Subject: [removed] Digest V2007 #179
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 6/18/2007 7:55 PM
To: [removed]@[removed]
Reply-to:
[removed]@[removed]

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2007 : Issue 179
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                             [removed]
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  6-18 births/deaths                    [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
  Pre-Gillette radio Sherlocks          [ "R. R. King" <kingrr@[removed]; ]
  WJR & Nightflight                     [ "Dave Adams" <dave@[removed]; ]
  OTR in Sioux City                     [ seandd@[removed] ]
  Armstrong of [removed]                   [ Frank McGurn <[removed]@sbcglobal. ]
  Introducing new people to OTR         [ <[removed]@[removed]; ]
  Bickersons and Philip Rapp            [ David Loftus <dloft59@[removed] ]

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

Date: Sun, 17 Jun 2007 22:32:02 -0400
From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  6-18 births/deaths

June 18th births

06-18-1885 - Ernie Adams - San Francisco, CA - d. 11-26-1947
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
06-18-1893 - Gladys Gooding - Macon, MO - d. 11-18-1963
organist, singer: organist at Madison Square Garden
06-18-1897 - Alan MacAteer - d. 6-xx-1986
actor: Pop, the stage doorman "Backstage Wife"
06-18-1897 - Henry Wadsworth - Maysville, KY - d. 12-5-1974
actor: Alabama Randall "Jane Arden"
06-18-1898 - Carleton Hobbs - Farnborough, England - d. 7-31-1978
actor: Sherlock Holmes "Saturday Night Theatre, Children's Hour"
06-18-1898 - Francis 'Dink' Trout - Beardstown, IL - d. 3-26-1950
actor: Binney Waldo "Life of Riley"; Mr. Anderson "A Day in the Life
of Dennis Day"
06-18-1902 - Tom Breneman - Waynesboro, PA - d. 4-28-1948
emcee: "Breakfast at Sardi's/in Hollywood"; "My Secret Ambition"
06-18-1903 - Jeanette MacDonald - Philadelphia, PA - d. 1-14-1965
singer: "Nobody's Children"; "Vicks Open House"; "Campbell Playhouse"
06-18-1904 - Keye Luke - Canton, China - d. 1-12-1991
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Image Minorities"
06-18-1906 - Kay Kyser - Rocky Mt., NC - d. 7-23-1985
bandleader, emcee: (The Old Perfessor) "Kollege of Musical Knowledge"
06-18-1906 - Ray Bauduc - New Orleans, LA - d. 1-8-1988
drummer, composer: "The Bob Crosby Show"
06-18-1908 - Clayton "Bud" Collyer - NYC - d. 9-8-1969
actor, announcer: Clark Kent/Superman "Advs. of Superman"; "Cavalcade
of America"
06-18-1908 - Elmore Vincent - Amarillo, X - d. 3-27-2000
actor: Phineas Peabody "Lum and Abner"
06-18-1910 - Betty Mandeville - Minneapolis, MN - d. 6-14-2001
producer, director: "The FBI in Peace and War"; "Take It or Leave It"
06-18-1910 - Dick Foran - Flemington, NJ - d. 8-10-1979
singer: (The Singing Cowboy) "George Burns and Gracie Allen Show"
06-18-1910 - Ray McKinley - Fort Worth, TX - d. 5-7-1995
bandleader, vocalist: Co-leader of the Glen Miller Band
06-18-1910 - Russ Hodges - Dayton, TN - d. 4-19-1971
sportscaster: "Giants win the pennant, Giants win the pennant, Giants
win the pennant"
06-18-1911 - Babe Russin - Pittsburgh, PA - d. 8-4-1984
tenor sax: "The Ipana Troubadors"
06-18-1913 - Harold Alberghini - d. 7-16-1993
disk jockey and newscaster: Maine
06-18-1913 - Sammy Cahn - NYC - d. 1-15-1993
lyricist: "You Bet Your Life"; "Cue Magazine Salutes ASCAP"; "Monitor"
06-18-1914 - [removed] Marshall - Owatonna, MN - d. 8-25-1998
narrator: "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"
06-18-1917 - Richard Boone - Los Angeles, CA - d. 1-10-1981
actor: "Dragnet"
06-18-1919 - Ed Simmons - d. 5-18-1998
writer, director: "The Martin and Lewis Show"; "The Quiz Kids"
06-18-1919 - Mel Brandt - Brooklyn, NY
announcer: "Advs. of Frank Merriwell"

June 18th deaths

02-03-1918 - Gene Baldridge - d. 6-18-1988
disk jockey: WSIP Paintsville, Kentucky
03-19-1923 - Pamela Britton - Milwaukee, WI - d. 6-18-1974
actor: "Luncheon at Sardi's"; "Lux Radio Theatre"
05-15-1923 - Doris Dowling - Detroit, MI - d. 6-18-2004
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
05-27-1912 - John Cheever - Quincy, MA - d. 6-18-1982
writer: "NBC Presents: Short Story"
06-01-1922 - Joan Caulfield - East Orange, NJ - d. 6-18-1991
actor: "Hallmark Playhouse"; "Great Scenes from Great Plays"
06-17-1894 - Harold Levey - NYC - d. 6-18-1967
composer, conductor: "Theatre Guild on the Air"
06-19-1928 - Nancy Marchand - Buffalo, NY - d. 6-18-2000
actor: "Cavalcade of America"; "A Private Space"
07-10-1905 - Thomas Gomez - NYC - d. 6-18-1971
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
07-16-1906 - Vincent Sherman - Vienna, GA - d. 6-18-2006
screenwriter: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Screen Director's Playhouse"
08-08-1927 - Basil Kirchin - Blackpool, England - d. 6-18-2005
drummer: "Harry Roy and His Orchestra"
08-15-1879 - Ethel Barrymore - Philadelphia, PA - d. 6-18-1959
actor: Hattie Thompson "Miss Hattie"
08-21-1924 - Jack Buck - Holyoke, MA - d. 6-18-2002
baseball broadcaster: St. Louis Cardinals
09-22-1870 - Arthur Pryor - St. Joseph, MO - d. 6-18-1942
bandmaster, trombonist: "Cremo Military Band Program"; "Goodyear
Program"
09-25-1926 - John Ericson - Dusseldorf, Germany - d. 6-18-1972
actor: "Stars On Parade"
10-02-1920 - Rosemarie Brancato - d. 6-18-1994
operatic soprano: "Twin Sisters"
10-31-1915 - Chris Griffin - d. 6-18-2005
trumpet: (Benny Goodman's Orchestra) "Camel Caravan"
11-01-1908 - Felix Knight - Macon, GA - d. 6-18-1998
singer: "Schaefer Revue"; "American Album of Familiar Music"
11-03-1902 - Milt Herth - Kenosha, WI - d. 6-18-1969
organist: (Milt Herth Trio) "Hollywood News"; "Al Pearce"
11-15-1907 - Bill Anson - Chicago, IL - d. 6-18-1983
quizmaster: "The Hirsch Telephone Quiz"
11-21-1907 - Charles Korvin - Postyen, Hungary - d. 6-18-1998
actor: "Voice of the Army"
12-01-1917 - William Tracy - Pittsburgh, PA - d. 6-18-1967
actor: Roosty "Roosty of the AAF"
12-05-1892 - Al Boasberg - Buffalo, NY - d. 6-18-1937
writer: "Jack Benny Program"

Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

Date: Mon, 18 Jun 2007 09:17:14 -0400
From: "R. R. King" <kingrr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Pre-Gillette radio Sherlocks

1. Some time ago, I posted here about a scheduled 1922 broadcast by
the WGY Players of Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Sign of the Four."
Sherlock Holmes was to be played by Edward H. Smith, many years before
William Gillette's well-known October 1930 appearance as the character
on NBC. I recently found some other cast members listed in the 9
November 1922 Hartford Courant:

***
7:45 p. m. Radio drama.
Melodrama--"The Sign of the Four"
Arthur Conan Doyle

The Cast.
Sherlock Holmes ... Edward H. Smith
Dr. Watson ... F. H. Oliver
Mary Morstan ... Viola Karwowska
Major Sholto ... James S. B. Mullarkey
Jonathan Small ... Frank Finch
Mrs. Mordecai Smith ... Ida Myreck
Wiggins, of the Baker Street Irregulars ... Henry Miller
***

2. Around the same time, I ran across some mentions of other possible
pre-Gillette Holmes dramatizations.

NBC had a late 1920s drama series called "Retold Tales" which featured
half-hour literary adaptations. Many episodes were based on O. Henry
stories (one of them was "The Caballero's Way," which I suppose means
the show can claim an early network appearance of the Cisco Kid) but
works by other authors were scheduled as well -- for example,
Stevenson's "Treasure Island" (in seven parts) and "Dr. Jekyll and Mr.
Hyde," Kipling's "At the End of the Passage," and at least two of
Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes novels.

According to the newspapers I looked at, the Holmes stories were to be
serialized on the program in May, June and July of 1929: "The Sign of
the Four" (in three parts, 30 May, 6 June and 13 June) and "A Study in
Scarlet," (in four parts, 20 June, 27 June, 4 July and, after a
schedule change, 14 July). Here's an item (which seems to have been
accidentally published a couple of weeks too early) in the 27 June
1929 Syracuse Herald:

***
... The thrilling conclusion of the Sherlock Holmes narrative, "A
Study in Scarlet," will be portrayed by a cast of experienced
microphone players during the broadcast through the NBC System at 6:30
o'clock tonight. This is one of the regular series of dramatized
stories presented under the title of "Retold Tales," directed by
Gerald Stopp. Stations associated with NBC System broadcasting this
program are: WJZ, New York; WREN, Kansas City; KOA, Denver; KSL, Salt
Lake City; KWK, St. Louis, and WKY, Oklahoma City. ...
***

This means, I'm guessing, that more than a year before William
Gillette made his NBC radio debut as Holmes another actor would have
already played the role on the network. Of course, Gillette would
still be the first actor to play Holmes in a commercial network series
devoted to the character.

(Incidentally, do the scripts for NBC's New York-based drama series of
the '20s and early '30s exist in the microfilmed NBC Program Files at
the Library of Congress?)

3. Also, it may be that CBS can boast a pre-Gillette network Holmes of
its own, judging by this item from the radio column in the 24 May 1930
Hartford Courant:

***
Leading dramatic presentations tonight ... Hank Simmons Show Boat over
WABC and the CBS from 9 to 10 o'clock ... With Hank Simmons himself
assuming the role of Sherlock Holmes the Show Boat players will
produce "A Study in Scarlet" by A. Conan Doyle.
***

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

Date: Mon, 18 Jun 2007 09:16:40 -0400
From: "Dave Adams" <dave@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  WJR & Nightflight

>From #162
"Does anyone remember Night Flight 76 on WJR in Detroit with Jay Roberts?"
  David B.

David,

I do. I'm 52 and lived in Detroit until I was 42 ([removed], CA now). Nightflight
was a little hokey for me often as I was at that age when it's hard to
appreciate the world of your parent's generation, but for a few years when I
was 18-20 I had an old car with nothing but an AM radio and no working
antenna. As you probably know, you didn't need an antenna to pull in WJR.
They didn't call it the 50,000 Watt Blowtorch for nothing. I drove that old
beater to Florida once (I was 18, which means I was pretty much nuts) and
pulled in WJR one night well into the state of Georgia.
Even then though, I was into OTR. I have been since I was 12 and bought an
album called Themes Like Old Times, which had the opening of dozens of OTR
shows. The openers were so dramatic that I bought any OTR I ran across, just
to see if the shows lived up to their intros. They did. My first was a Green
Hornet, and I was hooked. I have 100s of casettes which I'm torn about what
to do with. My Mazda Tribute has a cassette player but the odds my next car
will is pretty low, I hate to see them collect dust but the idea of
transfering all that to CD is a daunting one. (what do you guys do with
yours?)

BTW I have followed and really enjoyed this OTR Interest thread, so much so
that I am far behind (as you can tell, me replying to #162 just today). I
love the mini-life stories. It's a great way to learn about all you fine
folks.

-Dave Adams
[removed]
[removed]

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

Date: Mon, 18 Jun 2007 09:19:12 -0400
From: seandd@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  OTR in Sioux City

Here's a profile of an OTR radio show in Sioux City Iowa.  They run original ads and don't interrupt the shows.  It looks like the hosts got their spot after an OTR special they produced generated a large amount of listener mail to their station, a nice story for us fans.

Any listeners on the list?

[removed]

Sean Dougherty
SeanDD@[removed]

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

Date: Mon, 18 Jun 2007 12:11:48 -0400
From: Frank McGurn <[removed]@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Armstrong of [removed]

Stephen A. Kallis, Jr. asked about Armstrong of [removed] (The Scientific Bureau
of Investigations).
That was  a grown up contiation of the all American boy and a half hour show
on ABC . It was moved from an afternoon show to 7:30 PM . The cast of Billy ,
Betty and Uncle Jim were included in the grownup version.

Charles Flynn, who as Jack in afternoon also was in the later version ( Flynn
in the 50'became a Cook County Judge")

I have 2 SBI Episodes one is a very earl Episode "House of Darkness"
04/20/1948,Charles Flynn as Jack, and a later Episodes from 06/28/51
"Deadliest of the Species", on ABC, Rye Billabury (aha Michael Rye) is Jack.

In Chuck Schaden's "Nostalgia Digest" Spring of 2005 edition published an
Article "Jack Armstrong the All-American Media Start" By Katie Dishman of St.
Paul, Minnesota. I found it very interesting.
She tells the genesis of the SBI. Jonh Dunning "On The air" also tells the
complete story too.

Frank McGurn

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

Date: Mon, 18 Jun 2007 12:13:04 -0400
From: <[removed]@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Introducing new people to OTR

On June the 11th, I included the following in my post:

" I have recently been doing some MP3 cd's for some friends who are of the
age to have heard these shows on the radio and have begun to introduce
younger people to OTR. Last Christmas I played "The Cinnamon Bear" at the
local day care centre. I played two episodes a day, starting on Dec. 6 and
ending on the 22nd. It went over so well that I have been asked to do it
again this year. I am going to get "Christmas on the Moon" as well.

    What have everyone else been doing to interest other people in OTR?"

I am still curious as to what everyone has been doing to introduce new
people in OTR.

Roger Keel

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

Date: Mon, 18 Jun 2007 21:53:35 -0400
From: David Loftus <dloft59@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Bickersons and Philip Rapp

My wife and I will be reading a couple of "Bickersons" scripts on Wednesday
evening at a local bank (I do live monthly readings, usually of literature,
at both the bank and a coffee house here in Portland).

Enjoying these routines once again makes me wonder about the creator of the
show, Philip Rapp. Did he ever talk about the show at length -- its
inspiration and initial reception -- either in writing or in a decent
interview? I'd love to know more about him and about how the show was
received by its first listeners.

David Loftus
Portland, Oregon

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2007 Issue #179
*********************************************

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]