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The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2015 : Issue 38
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
New link [ Graeme Stevenson <graemeotr@[removed] ]
Was Groucho the first comedian to wi [ Tom Michael <tfm@[removed]; ]
Alice Anderson, RIP [ jack and cathy french <otrpiano@ver ]
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Date: Fri, 24 Apr 2015 12:57:37 -0400
From: Graeme Stevenson <graemeotr@[removed];
To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: New link
Hi
I saw this link a few days ago and am surprised that it hasn't been on the
OTR Digest yet ( unless I've missed it ! )
[removed]
Cheers ! Graeme
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Date: Fri, 24 Apr 2015 12:57:46 -0400
From: Tom Michael <tfm@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Was Groucho the first comedian to win a Peabody,
or was "You Bet Your Life" the first game show to win one?
In Digest V2015 #37, Joe Mackey wrote:
Subject: This week in radio history 19-25 April
1949 The prestigious George Foster Peabody Award for Broadcasting was
presented to You Bet Your Life star, "The one, the only, Groucho
(Marx)." This was the first time the honor had been awarded to a comedian.
This caught my eye as it contradicts something I've found from other sources.
My primary research interest right now is the "[removed] College Bowl" TV show and
its OTR predecessor, "College Quiz Bowl," as well as the earliest OTR quiz
bowl shows "Scott Hi-Q" (a local show in Delaware County, PA started in 1948
and still going strong today as the "Delco Hi-Q" live competition, though it
is no longer broadcast), Campus Quiz (Philadelphia area high schools,
1946-1947, broadcast on WFIL) and "Intercollegiate Quiz" (Mutual,
January-March 1946). I write about them in the College Bowl Valhalla Facebook
Group at [removed] where, among other
posts, I have been writing about each of the 1953-1955 College Quiz Bowl
matches on the sixtieth anniversary of the match's NBC radio broadcast date.
The information about Groucho's Peabody goes to the heart of the question,
"What was the first quiz show honored with a Peabody Award?" If a 1948
Peabody (presented in April, 1949) was a personal award to Groucho, and not
an award to "You Bet Your Life," then the answer to that question is "[removed]
College Bowl" in 1961. But if that 1948 award went to "You Bet Your Life," as
my other sources had indicated it had, then "You Bet Your Life" in 1948 is
the correct answer, and "[removed] College Bowl" is the second overall, but the
first *televised* game show to win a Peabody - as "You Bet Your Life"
wouldn't broadcast a TV version until the 1949-1950 season.
(Complicating the research are the many sources that flat out say "[removed]
College Bowl" was the first game show to win a Peabody. Those sources,
however, are usually written by authors, some of whom clearly should know
better, who seem ignorant that OTR even exists and write from the perspective
that all entertainment began with television.)
The definitive source is probably the Peabody Awards website itself. At
[removed] one can find
that the Peabody was awarded to the show "You Bet Your Life" and not as a
personal award to Groucho. So the entry should be that this was the first
time a Peabody was given to a quiz show, and not the first time it was given
to a comedian. Further, a look at the Peabody Award site shows that a 1945
Peabody was awarded to "Edger Bergen and NBC" and a 1946 Peabody "Honorable
Mention" personal award was given to Henry Morgan for his work as a
"humorist." So, one could argue that even if the 1948 had been given to
Groucho personally - which it wasn't - then he would be the third to get an
award for comedy; though I suppose one could define "comedian" in such a way
to exclude Bergen and Morgan. If Bergen and Morgan were excluded, then the
first "comedian" to receive a Peabody personal award would be Jack Benny in
1949.
Tom
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Date: Fri, 24 Apr 2015 12:59:08 -0400
From: jack and cathy french <otrpiano@[removed];
To: OTRBB <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Alice Anderson, RIP
Craig Wichman sent the sad news today of the death of Arthur Anderson's wife,
Alice, who passed to life eternal on April 22nd. As some of you know, she had
been in decline, physically and mentally, for some time. Recently she had
been placed by her doctor in hospice status at home where she died Wednesday
morning.
Craig further relates that the Anderson's live-in caretaker was with her, but
Arthur was not. He has been back in Beth Israel since last Saturday when
Craig and Bernadette accompanied him there, after he complained of pain and
nausea. He is stable now and aware of Alice's passing, which he said he knew
was coming.
Alice will be cremated and later there will be some memorial service,
possibly at their long-time place of worship, the Church of the Ascension in
NYC. Craig will keep us advised on this matter.
Many of us recall Alice fondly, for her years of accompanying Arthur to FOTR
in Newark, where she spent many hours at the reception [removed] or
without Jay Hickerson. She was a gentle woman of uncommon grace who cherished
life and good will.
Cards of sympathy and support can reach Arthur at his apartment residence:
13 West 13th Street, Apartment 4G-S, New York, NY 10011-8117.
Jack French
Editor: RADIO RECALL
<[removed]>
[ADMINISTRIVIA: I've posted a photo and comments to the Nostalgic Rumblings
blog at [removed] --cfs3]
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2015 Issue #38
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