45 AM
April 11 - Charlie Chaplin marathon - 6 AM to 9:45 PM
Buster Keaton marathon - 9:45 PM to 6:15 AM April 12
April 15 - Lum and Abner movies:
Two Weeks To Live - 6 AM
So This Is Washington - 7:30 AM
Abbott & Costello marathon - 2:15 PM to 2 AM April 16
April 18 - Eddy Cantor movies:
Thank Your Lucky Stars - 6 AM
If You Knew Susie - 8:15 AM
Jack Benny movies:
George Washington Slept Here - 9:45 AM
The Horn Blows At Midnight - 11:30 AM
April 22 - Bert Wheeler, Robert Woolsey movie marathon
6 AM to 2 PM
Crosby & Hope Road movie marathon begins
at 5 PM to 2 AM April 23
April 29 - George Burns, Gracie Allen movies:
A Damsel In Distress - 12 PM
Honolulu - 1:45 PM
Edgar Bergen, Jim & Marion Jordan
Look Who's Laughing - 3:15 PM
Here We Go Again - 4:45 PM
Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis
At War With The Army - 6:15 PM
Sailor Beware - 8 PM
The Caddy - 10 PM
Living It Up - 12 AM April 30
There are other's I left out. If you want to see the entire schedule and
time's
go to the TCM website and click on schedule. They list the movie schedule
2 month's ahead.
Don Dean - N8IOJ
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2005 20:56:36 -0500
From: "bcockrum" <rmc44@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Springfield(s)
One last word on Springfields (?): I went to the USGS site that Stewart
Wright referred to in suggesting there were multiples of Springfields in
multiple states. I don't know exactly what USGS means by "populated places,"
but it certainly doesn't mean towns and cities in all cases. I followed
links for the Springfield supposedly in Randolph County, Ala., and one in
Clarke County, Ala. You click on the link that says "show feature location,"
and sure enough, up pops maps with red dots in the appropriate areas --
east-central Alabama and southwest Alabama ... but if you look on a map, at
least my ol' Rand McNally, you won't find a Springfield. I didn't find one
in the map index (though there is a Springville) and the database on the
State of Alabama Web site didn't come up with a Springfield.
Secondly, the confusion of having more than one Springfield in any one state
would be more than any organization, least of all, the Post Office, could
handle ... ZIP Code or no ZIP. From a Web site about the history of Grants
Pass, Ore.:
"The three men petitioned the Post Office Department for the establishment
of a local post office. They did not think the name of Louse Creek would
draw people to the area, so they decided to name it "Grant" in honor of
Union General [removed] Grant. Croxton received his appointment as postmaster,
but was told to select a new name because a Grant, Oregon already existed."
So it became Grant's Pass ... and then, over the years, Grants Pass.
I know of similar stories -- "oops, another town already named that, pick
another" -- here in Texas.
And finally, as to where the Anderson's own Springfield was -- from John
Dunning:
"Jim Anderson was an agent for General Insurance in Springfield, an average
town in the average Midwest at an average time in American history."
bc
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2005 09:35:16 -0500
From: Lee Munsick <damyankeeinva@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: The Life of Arthur Godfrey
Michael Paraniuk asked a series of questions about Arthur Godfrey. To do
justice to them would require a book about Mr. Godfrey, his activities and
associates. Which is just what I've been working on for years. But I'll
[removed]
Mr. Godfrey's relationship with his children was probably like many families
in which the breadwinner was deeply involved in his business, often away from
home for days or more at a time. Yet in a way he probably spent more time
with them than many [removed] years his routine was to fly from Teterboro
Airport in New Jersey to the "Leesburg International Cow Pasture" in Virginia
on Thursday afternoon, and return to New York on Sunday afternoons. He had
three children: Richard (Dick), from the first marriage. Patricia (Patty)
and Michael (Mike) from the second. Richard's mother remarried, and Richard
spent time with both families. He was close to Arthur's second wife Mary,
who treated him like her own son. He inherited a talent for broadcasting,
and for a time had his own program on KCBS in San Francisco, which is where I
met him. Subsequently he went into the real estate business. He has several
children of his own. He llives on the west coast. Dick remained very proud
of his father, and they had a close father-and-son relationship.
Next junior was Patricia, who seems to have had a very positive and
relatively normal relationship with Arthur. I have had contact with her on
occasion, and she also is proud of Arthur and his accomplishments. She
married an attorney and successful Washington businessman, and they had a
large family of their own. Not long ago they moved from their home in
McLean, Virginia (not far from the family farm located outside Leesburg), but
I believe they are still in Virginia. Mike has apparently had a love-hate
relationship with his father, which various correspondents and family friends
told me may have contributed to some serious childhood psychological
problems. Mike inherited his dad's interest in wildlife, conservation, and
aviation. He wrote and photographed for a number of beautiful books on
conservation and wildlife, and had his own film company which produced a
number of videos, especially on birds, including two magnificent videos on
hummingbirds. At least one of them was issued by the Audubon Society. He
was based in North Carolina, but I believe he also now lives in Virginia.
The family have kept their present addresses private, and I respect their
wishes.
When Arthur passed away, Mike and Patty were co-executors. Included in the
estate was Arthur's Beechcraft Duke twin-engine aircraft. For whatever
reason, Mike decided to sell it along with much of the rest of the estate. I
bought a lot of thing in the ensuing auction, which was a windfall for me but
something of a disaster for the family and the estate, which did not do well
from the auction. Principally, I think, because they chose the wrong New
York sale house to conduct the auction.
Not long afterward, I guess Mike had second thoughts about the aircraft, and
went out and purchased his own Beech Duke, but not the one his father had
owned. Which, by the way, was among a dozen or so which Arthur owned over
the years, including his famous DC-3 given to him by Captain Eddie
Rickenbacker, Eastern Airlines, and the aviation industry, as thanks for his
enormous support for aviation. His last large aircraft was a Grumman G-2
which was often leased out for use by others, among which (rumor has it) was
included the CIA. For obvious reasons, that can't be absolutely confirmed.
All the children are thankful for efforts on behalf of their dad's memory,
but continue the privacy which surrounded the family most of the time when
Arthur was active. They have thanked me and others for various activities of
recognition of Arthur, but do not contribute to them.
At the time of Mr. Godfrey's passing, quite a bit was made of the fact that
he did not bequeath a lot to either of his former spouses, and basically the
children were "cut out" of his will. This is not true. True, they did not
inherit a huge largesse via the will, for the good reason that they had all
been well provided for before his death. In the Biography Channel's video
biography on Mr. Godfrey in which I played a part, what I thought was a
remarkably fair appraisal of Mr. Godfrey unfortunately ended on a negative
note. Largely because of the attention paid to Julius LaRosa in the show's
interview with the singer. The producer told me that in that session, Julie
opened up and essentially told the true story of his separation from the
Godfrey programs, which since that event has always been characterized as a
"firing", which it most emphatically was not.
Julie, in this one occasion as he did with me, agreed that the accepted view
that he was fired was not the case at all, but the Biography producers chose
not to include that information in the final program. Instead, they chose to
reach a climax in the conversation, with LaRosa recalling a time when he
visited the Godfrey farm with a group of others who were being introduced
around by Mr. Godfrey. To each visitor, sub-teen Mike said something like,
"Nice to meet you, Sir" as he had obviously been raised to address adults.
Then Arthur Godfrey asked Mike to do something, and Mike routinely answered,
"Yes, sir". Julius looked into the camera and with great emphasis said, "His
own son?" A perfectly understandable situation blown out of proportion by
Julie, and then further by its strategic inclusion in the video. I thought
this was terribly unfair to the viewer, to Michael, and to Mr. Godfrey.
Arthur Godfrey was a complex, fascinating individual. My researches have
uncovered much about him not previously known to the public, or only
partially. For instance, with respect to "l'Affaire LaRosa" which I will
make a chapter in my book, in all modesty I believe that no-one, not even
Julie, knows the many facets of the story which I will include. And like
many incidents of inter-personal behavior, there may yet be other facets
which I do not know.
But there is enough that readers will find fascinating. Just as with the
telling of Arthur Godfrey's anti-Semitism, which are nothing but outright
lies. And Mr. Godfrey's involvement in the efforts to get Dwight Eisenhower
to run for President, and the subsequent successful election campaign, and
Ike's administration itself. And the seminal role which Mr. Godfrey played
in the creation of the Strategic Air Command (SAC), as told to me by its
commander, Gen. Curtis Lemay, who subsequently retired as Chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff. Newsworthy stuff.
Thanks for asking, Michael. If you or others would like more, please let me
know.
Bestus from Lee Munsick
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2005 09:35:28 -0500
From: Jer51473@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Helfer-Gleason and Allen-Barber baseball best?
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Both were great teams. Imo, mel allen and al helfer were the best baseball
announcers of all time, but everyone has their own opinion, of course. Barber
was also great, but lets face it, he was allens second banana as great as he
was. Al helfer has been grossly underrated as far as all time greats are
concerned, but in his time he was at the top of any list. How he lost his
popularity
so soon after his time i cant figure, but it seems to be happening to all of
them. Tv probably plays some role. I wouldn't call art gleason one of the
greats, but he certainly was good when paired with the great Helfer. Dizzy
Dean
and Pee Wee Reese also worked with Helfer i believe. Another great duo was
Russ
Hodges and Ernie Harwell who did the Giant games during the early fifties.
Btw, i am a yankees fan and therefore possess some bias for Allen and Barber.
And
really, the yankees were probably on Mutuals Game of the Day about fifty
percent of the time. Helfer was great as he described big burly players as
being
"big enough to go bear hunting with a buggy whip", anyone remember that?
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------------------------------
Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2005 09:34:58 -0500
From: John Mayer <mayer@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Disillusioned About Popeye
I was shocked and disillusioned recently to discover some old Popeye
radio programs wherein Popeye does NOT derive his bursts of strength
from spinach but, rather, from Wheatina. Coincidentally, Wheatina was
also the sponsor of the program. I don't know how many of the
original actors/actresses were used. Olive Oyl sounds rather like
Zazu Pitts, Wimpy sounds a bit different, and probably anybody in
your car pool can do a better impression of Popeye than the guy used
in this series, who sounds more like Bluto. But the real shocker is
the absence of Spinach. I wonder what the folks in Crystal City, in
the heart of spinach country, would have had to say about that, as
they erected a statue to honor Popeye's contribution to spinach
appreciation.
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2005 Issue #62
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