Subject: [removed] Digest V2009 #181
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 9/25/2009 12:43 PM
To: [removed]@[removed]
Reply-to:
[removed]@[removed]

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2009 : Issue 181
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                             [removed]
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  9-23 births/deaths                    [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
  re: Bill Idelson                      [ Steve Darnall <fvpress@[removed] ]
  NBC Symphony Orchestra and Pearl Har  [ Michael Shoshani <mshoshani@sbcglob ]
  Re: Victor Borge - an original        [ "Irene Theodore Heinstein" <IreneTH ]
  Richard Wagner                        [ KC0PWA <oldradiotimes@[removed]; ]
  9-24 births/deaths                    [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
  Re: Kraft No-Applause Rule            [ <georgewagner@[removed]; ]
  Man Who Could Work Miracles           [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
  Richard Wagner's Ring                 [ CMS Admin <rfmillerjr1@[removed]; ]
  There was a brighter day when we had  [ <otrbuff@[removed]; ]

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

Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:30:05 -0400
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  9-23 births/deaths

September 23rd births

09-23-1884 - Bill Lawrence - East St. Louis, IL - d. 2-14-1973
producer, director: "Fitch Bandwagon"; "Screen Guild Theatre"
09-23-1889 - Don Bestor - Longford, SD - d. 1-13-1970
bandleader: "Nestle Program"; "Jack Benny Program"
09-23-1893 - Louis Sorin - NYC - d. 12-14-1961
actor: Pan Pancho "Cisco Kid"
09-23-1897 - Walter Pidgeon - East St. John, New Brunswick, Canada -
d. 9-25-1984
actor: "Hollywood Calling"; "Screen Guild Theatre"; "Lux Radio Theatre"
09-23-1901 - Frederick Hazlitt Brennan - d. 6-30-1962
writer: "Shorty Bell" based on Brennan's stories
09-23-1905 - Charlie Arlington - d. 1-9-1986
announcer: "Michael Shayne, Private Detective"; "Voyage of the Scarlet
Queen"
09-23-1907 - Jarmila Novatana - Prague, Czechoslovakia - d. 2-9-1994
lyric soprano: "The Pause that Refreshes"; "The Celanese Hour"
09-23-1907 - Rudd Weatherwax - Engel, Sierra County, NM - d. 2-25-1985
dog trainer: "Lassie"
09-23-1908 - Sammy Forsmark - Georgia - d. 8-21-1961
steel guitar: "The Radio Cowboys"
09-23-1908 - Tiny Bradshaw - Youngstown, OH - d. 11-26-1958
orchestra leader: "Jubilee"; "One Night Stand"
09-23-1910 - Elliott Roosevelt - NYC - d. 10-27-1990
commentary for the Mutual Network (Son of FDR) "Information Please"
09-23-1913 - Helen Hiett - Tazewell, IL - d. 8-22-1961
correspondent, newscaster: "Helen Hiett News"; "News Roundup"
09-23-1913 - Robert Hudson Ballard - Nyack, NY - d. 5-2-1992
violinist, arranger: "Phil Harris Orchestra"
09-23-1913 - Stanley Kramer - NYC - d. 2-19-2001
film director: "Jack Benny Program"; "Stagestruck"
09-23-1914 - Aileen Burke - d. 3-xx-1992
author: "Reflex Action"
09-23-1919 - Ruth Sprague - San Francisco, CA
actor: "I Love a Mystery"; "Death Valley Days"; "Dog Dramas"
09-23-1920 - Mickey Rooney - Brooklyn, NY
actor: Andy Hardy "Hardy Family"; Ralph J. 'Shorty' Bell "Shorty Bell"
09-23-1927 - Richard Seff - NYC
actor/writer: "Aldrich Family"; "Brighter Day"; "Road of Life"
09-23-1927 - Virginia McDowall - London, England - d. 12-8-2006
actor: "Family Theatre"; "NBC University Theatre"

September 23rd deaths

01-24-1881 - Earl Godwin - Washington, [removed] - d. 9-23-1956
newsman: "Watch the World Go By"
02-16-1914 - Jimmy Wakely - Mineola, AR - d. 9-23-1982
country singer: "All-Star Western Theatre"; "Hollywood Barn Dance"
02-27-1909 - Carl Frank - Weehawken, NJ - d. 9-23-1972
actor: Jerry Malone "Young Dr. Malone"; Bob Drake "Betty and Bob"
03-01-1869 - Edward Bell - near Terre Haute, IN - d. 9-23-1943
commentator WMAQ during the 1920s
03-11-1909 - Phil Leslie - St. Louis, MO - d. 9-23-1988
writer: "Fibber McGee and Molly"
03-30-1858 - DeWolf Hopper - NYC - d. 9-23-1935
host-narrator: (Husband of Hedda Hopper) "Roses and Drums"
04-05-1917 - Robert Bloch - Chicago, IL - d. 9-23-1994
writer: "Stay Tuned for Terror"
04-17-1910 - Ivan Goff - Perth, Australia - d. 9-23-1999
screenwriter: "Lux Radio Theatre"
04-19-1900 - George O'Brien - San Francisco, CA - d. 9-23-1985
actor: "Anchors Aweigh"
05-07-1890 - Billy House - Mankato, MN - d. 9-23-1961
actor, comedian: "Al Pearce and His Gang"; "The Laugh Liner"
06-20-1893 - Edwin Wolfe - d. 9-23-1983
actor: Curt Bradley "Pepper Young's Family"
07-16-1887 - Floyd Gibbons - Washington, [removed] - d. 9-23-1939
commentator: "Headline Hunter"; "World Adventures"; "Nash Program"
09-12-1894 - Billy Gilbert - Louisville, KY - d. 9-23-1971
actor: "NYA Varieties"; "Rudy Vallee Rehearsal"
10-19-1930 - Wally Flaherty - The Bronx, NY - d. 9-23-1998
host: "Open Line"
10-27-1918 - Bill Ballance - Peoria, IL - d. 9-23-2004
talk show host: "Feminine Forum"; "Bill Ballance Show"
12-28-1905 - Cliff Arquette - Toledo, OH - d. 9-23-1974
comedian, actor: Thaddeus Cornfelder, "Myrt and Marge"
12-28-1910 - Murray Burnett - d. 9-23-1997
writer: "True Detectives Mysteries"

Ron

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

Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:30:26 -0400
From: Steve Darnall <fvpress@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  re: Bill Idelson

No doubt this question has been answered already. but Bill Idelson spent a
number of years "amking a living" (presumably) writing for television. His
credits included The Andy Griiffith Show, M*A*S*H, The Bob Newhart Show, and
The Dick Van Dyke--where, of course, he also appeared as Sally Rogers'
boyfriend Herman. I had the pleasure of interviewing Mr. Idelson before his
passing and he was just a delight.

Steve

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

Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:30:42 -0400
From: Michael Shoshani <mshoshani@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  NBC Symphony Orchestra and Pearl Harbor

Bob Scherago asks:

A friend recalls hearing the NBC Symphony Orchestra interrupt its live
performance on December 7, 1941 to play a spirited version of the Star
Spangled Banner following the Pearl Harbor announcement. Is it
possible that a recording of this exists?

The NBC Symphony Orchestra doesn't seem to have broadcast on December 7,
1941.

NBC Red's broadcast day for December 7 and 8, 1941 can be viewed at
[removed]~gulino/[removed]

NBC Blue's for the same period can be viewed at
[removed]~gulino/[removed]

The Pearl Harbor attack occurred right before 8 AM in Hawaii, which was
2 PM in New York; the first bulletins started to come in around 2:30 PM.
That's the time that the above links begin mapping out what was being
broadcast over the NBC networks.

I'm presuming that since these are incomplete (there are gaps in the
early evening hours), they only catalog network broadcasts in which the
attack on Pearl Harbor was referenced. (Either that, or the NBC's
networks left large holes in their schedules for local stations to fill
with their own [removed])

Michael Shoshani
Chicago

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

Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:30:50 -0400
From: "Irene Theodore Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re:  Victor Borge - an original

Michael Biel in discussing the "no applause" rule mentioned that Alec
Templeton and Victor Borge had similar talents.  But perhaps I'm misreading
his comment  "I've always wondered why Borge had not been pegged as a
copycat".   You joke, I hope.

Borge started his music and humor career in Europe (which included jokes
about Hitler). He was a Danish Jew who left for America in Aug 1940, having
been performing in Sweden when Hitler occupied Denmark. He didn't return
there.  He spoke no English then but by 1941 he was on Kraft with Bing
Crosby.

I am such a fan of Victor Borge.  In 1954 one of my HS classes took a
'f'ield trip' to see his one-man show.  I was one of the lucky ones who got
to go backstage to his dressing room with the playbills for all of our class
which he signed in great humor and warmth joking all the way.  The show was
so funny that we talked about it for many days.  If you're ever feeling down
just watch one of his videos.

And don't forget he is responsible for introducing Rock Cornish game hens in
the US which he raised in Connecticut.

Irene

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

Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:30:56 -0400
From: KC0PWA <oldradiotimes@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Richard Wagner

Is anyone aware of efforts to dramatize Wagner's Ring cycle on radio? Not
airings of the operas themselves, but of adaptations of the librettos?
Ryan

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

Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:31:04 -0400
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  9-24 births/deaths

September 24th births

09-24-1886 - James Burke - NYC - d. 5-23-1968
actor: producer: "Rose of My Dreams"
09-24-1896 - F. Scott Fitzgerald - St. Paul, MN - d. 12-21-1940
writer: several of his works adapted for radio
09-24-1900 - Ham Fisher - Wilkes-Barre, PA - d. 9-7-1955
cartoonist: (Creator of Joe Palooka) "Raleigh Room"; "Philco Radio Time"
09-24-1900 - Poley McClintock - d. 1-6-1980
comedic singer: "The Fred Waring Show"
09-24-1901 - Paschal Strong - d. 1-4-1988
writer: "Jack Armstrong, The All-American Boy"
09-24-1903 - Stu Wilson - Chicago, IL - d. 8-1-1991
actor: "Quiz of Two Cities"
09-24-1904 - Jan August - NYC - d. 1-17-1976
pianist, bandleader: "Quarter hour broadcast on Mutual during 1947-48
09-24-1905 - Howard Hughes - Humble, TX - d. 4-5-1976
film producer, bra designer, billionaire: "Howard Hughes Senate
Hearings"
09-24-1905 - Wilbur 'Bill' P. Bardo - d. 1-26-1975
bandleader: "One Night Stand"
09-24-1908 - John Winters - Williamsport, PA - d. 8-24-1990
organist: "Frank Merriwell"; "When a Girl Marries"; "Young Dr. Malone"
09-24-1911 - Edmund L. Hartman - St. Louis, MO - d. 11-28-2003
screenwriter: "Lux Radio Theatre"
09-24-1914 - Edward Roecker - Merchantville, NJ
baritone: "Model Minstrels"; "Pipe Smoking Time"
09-24-1915 - Larry Gates - St. Paul, MN - d. 12-12-1996
actor: "Radio City Playhouse"
09-24-1916 - Johnny Catron - Boston, MA - d. 10-31-1998
bandleader: "The Union Oil Company Show"
09-24-1919 - Dayton Allen - NYC - d. 11-11-2004
actor: Phineas T. Bluster/Flubadub "Howdy Doody"; "Words at War"
09-24-1919 - Kermit Barker - d. 2-xx-1986
disk jockey: Charleston, Missouri
09-24-1921 - Edward Bryce - Allenport, PA - d. 12-6-1999
actor: Captain Strong "Tom Corbett, Space Cadet"
09-24-1921 - Larry Markes - Brooklyn, NY - d. 5-19-1999
writer: "Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street"
09-24-1924 - Joan Aiken - Rye, Sussex, England - d. 1-4-2004
adapter of her short fiction: "Chilredn's Hour"
09-24-1924 - Sheila Macrae - London, England
actor, singer: "Railroad Hour"; "Your Rhythmn Revue"; "Lux Radio
Theatre"
09-24-1927 - Alfredo Kraus - Las Palmas, Canary Islands - d. 9-10-1999
operatic tenor: "Metropolitan Opera"
09-24-1928 - Jennifer Ramage - London, England
actor: "Calling All Forces"
09-24-1929 - Alfred Hudgins - d. 10-27-2004
disc jockey: "Blues in the Night"
09-24-1931 - Anthony Newley - London, England - d. 4-14-1999
singer, actor: "Round and Round"

September 24th deaths

01-12-1910 - Patsy Kelly - Brooklyn, NY - d. 9-24-1981
comedian: "MGM Musical Comedy Theatre"; "Screen Guild Theatre"
02-13-1915 - Lyle Bettger - Philadelphia, PA - d. 9-24-2003
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Family Theatre"
03-02-1904 - Theodor "Dr. Suess" Geisel - Springfield, MA - d. 9-24-1991
children's book author: "American School On the Air"; "Columbia
Workshop"
03-12-1900 - Harlow Wilcox - Omaha, NE - d. 9-24-1960
announcer: "Fibber McGee and Molly Show"; "Suspense"; "Amos 'n' Andy"
03-19-1892 - James Van Fleet - Coytesville, NJ - d. 9-24-1992
4 star army general: "A Tribute to Jack Benny"
04-06-1908 - Bernard Dougall - Salt Lake City, UT - d. 9-24-1972
writer: "The Falcon"; "Mr. President"; "Show Boat"
04-22-1918 - Mickey Vernon - Marcus Hook, PA - d. 9-24-2008
major league baseball player' " Play Ball"
04-29-1902 - William Stoess - Cincinnati, OH - d. 9-24-1953
conductor: "Greatest Story Ever Told"; "Radio's Reader's Digest"
06-13-1900 - Ian Hunter - Kenilworth, South Africa - d. 9-24-1975
actor: "Hollywood Hotel"; "[removed] Steel Hour"
06-22-1930 - Roy Drusky - Atlanta, GA - d. 9-24-2004
singer: "Grand Ole Opry"
06-27-1924 - Rosalie Allen - Old Forge, PA - d. 9-24-2003
yodeling cowgirl: "Prairie Stars", "Grand Ole Opry"
06-xx-1873 - Royal Arch Gunnison - d. 9-24-1946
newsman: twice weekly 15 minute broadcast on Mutual
08-29-1928 - Thomas Stewart - San Saba, TX - d. 9-24-2006
operatic baritone: "Musicians Off Stage"
09-09-1899 - Neil Hamilton - Lynn, MA - d. 9-24-1984
actor: [removed] Raffles "Raffles"
09-16-1926 - Tommy Bond - Dallas, TX - d. 9-24-2005
actor: Randolph Foster "A Date With Judy"
10-07-1914 - Sarah Churchill - London, England - d. 9-24-1982
actor: (Daughter of Winston Churchill) "Romance"
10-14-1914 - Norma Ransom - Chicago, IL - d. 9-24-1998
actor: "Destination Freedom"
11-15-1893 - Grover Jones - Rosedale, IN - d. 9-24-1940
writer: "Silver Theatre"
11-23-1896 - Ruth Etting - David City, NE - d. 9-24-1978
singer: "Music That Satisfies"; "Oldsmobile Show"; "Kellogg College
Prom"
12-02-1895 - Warren William - Aitkin, MN - d. 9-24-1948
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
12-02-1915 - Paul Mann - Toronto, Canada - d. 9-24-1985
actor: George Kirby "Advs of Topper"; Perry "Quiz" Quisinberry
"Passport for Adams"
12-18-1911 - Jerry Lawrence - Rochester, NY - d. 9-24-2005
host, announcer: "laugh 'N' Swing Club"; "Tom Power's Life Stories"

Ron

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

Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:31:22 -0400
From: <georgewagner@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Kraft No-Applause Rule

    In "Old Man" Kraft's day it was frowned upon to applaud sermons and hymns
and other sacred music, whether broadcast or delivered/performed in-house in
churches. (That all seems to have gone by the boards in more recent years.)

    Since Kraft was a very committed Christian I suspect there may have been
a connection with his own no-applause rule.

     Sincerely,

     George Wagner
     georgewagner@[removed]

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

Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:31:45 -0400
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Man Who Could Work Miracles
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

Kenneth Clarke asked about "The Man Who Could Work Miracles." I assume he's
asking what the program was because he doesn't have an opening or closing. The
drama was done at least seven times that I know of, but the widely-circulating
versions are ESCAPE -- and the airdate varies depending on which of the two
versions. The cast differed from each version.

As for "The Adventures of Superman," the definitive radio log can be found in
Michael Hayde's book, FLIGHTS OF FANTASY, which was mentioned a couple times
in recent issues of the OTR Digest.

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

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

Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:32:26 -0400
From: CMS Admin <rfmillerjr1@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Richard Wagner's Ring

This may not be exactly what you are looking for but the local NPR /
Public Station WITF-FM. Harrisburg,PA  would broadcast the entire Ring
Cycle every memorial day.  We would begin at 0700 and conclude at
around midnight or 0100 (the next day).  Our station manager Dr.
Walter P. Sheppard wrote an entire companion and notes which had won
an Ohio State award for radio programming.  This special programming
began in the mid 1970's and ran each year until about 1982, when Dr.
Sheppard left the station.  By that time NPR had started their morning
program Morning Edition, and the station carried that.
--Randy Miller

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

Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:33:45 -0400
From: <otrbuff@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  There was a brighter day when we had "Light"

Robert Paine observes/inquires:

Perhaps someone can answer this. Was the opening "Our years are as the
falling [removed] live, we love, we dream - and then we go. But somehow
we
keep hoping, don't we, that our dreams will come true on that brighter day"
used both on radio and TV? When was it used? I think I've heard it once but
can't recall where. The six surviving radio episodes don't have it. P&G
claimed it had one TV ep. It hasn't been on any of the clips I've seen. Two
more questions - are there any other known extant radio episodes, and does
anyone know if there is a recording of the final TV ep from late September
1962?

You've got the epigraph right with the exception of the word "will" which
shouldn't be there for both radio and TV.  I can still hear Ron Rawson
reciting it at the start of some of the earlier radio and TV episodes.  The
radio version began over NBC on Oct. 11, 1948, and moved to CBS on July 11,
1949, where it ended the aural manifestation June 29, 1956 (same day The
Guiding Light left radio).  The tube adapatation, always on CBS, ran from
January 4, 1954 through September 28, 1962 with a seven-week hiatus May-July
1954.  I have not heard more than the half-dozen taped episodes you are
aware of, Robert, and cannot answer your final question.

There is a colossal amount of information available on this series in its
dual versions.  Several of my books cover it extensively, in particular:
"The Great Radio Soap Operas" (McFarland), "Historical Dictionary of
American Radio Soap Operas" (Scarecrow), and "The Daytime Serials of
Television" (McFarland).

One interesting sidelight:  this was the final narrative introduced on radio
by drama mama Irna Phillips whose name has been re-circulated in recent
weeks as the creator of now defunct The Guiding Light, which left us last
week after 72 years on the air.  The Brighter Day was literally one of
Phillips' earliest TV success stories, paving the way for As the World
Turns, Another World and Love Is a Many Splendored Thing which she created.
Through her own contributions or through proteges this maven of matinee also
heavily affected the direction of All My Children, One Life to Live, Days of
Our Lives, The Young and the Restless, The Bold and the Beautiful, Peyton
Place, and A World Apart.  Her earlier radio serials were Painted Dreams
(generally accepted as the first of the form by almost everybody), Today's
Children, The Guiding Light, The Road of Life, Woman in White, The Right to
Happiness, Lonely Women, and The Brighter Day.  She also was a consultant
for Young Doctor Malone.  It was an amazing feat, particularly when one
considers for years she wrote every word of a trio of drainboard dramas by
herself and typed them on a manual typewriter, too!  Talk about clunkers!

Jim Cox

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2009 Issue #181
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