------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2004 : Issue 348
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Back from FOTR [ "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed]; ]
FOTR Postscript/Happy Welles Day! [ "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed]; ]
MAD MAGAZINE, EC COMICS AND OTR [ PURKASZ@[removed] ]
Zero Hour Star Plays Edgar Allen Poe [ ilamfan@[removed] ]
the annoying laugh [ "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed] ]
FOTR [ <adf3@[removed]; ]
Walden and Friends' Halloween spookt [ BryanH362@[removed] ]
Nightwatch [ "Andrew Godfrey" <niteowl049@[removed] ]
War of the Worlds & The Shadow [ John Olsen <jrolsen@[removed]; ]
Elizabeth's Book [ "Tom Thomas" <tomth@[removed]; ]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 28 Oct 2004 20:22:31 -0400
From: "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Back from FOTR
Jell-O Again:
Get ready, everybody, for name-dropping of Munsick-ian proportions.
Martin Grams, Jr. <mmargrajr@[removed];
Subject: FOTR Convention
posted <snip>
>>Stayed up till 2 and that involved pizza delivery.
Martin, you were staying in the state known for its great [removed] you
ordered Domino's! (as Martin,
the Delra Oracle, acknowledged in another post). Maybe Domino's, Little
Caesar's, Pizza Hut, and all the
other chains are great elsewhere in the good ol' [removed] of A., but here in New
Jersey, where pizza is a way
of life, you could've ordered the genuine article had you delved further into
the Yellow Pages. Before I touch
off a firestorm of responses contrary to my Jersey-centric opinionated stance,
I personally feel IMHO
that one cannot find great pizza west of the Delaware River.
Martin also praised the Friday daytime events by mentioning
a comedy panel led by Derek, <snip>
Please don't forget my co-host Mary Lou Wallace, with whom I could not have
able to pull it off. While
I'm on the subject of said comedy panel, I want to acknowledge for everybody
to hear that I'll be the first to
admit that I ripped the idea off from Stuart Weiss, Brian Gari, and Mike
Henry's "Singers' Panel." Mary Lou
& I thought we'd do the same thing only with comedians rather than singers.
Jane Kean stole the show with
her songs and impressions. Will Hutchins always tells funny stories. Elena
Verdugo's niece/traveling companion
Lisa regaled the crowd with her impersonation of Soupy Sales's pal "White
Fang." FOTR perennial Will Jordan
and last year's discovery Bobby Ramsen rounded out the panel. All in all, it
was one of the best things I ever
co-hosted ("Hello, Mary Lou").
I'd also like to thank and acknowlege all the nice things said to me about
this year's Comedy panel. I don't
know how to go about this without bragging but I've heard nothing but good
things about it, especially the nice
things Listmaster Charlie "Aamco" Summers said about it on his blog.
Particularly, I'd like to thank everybody for
the warmth extended Soupy Sales. I was sitting next to him when we played the
(in)famous video of Soupy as a
waiter circa 1964 getting into a big pie-fight free-for-all with Frank Sinatra
& his Rat Pack. I truly wish everybody
could've seen as I did from two feet away the expression on Soupy's face and
how it lit up with joy as he watched
along. Thanks also to Brian Gari for providing the clip.
Speaking of Brian, who we all know is Eddie Cantor's grandson and the leading
archivist of Cantoriana, one of my
best puns came about during one of the cocktail hours. Y'see, Arlene Osborne
asked me if I had seen Mr. Gari. I
ventured "Maybe he cantered off." Arlene, equestrian that she is, appreciated
it.
Hat's off to Steve Lewis and the Gotham Radio Players for the poignant and
moving staging of the "Battle of Warsaw
Ghetto." Originally, the comedy panel was originally supposed to precede it.
I'm glad we all were able to change that
awkward juxtaposition by getting Jay Hickerson to situate Dave Zwengler's
interview with Arthur Anderson in be-
tween.
Hey, everybody, check out Arthur's new edition of his "Let's Pretend" text not
only because of its updated material, but
also because it's a great read! Martin & I worked on the broadcast log & I
even got my name mentioned on the book
jacket. Now if only the Library of Congress would commission it as a Talking
Book. You talking book subscribers know
what you need to do? Contact the NLS (National Library Service for the Blind
and Physically Handicapped) and tell
them you want it done as an audio. Make sure you ask for the "expanded"
edition which is titled "Let's Pretend and the
Golden Age of Radio" courtesy of Ben Ohmart's Bear Manor Media Press.
Speaking of Ben, kudos to Ben Ohmart and Bear Manor, which is increasingly
becoming known as an alternative to that
publisher with the Scottish name in one of the Carolinas. Ben brings out great
OTR books as well as biographies of actors
whose stories might be passed over by the big publishing houses. Personally, I
don't need to have a bio of character actor
Albert Salmi, but it's great to know there's a publisher like Ben willing to
avail it and all his other books to us OTR folks
at reasonable prices. Another one of Ohmart's fortes is animation. So check
out [removed] to see
what you've been missing. It was great seeing you, Ben, and all the
super-neato-peachy-boss books you purvey.
On Saturday morning, somebody--I do not know whom--had ten mint-condition
copies of John Dunning's "Tune In
Yesterday" materialise on Jay Hickerson's dealer's table. I'd like to thank
whomever's magnanimity for allowing them to be
sold for the unbelievably low price of $[removed] I got mine.
I finally bought "Private Eyelashes" by Jack French (two copies actually--one
for my sister-in-law) and forgot to get them
signed. Congrats, Jack, not only for a splendid book, but also for winning
FOTR's "Ray Stanich Award," presented annually
to outstanding authors of OTR-related books. Plus, thanks for representing
your Metro Washington OTR Club and your
"Radio Recall" publication on the initial panel offering on Thursday afternoon
about OTR publications. I'd also like to thank
Richard "Dick" Olday fromthe Buffalo NY-area "The Old Time Radio Club"/"The
Illustrated Press," Barbara "Sunday"Watkins
for speaking quite impromptu about SPERDVAC & its "RadioGram," Chuck Schaden
for sending out signed copies of
"Speaking of Radio" for raffle prizes, and some other feller with curly hair
who runs an Internet OTR Digest. :)
During the Jack Benny/cartoon presentation I did with Michael Hayde, I noticed
that the final "E" from Mary Livinstone's
name was dropped in the credits for "The Mouse That Jack Built" as it was on
the comic book cover for "Jack Benny Comics"
recently linked here. This is a common mistake, I presume, since the name is
pronounced "-stun" and not "-stone" as it's
spelled. Thanks also to Mr. Dragnet, Rodney Bowcock, Fred Berney, and Mary Lou
Wallace for helping make this panel a
success.
In the "small world, isn't it?" department, I learned that Eugene Bergmann,
the gentleman who was promoting "Excelsior,
You Fathead!," his upcoming bio of radio humourist Jean Shepard, is married to
Allison Bergmann, who used to run the Helen
Keller archive heer at American Foundation for the Blind.
Conspicuously absent were tape dealers Ted Davenport and Tom Monroe from Radio
Memories; Andy Blatt from Vintage
Broadcasts; Gary and LaDonna Kramer from Great American Audio; and Ed Carr.
Here's hoping you can all ride through the
current move away from OTR audio-tapes. Of course, Barry HIll was sorely
missed. I had to get all my jokes from Ed Clute.
We all miss you, Barry. A tip of the cap for David Phaneuf's recent tribute to
Barry in this space as he reported fom Mr. Hill's
funeral. Lapsed OTR dealer Gordon "The Sci-Fi Guy" Payton put in an appearance
on Thrsday afternoon, but only as aconven-
tioneer and not as a dealer. Don't be a stranger, Gordon.
I always judge how the convention will unfold by the first OTR hobbyist I see
when I check in on Wednesday afternoon. This
year Maggie Thompson had that serendipitous [removed] it truly turned out
GREAT! Other nifty highlights were meeting
George Ansbro's grandchildren, having breakfast on Sunday morning with Elena
Verdugo, signing the humongous get-well card
for Peg Lynch (courtesy of FOTR camerman Harold Zeigler; it was announced
that Peg and her husband Od had both suffered
strokes recently), and riding back to the airport on Sunday afternoon with
Jimmy Lydon. I also told Corinne Orr that when she
and I get together, it's an "Ether/Orr" situation.
Hal Stone did a marvellous job as moderator for the "One-on-One" interview of
Joyce Van Patten, who pinch-hit for her
brother Dick(ie), who missed the convention due to a gig in NYC where he and
Renee Taylor wll be playing the King & Queen
in a limited engagement of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Cinderella." Hal, along
with Bob Hastings, Jimmy Lydon, Paul Petersen,
and Ed & Nana Clute also brought down the house for a second smaller-scale
comedy panel on Saturday afternoon. I told Hal
that I'm going to recommend he be given an open "wild card" time-slot every
year. Hal put in "Don't you dare!"
I have so many friends in the OTR hobby both on the Digest and off-. I'd like
to acknowledge everybody I got to hang out with,
but I've already taken up enough space. However, special mention should go to
re-creation directors Anthony Tollin and Terry
Salononson ("Green Hornet"), Arthur Anderson ("You Are There," "Great Scenes
from Great Plays"), Gary Yoggy ("The
Bickersons," "My Favourite Husband," the Dave Warren Players' "Baby Snooks"),
Steve Lewis, Max Schmid, & the Gotham
Radio Players ("The Eternal Light: The Battle for the Warsaw Ghetto"), Don
Ramlow ("Crime [removed]"), William Nadel
("Sherlock Holmes"), Dave Zwengler, Randy Larson, & the Chicago "Those Were
The Days Radio Players" ("Duffy's Tavern"),
Arthur Anderson again along with John Eccles, Jr., and Chip Garrison and the
high school Absegami Players,and director John
Gallagher, who was unfortunately crowded out this year and valiantly gave up
his timeslot to acccomodatethe others
Bravos all around!
On a sad note, we lost one of our number immediately after the convention. On
Saturday afternon, Edgar Farr Russell, Jr.,
father of FOTR scriptwriting winner Lt. Col. Edgar Farr Russell III was rushed
to University Hospital here in Newark NJ,
where he died on Sunday morning. The senior Russell was a lifetime Navy
veteran who had been in failing health in recent years.
I did manage to speak with my buddy Edgar III the other night. He assured me
that his dad died happy: not only did he have a mini-
reunion with some of his veteran buddies last weekend, but he got to be
present (and receive a standing ovation from the Thursday
night banquet crowd) at the unveiling of Edgar's prize-winning "You Are There"
documenting the story of the Wright Brothers. Both
Edgar and his brother Frazier had small roles in this play. If "you were
there," then you would have heard the sidenote during the
closing narration about how Edgar's great-aunt (played as a young girl by
Barbara Watkins in the story) was present at another famous post-Kitty Hawk
Wright Brothers event. (Funeral/memorial details to follow).
A fitting tribute for the illustrious Russell family.
Yours forever in the ether,
Derek Tague
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 28 Oct 2004 20:29:24 -0400
From: "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: FOTR Postscript/Happy Welles Day!
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It's I again:
First off, as a postscript to my convention report, I just wanted to
acknowledge the great tribute Will
"Sugarfoot" Hutchins paid the Friends of Old-Time Radio (FOTR) convention. I
heard "Hutch" tell
Jay Hickerson that he no longer plans his year around Christmas and New Year's
anymore; instead, the
highlight of Will's year is the New Jersey FOTR convention. What a tribute!
What a guy!
Also, I'm a little remiss and embarrassed myself. In my foregoing missive, I
forgot to thank personally
the one-and-only JAY HICKERSON for the outstanding job he does in making FOTR
happen. The
29th annual convention is definitely one for the books! Who knows what's in
store for Number 30?
Of course, this coming Saturday 10/30 (as already noted by Joe Mackey's "This
Week in OTR History"),
is the 66th aniversary of Orson Welles & his Mercury Theatre's staging of [removed]
Wells's "The War of the
Worlds" (known colloquially here as "WOTW"). Being that we OTR types have to
create our own holidays
and observances, this one is a natural.
For lack of a better name, I suggest "Welles Day," or the homophonic "Wells
Day," if you're more inclined
to celebrate [removed] instead of Orson. For anybody with a better name, I'm all
ears.
"Welles Day" sure beats the heck out of "Mischief Night," "Devil's Night,"
"Hell Night," and "Goosey Night"
(which is what it was called in the Paterson NJ area; go figure!).
"Hallow from the ether!"
DT
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Date: Thu, 28 Oct 2004 21:33:57 -0400
From: PURKASZ@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: MAD MAGAZINE, EC COMICS AND OTR
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Reader Ken may have his personal memory-time module askew as we all did when
in High school and as we all seem to even now.
He states he first read Mad when he was in 7th or 8th grade but that he
graduated High School in 1951.
That's gotta be a time shift worthy of an OTR episode as Mad did not
make an appearance till October, (My 10th birthday and a present to myself
for
one thin dime!) of 1952.
Worse yet for the concept of 'time' in Ken's and many of our minds,
Alfred E. Newman (Not Neumann) did not make an appearance till he made the
cover
in November of [removed] in time for Cold War paranoia, the McCarthy
Witchhunt trials and for many of us, the return of our sanity with his,
"What, me
worry."
He may have been my first hero.
William Gaines, the publisher and helmsman of that great melting pot of
fun with the 'Usual gang of idiots' at 225 Lafayette Street in NYC, created
Mad in response, he once said, to the growing attacks from right-wing
do-gooders about his great Horror Comic titles like, Crypt of Terror, Vault
of Horror
and my fave, The Haunt of Fear with the nightmarish artwork of Graham
"Ghastly" Ingalls.
When he was forced to close those down by committees of the 'concerned
for our children' groups, Mad was born in a white hot fury of satire and
desperation.
They still live with me today.
He also admitted that he got many of his stories for Mad from radio
broadcasts which, as many of the more perceptive in our group have noted,
featured the same wacky concept of the 'Host' with the sardonic humor as
first
evidenced with Raymond and later to a more sophisticated and darker degree
with
Paul McGrath as the great Inner Sanctum program which ran during that same
magical time.
This means that at one time in the great country of America, (Canada
too) there was available, concurrently, Inner Sanctum on the radio and EC
Comics
at the drugstore.
I know. I remember.
I was there.
It still gives me a warm feeling.
Ah, the wonder of all our influences and long may they live with the
ensuing generation who never tire of asking me, "So, where are all your EC
comics now?"
That's when I begin to weep.
Michael C. Gwynne
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Date: Fri, 29 Oct 2004 09:20:37 -0400
From: ilamfan@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed] (OTR Bulletin Board)
Subject: Zero Hour Star Plays Edgar Allen Poe
John Astin, who was a star on the opening 5-part 1973 Zero Hour series
"The Wife Of The Red Haired Man", is currently playing Edgar Allen Poe in his
one-man show "Once Upon A Midnight". Many may remember him as Gomez Addams
on "The Addams Family", or Buddy from "Night Court", or maybe the other
Riddler (not Frank Gorshin) from "Batman", or possibly even his obscure
comedy western movie "Evil Roy Slade".
I just saw his Poe show this last week, and it was phenomenal! He was
incomparable, showing the wonderful humor, great sadness, gothic horror, and
scientific wonderment of this superb American writer. Poe was,of course,
much more than just a writer of horror stories - he was also a book reviewer,
a scathing satirist, a master poet, and the originator of the idea that space
and time are related.
All of these diverse puzzle-pieces are assembled masterfully by Mr
Astin, who, quite frankly, [removed] only the REAL Edgar Allen
Poe on stage to tell of his life, his woes, his loves. Absolutely
breathtaking.
Most of his public will only know him as "Gomez", but I will always
think of him as POE. What a great evening. If you get the chance, see this
show.
There is a website for the show at: [removed]
Stephen Jansen
--
Old Time Radio never dies - it
just changes formats!
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 29 Oct 2004 09:21:00 -0400
From: "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: the annoying laugh
In an episode of Great Gildersleeve (43-04-18) the
listener can hear the obnoxious laugh of an audience
member.
...
Anyone familiar with how the actors and
actresses responded in such situations? Or were they
even very aware of the audience?
I imagine that nobody was disturbed at all
because the guy was probably planted in the audience. The 'applause'
and 'laugh' signs are generally effective, but it's always wise to
have a backup system.
There's a long tradition of this sort of thing. Operas long
used professional applauders and cheerers and perhaps some still do.
I once read that the fellow who appears on the label of Zig-Zag cigarette
rolling papers
was a professional applauder for the Paris Opera.
M Kinsler
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 29 Oct 2004 09:21:22 -0400
From: <adf3@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: FOTR
I was pleased to attend FOTR on Friday; primarily to catch up with e-buddy
Will Jordan. However, it was also a pleasure to meet Terry Salmonson,
(keeper of the Harris-Faye transcriptions) and the amazing boy wonder, Ben
Ohmart! If Ben didn't exist, we would have to invent him. He's the patron
saint of the reluctant biographer.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 29 Oct 2004 09:21:41 -0400
From: BryanH362@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Walden and Friends' Halloween spooktakular!
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This weekends on air line up to be heard on Yesterdayusa .
Fri, Sat and Sun 7:30 PDT / 10:30 EDT
Friday 10-29-04
A. A Special Interview from the archives : Frank Bresee interviews Orson
Welles
B. some of the OTR will be:
Mercury Theater 's Wars of the Worlds broadcast from 10-30-38, and
the NBC show heard opposite that historic night "The Chase and Sanborn
hour starring Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy.
Saturday 10-30-04
A. Classic Interview : John Dunning interviews Raymond Edward Johnson of
Inner Sanctum Mysteries fame.
B. YUSA interview with Dick Beals.
C. a mix of OTR like [removed]
Sunday 10-31-04
A. Mike Biels back from FOTR.
B. Laura Leff presents the Jack Benny show from 10-29-44
c. a mix of OTR like Fibber Mcgee and Molly, Great Gildersleeve, Lux Radio
Theater, and One Man's Family
D. Richard Lamparski interviews Johnny Downs
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Date: Fri, 29 Oct 2004 09:21:53 -0400
From: "Andrew Godfrey" <niteowl049@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Nightwatch
Nightwatch to me is one of the most realistic OTR shows ever made. You can
feel the tension in the patrol car when they are speeding to a crime scene.
This is reality radio at its best. There are some unusual but true stories
like the one about the man breaking into a motel room to steal some bedding
then take it down the street to the place where he lives. It is good to know
someone else besides me enjoys the show.
Andrew Godfrey
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 29 Oct 2004 09:23:11 -0400
From: John Olsen <jrolsen@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: War of the Worlds & The Shadow
It's the 66th anniversary of one of radio's most famous broadcasts,
Orson Welles' "War of the Worlds" on the Mercury Theater. As my homage
to that broadcast, I wrote a special you-solve-it mystery featuring The
Shadow. It's short at under 500 words; you can read it in under two
minutes at:
[removed]~deshadow/tmsm/
This mini-mystery gives a special nod to the national interest in
mythical Martians generated by the 1938 broadcast. And it has a little
fun with Lamont Cranston and Margo Lane, at the same time.
New Two-Minute Shadow Mysteries have been posted every Friday for over a
year, now; this is number eighty-four. For the OTR Shadow purists, it
should be noted that these little mysteries are fashioned after the pulp
version of The Shadow, not the radio version. Our hero can't cloud
men's minds.
After you've sat down and listened to Mercury Theater's "War of the
Worlds" this Halloween, check out the mini-mystery. See if you can
outwit Lamont Cranston in a mini-mystery entitled "Deception's Masquerade."
John
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 29 Oct 2004 09:23:30 -0400
From: "Tom Thomas" <tomth@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Elizabeth's Book
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I had not been keeping up with The Digest of late, so when I read that
Elizabeth McLeod had been out of Digest range and just returned, I was first
dismayed, then relieved. Then, as if for a bonus, I recently saw that
Elizabeth had a book soon to be published. I'm looking forward to May,
[removed] least that's when McFarland said the book was coming out. I plan
to making sure I make the time to keep up with this Digest, as I find I'm
rediscovering the expertise, generosity and depth of knowledge of the
contributors that got me hooked to begin with.
Regards,
Tom Thomas
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--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2004 Issue #348
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