------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2005 : Issue 28
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Phil Harris's hit [ Philip Chavin <pchavin@[removed]; ]
1-25 births/deaths [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
Carson & Webb [ "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed]; ]
Secondary characters [ Richard Carpenter <newsduck@[removed] ]
Big Stars as Guest Stars [ "Hamm, Mike (hammcm)" <hammcm@ucmai ]
carson on radio [ BH <radiobill@[removed]; ]
OTR themed picture records [ Melanie Aultman <otrmelanie@[removed] ]
Johnny Carson on radio [ "Jim Hilliker" <jimhilliker@sbcglob ]
Info on Shakespeare Shows [ "Mike Jensen" <mikejensen16@hotmail ]
Jack Benny on radio in 1929? [ "bobb lynes" <iairotr@[removed]; ]
Johnny Carson [ "erest@[removed]" <erest@bel ]
Re: Johnny Carson on radio [ Dixonhayes@[removed] ]
Himan Brown [ Mike Thomas <calvetrecept@[removed] ]
Johnny Carson on Radio [ Steve Gibbs <stevegibbs@[removed]; ]
Sam Dann [ Allen J Hubin <ajhubin@[removed]; ]
Don McNeill [ <whhsa@[removed]; ]
Re: Jo Stafford/"Grandmaw" [ Jordan Young <jyoung@[removed]; ]
Mention mention in NYT [ Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed]; ]
A question and 2 comments [ ARago17320@[removed] ]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 19:28:27 -0500
From: Philip Chavin <pchavin@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Phil Harris's hit
Someone on the Digest wondered recently if Phil
Harris's hit recording "The Thing" possibly came out
soon after the release of the movie titled "The Thing
(From Another World)".
According to Joel Whitburn (Pop Memories
1890-1954), Phil's recording was first charted in late
November 1950. According to IMDb, The Thing From
Another World was released in Spring 1951.
-- Phil C.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 19:28:33 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 1-25 births/deaths
January 25th births
01-25-1874 - Somerset Maughan - Paris, France - d. 12-16-1965
writer: " Somerset Maughan Theatre"
01-25-1878 - Ernest Alexanderson - Uppsala, Sweden - d. 5-14-1975
engineer: Possibly first voice ever heard on radio 12-24-1906
01-25-1901 - Mildred Dunnock - Baltimore, MD - d. 7-5-1991
actress: "Theatre Guild On the Air"
01-25-1910 - Portland Hoffa - Portland, OR - d. 12-25-1990
comedienne: (Wife of Fred Allen) "Fred Allen Show"
01-25-1916 - Les Crutchfield - d. 10-6-1966
writer: "Escape"; "Fort Laramie"; "Gunsmoke"
01-25-1920 - Roy Rowan - d. 5-10-1998
announcer: "Escape"; "Gunsmoke"; "Rogers of the Gazette"; "Young Love"
01-25-1923 - Rusty Draper - d. 3-28-2003
country singer: "Dude Martin's Radio Ranch"
01-25-1924 - Speedy West - Springfield, MO - d. 11-15-2003
steel guitarist: "Grand Old Opry"; "Tennessee Ernie FordShow"
January 25th deaths
03-03-1921 - Diana Barrymore - NYC - d. 1-25-1960
actress: "Crime Does Not Pay"
03-21-1918 - Cliff Norton - Chicago, IL - d. 1-25-2003
actor: Connie the coolie "Terry and the Pirates"; "American Novels"
03-24-1867 - Harry Neville - Launceston, Tasmania, Australia - d. 1-25-1945
actor: Mr. Fielding "The O'Neills"
04-07-1893 - Irene Castle - New Rochelle, NY - d. 1-25-1969
actress: Best Dressed Woman "Life of Irene Castle"; "Twenty Questions"
04-30-1916 - Robert Shaw - Red Bluff, CA - d. 1-25-1999
choral director: "Radio Hall of Fame"; "American School of the Air"
08-19-1902 - Colleen Moore - Port Huron, MI - d. 1-25-1988
actress: "Whatever Became of . . . ."
09-10-1898 - Adele Astaire - Omaha, NE - d. 1-25-1981
dancer, actress: (Fred's Sister) "Magic Key"; "Savings Bond Campaign"
10-15-1921 - Robert Rockwell - Chicago, IL - d. 1-25-2003
actor: Philip Boynton "Our Miss Brooks"
12-03-1902 - Bill Slater - Parkersburg, WV - d. 1-25-1965
emcee: ""Uncle Jim's Question Bee"; "Twenty Questions"; "Dunninger Show"
12-24-1922 - Ava Gardner - Grabtown, NC - d. 1-25-1990
actress: "So Proudly We Hail"; "Prudential Family Hour of Stars"
--
Ron Sayles
Radio: Theatre of the mind
Television: Theatre of the mindless
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 19:29:00 -0500
From: "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Carson & Webb
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain
There's been some very nice tributes to the recent passing of Johnny Carson on
"The Kinescope," a sister
on-line newsletter to the "The OTR Digest" dedicated to the celebration and
discussion of nostalgic television as
likewise administered by our Fearless Leader Charlie Summers and his Nostalgia
Pages.
I humbly offer the following transcript of the great Carson/Jack Webb
"Dragnet" spoof from a late 1960s edition
of "The Tonight Show" called "The Copper Clapper Caper," in hopes of keeping
this OTR-related.
Enjoy!
Derek Tague
__________________
Webb: "This is the City. Los Angeles, California. Some people rob for
pleasure. Some rob because it's there.
You never know. My name's Friday, I'm a cop. I was working the day watch
out of Robbery when I got a call
from the Acme School Bell Company. There'd been a robbery."
Carson: "There's been a robbery."
Webb: "Yes sir, what was it?"
Carson: "My clappers!"
Webb: "Your clappers?"
Carson: "Yeah, you know, those things inside a bell that makes them clang?"
Webb: "The clangers?"
Carson: "That's right, we call them clappers in the business."
Webb: "A clapper caper."
Carson: "What's that?"
Webb: "Nothing sir. Now, can I have the facts? What kind of clappers were
stolen on this caper?"
Carson: "They were copper clappers."
Webb: "And where were they kept?"
Carson: "In the closet."
Webb: "Uh huh. You have any ideas who might have taken the copper clappers
from the closet?"
Carson: "Well, just one. I fired a man. He swore he'd get even."
Webb: "What was his name?"
Carson: "Claude Cooper"
Webb: "You think he'[removed]"
Carson: "That's right. I think Claude Cooper copped my copper clappers. Kept
in the closet."
Webb: "You know where this Claude Cooper is from?"
Carson: "Yuh. Cleveland"
Webb: "That figures. That figures."
Carson: "What makes it worse, they were clean."
Webb: "Clean copper clappers."
Carson: "That's right."
Webb: "Why do you think Cleveland's Claude Cooper would cop your clean copper
clappers
kept in your closet?"
Carson: "Only one reason."
Webb: "What's that?"
Carson: "He's a kleptomaniac."
Webb: "Who first discovered the copper clappers were copped?"
Carson: "My cleaning woman, Clara Clifford."
Webb: "That figures. Now let me see if I got the facts straight here. Cleaning
woman Clara Clifford
discovered your clean copper clappers kept in a closet were copped by
Claude Cooper the kleptomaniac
from Cleveland. Now, is that about it?"
Carson: "One other thing."
Webb: "What's that?"
Carson: "If I ever catch kleptomaniac Claude Cooper from Cleveland who copped
my clean copper clappers
kept in the [removed]"
Webb: "Yes?"
Carson: "I'll clobber him!"
*** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
*** as the sender intended. ***
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 19:29:07 -0500
From: Richard Carpenter <newsduck@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Secondary characters
Yes, Birdie was an enjoyable secondary character on
"The Great Gildersleeve," as a reader of this forum
has noted. But Gildersleeve was filled with enjoyable
secondary characters, among them Leroy ("Are you
kiddin'?"), Lila Ransom ("Oh, Throck-moah-ton!"), and
of course Mr. Peavey ("Well now, I wouldn't say
that."). I think the strength of the secondary
characters is one reason the show continued with
barely a hiccup when Willard Waterman replaced Harold
Peary as Gildy? (Or was there a dropoff in
listernship? Truth to tell, I don't really know.)
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 19:29:15 -0500
From: "Hamm, Mike (hammcm)" <hammcm@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Big Stars as Guest Stars
Big stars like Jack Benny and Bob Hope must have had tremendous demands on
their time in preparing for their own shows, yet they seem to appear as
guest stars on other shows all the time. They couldn't possibly have been
able to attend rehearsals for these other shows. Were they able to just
read through a script and walk on?
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 19:53:55 -0500
From: BH <radiobill@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: carson on radio
"Kurt E. Yount" <blsmass@[removed];
Tom Hatten says Johnny Carson never appeared on radio, only television.
In case anybody was wondering, that is what he said. Kurt
I have an audio tape of a Johnny Carson broadcast on radio. It was a
small station in the midwest if I remember correctly, he was the
announcer and the show which sponsered by a brand of coffee, which I
can't recall right now. I will dig out the tape and give more details.
Bill H.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 19:54:37 -0500
From: Melanie Aultman <otrmelanie@[removed];
To: OTRDIGEST <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: OTR themed picture records
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain
On display in a record collection on "Collector's Day" at a local museum
was a
picture record (correct term?) from a children's OTR show. I don't remember
the name of the show now. I Googled the term (web and images) and didn't
find much. Ebay has at least nine pages of listings, but didn't see any in
the first few and didn't have time to slog through the rest. Perhaps some of
you can shed some light on the topic?
Thanks.
*** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
*** as the sender intended. ***
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 20:11:52 -0500
From: "Jim Hilliker" <jimhilliker@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Johnny Carson on radio
I would say that Tom Hatten is wrong on this one, though Johnny Carson was
not on any big national radio shows, as far as I can tell.
Johnny did some local radio in his early broadcasting career, as he worked
at KFAB radio in Lincoln, Nebraska in 1948 and later that year, moved to a
new job at WOW radio and WOW-TV in Omaha, Nebraska. Apparently, he stayed
with television from 1949 onward and did no more radio, as far as I've been
able to determine, as a regular job, but I could be wrong.
He loved radio, however, as I read somewhere that he did a senior project in
college, a very detailed report on the Jack Benny Program. Of course, later
in his life, Johnny had Jack on his Tonight Show TV program many times and
they became close friends, until Jack's death in December of 1974. I recall
other times on The Tonight Show, where Johnny talked about the old days of
radio with George Burns, Benny, Orson Welles and others I can't rememger
[removed] Once, I recall that Carson told Welles that one day on the show, they
should re-create one of Orson's old radio programs, with the old
microphones, music, sound effects, etc. Welles seemed delighted, and agreed
they should do it, but I don't recall if they ever got the chance to do such
a demonstration of old time radio on The Tonight Show. But, Carson grew up
with radio and had respect for the actors and comedians who came up through
that medium, and enjoyed interviewing them as guests on his TV show.
Jim Hilliker
Monterey, CA
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 20:12:06 -0500
From: "Mike Jensen" <mikejensen16@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Info on Shakespeare Shows
I have been asked to contribute the radio component to a reference book on
Shakespeare in the mass media and pop culture. To include a show, I must
have air dates, networks, running times, and directors. I am missing
information for the following programs, and hope members of this list can
help. Some are BBC programs.
Need Directors For:
The Peposident Show (Bob Hope) 27 Sept 1938
11 April 1939
5 Jan 1951
13 March 1953
Theater Guild on the Air "Romeo and Juliet" 15 Feb 1948
Duffy's Tavern 5 Jan 1951
Woodbury's Hollywood Playhouse "Romeo and Juliet," need director and running
time
"Great Moments in History" commercials for the Adali Stevenson campaign,
1956
Hamlet, Part II (by Perry Pontac, BBC)
Richard III, part two (by Perry Pontac, BBC, also need date)
Fatal Loins (by Perry Pontac, BBC)
Henry VI (1971, BBC)
Curtain Up! (BBC, 1941, all episodes probably had the same director)
Frank Muir Goes Into. . . Advertising (BBC, program credits list two
producers but not director)
Theater Guild (or U. S. Steel Hour) Julius Caesar, last show
Dates:
Romeo and Juliet starring Tony "Two Ton" Galento
Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes episode "Holmes Creepy Christmas*
Tudor First Nights (BBC, Henry VIII episode, 1942)
Oregon Shakespeare Festival's Taming of the Shrew on NBC, 1939
These don't quite fit the above categories:
John Barrymore did a reading from Hamlet in 1927, 10 years before
Streamlined Shakespeare, but I can not find the director or the title of the
program.
American Family Robinson, looking for director, and date of the program
where a farmer wished he could stop farming to study music and Shakespeare.
Of course, he is lectured about the virtues of hard work. Also, is it NBC or
syndicated? I find evidence of both.
I have literally hundreds of entries already, but would like to add these.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
all the best,
Mike Jensen
Author site:
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 10:46:26 -0500
From: "bobb lynes" <iairotr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Jack Benny on radio in 1929?
Hi,
I just ran across an article in Best Bets Radio Weekly (Vol. 1 # 50, week of
July 1936) a locally published radio guide for the Spokane, Washington area.
In a column "Chats with Florence Evans" Florence relates the history of a
vaudeville act, The Mann Brothers. And I quote: "In 1929 the Mann Brothers
made their radio debut with Jack Benny over KFI on the RKO Hour at the
Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles. This also was Jack's first radio
appearance." Had you heard about that, Laura?
Also of interest, the logs list only 4 stations: KHQ(NBC Red), KGA(NBC
Blue), KFPY(CBS/Don Lee) and KFIO. And NO kid shows during the "childrens
hour" (5-6 pm) except "Orphan Annie". "Renfrew of the Mounted" was on at
7:30pm. No "Lone Ranger" and "One Man's Family" was on at 4pm (Wed.).
Spokane was apparently not much of a radio town, although it did support
this small radio guide.
Bobb
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 10:46:41 -0500
From: "erest@[removed]" <erest@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Johnny Carson
I wonder if Johnny didn't do one of the last entertainment programs done
by NBC radio.
It was a program of clips of comedy bits over the years on NBC. It may
have been the 60th or 75th anniversery of NBC. Johnny was the host. It
was broadcast on a Thanksgiving weekend.
Some one asked about the "Clapper Bit" a while back. The audio was
played on this show.
Rob
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 10:46:49 -0500
From: Dixonhayes@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Johnny Carson on radio
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain
In a message dated 1/24/05 5:10:27 PM Central Standard Time,
[removed]@[removed] writes:
Tom Hatten says Johnny Carson never appeared on radio, only television.
In case anybody was wondering, that is what he said.
Carson was a DJ at one point in the midwest, in the 1940s. When he was
inducted into the TV Hall of Fame in 1987 the intro even included some sound
of
Carson, the DJ. He also once narrated an NBC Radio comedy special in the
early
1980s.
Dixon
*** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
*** as the sender intended. ***
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 10:47:14 -0500
From: Mike Thomas <calvetrecept@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Himan Brown
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain
Does anyone heer know how to contact him by mail, email or phone???Is he
still with us??? Thanks folks!
Mike And Ernestine Thomas
*** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
*** as the sender intended. ***
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 10:47:27 -0500
From: Steve Gibbs <stevegibbs@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Johnny Carson on Radio
Just to clear this up, for the record, Johnny Carson
DID work in radio during his college days in Lincoln
Nebraska on what was then KFAB. This was in the late
40's. Following that he started his television career
in Omaha at WOW-TV. Doing radio in the morning and TV
at night. You can hear the story in his own words in
a wonderful, rare 1984 video interview that is being
shown on WOWT's website.
[removed]
We in Nebraska were always VERY proud that Johnny
called Nebraska home. We'll miss him terribly.
Steve Gibbs
Omaha, NE
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 10:48:03 -0500
From: Allen J Hubin <ajhubin@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Sam Dann
[removed] identifies a Samuel H. Dann, age 86, in Connecticut, but
[removed]
doesn't find him; this might well be the one in the copyright index.
Intelius also finds a
Sam Dann in Ohio, which Switchboard finds in the city of Warren. There
are three
Samuel Dann entries in the Social Security Death Benefit records, but
neither of the
above appears yet to have died, though another version of the Social
Security
records shows a Samuel H. Dann having died in Florida in 2004. Mystery
still unsolved!
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 10:48:26 -0500
From: <whhsa@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Don McNeill
Dear Folks;
Peace be with you.
I know this is the needle in the haystack question! I was on the Breakfast
Club in the Summer of 1950. The program was in Atlanta, Georgia. I have the
photograph of Don with his mike aimed at me and I only 9 years old did not
even realize what it was all about. I just came across as I was deep in the
file working on a Straight Arrow manuscript. Is there any hope of locating
this show?
Manituwah,
Bill
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 10:47:40 -0500
From: Jordan Young <jyoung@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Jo Stafford/"Grandmaw"
Jo Stafford recorded "Grandmaw" with The Starlighters and hubby Paul
Weston's Mountain Boys, according to Lissauer's Encyclopedia of
Popular Music in America.
Stafford was credited as Cinderella G. Stump on Red Ingle's recording
of "Tim-Tayshun." (For the record, the arranger of this masterful
parody was Country Washburne, Ingle's partner in crime in the Spike
Jones and Ted Weems bands).
As for "Grandmaw," it was written by Dwight Latham and Moe Jaffe in
1948, and Lissauer notes it was also recorded by Tony Pastor with
Rosemary and Betty Clooney doing the vocal.
Jordan R. Young
"Spike Jones Off the Record"
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 12:04:08 -0500
From: Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed];
To: OTR <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Mention mention in NYT
In a eulogy to Johnny Carson, Steve Martin mentions Jack Benny in the
first paragraph, thanking Jack and Johnny for teaching him "as valuable
as any lessons I ever learned."
[removed];hp
Incidentally, several of the online obits I've seen have mentioned
Johnny's debt to Jack as well.
Kermyt
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 17:52:42 -0500
From: ARago17320@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: A question and 2 comments
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain
I am a an old jazz fan and can remember Remo Palmieri playing guitar for
years on Arthur Godfrey's morning show. I seem to remember at one time that
Mary Osborne was the regular guitarist with the band. Does anyone know
(maybe
the Godfrey Guy) if she was before or after Remo? My soon to be 67 year old
memory ain't what is used to be.
The book Carter Beats the Devil was mentioned a couple of digests back. It
is not a book about television, which gets mentioned, but about magic shows
in the days of vaudville. It is a very fine read and I think OTR fans would
like it.
*** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
*** as the sender intended. ***
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2005 Issue #28
********************************************
Copyright [removed] Communications, York, PA; All Rights Reserved,
including republication in any form.
If you enjoy this list, please consider financially supporting it:
[removed]
For Help: [removed]@[removed]
To Unsubscribe: [removed]@[removed]
To Subscribe: [removed]@[removed]
or see [removed]
For Help with the Archive Server, send the command ARCHIVE HELP
in the SUBJECT of a message to [removed]@[removed]
To contact the listmaster, mail to listmaster@[removed]
To Send Mail to the list, simply send to [removed]@[removed]