Subject: [removed] Digest V2006 #218
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 8/12/2006 7:15 AM
To: [removed]@[removed]

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2006 : Issue 218
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                             [removed]
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  U. S. Steel on TV                     [ <otrbuff@[removed]; ]
  William Bendix, Superman and Heroes   [ seandd@[removed] ]
  Media Query - OTR Services for the B  [ seandd@[removed] ]
  RE: Sky King Actor                    [ "Paula Keiser" <pkeiser@[removed] ]
  Mike Douglas                          [ "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed]; ]
  Re: The passing of Mike Douglas       [ Joemartelle@[removed] ]
  US Steel Hour onTV                    [ "Frank McGurn" <[removed]@sbcgloba ]
  The Face and the Voice?               [ Wich2@[removed] ]
  8-12 births/deaths                    [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
  molly WAS SOBER; JACK LESTER WAS HIG  [ "Barbara Harmon" <jimharmonotr@char ]
  nostalgia column                      [ "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed] ]
  Jack Benny Statue in California       [ seandd@[removed] ]
  Walgren's OTR                         [ lawrence albert <albertlarry@yahoo. ]
  Sound effects                         [ "A. Joseph Ross" <joe@attorneyross. ]
  Are you pondering what I'm pondering  [ Rick Keating <pkeating89@[removed]; ]
  William Schallert and Tribbles        [ Rick Keating <pkeating89@[removed]; ]

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

Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2006 19:24:36 -0400
From: <otrbuff@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  U. S. Steel on TV
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Joe Salerno asks:

Was the US Steel Hour ever on TV?

Yes.  Oct. 27, 1953 to June 21, 1955 on ABC.  July 6, 1955 to June 12, 1963 on
CBS.

Jim Cox

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Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2006 19:27:39 -0400
From: seandd@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  William Bendix, Superman and Heroes in General
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This Wall Street Journal article covers the desire for fantasy hereos when we
can't find real ones, and mentions several characters who became popular on
OTR as well as old Riley himself, William Bendix (referencing a film role).
The article is on W9 of today's issue.  The link below may work, I'm not
[removed] DoughertySeanDD@[removed]

[removed]

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[ADMINISTRIVIA: The Wall Street Journal requires paid subscription.  --cfs3]

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Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2006 19:28:34 -0400
From: seandd@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Media Query - OTR Services for the Blind
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A reporter contact of mine at the Star-Ledger in Newark, [removed], is seeking
sources who can discuss programs, non-profits or businesses that provide audio
drama to the blind.  This would include original products as well as [removed]
anyone is involved in an organized effort along these lines, please e-mail me
privately.  It would really help if you are located in or near New Jersey and
help that much more if you are involved in the Friends of Old Time Radio
Convention.
Thank you, Sean Dougherty 201-739-2541 SeanDD@[removed]

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Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2006 20:09:58 -0400
From: "Paula Keiser" <pkeiser@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  RE: Sky King Actor

Is Jack Lester the radio Sky King or the TV Sky King?

Jack Lester is the radio "Sky King."  Kirby Grant played the role on TV.

Paula Keiser
Morrisville, PA

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

Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2006 20:10:57 -0400
From: "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Mike Douglas
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An interesting [removed]

Ron Sayles posts in his daily birthday almanac:

08-11-1925 - Mike Douglas - Chicago, IL
singer: "Kay Kyser's Kollege of Musical Knowledge"

Digest issue # 217 concludes with Walden Hughes breaking the news that:

I understand that Mike Douglas pass away.  He was a big band singer with Kay
Kyser when Harry Babbitt was in the service.

While digging further via the Internet, I found out that Mike Douglas died
today, 08/11, his 81st birthday.  Aside to Prof. Sayles: how about re-running
that list you once ran of OTR personalities who died on their birthdays?

That was the great part about the three most enduring daytime TV talkshows of
the 1970s--Mike Douglas, Dinah Shore, and Merv Griffin. What was the first
thing these folks did at the top of every show? They sang a song! Of course,
they were all well-rounded entertainers having had sung professionally with
the big bands: Griffin with freddy Martin, Douglas with Kay Kyser, and Shore
on the "Eddie Cantor Show." I'd like to see Jerry Springer or Oprah Winfrey do
that.

A hale abd hearty "hail and fairwell" to such a great entertainer!  Maybe Mike
Douglas will now be hanging out with "The Old Lamplighter" that he sang about
while in the Kay Kyser orchestra. The song concludes with the old lamplighter
in heaven turning on the stars every night.

Keepin' it real in the ether,

Derek Tague

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Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2006 20:12:19 -0400
From: Joemartelle@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: The passing of Mike Douglas
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I, like so many others, was saddened to hear of the passing of Mike  Douglas.
When I first started in radio and the business of interviewing,  Mike was one
of a few major personalities that I emulated, Years later, almost  40 to be
exact, you can only imagine how thrilled I was to have him as a guest  on 'my
morning show' in West Palm  Beach. It was a very special  treat for me.  I'd
be
hard pressed to think of a more congenial  guest. He oozed of warmth,
friendliness and genuine class.

Readers of this Digest, may be interested in knowing, Mike Douglas, not  only
sang on radio with Kay Kyser, but also with the  televised  version of the
'Kollege of Musical Knowledge.' Mike was quite the Irish crooner  and even
scored two number-one records in two years; first with 'The Old  Lamplighter,'
followed by  'Old Buttermilk Sky.' During television's  formative years, he
hosted
 'Hi Ladies' that originated  in  Chicago at WGN-TV. From the title, you
probably already guessed, the program was  beamed towards housewives. Later,
in
1961, he began hosting his own  daily 'live', talk entertainment TV Show, The
Mike Douglas Show, which  began on one television station in Cleveland, KYW,
and
eventually expanded  all across America, and at one time was the #1 daytime
show in the country!  It's interesting and ironic to note, that looking back
on
his  career and during Network radio's final 'glory' days, Mike like so many
other  performers, actually looked at the coming of television as 'the enemy!'

Back in 2003, and towards the end of my 'on-air' chat with Mike  Douglas (he
was in his late 70's at the time), I remember asking him, how he was  feeling
and how he was spending his days? I'll never forget  his [removed]" Joe, I have
my health, I have my girls (his wife Gen and  he have 3 daughters), my
sons-in-law, my grandchildren, and I have my Gen.   I don't take any of them
for
granted! We spend our days with people we  love."  Mike, a devout Catholic,
went
on to say, "we haven't forgotten the  simple lessons of Mother Teresa and we
try to do something every day, that in a  very small way may benefit someone
else. I owe so much to so many, Joe, it's the  least I can do."

These closing remarks, on our radio show, a few years ago, speak  volumes
about the genial, caring ways of 'good guy'  Mike Douglas, one of  radio and
television's true broadcasting legends, who both on the air and off,
personified
the word 'class.'

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Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2006 22:24:57 -0400
From: "Frank McGurn" <[removed]@[removed];
To: "The Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  US Steel Hour onTV

I went Google and found that the Program was on TV for 10 Years. The web
Site I found is " United Steel Hour TV"

The TV show, "Premiered: October 27, 1953 Last Aired: June 12, 1963" . Quote
from the web site "This live dramatic anthology series was a successor to
the ABC radio series of the same name (radio series also known as "The
Theatre Guild on the Air")."
Hope this answer the question.
Frank McGurn

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

Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2006 22:25:21 -0400
From: Wich2@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  The Face and the Voice?

From: Christopher Werner _werner1@[removed]_
(mailto:werner1@[removed])

I  curious to know if William Schallert has any radio credits ... he keeps
showing  up in late 50s-early 60s TV programs that also feature a venerable
who's who of  the Radio Actor
talent pool ... with that many friends from the Radio  business,
he must have had some early connections?<

Dear Christopher-

Solid Character Man, Mr. Schallert. Even filled in for Ross Martin on WILD
WILD WEST, after Martin's heart attack. And he may well have done radio,  but
maybe [removed]

Through my membership in the Episcopal Actor's Guild, I was fortunate to  met
an ex-President of same, Barney Hughes. Working where he did, when he did,
as much as he did, I thought sure he'd been at the [removed]

His answer, basically? "I would have loved to, but I was just busy with
other things, and the opportunity never arose."

Best,
-Craig

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

Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2006 22:26:30 -0400
From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  8-12 births/deaths

August 12th births

08-12-1881 - Cecil B. DeMille - Ashfield, MA - d. 1-21-1959
host: "Lux Radio Theatre"
08-12-1887 - Gus Van - Brooklyn, NY - d. 3-12-1968
comedian: (Van and Schenck) "Eveready Hour"; "Sinclair Wiener Minstrels"
08-12-1888 - Eric Snowden - England - d. 6-27-1979
actor: John H. Watson "Sherlock Holmes"; Alvin "Parties at Pickfair"
08-12-1892 - Alfred Lunt - Milwaukee, WI - d. 8-3-1977
actor: "Cavalcade of America"; "Theatre Guild On the Air"; "Treasury
Star Parade"
08-12-1893 - Howard Smith - Attleboro, MA - d. 1-10-1968
actor: Will Brown "Aldrich Family"; Jack Galloway "Jane Arden"
08-12-1895 - Carol DeAngelo - Rome, Italy - d. 1-3-1962
actor, director: "We Love and Learn"; "The Jack Benny Program"
08-12-1897 - Bob Emery - Abington, MA - d. 7-18-1982
host: "The Small Fry Club"; "This Wonderful World"
08-12-1898 - Oscar Homolka - Vienna, Austria - d. 1-27-1978
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
08-12-1904 - Kay Campbell - d. 5-27-1985
actor: Evey Perkins Fitz "Ma Perkins"
08-12-1907 - Joe Besser - St. Louis, MO - d. 3-1-1988
comedian: ("No so faaaast! . . . oh, you craaaaze you!) "Jack Benny
Program"
08-12-1911 - Dr. Olan Downes - West Roxbury, MA - d. 12-26-2001
musicologist: "Texaco Metropolitan Opera"; "New York Philharmonic"
08-12-1911 - Jane Wyatt - Campgaw, NJ
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Great Plays"; "[removed] Steel Hour"
08-12-1912 - Alan Kent - Chicago, IL
announcer: "Jane Arden"; "Pepper Young's Family"
08-12-1912 - Sam Fuller - Worcester, MA - d. 10-30-1997
producer, director: "The Aldrich Family"; "The Jack Carson Show"
08-12-1914 - Guy Sorel - d. 4-5-1994
actor: Larry Noble "Backstage Wife"
08-12-1921 - Marjorie Reynolds - Buhl, ID - d. 2-1-1997
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Cavalcade of America"; "Silver Theatre"
08-12-1926 - John Derek - Hollywood, CA - d. 5-22-1998
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
08-12-1927 - Porter Wagoner - West Plains, MO
singer: "Grand Ole Opry"
08-12-1929 - Buck Owens - Sherman, TX - d. 3-25-2006
singer: "Here's to Veterans"

August 12th deaths

01-06-1913 - Loretta Young - Salt Lake City, UT - d. 8-12-2000
actor: "Family Theatre"; "Four Star Playhouse"
03-13-1873 - Nellie Revell - Springfield, IL - d. 8-12-1958
commentator: "Neighbor Nell"; "Meet the Artist"
05-16-1905 - Henry Fonda - Grand Island, NE - d. 8-12-1982
actor: "Eyes Aloft"; "Romance"; "Suspense"
05-28-1912 - Tom Scott - d. 8-12-1961
folk singer, writer: "American School of the Air"; "Golden Gate
Quartet Sings"
06-06-1875 - Thomas Mann - Lubeck, Germany - d. 8-12-1955
writer: Had works adapted for "Treasury Star Parade"
08-25-1896 - Dick Ryan - Connecticut - d. 8-12-1969
actor: "The Nebbs"
09-05-1912 - John Cage - Los Angeles, CA - d. 8-12-1992
composer: "The Columbia Workshop"
09-09-1927 - Mary O. Major - Santa Barbara County, CA - d. 8-12-1998
vocalist: "The Eddie Cantor Show"
09-25-1894 - John Howard Lawson - NYC - d. 8-12-1977
screenwriter: "Lux Radio Theatre"
xx-xx-xxxx - Reed Kennedy - d. 8-12-1952
vocalist: "Gulf Headliners"; "The Song Shop"

Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2006 22:27:27 -0400
From: "Barbara Harmon" <jimharmonotr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  molly WAS SOBER; JACK LESTER WAS HIGH

I do not know who misinformed almost always accurate, much admired John
Dunning but he made a terrible mistake, repeated by others, that Marion
Jordon, "Molly McGee", was suffering from alcoholism during her lengthy
absence from the show.
	Marion had suffered an attack of rheumatic fever.  This leaves a
person weak and bed-ridden for months or years.  The present writer, Jim
Harmon, should know.  I had it when I was 13, much younger than Marion.
	My source of information is that living legend, Frank Bresee, who
worked closely with Jim Jordan, "Fibber" on several radio specials for
AFRTS, and Jim confided in him.  Thereafter, Marion was advised not to stand
for a whole show at a microphone, and sat at a table -- except for some
posed publicity shots.  Marion was one of the most level-headed,
down-to-earth people in show business and it is absurd to think of her as an
alcoholic.  I doubt if she drank alcohol at all.
	Jack Lester was my friend for some twenty-five years and worked in a
number of my revivals of Tom Mix, I Love a Mystery and other projects.  You
will note I said "revivals" because these were not merely re-creations but
continuations of the original programs with the support of the original
creators and sponsors.  In any case, he was the second actor to play Sky
King on radio.  Movie star Kirby Grant was the only TV Sky King.
	JIM HARMON

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

Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2006 23:39:07 -0400
From: "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  nostalgia column

Medford Mass speaks here:
[removed].

I hate to criticize, but there are country-and-western lyrics in that
column.

I suppose the point is that we remember the best memories of our youth, and
if they aren't so great we make up appropriate substitutes.  It is something
of a shame for someone learning informal history because these descriptions
are terribly misleading.

For the same reason, I wish that radio back then had had the freedom to
examine domestic issues as thoroughly as our media do today.  There were,
for example, plenty of suicides; as many as there are now.  Why?  What were
the pressures?

There were plenty of psychoactive drugs: the magnificent _Porgy and Bess_ is
about cocaine (or some similar type of powdered drug, Sportin' Life was a
dealer)  and morphine addiction was quite common among wounded war veterans.
  And don't even ask about race relations and religious discrimination.

Coke might have been a nickel, but when you made a dollar an hour that
wasn't cheap.  In general, the standard of living was far lower than ours in
most ways.

And it goes on.  The point for people (like me) who like to use old-time
radio and oral histories as windows into history is that they aren't such
good windows.  Literature is a lot more helpful, as are newspaper articles
and old Sears catalogs.  I suppose a real historian also studies things like
land records and legal case histories.

You can get a bit out of radio: you get to hear the way people spoke, both
in terms of accent and vocabulary.  The accents can be odd because radio
actors studied elocution, and a lot of them wound up sounding like
Lieutenant Tragg on Perry Mason.  (Though I just read that Ray Collins was
in Orson Wells' Mercury Theater group, a delightful discovery.)

And there are technical details, like my favorite exchange from Tales of the
Texas Rangers: Ranger 1 (in car): He's getting away from us going up these
hills!"  Ranger 2: "Yeah, the horse trailer really slows us down."

And there are a few other insights: the rather unlikely space folk songs
sung by the itinerant spaceman in X-1 reminds us that the folk music
movement started before the Kingston Trio.

Is old-time radio a good way to learn what life was like during the times it
was performed?

M Kinsler

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

Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2006 23:39:48 -0400
From: seandd@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Jack Benny Statue in California
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This article in the San Bernadino Sun on a new performing arts center in
Rancho Cuc ... (wait for it) .. amonga, mentions that it will house the
city's statue of Jack [removed] few other metropolitan areas, they do owe
him something!
Sean DoughertySeanDD@[removed]

[removed]

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Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2006 23:40:42 -0400
From: lawrence albert <albertlarry@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Walgren's OTR
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I finally remembered to stop in at my local Walgrens and see if they carried
any of the $[removed] OTR CDs. They do but the selection isn't as broad as
reported in some other stores . I bought a Crime Photographer and didn't
expect much, however I was nicely surprised. For a buck the sound was ok and
the show was complete. I may try some others just for the fun of it.
  Larry Albert

 __________________________________________________

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Date: Sat, 12 Aug 2006 00:39:16 -0400
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <joe@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Sound effects

Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2006 01:37:11 -0400
From: Christopher Werner <werner1@[removed];

So it's ok to use the sound effect in Lights Out in the 40s, but by
the 60s even the sound is too violent for the censors?

I think more likely it was acceptable for a show aimed at adults, but
not for one meant primarily for children.

--
 A. Joseph Ross, [removed]                             [removed]
 15 Court Square, Suite 210                 [removed]
 Boston,MA 02108-2503              [removed]

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

Date: Sat, 12 Aug 2006 02:56:54 -0400
From: Rick Keating <pkeating89@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Are you pondering what I'm pondering, Pinky?

"I think so, Brain, but if Jimmy cracks corn and no
one cares, why does he keep doing it?"

"No, Pinky. I have determined that if we inform the
subscribers of the old time radio digest that the new
_Pinky and the Brain_ DVD collection contains an
episode called "Pinky and the Fog", in which we
infiltrate the studio of a radio program called "the
mist"- a thinly disguised take-off of "The Shadow"-
their collective excitement about this humorous homage
to old time radio will lead them to welcome me as
their leader. And thus, allow me to take over the
world!"

"Genius, Brain! No, wait. No. Won't work. I can't tune
in a picture on this radio of yours."

"I suggest you refrain from eating paint chips, Pinky.
Now go busy yourself. I must ponder a way to use my
vocal similarity to Orson Welles to infiltrate the old
time radio digest, and inform them about "Pinky and
the Fog."

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

Date: Sat, 12 Aug 2006 02:57:15 -0400
From: Rick Keating <pkeating89@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  William Schallert and Tribbles

William Schallert did not sell Tribbles on _Star
Trek_. Rather, his character, Nils Baris, was an
irritating bureaucrat that caused Captain Kirk several
headaches (on top of the ones he already had because
of the Tribbles, the Klingons, and other annoyances).
The Tribbles were peddled by Cyrano Jones, played by
Stanley Adams.

Kirk's comment about Baris: "I take this matter very
seriously; it is _you_ I take lightly."

Rick

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2006 Issue #218
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