------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2004 : Issue 369
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
First women DJ [ <whhsa@[removed]; ]
sexy voices [ Clif Martin <martbart@[removed]; ]
Norman Rose, OTR actor, dies [ "HOWARD BLUE" <khovard@[removed]; ]
Norman Rose obit [ Art Chimes <achimes@[removed]; ]
Re: future of the hobby [ Rodney W Bowcock <[removed]@ip ]
Edward S. Walters [ Sandy Singer <sinatradj@[removed]; ]
re: future of the hobby [ <sweetedit@[removed]; ]
Historical Marker for Original Lone [ "Barnett, Tom L" <[removed]@acs ]
Re:Splitting Larg MP3 Files [ Don Shenbarger <donslistmail@sbcglo ]
"Cinderella" [ Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed] ]
Re: Sperdevac [ Brent Pellegrini <brentpl@rocketmai ]
11-19 births/deaths [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
If It Ain't Brokenshire [ "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed]; ]
Margo's last name [ "Matthew Bullis" <matthewbullis@run ]
Lost in a Mailbox [ "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed]; ]
Rochester's son [ Michael Berger <intercom1@attglobal ]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 08:57:40 -0500
From: <whhsa@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: First women DJ
Dear Folks;
Peace.
In an interview with Frank Bingman, published in POW-WOW (Vol. 1 No 3)
Spring 1987, Frank related that his wife Madelyn worked the first Ma Perkins
shows at WLW in Cincinnati. Later at WKRC, where she had a two hour morning
shows, she played recorded music. This was in 1935. Frank said he believed
she may have been the first female DJ. Madelyn was a dancer by profession
and when the couple moved to California she no longer did radio,
Manituwah,
Bill
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 08:58:15 -0500
From: Clif Martin <martbart@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: sexy voices
How about the lady with a name as unusual as her unforegettable voice: Marth
Lou Harp, laying herself down to dream of you. I have an old Lp of hers
around here someplace. I'd play it but I'm too old for that much
stimulation. Add Dinah Shore to the list with her recording of "Lonesome
Gal," to these ears lots hotter than the original gal's voice. And we can't
forget Peggy Lee, who did a voice in "Lady and the Tramp" and whose
relatively unknown recording of "Mr. Wonderful" purrs right in my ear. And
speaking of cat-like ladies, there's Eartha Kitt. What can you say about
her, except wow and double wow. The sexiest male voice of the century has to
be Arthur Godfrey. He drove the female population nuts. I still run into
old ladies who rhapsodize about him and their grandkids who are shocked that
granny was turned on by a radio star.
Clif Martin
________________________________________
PeoplePC Online
A better way to Internet
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 10:21:03 -0500
From: "HOWARD BLUE" <khovard@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Norman Rose, OTR actor, dies
Today's "New York Times" features an obituary of old time radio actor
Norman Rose. The obituary does not mention how Rose almost became a victim
of the
blacklist which affected Ken Roberts, Fredric March, Burgess Meredith and
many other radio actors whose names we know from the OTR conventions and the
shows we listen to.
Howard Blue
The following is a quote from my book, WORDS AT WAR (Scarecrow Press). See
[removed] for more information
"In 1948, actor Norman Rose was featured in "Communism, US Brand," a program
that most communist sympathizers and many noncommunist liberals would have
given wide berth. Two years later, Rose was employed as narrator for an NBC
science fiction show called Dimension X. "Norman, You can't do the show any
more," the show's director said to him out of the blue. You're listed in Red
Channels." The network had ordered Rose's dismissal. "Well between you and
me, I wouldn't be surprised if it would be [listed,]" Rose replied. "But I'm
not listed in Red Channels." Rose was correct. The network's brass had
misread Norman Rosten's name. Rose retained his job."
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 10:38:04 -0500
From: Art Chimes <achimes@[removed];
To: otr <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Norman Rose obit
Norman Rose died Friday, according to an obituary in Thursday's New York
Times and an AP story that moved early this morning. He was 87.
Rose's extensive radio credits include "Dimension X," "CBS Radio Mystery
Theatre," "Famous Jury Trials," WMCA's pioneering "New World A' Coming" and
even "The National Lampoon Radio Hour."
He also played both sides of the religious street, appearing in many episodes
of "The Greatest Story Ever Told" and "The Eternal Light."
His career also included much stage and television work, and he was the voice
of Juan Valdez in a gazillion commercials.
-Art Chimes
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 10:39:15 -0500
From: Rodney W Bowcock <[removed]@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: future of the hobby
In response to the question about whether or not old-time radio will live
on after those who made it happen are gone, I think it's obvious that it
will. I don't think it'll be as well known as it is now, but I do think
that there will always be a core group that are listening to the shows and
working to preserve them.
The question that I am uncertain about though is the state of the
conventions that we all love to attend so much. I do know from Bob
Burchett that attendance at the Cincinnati convention has been the same
give or take 3 or 4 people for the last few years. Since obviously some of
us are passing on, there do seem to be new folks taking their places.
However, I've heard that attendance at Newark is down from several years
ago, so that's another trend to consider. The question really is, is there
enough at conventions to warrant people attending even if there are no
special guests? This really isn't an exclusive question to the OTR hobby.
I'm sure classic film conventions are facing the same issues.
Rodney Bowcock
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 11:42:56 -0500
From: Sandy Singer <sinatradj@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Edward S. Walters
Emmy winner, broadcast writer, Kung Foo, Police Story, dies at age 74.
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 11:43:23 -0500
From: <sweetedit@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: re: future of the hobby
As someone who is certainly to the low end of the age spectrum on the list
(28), I'd like to think the hobby will continue. While it is important to
hear first-hand knowledge from those surviving OTR stars, I think the most
important thing is the survival of the shows themselves. As long as there are
shows out there, there will be fans.
I myself stumbled upon the hobby about five years ago searching through the
audio books at my local library looking for things to listen to on my long
commute. We're lucky in South Central Wisconsin (Madison) to have a pretty
extensive network of libraries, so I found quite a bit to listen to and got
hooked. That commute is a thing of the past, but I still listen to OTR.
The point I'm trying to make is that the biggest challenge for the hobby will
be getting people exposed to it. I try to do my part by donating OTR to my
local library. I recently gave them a pretty good selection of tapes as I've
been upgrading to CD lately. I'd encourage all of you to do the same thing if
you can.
Jonathan Sweet
sweetedit@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 11:50:26 -0500
From: "Barnett, Tom L" <[removed]@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Historical Marker for Original Lone Ranger's
House in MI
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It appears as if a metro Detroit city (Farmington Hills) is considering an
National Historical Marker to what they refer to as the Original Lone
Ranger, former home of Earl Graser. Earl was killed in 1941 in a car
accident and was followed on the radio in the Lone Ranger role by Brace
Beemer. The Lone Ranger originated from the WXYZ radio studios in Detroit.
What is interesting to note is that the historical marker will not be
standard green and white color scheme, but rather black and silver in homage
the Masked Rider himself.
[removed]
Tom Barnett
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------------------------------
Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 14:22:36 -0500
From: Don Shenbarger <donslistmail@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re:Splitting Larg MP3 Files
On Wed, 17 Nov 2004, Bill Scherer wrote:
Well first let me say that I haven't used MUSICMATCH but I would caution
using anything that will watch for the gaps or volume level type things.
If you were doing it from great sorces like Vinyl then maybe. I probably
wouldn't do it with OTR reels unless you are very sure that the shows are all
in good quality.
There could be a level and time interval problem Bill. The MusicMatch
feature really is intended for transcribing vinyl LPs and commercial music
tapes. But if the tapes such as the OTR tapes discussed have longer
intervals of silence between programs, it should work with appropriate
settings. Both the gap length and gap sound level are adjustable but can be
tricked by program material.
To address your alternative, splitting an MP3 file is possible and I have
done that using a tool called Manns' MP3 Edit available at
[removed] The tool lacks documentation but is able to
trim, cut and split MP3 files on the internal frame lines successfully. It
has a learning curve. The tool is also able to combine files.
Splitting files in a normal audio editor usually involves an internal
conversion to uncompressed format. Editors may keep two copies of the WAV
type file in memory to enable the undo function and all this takes up a lot
of memory. The result when I have done this with large files is it triggers
virtual memory and an edit of any kind takes as long as an hour with all
the memory page swapping. For someone with 2 GB of RAM, this may not be a
problem.
IF somebody is using an editor that can work in native MP3 format (without
resampling for instance), I would like to know about it.
Don Shenbarger
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 14:23:49 -0500
From: Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed];
To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: "Cinderella"
Celebrated OTR publisher and author, Ben Ohmart, mentions the voice artists
responsible for "Cinderella" as among his favorites. He mentions Verna
Felton whose biography BearManor Media is publishing next year. Verna
played the Barton twins' Mother on "The Cinnamon Bear."
The voice I most remember from "Cinderella" is that of Eleanor Audley who
played the evil stepmother. She can be heard on such shows as "The Six
Shooter," and "Father Knows Best," where she had a running part as the next
door neighbor. Of course she was in many others, as well as early TV and
movies. I remember her well from two appearances. She was President
Truman's secretary on a classic Jack Benny television show, and had a
featured part in James Stewart's "The FBI Story." Both she and Helen Kleeb
(Mamie on "The Waltons") were great radio voices. Kleeb made a number of
"Gunsmoke" appearances and was a regular on Jack French's favorite female
detective show, "Candy Matson" [YUkon 28209].
Dennis Crow
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 14:51:45 -0500
From: Brent Pellegrini <brentpl@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Sperdevac
I had a dissapointing experience with Sperdevac around 1989. I live in Seattle
and called to see if I could pay at the door for one night at their
convention. Being a cruising
sailor, I was especially interested in seeing their reenactment of Voyage of
the Scarlet Queen
which still gives me the old romantic chill despite 10 years of cruising off
and on. I was assured
I could pay at the door for the night they had the reenactment. So I drove
from Seattle to
Camarillo Cal where I stay. Then the night of show I drove to Santa Monica
and picked up an old
friend from my sailing days on Cape Cod in the 1970's, who was working in the
movie biz and he was
curious to some old radio action. Bottom line is, Barbara Watkins,I believe
her name was, wouldn't
let us in. Pretty dissappointing. That was a long drive.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 16:48:06 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 11-19 births/deaths
November 19th births
11-19-1863 - Billy Sunday - Ames, IA - d. 11-6-1935
preacher: "Back Home Hour"
11-19-1864 - Geroge Barbier - Philadelphia, PA - d. 7-19-1945
actor: "Song of the Islands"
11-19-1889 - Clifton Webb - Indianapolis, IN - d. 10-13-1966
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
11-19-1897 - Bud Green - Austria - d. 1-2-1981
lyricist: "Great Moments to Music"
11-19-1901 - Charles Webster - England - d. 2-1965
actor: Dr. Kimball "Life Can Be Beautiful"; Tom Bryson "Backstage Wife"
11-19-1905 - Eleanor Audley - NYC - d. 11-19-1991
actress: Elizabeth Smith "Father Knows Best"
11-19-1905 - Tommy Dorsey - Shenandoah, PA - d. 11-26-1956
bandleader: "Jack Pearl Program"; "Fame and Fortune"; "Tommy Dorsey Show"
11-19-1919 - Alan Young - North Shields, Northcumberland, England (Raised:
Vancouver, Canada)
comedian: "Alan Young Show"; "Tony Martin Show"; "Jimmy Durante Show"
11-19-1919 - George Fenneman - Peking, China - d. 5-29-1997
announcer, actor: "You Bet Your Life"; "Dragnet"; Buzz "I Fly Anything"
11-19-1921 - Roy Campenella - Philadelphia, PA - d. 6-26-1993
sports news: "Campy's Corner"
11-19-1923 - Frank Reynolds - East Chicago, IN - d. 7-20-1983
newscaster: Chicago radio
11-19-1933 - Larry King - Brooklyn, NY
talk show host: "WOR Diamond Julilee"; "Rambling with Gambling"
11-19-1936 - Dick Cavett - Gibbon, NE
talk show host: "Jean Shepherd Show"
11-19-1939 - Garrick Utley - Chicago, IL
news correspondent: "Second Sunday"
November 19th deaths
01-06-1903 - Francis L. Sullivan - London, England - d. 11-19-1956
actor: "[removed] Steel Hour"
05-01-1888 - Anna Appel - Bucharest, Romania - d. 11-19-1963
actress: Mrs. Cohen "Abie's Irish Rose"
05-30-1902 - Stepin Fetchit - Key West, FL - d. 11-19-1985
comedian: "Hollywood Hotel"
07-01-1907 - Bill Stern - Rochester, NY - d. 11-19-1971
sportscaster: "Carnival of Champions"; "Colgate Sports Newsreel"
--
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 18:34:22 -0500
From: "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: If It Ain't Brokenshire
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Hi again, Gang;
Does anybody know whether OTR-era network news commentator Norman Brokenshire
pronounced the last syllable
of his name "-SHEER" (to rhyme with "fear") or "-SHIRE" (to rhyme with
"fire")? For the life of me, I cannot remember
& his name came up in a narrative being recorded here at Talking Books, where
we always strive to provide precise and
definitive pronunciations. Help!
Ether!
Derek Tague
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------------------------------
Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 18:34:42 -0500
From: "Matthew Bullis" <matthewbullis@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Margo's last name
Hello, I keep hearing an actresss referred to as only Margo in Suspense.
What was her last name? Was she so well-known back then as to only need one
name like we have today with Shania and Reba in country music?
Thanks a lot.
Matthew
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 18:35:16 -0500
From: "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Lost in a Mailbox
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Hi!
It's a long story why, but my Digest ether-buddy Andrew Godfrey and I were
talking off-list about the early TV sitcom "It's a
Great Life!" which starred James Dunn (best remembered as the hopeless father
in the first film version of "A Tree Grows in
Brooklyn") and a pre-"Aunt Bee" Frances Bavier.
Although I have never seen an episode of this lost gem, Andrew told me that he
remembered an episode plot involving the
show's principles needing to retrieve a letter from a postal collection box
after it had been mailed, and went on to comment on
how this over-used plot device occurred in many sitcoms to follow.
With no disrepect, I wrote Andrew & said that I remember hearing this
stock-situation plot on an episode of "Fibber McGee &
Molly." However, my recollection is hazy. Can anybody out there help fill in
the details? Also, I imagine the "mailing a letter
prematurely" plot must've turned up on other radio sitcoms. Students?
Best from the ether,
Derek Tague
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------------------------------
Date: Fri, 19 Nov 2004 09:40:54 -0500
From: Michael Berger <intercom1@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Rochester's son
One of Eddie Anderson's sons, Billy, was a star
football player in the early 50s at Compton JC in
southern California. He was a first round draft choice
of the Chicago Bears in 1953 and played two seasons,
mostly as a kick returner. He died at an early age,
but I cannot recall the cause.
This link has a bio of Eddie Anderson:
[removed]
Michael Berger
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2004 Issue #369
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