Subject: [removed] Digest V2009 #158
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 8/19/2009 8:45 PM
To: [removed]@[removed]
Reply-to:
[removed]@[removed]

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2009 : Issue 158
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                             [removed]
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  #OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Nig  [ charlie@[removed] ]
  Joseph Kern's Wurlitzer Organ         [ wr k <wrk41@[removed]; ]
  Early bongs                           [ <otrbuff@[removed]; ]
  OLDE TYME RADIO NETWORK               [ Jerry Haendiges <Jerry@[removed]; ]
  Boing! Boing!                         [ <otrbuff@[removed]; ]
  8-17 births/deaths                    [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
  Passing of Jack Bivans/Donald Buka    [ Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed]; ]
  Resquiat In Pacem                     [ Wich2@[removed] ]
  Chirp and Bong                        [ "Holm, Chris " <[removed]@[removed] ]
  re: It all [removed]                 [ Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed]; ]
  Donald Buka                           [ "Bob Scherago" <rscherago@[removed] ]
  RIP Ruth Ford                         [ Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed] ]
  Benny Bell                            [ JayHick@[removed] ]
  Corwin Fans                           [ CMS Admin <rfmillerjr1@[removed]; ]

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

Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 02:12:01 -0400
From: charlie@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  #OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Night!

A weekly [removed]

For the best in OTR Chat, join IRC (Internet Relay Chat), StarLink-IRC
Network, the channel name is #OldRadio.  We meet Thursdays at 8 PM Eastern
and go on, and on! The oldest OTR Chat Channel, it has been in existence
over nine years, same time, same channel! Started by Lois Culver, widow
of actor Howard Culver, this is the place to be on Thursday night for
real-time OTR talk!

Our "regulars" include OTR actors, soundmen, collectors, listeners, and
others interested in enjoying OTR from points all over the world. Discussions
range from favorite shows to almost anything else under the sun (sometimes
it's hard for us to stay on-topic)...but even if it isn't always focused,
it's always a good time!

For more info, contact charlie@[removed]. We hope to see you there, this
week and every week!

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

Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 22:32:24 -0400
From: wr k <wrk41@[removed];
To: old time <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Joseph Kern's Wurlitzer Organ

Campbell Connell wrote on Friday, 8/14:

After Kerns death, when they removed the organ from
the home, did they find anything [removed]

Well, Campbell, it was reported that the lost chord
was found but, never verified [removed]

(Sorry guys, I just couldn't [removed]!!!)

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

Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 22:32:33 -0400
From: <otrbuff@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Early bongs

Dixon Hayes poses a stimulating question:

Can anyone
narrow down the earliest they've ever heard either the "Bong!" or the
"Chirp!"?

I know that the daytime shows on CBS Radio that appeared on the hour were
carrying the bong by at least the early 1950s and (haven't checked my tapes
on this) believe this may have happened in the late 1940s, too.  Arthur
Godfrey Time at 10 and 11 [removed] ET was introduced by it followed by Wendy
Warren & the News at 12, Big Sister at 1, The Second Mrs. Burton at 2,
Hilltop House at 3, etc.  I have many tapes with comedies and dramas in the
evenings throughout the 1950s preceded by the bongs.  I'm not sure when I
became aware of the chirps, just vindicating the bongs.

And Dixon mentions TV carrying the bongs.  One of my earliest memories of TV
(my family was deprived being the last one on the block to acquire it) was
tuning in George Burns & Gracie Allen every Monday night and listening for
the very distinctive bong before the theme began.  That would have been by
1954, maybe even 1953, and the show had been running for some time before
that.  I learned that quite a few CBS-TV programs that started on the hour
did so with a bong.  Burns & Allen somehow to me was the most memorable.
Maybe the seconds' pause following it before the music struck up made it
more pronounced.

Jim Cox

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

Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 22:32:38 -0400
From: Jerry Haendiges <Jerry@[removed];
To: Old Time Radio Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  OLDE TYME RADIO NETWORK

Hi Friends,

Here is this week's schedule for my Olde Tyme Radio Network. Here you
may listen to high-quality broadcasts with Tom Heathwood's "Heritage
Radio Theatre," Big John Matthews and Steve "Archive" Urbaniak's "The
Glowing Dial" and my own "Same Time, Same Station."  Streamed in
high-quality audio, on demand, 24/7 at [removed]
Check out our High-Quality mp3 catalog at:
[removed]
=======================================

SAME TIME, SAME STATION

HOLLYWOOD CASTING OFFICE
Episode 11   1932    "Experience"
Syndicated by Bruce Eells

PAUL WHITEMAN'S HOUSEWARMING PARTY
4-10-43
MC: Rudy Vallee
ANNOUNCER: John Milton Kennedy.
STARS: Gracie Allen, Ferde Grofe, Tom Breneman, Gracie Fields, Johnny
Mercer, The Kings Men, Chester Lauck & Norris Goff (as Lum & Abner),
Jesus San Ramon, Ed Gardner (Archie of Duffy's Tavern), Jimmy Dorsey
Orchestra, Mildred Bailey (1st major female radio singer), Paul Lavalle,
Morton Downey, Dr, Walter Damrosch, Don McNeil and the Breakfast Club
Gang, Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, Henry Busse Orchestra, Matty Matlock
Orchestra.
==================================

HERITAGE RADIO THEATER

GUEST:
Martin Grams, Jr. Gives details on his latest books and the 4th Annual
Nostalgia Convention.

FATHER KNOWS BEST
(NBC) 10/26/50 Robert Young stars. The family run out of gas by a cemetery.

BLACKSTONE/MAGIC DETECTIVE
(MBS) 8/7/49 "The Ghost in the Crypt" Edward Jerome.

RADIO RARITIES
Hank Williams for the 1951 March of Dimes. JFK radio "Hits."
====================================

THE GLOWING DIAL

  Silver Theater - "Danger Lights"
originally aired December 12, 1938 on CBS
Starring: Clark Gable, Paula Winslow, John Conte announcing.
Sponsor: International Silver Company

Theatre of Romance - "Casanova Brown"
originally aired November 13, 1945 on CBS
Starring: Henry Fonda.
Sponsors: Colgate, Halo Shampoo

Encore Theater - "Green Light"
originally aired June 25, 1946 on CBS
Starring: Robert Young, Pedro de Cordova, Frank Graham announcing.
Sponsor: Schenley Labs, Inc.

Academy Award Theater - "Suspicion"
originally aired October 30, 1946 on CBS
Starring: Cary Grant, Ann Todd, Hugh Brundage announcing.
Sponsor: E. R. Squibb & Sons

Camel Screen Guild Theatre - "Call Northside 777"
originally aired October 7, 1948 on NBC
Starring: James Stewart, Pat O'Brien, Richard Conte, Michael Roy announcing.
Sponsor: Camel Cigarettes
==================================

If you have any questions or request, please feel free to contact me.

      Jerry Haendiges

      Jerry@[removed]  562-696-4387
      The Vintage Radio Place   [removed]
      Largest source of Old Time Radio Logs, Articles and programs on
the Net

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

Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 22:32:48 -0400
From: <otrbuff@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Boing!  Boing!

The sudden death playoff announcement of the passing of CBS's bongs and
chirps may have been slightly exaggerated as it turns out.  At least at
7:00:00 on Sunday night, August 16, I distinctly heard the familiar bong
sans chirping an instant prior to the start of the CBS News on the hour.
Either my ears are deceiving me or that respected din was resurrected from
its reported demise at least for this one outing.  I trust we've not heard
the last of the bongs and chirps.  Those of you who depended on it to set
your watches by can breathe a tad easier now.  For a while we may have taken
a licking, but the thing just keeps on ticking ... er, bonging.

Jim Cox

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

Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 22:32:55 -0400
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  8-17 births/deaths

August 17th births

08-17-1888 - Monte Woolley- NYC - d. 5-6-1963
actor: Edwin Montague "Magnificent Montague"
08-17-1893 - Mae West - Brooklyn, NY - d. 11-22-1980
actor: "Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy Show" (Famous Adam and Eve Skit)
08-17-1896 - Alma Lawton - Woolwich, England - d. 2-24-1982
actor: "I Love Adventure"; "NBC University Theatre"
08-17-1899 - Ralph Goll - d. 1-1-1957
scriptwriter: "The Lone Ranger"
08-17-1900 - Gregory Abbott - d. 9-25-1981
narrator: "Believe It or Not"
08-17-1900 - Quincy Howe - Boston, MA - d. 2-19-1977
newscaster: "Quincy Howe: Comment"
08-17-1903 - Abram Chasins - NYC - d. 6-21-1987
musical director: "Stars from the Blue"
08-17-1903 - Bob Evans - California - d. 3-21-1961
actor: "Sing It Again"
08-17-1904 - Ann Harding - Fort Sam Houston, TX - d. 9-1-1981
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Cavalcade of America"; "Hallmark Playhouse"
08-17-1904 - Elizabeth Bilson - d. 4-17-1995
soprano: WBAL Baltimore, Maryland
08-17-1905 - Frederick Ziv - Cincinnati, OH - d. 10-13-2001
producer: "Philo Vance"
08-17-1907 - Bernard Schoenfeld - d. 4-25-1990
writer: "Brave New World"; "This is Our Eneny"
08-17-1909 - Larry Clinton - Brooklyn, NY - d. 5-2-1985
bandleader: "Larry Clinton's Musical Sensations"; "Tommy Riggs and
Betty Lou"
08-17-1912 - Gogo De Lys - Edmonton, Canada - d. 2-19-2003
singer: "Carefree Carnival"; "Little Ol' Hollywood"; "Stoopnagle and
Budd"
08-17-1913 - Guy Della-Cioppa - Philadelphia, PA - d. 1-17-2000
director: "An American in Russia"; "The Columbia Workshop"
08-17-1916 - Ira Cook - Duluth, MN - d. 5-15-2007
disk jockey: KMPC Los Angeles, California
08-17-1918 - Evelyn Ankers - Valparaiso, Chili - d. 8-28-1985
actor: Argentine Radio
08-17-1919 - Georgia Gibbs - Worcester, MA - d. 12-9-2006
singer: (Her Nibs) "Your Hit Parade"; "Camel Caravan"; "Philco Hall of
Fame"
08-17-1920 - Maureen O'Hara - Millwall, Ireland
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
08-17-1921 - Donald Buka - Cleveland, OH - d. 7-21-2009
actor: Barney Mallory "Sparrow and the Hawk"
08-17-1921 - Wayne Raney - Wolf Bayou, AR - d. 1-23-1993
country music harmonica player: "Grand Ole Opry"
08-17-1922 - Jack Sperling - Trenton, NJ - d. 3-8-2004
drummer: Bands of Bunny Berrigan, Les Brown and others
08-17-1927 - Sam Butera - New Orleans, LA - d. 6-3-2009
tenor sax: (Sam Butera and the Witnesses) "The Navy Swings"
08-17-1930 - Harve Bennett - Chicago, IL
panelist: "The Quiz Kids"
08-17-1932 - Johnny 'Red' Kerr - Chicago, IL - d. 2-27-2009
announcer: Chicago Bulls
08-17-1943 - John Humphreys - Cardiff, Wales
presenter: "Nine O'Clock News"; "Today"

August 17th deaths

01-26-1927 - Billy Redfield - NYC - d. 8-17-1976
actor: Grayling Dennis "Brighter Day"; Willie Piper "Tales of Willie
Piper"
02-06-1917 - Penny Olson - Milwaukee, WI - d. 8-17-2000
singer: (Wife of Johnny Olson) "Ladies Be Seated"; "Rumpus Room"
03-04-1880 - Channing Pollack - Washington [removed] - d. 8-17-1946
lecturer, author: "America's Town Mettking of the Air"; "Wake Up
America"
03-26-1915 - Flip Phillips - Brooklyn, NY - d. 8-17-2001
jazz saxophonist: "Woody Herman Show"; "Saturday Night Swing Session"
03-29-1918 - Pearl Bailey - Newport News, VA - d. 8-17-1990
singer: "Kraft Music Hall "; "Tribute to Glenn Miller"
05-09-1895 - Richard Barthelmass - NYC - d. 8-17-1963
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
05-09-1908 - Joan Kinmont - Port Lincoln, Australia - d. 8-17-1985
writer: "Firelight"
05-17-1907 - Horace McMahon - South Norwalk, CT - d. 8-17-1971
actor: "Crime Does Not Pay"
05-25-1877 - Billy Murray - Philadelphia, PA - d. 8-17-1954
singer: "The National Barn Dance"
06-26-1908 - Robert J. Ross - d. 8-17-1970
writrer: "Amos 'n' Andy"
06-29-1901 - Ed Gardner - Astoria, NY - d. 8-17-1963
comedian: Archie "Duffy's Tavern"
07-06-1929 - James Berwick - Dublin, Ireland - d. 8-17-2000
actor: "Frankenstein"
07-24-1904 - Delmer Daves - San Francisco, CA - d. 8-17-1977
movie writer/director: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Screen Guild Theatre"
07-26-1909 - Vivian Vance - Cherryvale, KS - d. 8-17-1979
actor: Ethel Mertz "I Love Lucy"
08-11-1910 - Perfecto Barbosa - d. 8-17-1989
newscaster: KMAC San Antonio, Texas
09-11-1908 - Elisebeth A. Heisch - Madison, WI - d. 8-17-2003
writer: "The Cinnamon Bear"
09-28-1917 - Vernile Morgan - Oak Park, IL - d. 8-17-2006
actor: "Curtain Time"
10-03-1882 - Ulderico 'Rico' Marcelli - Rome, Italy - d. 8-17-1962
bandleader: "Fibber McGee and Molly"
10-20-1913 - Barney Phillips - St. Louis, MO - d. 8-17-1982
actor: Ed Jacobs "Dragnet"; Somber Jones "Hawk Larabee"; "Gunsmoke"
10-25-1875 - Harry Overstreet - San Francisco, CA - d. 8-17-1970
author and lecturer: "Information Please"
12-02-1902 - Howard Koch - NYC - d. 8-17-1995
writer: "War of the Worlds"
12-06-1896 - Ira Gershwin - NYC - d. 8-17-1983
songwriter: "Lady in the Dark"; "Jolson Story"; "Barkleys of Broadway"
12-10-1906 - Harold Adamson - Greenville, NJ - d. 8-17-1980
song writer: "Hedda Hopper's Hollywood"
12-28-1934 - David Warrilow - Staffordshire, England - d. 8-17-1995
actor: "All that Fall"
xx-xx-xxxx - George Watson - d. 8-17-1957
announcer: "Gateway to Hollywood"; "Song of the City"

Ron

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

Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 22:33:03 -0400
From: Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed];
To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Passing of Jack Bivans/Donald Buka

Thanks for the update on two veteran radio actors passing.

Don Buka will be a big miss at the FOTR. I first met him there and his
sense of humor during the radio recreations made it a lot of fun.
Jack Bivans equally will be missed. Jack was very generous in helping me
when I was setting up my Captain Midnight pages on the Internet
([removed] ) providing photos and filling detail
from his years working as Chuck Ramsay. Whenever I had a question
surrounding the show, Jack was always willing to help. I hadn't been in
contact with him for about a year or so, but certainly won't forget him
for all of his help.

Jim Widner

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

Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 22:33:08 -0400
From: Wich2@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Resquiat In Pacem

From: JayHick@[removed]
Subject:  Don  Buka

Thank you for the info, Jay. I knew that Don had been gravely ill  for some
time.

Don was a real joy to play a scene with. And he was that
not-always-the-case type of actor who was secure enough to compliment others'
work; his
words to me will always be, as Shakespeare said in a play we shared,
"gracious
drops." (And if anything, even he was more fun to hang out in the  "green
room" with!)

I had the pleasure of passing on to him a copy of  some work of his from
long ago - his very nice turn as Lafayette, in a ONE STEP  BEYOND about Valley
Forge.

Thanks, Donald - hope to see you  again.
-Craig Wichman

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

Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 22:33:17 -0400
From: "Holm, Chris " <[removed]@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Chirp and Bong

This talk lately of the CBS chirp/bong has got me curious.  As far as
terrestrial radio goes, I only listen to NPR news and local rock and
popular music stations, so I'm not familiar with this noise that's
apparently being phased out.

Can anyone point to an online audio clip of the noise I could listen to?

-chris holm

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

Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 22:33:44 -0400
From: Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  re: It all [removed]

Craig W. wrote:

True, some "A+"  Radio giants were never as successful in TV - [removed], Fred
Allen.

This reminds me of a question I've been meaning to ask, to wit, what exactly
was Fred Allen's health problem before he died? I know he collapsed of a
heart attack, in the street, but that he had been in poor health for several
years prior. "Poor health" covers a lot of ground. I recently watched an
episode of What's My Line, from January 1956, and Fred looked *awful.* His
voice hadn't changed, and his wit was as sharp as ever, but he looked like he
was only 6 weeks from the grave -- and indeed, he was. His face was slightly
puffy, with a dreadful pallor. Does anybody know what the diagnosis was?

We can only imagine what might have happened had he had the energy and health
to throw himself fully into television. It's quite possibly that nothing much
would have come to pass--the powers-that-be may simply have been unwilling to
give free creative reign to a gadfly like him. Even in better health, they
may have restricted him to limited roles like being a member of a panel
game--fun stuff, but hardly making full use of his talents.

Kermyt

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

Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 22:41:08 -0400
From: "Bob Scherago" <rscherago@[removed];
To: "Old Time Radio" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Donald Buka

 JayHick@[removed] reports:

Donald Buka, a veteran stage actor who toured
with the Lunts and acted opposite the likes of Helen Hayes and Bette Davis,
died on July 21 in Reading, MA. He was 88.

Donald Buka was a guest on the June, 1972, edition of "The Golden Age of
Radio" on WTIC in Hartford, CT.  You can hear that one-hour show, and 88
others at [removed] . You can also hear 42 hours of Big Band
interviews and music at the same site, hosted by WTIC's Arnold Dean.

The Golden Age of Radio was the creation of WTIC personality Dick Bertel and
radio collector-historian Ed Corcoran, and was first broadcast in April of
1970. For the next seven years the program featured interviews with radio
actors, writers, producers,  engineers and musicians from radio's early
days.

In addition, each show featured excerpts from Ed's collection. Fortunately,
these programs have been preserved, capturing for future generations the
history of this vital medium during its formative years.

Arnold Dean began his love affair with the big band era in his pre-teen
years and his decision to study the clarinet was inspired by the style of
Artie Shaw.  When he joined WTIC in 1965 he hosted a daily program of big
band music.  In 1970, encouraged by the success of his daily program and The
Golden Age of Radio series, he began monthly shows featuring interviews with
the band leaders, sidemen, agents, jazz reporters, etc. who made major
contributions to one of the great eras of music history.

--
Bob Scherago
[removed]
[removed]

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

Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 22:41:20 -0400
From: Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  RIP Ruth Ford

Here is an obituary from the Los Angeles Times on Mercury Theater alumna 
Ruth Ford.  It notes she appeared in Welles' productions on Broadway and on 
the radio but doesn't say which ones.

She lived in New York so it's strange she was never at Friends of Old Time 
Radio.

[removed],0,[removed]

Sean Dougherty
SeanDD@[removed] 

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

Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 22:41:51 -0400
From: JayHick@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Benny Bell
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

I am passing this along from Joel Samberg:

Hi, Jay. It's Joel Samberg, Benny Bell's grandson. As you may recall, I
worked with Brian Gari a few years ago to bring my late grandfather to the
FOTR
convention through his music and the memories of my father Jerry (who has
since passed). It was a wonderful event.

 How are you?

 My new book about Benny Bell is out now. I'm very excited about it. I was
wondering if there's any way you can help spread the word to FOTR fans, so
many of whom loved my grandfather's work ("Shaving Cream," "Everybody Wants
My Fanny," "Pincus the Peddler" and others).

 The book has a website and a YouTube video (both linked below), and
there's also a press release (attached). Please feel free to use any or all of
these as you see fit. It's a fun project. I think people will enjoy it. The
book is called "Grandpa Had a Long One: Personal Notes on the Life, Career &
Legacy of Benny Bell."

 Thanks, Jay. I appreciate your help. Best of luck with all your upcoming
activities.

 [removed]

 [removed]

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

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

Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 22:41:59 -0400
From: CMS Admin <rfmillerjr1@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Corwin Fans

Fords Theatre (Washington DC) is staging a Norman Corwin Play

The Lincoln / Douglas debates

for more info:

[removed]

--Randy Miller

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2009 Issue #158
*********************************************

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]

In the event of a major mail problem, please contact the listmaster via
  the web-based contact form available at [removed]
  (on the sidebar) or follow/DM CFSummers on Twitter

To Send Mail to the list, simply send to [removed]@[removed]