------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2004 : Issue 48
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
2-4 births/deaths [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
drinkin and western bad men [ vigor16@[removed] ]
Re:Fred Allen movie [ "Andrew Godfrey" <niteowl049@[removed] ]
Radio Tipplers [ John Mayer <mayer@[removed]; ]
it's your doody to vote [ k g-g <grams46@[removed] ]
Fred Allen in O'Henry's FullHouse [ "George M. Kelly" <gkelly1@[removed] ]
Re: Fred Allen and the movies [ "W. Gary W." <wgaryw@[removed]; ]
Amos n Andy question [ otrdude@[removed] ]
Anyone help? [ Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed]; ]
Re: Fred Allen and The Movies [ Ken Dahl <kdahl@[removed]; ]
King of the Royal Mounted [ "Nancy Hudson" <hudson@[removed]; ]
#OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Nig [ charlie@[removed] ]
Face made for Radio/La Cucaracha [ "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed]; ]
2-5 births'deaths [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
Everything new is old [removed] [ Wich2@[removed] ]
Burns and Allen/ Announcers [ lynn wagar <philcolynn@[removed]; ]
Crosby and Bob and Ray [ "charles lowery" <larson1@adelphia. ]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 3 Feb 2004 15:00:16 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 2-4 births/deaths
February 4th births
02-04-1895 - Nigel Bruce - Ensenada, Mexico - d. 10-8-1953
actor: Doctor John H. Watson "Advs. of Sherlock Holmes"
02-04-1909 - Robert Coote - London, England - d. 11-26-1982
actor: "Campbell's Playhouse"
02-04-1918 - Ida Lupino - London, England - d. 8-3-1995
panelist, actress: "Hollywood Byline"; "Screen Guild Theatre"
02-04-1918 - Janet Waldo - Grandview, WA
actress: Corliss Archer "Meet Corliss Archer"; Irene Franklin "One Man's
Family"
February 4th deaths
05-16-1919 - Liberace - West Milwaukee, WI - d. 2-4-1987
pianist, singer: "Stars for Defense"
08-06-1915 - Jim Ameche - Kenosha, WI - d. 2-4-1983
actor: Jack Armstrong "Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy"; Jim West
"Silver Eagle"
09-19-1904 - Dr. Bergen Evans - Franklin, OH - d. 2-4-1978
host: "Down You Go"; "Of Many Things"
11-08-1921 - Jerome Hines - Hollywood, CA - d. 2-4-2003
singer: "Standard Hour"; "Voice of Firestone"
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 3 Feb 2004 15:00:29 -0500
From: vigor16@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: drinkin and western bad men
Hi,
As far as drinking booze on the radio, I'm sure there are a few
characters who needed designated drivers. As per mentioned, we have Jack
Beeny's band headed up by the lovable lush Phil Harris who seemed to pass
his habit on to Eliot Lewis as Remley. We also have Molly McGee's
wonderful uncle Dennis who even showed up for many shows. A couple of
shows FM&M seemed to put the "Old Timer" in that embibing state. I'm
sure a lot of the town turned out to the Abraganza or Long Branch in
Gunsmoke. Hows about the janitor (forget his name) in Our Miss Brooks.
This show mildly refered to his lifestyle in the basement on a couple of
shows. Drinking seemed to be a great plot thing for westerns. It was
almost a precursor for a normal citizen getting upset and pulling a gun
only to be soaking up the sawdust for taking on an ordinary gunfighter.
Speaking of which, I was talking to my wife the other day and it seems
like nothing good ever came out of St. Louis in the old west portrails on
radio. If there was a hired gun or bad man, he seemed to come from STL.
Is this because of the river gambling history or what. Does this seem to
ring true or am I just listening to too many of one type of western
plots. I moved there about ten years ago and find the people to be kind
a neat.
Make a new friend every day
Deric
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 3 Feb 2004 15:15:58 -0500
From: "Andrew Godfrey" <niteowl049@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re:Fred Allen movie
Just checked at [removed] and Fred Allen was in O Henry's Full House movie
in 1952 and played Sam in Ransom of the Red Chief.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 3 Feb 2004 16:06:46 -0500
From: John Mayer <mayer@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Radio Tipplers
"A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed]; offered:
> I recall a lot of drunk jokes on old-time TV--Red Skelton, Jackie Gleason,
Dean Martin--but I don't seem to recall any on old radio.
How about Phil Harris?
And the male half of the Bickersons, an unabashed drunk.
--
"Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you mad."
-- Aldous Huxley
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 3 Feb 2004 16:19:49 -0500
From: k g-g <grams46@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: it's your doody to vote
"Derek Tague" asked:
the only other OTR-fueled
"campaign" I could think of was Gracie Allen's in 1940. Can anybody out
there help me think of any others?
when he was a character on nbc's puppet playhouse, the radio howdy doody ran
for president in 1948 against mr. x who turned out to be howdy's twin
brother, double doody. howdy won and was inaugurated president of the kids
of the united states the following january.
in 1952, as a character on the televised howdy doody show, howdy ran for
relection and won.
in 1956 (when i was 10), the televised howdy was a "candidate".
the day after the election, my father told me that dwight eisenhower had been
re elected. my response was: "what about howdy?"
from kathy
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 3 Feb 2004 16:58:04 -0500
From: "George M. Kelly" <gkelly1@[removed];
To: OldRadio Mailing Lists <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Fred Allen in O'Henry's FullHouse
Fred Allen portrayed one of the unfortunate kidnappers in "The Ransom of Red
Chief" in the movie, O'Henry's Full House which was an anthology of three or
four of O'Henry's stories. I've seen it several times and enjoyed his
performance.
George Kelly
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 4 Feb 2004 00:58:36 -0500
From: "W. Gary W." <wgaryw@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Fred Allen and the movies
Wasn't Fred Allen in an adaptation of O'Henry's
"Ransom of Big Chief?"
yup-- the movie was called "O'Henry's Full House", an
anthology of 5 short stories adapted for the screen in
1952. fred allen co-starred with oscar levant in the
"Ransom og Big Chief" segment. here's the link for
more info from the IMDB site:
[removed]
--w. gary w.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 4 Feb 2004 00:58:58 -0500
From: otrdude@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Amos n Andy question
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Were episodes of Amos n Andy rebroadcast in the summer of 1947? Many
collectors own shows with dates from July 1947 (see below), but they do not
show up in Jerry's log of A 'n A which was created with the help of Elizabeth
McLeod.
aa470701 Pearls
aa470715 Andy Trailer
aa470722 Renting Out the SpareRoom
aa470729 Andy The Gentleman Farmer
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------------------------------
Date: Wed, 4 Feb 2004 00:59:21 -0500
From: Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Anyone help?
As there are some very knowledgeable radio opera fans on this digest, could
someone possibly answer this question? Feel free to either email the
digest or me directly. I can pass it back to the person who asked me about it.
Thanks!
An elderly friend of mine has asked me if i would sing a song at her
memorial service when she passes away. My problem is that she used to
hear this sweet song sung at the end of the New York metropolitan opera
broadcasts in the 1930's hosted by Milton Kent. She believed that the
song was called the Slumber song ? I hope that you might be able to help
me find info about this music, I'm really having a hard time finding
anything about it at all. Thank you for any info you might be able to
share. David Manos
Jim Widner
jwidner@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 4 Feb 2004 00:59:33 -0500
From: Ken Dahl <kdahl@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Fred Allen and The Movies
I searched the web and found a movie called The Big Chief (1960). It is
based on a story by O. Henry called Ransom of Chief Red. The credits had a
list of names which appeared to be of Italian origin. I found no mention of
Fred Allen. You can check it out at
[removed]
Regards,
Ken Dahl
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 4 Feb 2004 01:00:07 -0500
From: "Nancy Hudson" <hudson@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: King of the Royal Mounted
In #47, [removed] writes:
Subject: Zane Grey & Sgt. King
Sorry to disappoint Russell S. Hudson, but Zane Grey had almost nothing
to do with Sgt. King of the Royal Mounted, other than collect his
royalty [removed] He certainly did not create the fictional Mountie he
is often credited with inventing.
The story begins in the mid 30s, when a [removed] promoter of comic strips,
Stephen Slesinger, (he's the one who talked Fred Harman into the
creation of "Red Ryder"), noticed that the Toronto Telegram was
dropping its strip, "Men of the Mounted." It had appeared in Canadian
newspaper from Feb 1933 to Feb 1935 and featured several red-coated
Mounties, including Corporal King. Slesinger bought the rights to the
strip, promoted King from Corporal to Sgt., and went looking for a [removed]
team to produce the strip.
Slesinger, trying to get a big name above the title, signed a contract
with Zane Grey, who would be paid well for doing nothing. To sweeten
the pot, Slesinger hired Gray's son, Romer, to write the storyline.
Talented artist Allen Dean was put under contract to draw the script
and this very successful newspaper comic strip was launched in mid
1935. With Zane Grey's name in the title, the strip went on to become a
very profitable venture, lasting daily or Saturdays for twenty years.
In the process, it spawned a comic book series by Dell, a hard-cover
novel by Whitman Publishing, some Big-Little Books, and a pair of radio
shows. But it's unlikely that Zane Grey wrote even one word of this
enormous output.
Jack French
Editor: RADIO RECALL
Not to mention the movies, Jack.
I was aware Grey had very little to do with this venture. Frank Gruber,
one of Grey's biographers, mentions Grey wrote some of the "King" story
outlines and Romer broke them down into daily continuity. There were
other literary ventures to which Grey lent his name as well.
Grey was at a financial low point in his career at this time. He
survived the '29 crash, since he had not invested heavily in stocks.
But, owing to the Depression, sales of his stories serialized for
magazines fell precipitously, since magazines themselves were not
selling well. For example, in 1933, Grey did not sell a single story to
a magazine. Also, like all great fishermen, in 1930, Grey bought a new
boat for $40,[removed], the "Kallisto" built in Germany by Krupp, renamed
it "Fisherman II" and spent over $300,[removed] more just refurbishing it
(1930 dollars here--real money.) The early 30's was not a high point in
the life of Zane Grey.
"King" is interesting from the OTR perspective that merely four years
after his death, his name, as one of the most powerful and successful
popular writers of the time, still could not help promote "King" to
radio. (Probably sounded too much like "Challenge of the Yukon"!!)
Still looking for any info on the Richard Dix show.
Russ Hudson
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 4 Feb 2004 02:12:00 -0500
From: lois@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: #OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Night!
For the best in OTR Chat, join IRC (Internet Relay Chat), StarLink-IRC
Network, the channel name is #OldRadio. We meet Thursdays at 8 PM Eastern
and go on, and on! The oldest OTR Chat Channel, it has been in existence
over six years, same time, same channel! Started by Lois Culver, widow
of actor Howard Culver, this is the place to be on Thursday night for
real-time OTR talk!
Our numerous "regulars" include one of the busiest "golden years" actors in
Hollywood; a sound man from the same era who worked many of the top
Hollywood shows; a New York actor famed for his roles in "Let's Pretend" and
"Archie Andrews;" owners of some of the best OTR sites on the Web.
For more info, contact charlie@[removed]. See you there!
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 4 Feb 2004 11:24:09 -0500
From: "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Face made for Radio/La Cucaracha
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Hi gang:
Re: Laura Leff's original posting.
The 1994 film "Quiz Show" (directed by Robert Redford) about the 1950s TV
quiz-show scandals features a scene where the control-room personnel at
"Twenty-One" are focussing a close-up on Herbert Stempel (played by John
Turturro); this prompts a woman there to remark something to the effect of
"talk abou a face made for radio."
As for "la cucarachas" smoking marijuana: is this why the remnant of a
"joint," [removed], a marijuana cigarette, is called a "roach?"
Does anybody have a clue about this entomological etymology? Thanks,
Off-topically yours in the ether,
Derek Tague
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------------------------------
Date: Wed, 4 Feb 2004 11:24:44 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 2-5 births'deaths
February 5th births
02-05-1893 - Carlton Coon - Rochester, MN - d. 5-4-1932
bandleader: (Coon-Sanders Nighthawks) "Florsheim Frolic"
02-05-1906 - John Carradine - Greenwich Village, NY - d. 11-27-1988
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
02-05-1918 - Tim Holt - Beverly Hills, CA - d. 2-15-1973
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
02-05-1919 - Red Buttons - NYC
actor: "Guest Star"; "Friar's Club Roast"
02-05-1934 - Hank Aaron - Mobile, AL
baseball legend: "Baseball: An Action History"; "Tops In Sports"
February 5th deaths
02-14-1905 - Thelma Ritter - Brooklyn, NY - d. 2-5-1969
actress: "Aldrich Family"; "Big Town "; "McGarry and His Mouse"
04-10-1868 - George Arliss - London, England - d. 2-5-1946
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
07-06-1905 - Pauline Drake - Denver, CO - d. 2-5-1981
actress: Bessie "Great Gildersleeve"; "Miss Duffy "Duffy's Tavern"
11-07-1903 - Dean Jagger - Lima, OH - d. 2-5-1991
actor: "Crisis in War Town"; "Columbia Workshop"; "Cavalcade of America"
11-14-1914 - Court Benson - Vancouver, Canada - d. 2-5-1995
announcer, narrator: "Tennessee Jed"
12-01-1896 - Ethel Shutta - NYC - d. 2-5-1976
singer-comedienne: "Jack Benny Program"
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 4 Feb 2004 12:34:19 -0500
From: Wich2@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Everything new is old [removed]
Dear Russ, & gang-
From: "RBB" <oldradio@[removed];
Just received the Museum of Radio-TV email ... They list a "Re-Creating
Radio"
workshop for children ... I presume that it is also the same at MTR in NYC
It is indeed, and it is run there by the simply terrific Ms. Eevin Hartsough.
Eevin has done excellent work with Quicksilver on JULIUS CEASAR, and last
December's live CHRISTMAS CAROL. She's a double threat: sfx artist and actor.
Say, wouldn't it be great to have a whole new generation of creative people
producing Saturday morning radio shows syndicated on stations other than
"Disney Radio"?
(Sorry Charlie; as Ron Reagan was known to say, "Here we go [removed]")
Yes, it not only WOULD be great - it already IS! If you mean "great", as in
good work is being done, by many people, in many places.
Think it would sell?
Well, not really. Largely because Program Directors are programmed to respond
to submissions with, "Our listeners don't want to hear that stuff." Gee, what
if masses of listeners called, wrote, & emailed, saying otherwise? Then, the
already existing sweat-of-many-brows work would be better known - things like
THE TWILIGHT ZONE, THE RADIOWORKS, and-
Quicksilver Radio Theater
(Producer,) Craig Wichman
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 4 Feb 2004 12:36:56 -0500
From: lynn wagar <philcolynn@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Burns and Allen/ Announcers
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I am looking for some one who might consider themselves some what of an expert
on Burns and Allen. I am also looking for someone who is knowledge able on OTR
Announcers. I am trying to find more information on Harry von Zell. If you
can help me
out please contact me personally. Thanks you for your considerations and
intrest!
Lynn Wagar
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------------------------------
Date: Wed, 4 Feb 2004 16:08:37 -0500
From: "charles lowery" <larson1@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Crosby and Bob and Ray
The Bob and Ray routines that aired on PBS between 1982 and 1987 are
available on CDs from [removed] They are called "The
Best of Bob and Ray:Vol. 1", through Vol. 5. Among other items from the OTR
era, Collectors Choice has "Bing Crosby The Centenary Collection", which has
88 songs for $[removed], four CDs at quite a good price. The usual disclaimers;
I'm just on their mailing list for their catalog, a good catalog for anyone
into music.
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2004 Issue #48
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