------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2010 : Issue 98
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
This week in radio history 30 May to [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
5-30 births/deaths [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
Re: News in WWII [ "Bill Jaker" <bilj@[removed]; ]
William Shatner on Radio Drama [ Dan Hughes <danhughes@[removed]; ]
5-31 births/deaths [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
re: Art Linkletter - not only kids s [ "Jan Bach" <janbach@[removed]; ]
baseball by telegraph [ Michael Berger <[removed]@yaho ]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 1 Jun 2010 14:21:35 -0400
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otr-digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: This week in radio history 30 May to 5 June
From Those Were The Days --
5/30
1922 - 'Smilin' Ed McConnell debuted on radio, smiling and playing his
banjo. McConnell quickly became a legend in the medium.
1935 - "America's Town Meeting" was heard on radio for the first time.
The NBC program continued for 21 years, with a name change to "America's
Town Meeting of the Air".
1938 - "Joyce Jordan, Girl Intern" was first heard interning on CBS
radio. The serial later evolved into "The Brighter Day" (1948).
5/31
1943 - A comic strip came to radio as "The Adventures of Archie
Andrews". It was heard on the NBC Blue network. Archie, Veronica and the
gang stayed on radio for about ten years, moving to Mutual Broadcasting
in January 1944, and then to NBC in June 1945. The radio sitcom was
based on Bob Montana's comic strip about Archie Andrews and his teen-age
pals.
1949 - A crowd of 35,000 people paid tribute to radio personality Mary
Margaret McBride at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, (one of the five
boroughs that make up New York City). McBride was celebrating her 15th
year in radio.
6/1
1936 The Lux Radio Theater moved from New York City to Hollywood.
Cecil B. DeMille, the program's host on the NBC Blue network, introduced
Clark Gable and Marlene Dietrich in The Legionnaire and the Lady.
1938 - The first issue of "Action Comics" was published. In its pages
was the world's first super hero, Superman. Jerry Siegel had a dream
about the baby, Moses, who was abandoned by his parents in order that
his life be saved. This dream prompted Siegel's creation of the 'Man of
Steel'. Artist Joe Shuster made the comic book hero come alive. The
first story, in this first issue, took place on the planet, Krypton,
where baby Kal-El was born. The infant was shot to Earth in a rocket
just before Krypton exploded.
6/2
1937 The Fabulous Dr. Tweedy was broadcast on NBC. Frank Morgan
starred as the absent minded Dr. Tweedy.
1937 CBS presented the first broadcast of Second Husband. The show
continued on the air until 1946.
6/3
1946 - Mutual Radio debuted "The Casebook of Gregory Hood". The show was
the summer replacement series for "Sherlock Holmes". The mystery series
became a regular weekly program in the fall of 1946.
6/4
1944 - "Leonidas Witherall" was first broadcast on the Mutual
Broadcasting System. Witherall was a detective who looked just like
William Shakespeare.
Joe
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 1 Jun 2010 14:21:42 -0400
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 5-30 births/deaths
May 30th births
05-30-1888 - James Farley - Crassey Point, NY - d. 6-9-1976
post master general: "Information Please"
05-30-1891 - Ben Bernie - Bayonne, NJ - d. 10-20-1943
bandleader: (The Old Maestro) "Ben Bernie Orchestra"; "Musical Mock
Trial"
05-30-1892 - Raymond Clapper - LaCygne, KS - d. 2-1-1944
commentator: (Killed During WWII) "News and Commentary for White Owl
Cigars"
05-30-1892 - Russ Brown - Philadelphia, PA - d. 10-19-1964
singer: "Ben Bernie, The Old Maestro"; "The Joe Penner Show"
05-30-1896 - Whispering Jack Smith - The Bronx, NY - d. 5-13-1950
singer: "Whispering Jack Smith"
05-30-1899 - Ruth Perrott - d. 1-6-1996
actor: Prudence Rockbottom "Meet Me at Parky's"; Dottie Brainfeeble
"Vic and Sade"
05-30-1901 - Cornelia Otis Skinner - Chicago, IL - d. 7-9-1979
actor: Mary "Johnny Presents"
05-30-1902 - Stepin Fetchit - Key West, FL - d. 11-19-1985
comedian: "Hollywood Hotel"
05-30-1904 - Carol Goodner - Katonah, NY - d. 11-29-2001
actor: "Keep It Dark"; "Advs. of the Red Feather Man"
05-30-1906 - Norris Goff - Cove, AR - d. 6-7-1978
actor: Abner Peabody "Lum and Abner"
05-30-1908 - Mel Blanc - San Francisco, CA - d. 7-10-1989
actor: Professor Pierre La Blanc "Jack Benny Program"; August Moon
"Point Sublime"
05-30-1909 - Benny Goodman - Chicago, IL - d. 6-13-1986
bandleader: (King of Swing) "Camel Caravan"; "Victor Borge Show"
05-30-1911 - Douglas Fowley - NYC - d. 5-21-1998
actor: "Hollywood Hotel"
05-30-1911 - Louise Campbell - Chicago, IL - d. 11-15-1997
actress: "The Star Maker"
05-30-1912 - Jerry D. Lewis - d. 8-7-1996
writer: "This Is Your FBI"
05-30-1912 - Julian Symons - London, England - d. 11-19-1994
crime writer: "Night Driver to Dover"; "Affection Unlimited"
05-30-1913 - Julian Blaustein - NYC - d. 6-20-1995
writer: "Cavalcade of America"
05-30-1913 - Kalman Bloch - NYC - d. 3-12-2009
principal clarinetist" Los Angeles Symphony
05-30-1914 - Bob Sherwood - Indianapolis, IN - d. 1-23-1981
music: "The Eddie Cantor Show"
05-30-1915 - Frank Blair - Yemasse, SC - d. 3-14-1995
newscaster, announcer: "America Looks Ahead"; "Fulton Lewis, Jr."
05-30-1917 - Peter Leeds - Bayonne, NJ - d. 11-12-1996
actor: Eugor "Rogue's Gallery"; "Bob Hope Show"; "Stan Freberg Show"
05-30-1920 - Franklin J. Schaffner - Tokyo, Japan - d. 7-2-1989
writer, director: "World Security Workshop"; "The March of Time"
05-30-1921 - Roy Neal - Philadelphia, PA - d. 8-15-2003
actor: "The Lost Continent"
05-30-1923 - Jimmy Lydon - Harrington Park, NJ
actor: Jimmy "Young Love"
05-30-1926 - Christine Jorgenson - The Bronx, NY - d. 5-3-1989
actor: "Whatever Became [removed]"
05-30-1936 - Keir Dullea - Cleveland, OH
actor: "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"
05-30-1944 - Meredith MacCrea - Houston, TX - d. 7-14-2000
actor: (Daughter of Gordon and Shelia MacCrea) "Sears Radio Theatre"
05-30-1961 - Ralph Carter - NYC
actor: "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"
May 30th deaths
01-28-1904 - Constance Crowder - Chicago, IL - d. 5-30-1994
actor: Jane Webster "Those Websters"; Gert Truitt "The Truitts"
02-12-1914 - Tex Beneke - Fort Worth, TX - d. 5-30-2000
tenor sax, singer, bandleader: "Glenn Miller and His Orchestra";
"Sunset Serenade"
03-01-1905 - Doris Hare - Bargoed, Monmouthshire, Wales - d. 5-30-2000
actor, host: "Navy Mixture"
04-03-1894 - Dooley Wilson - Tyler, TX - d. 5-30-1953
actor: "Theatre of Romance"; "New World A-Coming"; "Jubilee"
05-10-1911 - Paul Taubman - Winnipeg, Canada - d. 5-30-1994
organist/pianist: "Perry Mason"; "Mysterious Traveler"; "Family Doctor"
06-14-1912 - Peggy Ann Wood - Chiswick, England - d. 5-30-1998
actor: "The Cleverest Man at Oxford"
07-13-1924 - Patrick Campbell - d. 5-30-2003
actor: "The Chase"
08-06-1921 - Ella Raines - Snoqualmie, WA - d. 5-30-1988
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Red Cross Show"
08-18-1898 - Ken Sisson - Danbury, CT - d. 5-30-1947
conductor/arranger: "Maxwell House Coffee Time"; "Your Hit Parade"
09-03-1899 - Ezra Taft Benson - Whitney, ID - d. 5-30-1994
[removed] secratary of agriculture: "Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy Show"
09-05-1895 - William Hillman - NYC - d. 5-30-1962
newscaster: Teamed with Raymond Clapper on NBC BLUE, ABC
11-10-1889 - Claude Rains - London, England - d. 5-30-1967
actor: "Shakesperian Circle"; "This Is War!"; "Presenting Claude Rains"
11-13-1917 - Robert Sterling - Newcastle, PA - d. 5-30-2006
actor: Michael Shayne "Michael Shayne"
12-03-1897 - George Riley - Rochester, NY - d. 5-30-1972
comedian: "Furlough Fun"
12-05-1906 - William Spier - d. 5-30-1973
producer, director: "Advs. of Sam Spade"; "Suspense"
Ron
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 1 Jun 2010 14:21:49 -0400
From: "Bill Jaker" <bilj@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: News in WWII
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain
Alan Bell asked a very good question about the work of war correspondents
in World War II:
He has to contact his superiors in London to let them know that IS a
story. He has to find a short wave transmitter so he can SEND the story (did
they carry them around?). And he has to know--to the second--WHEN to send
the
story so that it would air live on the newscast. Because presumably it is
being led into from New York, right? And he can't hear the lead-in.
The American radio networks began bringing in live reports from overseas in
the mid 1930s, so many of the technical procedures were developed before the
start of major hostilities. During a period of US neutrality NBC and CBS even
had agreements with Axis powers to utilize their short-wave stations. For
planned reports and items scheduled into regular newscasts Bill Downs, Ed
Murrow, William L. Shirer, Max Jordan and others would simply go by the clock
- the way they do everything in radio.
For reports from the battlefield the procedure wasn't as neat. The networks
usually knew where their correspondents were stationed, which transmitters
would be available and the regular frequencies of those transmitters. The
first years of World War II coincided with a peak of the sunspot cycle
(indeed, there are those who would credit the solar maximum with driving
nations into war) and so worldwide short wave transmission conditions were
fairly dependable. The networks maintained state-of-the-art listening posts
and, if possible, the reporter overseas would utilize several transmitters to
compensate for a change in propagation. Audio control boards in the news
studios had inputs for the short wave signal marked with green, yellow and red
lights to indicate a poor, marginal and good signal. On recordings of
overseas reports during WW2 you sometimes hear a fading signal smoothly
crossfade into a loud, listenable voice.
But what was the procedure if the "soldiers with microphones" (as NBC liked to
call their war correspondents) had breaking news? It didn't necessarily have
to go through an editor, and only on very rare occassions did a reporter have
his own transmitter. One of the best descriptions is in John MacVane's book
"On the Air in World War II". The commander of all French forces in North
Africa had been assassinated. North American reporters rushed to Radio
Algiers and flipped a coin to see who would be first to report. NBC's MacVane
won the toss and so went on the air saying, "Hello. To all American networks.
Will NBC, CBS, Mutual, the BBC and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
please get ready for a special important broadcast in five minutes? Please
get ready to break into all broadcasts. I will read an important communiqui in
just four minutes. Then I will broadcast for NBC and I will be followed by
[Charles] Collingwood of CBS."
In that instance RCA Communications informed the newsroom of MacVane's
bulletin and NBC broke into the Bob Hope Show.
But were there times that war correspondents couldn't be sure that anyone at
their network would hear them? Yes, and so they'd ask anyone in the USA who
might be monitoring on their short-wave set (and many constantly were) to
"please call collect to NBC in New York at CIrcle 7-8300, give them this
frequency and tell them I'll begin my report eleven minutes and thirty seconds
from now." Someone became radio's equivalent of a civilian submarine
spotter.
-- Bill
Jaker
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------------------------------
Date: Tue, 1 Jun 2010 14:21:55 -0400
From: Dan Hughes <danhughes@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: William Shatner on Radio Drama
>From an interview with William Shatner, from The Los Angeles Times:
"Well, as you know, I've got a series of comic books, four all together
-- one is out there already, "Tek War," and another is coming out now,
and two more coming within the year. So I've really entered the comic
book world but for me the next thing is my plan to make them into radio
[removed]
I've done radio before. It's a foreign vehicle now. These days, it's hard
to find people who can even write for radio. They've all disappeared. The
production of a radio show is a challenge too, you've got to find sound
people for all the effects, for instance, and that's almost a lost art. A
whole tradition has been lost. We're barely able to recapture some of it,
but that is exactly what I'd like to do. It's all very early on. I've got
to sell the idea."
---Dan Hughes
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 1 Jun 2010 14:22:00 -0400
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 5-31 births/deaths
May 31st births
05-31-1879 - Frances Alda - Christchurch, New Zealand - d. 9-18-1952
soprano: "Atwater Kent Hour"
05-31-1893 - Albert Mitchell - Elsberry, MO - d. 10-4-1954
host: "Answer Man"
05-31-1894 - Fred Allen - Cambridge, MA - d. 3-17-1956
comedian: "Linit Bath Club"; "Town Hall Tonight"; "Fred Allen Show"
05-31-1898 - Norman Vincent Peale - Bowersville, OH - d. 12-24-1993
preacher: "Art of Living"
05-31-1900 - Hugh Studebaker - Ridgeville, IN - d. 5-6-1978
actor: Ichabod Mudd "Captain Midnight"; Silly Watson "Fibber McGee and
Molly"
05-31-1901 - Alfredo Antonini - Alessandra, Italy - d. 11-3-1983
conductor: "La Rosa Concerts"; "Treasure Hour of Song"
05-31-1901 - Joe Kelly - Crawfordsville, IN - d. 5-26-1959
emcee, quizmaster: "National Barn Dance"; "Quiz Kids"
05-31-1903 - Abo Hosiosky - Latvia - d. 2-xx-1976
NBC news in partnership with Alex Dreier
05-31-1903 - Blanche Stewart - Pennsylvania - d. 7-25-1952
actor: Brenda "Bob Hope Show"
05-31-1904 - Clifton Utley - Chicago, IL - d. 1-19-1978
newsman: (Father of Garrick) "Comments by Clifton Utley"
05-31-1904 - Jeanne Juvelier - NYC - d. 1-25-1981
actor: Madame Babette "Arnold Grimm's Daughter"
05-31-1905 - Jeff Sparks - NYC - d. 9-30-1981
announcer: "Ben Bernie and all the Lads"; "Death Valley Days"
05-31-1908 - Don Ameche - Kenosha, WI - d. 12-6-1993
actor, singer: John Bickerson "Bickersons"; Captain Hughes "Jack
Armstrong"
05-31-1908 - Jack Costello - Sauk Centre, MN - d. 9-xx-1983
announcer: "Stella Dallas"; "Words at War"
05-31-1912 - Henry M. Jackson - Everett, WA - d. 9-1-1983
[removed] senator washington: "Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy Show"
05-31-1918 - Bill Harrington- Indianapolis, IN
singer, songwriter: "Your Hit Parade"
05-31-1920 - Jeanne Wilson - London, England - d. 12-xx-1996
author, actor: "No Medicine for Murder"
05-31-1921 - Alida Valli - Pola, Istria, Italy - d. 4-22-2006
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Hedda Hopper's Hollywood"
05-31-1921 - Howard Reig - NYC - d. 11-10-2008
newscaster, announcer: "The Music Builders"; "The Falcon"
05-31-1922 - Denholm Elliott - London, England - d. 10-6-1992
actor: 'Michael and His Lost Angel"
05-31-1925 - Bob Aro - d. 5-25-1996
disk jockey: WHLB Virginia, Minnesota
05-31-1931 - Barbara Whiting - Los Angeles, CA - d. 6-9-2004
actor: Judy Graves "Junior Miss"; Mildred "Meet Corliss Archer"
05-31-1938 - Johnny Paycheck - Greenfield, OH - d. 2-18-2003
country singer: "Country Sessions"
May 31st deaths
01-29-1917 - Lloyd Perryman - Ruth, AR - d. 5-31-1977
singer: (Sons of the Pioneers) "The Roy Rogers Show"
02-04-1908 - Manny Klein - NYC - d. 5-31-1994
trumpet: "The Ipana Troubadors"
02-25-1904 - Adelle Davis - Lizton, IN - d. 5-31-1974
nutritionist, author: "Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy"
03-01-1923 - Andrew Faulds - Tanzania, East Africa - d. 5-31-2000
actor: Jet Morgan "Journey Into Space"
03-01-1929 - Eddie Jones - New Jersey - d. 5-31-1997
jazz bassist in the Count Basie band
04-01-1920 - Art Lund - Salt Lake City, UT - d. 5-31-1990
singer, actor: "Benny Goodman and His Orchestra"; "Land's Best Bands";
"Jubilee"
04-13-1912 - Roy Winsor - Chicago, IL - d. 5-31-1987
director, writer: "Vic and Sade"; "Sky King"
04-20-1923 - Tito Puente - NYC - d. 5-31-2000
percussionist, bandleader: "Manhattan Melodies"
05-03-1898 - John Roy - d. 5-31-1985
actor: Roy Calvert "Amanda of Honeymoon Hill"
05-11-1930 - Stanley Elkin - NYC - d. 5-31-1995
writer: "Earplay"
06-02-1908 - Ben Grauer - Staten Island, NY - d. 5-31-1977
announcer, emcee: "Walter Winchell"; "Information, Please"; "Boston
Symphony"
06-24-1895 - Jack Dempsey - Manassa, CO - d. 5-31-1983
boxing champion: "Ben Bernie Show"; "Kemtone Hour"; "Saturday Night
Bandwagon"
07-29-1900 - Owen Lattimore - Washington, DC - d. 5-31-1989
consultant: "Pacific Story"
08-03-1907 - Adrienne Ames - Fort Worth, TX - d. 5-31-1947
film star: WHN New York, New York
08-04-1936 - Elsbery Hobbs - Manhattan, NY - d. 5-31-1996
singer: (The Drifters) "Grand Ole Opry"; "Camel Rock and Roll Party"
08-05-1905 - Wilbur Evans - Philadelphia, PA - d. 5-31-1987
singer:"Vicks Open House"; "Stars from the Blue"
10-20-1907 - Arlene Francis - Boston, MA - d. 5-31-2001
panelist, actor: "What's My Line"; Ann Scotland,"The Affairs of Ann
Scotland"
12-23-1922 - Scott Vincent - d. 5-31-1979
announcer: "The Jimmy Dean Show"
12-30-1899 - Michael Raffetto - Placerville, CA - d. 5-31-1990
actor: Paul Barbour "One Man's Family"; Jack Packard "I Love A Mystery/
Adventure"
Ron
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 1 Jun 2010 14:22:34 -0400
From: "Jan Bach" <janbach@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: re: Art Linkletter - not only kids say the
darndest things
Hello again --
I have two memories of Art Linkletter. The first was on a House Party TV
episode in the spring of 1965: Henry Fonda was a special guest celebrating
his 60th birthday. Art, in his normal jovial mood, asked him how he liked
being that age, and Henry, looking as dour as he did in The Grapes of Wrath,
said he didn't like it very well. Art answered that it was better than the
alternative. "What's that?" asked Fonda blankly. After a completely silent
moment during which it sunk into the audience's heads that not all brilliant
actors were brilliant intellects, Art tried to save the dialogue by saying
"You know . . . wsshhhhhht!" and ran his index finger across his throat as
though he was being cut "from 'ear to there," as Stan Laurel once put it.
Fonda said "Oh . . " but still had that blank puzzled look on his face. Why
on earth would I have remembered that interchange for all these years, I
wonder!
The second was when Art spoke in our town -- a west suburb of Chicago --
about ten years ago on behalf of a new fitness center recently built at the
local hospital. But the demand for the tickets was so high, at the last
minute his venue was changed from the fitness center to the largest high
school auditorium in town. And still many were turned away who had wanted to
hear him. Those who attended were amazed at his vitality, his charisma, his
sunny outlook on life, and of course his unfailing good humor.
Art was one of a kind, and he will be missed.
Jan Bach
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 1 Jun 2010 14:24:13 -0400
From: Michael Berger <[removed]@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: baseball by telegraph
Reading Red Smith's superb collection of baseball stories, I came across one
on how Red Barber would re-create a game on the radio. This subject has been
mentioned here from time to time, but I thought you'd enjoy Barber's own
description, as reported by Smith. What follows is an excerpt.
Michael Berger
"This is just a business," Mr. Barber explained before the wire opened up for
the third game of Brooklyn's series in St. Louis. "We don't try to fake it.
We have the telegraph sounder right in here near the microphone where it can
be heard because we don't kid the listeners this is anything but a
telegraphed report.
"From spring training on, Connie Desmond [Barber's co-announcer] and I are
studying the mannerisms of the players in the National League and memorizing
them so that when we do a [re-created] game we can visualize them on the
field. For instance, I remember how Ed Stanky stands at the plate, how he
crouches lower and lower when he's trying for a base on balls. So when I
describe it over the air I'm not faking. I know he's doing that."
For a 'reconstructed' game a telegraph operator in the studio copies the wire
report on a typewriter. Barber stands beside him talking into a microphone
which is hung over [a lecturn] . . . although Barber sits down in his booth
at Ebbets Field, he prefers to stand in the airless studio . . .
At his elbow, propped up on a sort of music rack, are the lineups of the two
teams with the current batting average of each player . . .
Here's the way Barber builds up a play:
The telegraph types: 'Reiser up - bats left'
"And here's Reiser," says Red. "Hitting .283, 106 base hits. . ."
The [telegraph] writes: B1 OS [ball one, outside]
"Dickson misses the plate," Barber says. "Ball one."
Smith writes that Barber "doesn't add a pitch or play that doesn't happen. He
merely embroiders each play with [removed] . "
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2010 Issue #98
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