------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2007 : Issue 40
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
2-4 births/deaths [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
Re: Vital statistics on Barney Beck [ StevenL751@[removed] ]
Feb issue of RADIO RECALL [ jack and cathy french <otrpiano@ver ]
Re: Names [ Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed]; ]
Routing Codes [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
Barney Beck [ "Bob Burchett" <haradio@[removed] ]
Serialized sobriquets [ <otrbuff@[removed]; ]
The Halls Of Ivy on the [removed] [ Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed] ]
jan bach's mr. keen thought [ "Jay Manarky" <jayman@[removed]; ]
Red Menace [ Brian Johnson <chyronop@[removed] ]
Odd Old AM Station Call Letters [ <verotas@[removed]; ]
2-5 births/deaths [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
Don't Touch that Dial lineup [ "B. J. Watkins" <kinseyfan@hotmail. ]
February SPERDVAC meeting [ "B. J. Watkins" <kinseyfan@hotmail. ]
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 3 Feb 2007 22:39:48 -0500
From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 2-4 births/deaths
February 4th births
02-04-1889 - Walter Catlett - San Francisco, Ca - d. 11-14-1960
actor: "This Is Your [removed]"; "Escape"; "Campbell Playhouse"
02-04-1901 - Tom McKnight - d. 4-22-1963
producer, director, writer: "Beulah Show"; "Gibson Family"
02-04-1902 - Charles A. Lindbergh - Detroit, MI - d. 8-26-1974
aviator: CBS awards program
02-04-1904 - MacKinlay Kantor - Webster City, IA - d. 10-11-1977
writer: "Lest We Forget"; "Author's Playhouse"
02-04-1905 - Eddie Foy, Jr. - New Rochelle, NY - d. 7-15-1983
vaudevillian: "Starlight Operetta"; "Mitch Miller Show"
02-04-1908 - Gordon Fraser - Lawrence, MA - d. 1-1-2000
newsman on the Blue Network
02-04-1908 - Manny Klein - NYC - d. 5-31-1994
trumpet: "The Ipana Troubadors"
02-04-1909 - Robert Coote - London, England - d. 11-26-1982
actor: "Campbell Playhouse"
02-04-1912 - Bryon Nelson - Waxachaie, TX - d. 9-26-2006
golfer: "The Bill Stern Sports Newsreel"
02-04-1912 - Erich Leinsdorf - Vienna, Austria - d. 9-11-1993
conductor: "NBC Symphony Orchestra"; "Pioneers of Music"; "Musicians
Off Stage"
02-04-1918 - Ida Lupino - London, England - d. 8-3-1995
panelist, actor: "Hollywood Byline"; "Screen Guild Theatre"
02-04-1918 - Janet Waldo - Grandview, WA
actor: Corliss Archer "Meet Corliss Archer"; Irene Franklin "One
Man's Family"
02-04-1921 - Betty Friedan - Peoria, IL - d. 2-4-2006
feminist, author: "Second Sunday"
02-04-1934 - Bruce Malmuth - Brooklyn, NY - d. 6-29-2005
director: New York Yankees baseball games
February 4th deaths
01-22-1924 - J. J. Johnson - d. 2-4-2001
jazz trombonist: "Arthur Godfrey Show"; "One Night Stand"
02-04-1921 - Betty Friedan - Peoria, IL - d. 2-4-2006
feminist, author: "Second Sunday"
03-10-1920 - Kenneth C. Burns (Jethro) - Georgia - d. 2-4-1989
comedic singer: (Homer and Jethro) "Town and Country Time"
04-07-1900 - Maria "Gamby" Gambarelli - La Spezia, Italy - d. 2-4-1990
ballerina, singer: "Roxy's Gang"; "Dance with Gamby"
04-13-1919 - Phil Tonken - Hartford, CT - d. 2-4-2000
announcer/newscaster: "Your Supper"; "Radio Newsreel"
05-16-1919 - Liberace - West Milwaukee, WI - d. 2-4-1987
pianist, singer: "Stars for Defense"
07-31-1904 - Brett Halliday - Chicago, IL - d. 2-4-1977
creator of Michael Shayne; host on "Murder by Experts"
08-06-1915 - Jim Ameche - Kenosha, WI - d. 2-4-1983
actor: Jack Armstrong "Jack Armstrong"; Jim West "Silver Eagle"
09-19-1904 - Dr. Bergen Evans - Franklin, OH - d. 2-4-1978
host: "Down You Go"; "Of Many Things"
10-19-1921 - George Nader - Pasadena, CA - d. 2-4-2002
actor: "Family Theatre"
11-08-1921 - Jerome Hines - Hollywood, CA - d. 2-4-2003
singer: "Standard Hour"; "Voice of Firestone"
12-18-1917 - Ossie Davis - Cogdell, GA - d. 2-4-2005
actor: "Cavalcade of America"; "Story Hour"
xx-xx-1894 - Stuart Buchanan - d. 2-4-1974
actor, producer, director: "Goofy "Mickey Mouse Theatre of the Air"
Ron Sayles
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 4 Feb 2007 09:15:20 -0500
From: StevenL751@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Vital statistics on Barney Beck
Does anybody know the vital statistics on Barney Beck? His birth
date, his birth place and some shows he worked his magic on?
Barney worked at Mutual for most of his career. If I recall correctly, some
of the major shows he provided sound effects for were "The Shadow", "I Love
A Mystery", and "Bob & Ray".
Steve Lewis
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 4 Feb 2007 09:15:41 -0500
From: jack and cathy french <otrpiano@[removed];
To: OTRBB <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Feb issue of RADIO RECALL
With this issue, the Metro Washington OTR Club institutes an option for
all subscribers. They can now choose between the standard B & W
hardcopy or a PDF file (in color) emailed to them.
The February issue's cover story is "Czar Wars", an historical overview
of Sarnoff and Paley as written by prodigious author, Jim Cox. Part II
of a three part series, "Mosquito Network" appears in this issue: a
great article on WW II radio in the Pacific, written by Australian
educator, Martin Hadlow. Frequent Digester Derek Tague is our guest
columnist in the "Ask the Expert" segment as Derek defends the exalted
position of Norman Corwin in the Golden Age of Radio.
Other short features include details on the new book by Richard
Lamparski, "Manhattan Diary" which chronicles many show-biz folks,
including OTR stars. Included in this issue is a short bit on Ron
Sayles' web site, a Hall of Fame for OTR stars from Wisconsin. There is
also an obituary on Marla Slosberg, the daughter of Charlie Cantor.
For more information and subscription details, go to our web site at
<[removed]>
Jack French
Editor
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 4 Feb 2007 09:22:56 -0500
From: Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Names
Derek asked:
This got me to wondering if there were any other OTR performers
who changed their professional names mid-career, or who acted
under various names.
One that came to mind immediately for me because I had been just doing
some checking on him was announcer/actor Michael Rye/Rye Billsbury.
Jim Widner
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 4 Feb 2007 09:23:52 -0500
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Routing Codes
On 2/3/07 10:46 PM [removed]@[removed] wrote:
Based on that, we think that perhaps BASIC
refers to the main NBC Blue network and perhaps the other letters are
regional designations--however, as of yet, we haven't been able to
find really strong evidence to bear this hypothesis out!
Well, you're correct on the Basic part -- Basic Blue, which was the only
group of stations that were *always* Blue, consisted of WJZ, WBZ-WBZA,
WBAL, WMAL, WSYR, WHAM, KDKA, WGAR, WJR, WCKY, WENR, KWK, KWCR, KSO, and
WREN. In addition to these, there were supplemental groups of stations
that could be either Red or Blue depending on the circumstances, known as
the Southeastern, Southcentral, Southwestern, Northwestern, Mountain,
Basic Pacific, Supplementary Pacific, Hawaiian, and Candian Groups.
I'd suggest checking the annual Broadcasting Magazine Yearbook for 1939,
which should contain an up-to-the-minute list of these groups. I'm not
sure how those codes would match up -- you'd probably need information
from AT&T Long Lines to fully decode them.
One other thing to keep in mind -- those notes may refer only to the
stations who *could* have carried the program, rather than those that
did. It was a sustaining broadcast, and as such clearance was not
compulsory. It could be aired or not aired by any individual station in
any of the listed groups at will, depending on local circumstances.
Note also that WRC, a basic Red affiliate, provided the originating feed!
Elizabeth
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 4 Feb 2007 10:57:00 -0500
From: "Bob Burchett" <haradio@[removed];
To: "[removed]" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Barney Beck
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain
Barney worked The Shadow, Nick Carter, and Bob & Ray
that I know of. I'm sure there are others.
Bob Burchett
*** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
*** as the sender intended. ***
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 4 Feb 2007 15:51:19 -0500
From: <otrbuff@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Serialized sobriquets
Derek Tague, one of the good guys, writes,
This got me to wondering if there were
any other OTR performers who changed their professional names mid-career, or
who acted under various names.
To avoid a conflict with another sponsor, Marvin Miller, who introduced a
zillion shows, altered his moniker to Charlie Warren for Ma Perkins. When
he left Ma, his successor there, Dan Donaldson, frequently adopted Charlie
Warren as his alter ego, too, for the same reason.
Hugh James, the infamous gent who for many years said, "This is Hugh James,
saying thank you, and good evening for Firestone," got around his conflicts
on multiple daytime serials by calling himself Bill Flood. He presented
Wendy Warren every day at high noon, whose narrative welcomed Douglas
Edwards (only Edwards, on that show, used his birth name).
Jim Cox
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 4 Feb 2007 15:55:25 -0500
From: Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: The Halls Of Ivy on the [removed]
The Halls Of Ivy - Student Actress/Mrs. Halls Letter
As promised over a month ago (nothing like being on top of things, eh?), I am
posting two episodes of The Halls of Ivy which contain the complete theme
song. This episode is from May 5th of 1950 - stay tuned for the other episode
I promised.
Note other episodes of The Halls of Ivy are available on the Fundraiser Discs
which help support the mailing lists, podcasts, and other OTR-related stuff
here on my little corner of the Net. You can find the show (and other OTR
programs, too) at [removed]
(And apologies for the delay.)
AOL: <a ref="[removed]">[removed]</a>
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 4 Feb 2007 17:27:04 -0500
From: "Jay Manarky" <jayman@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: jan bach's mr. keen thought
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain
Apropos of Jan Bach's observation (explaining the action taking place on
OTR shows)
As a youngster, I could never figure how Clark Kent switched his garb to
become Superman so quickly on OTR.
I think I was 25 years old (well, almost) before I realized that what
was changing so convincingly (and quickly) was Clayton Collier's magnificent
voice.
An example of your example, Jan.
I recall an episode of "Gangbusters" where two criminals have eluded
the cops and were hiding near a railroad roundhouse. They decided it would
be better to split up
and get together later. As they were making their departure one calls
"Good bye. See ya later" . The other responds "Okay! See ya".
If we had any doubt that they really were going their separate
ways it had been put to rest.
Jay Manarky
*** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
*** as the sender intended. ***
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 4 Feb 2007 17:44:37 -0500
From: Brian Johnson <chyronop@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Red Menace
Howard Blue (and others) seem to be lost in the "romanticism" of the Hollywood blacklist era. The
problem with such an outlook (dare I say, seen through "rose-colored" glasses) ignores the fact
that the American Communist Party was directly controlled by the Soviets and that Hollywood was
awash with CPUSA activists. After Boris Yeltsin opened up the files of the old Soviet Union and
the US government's declassification of the Venona project, there is just too much historical
evidence to allow that view to continue to be expressed uncontested. There were A LOT of active
Communists in Hollywood in those days and their allegiance lay with Joseph Stalin. They were NOT
just "political progressives." The war against Communism, though it may not have been waged fairly
on every level, was still a necessity.
By the end of WWII, the Hollywood branch of the CPUSA numbered close to 600. Names like Frederic
March, Lloyd Bridges, Edward G. Robinson and Lionel Stander peppered the list. (Peter Schweizer,
"Reagan's War," Doubleday 2002, p. 8) Herb Sorrell's Conference of Studio Unions was directly
funded by the Soviets and their violent strikes against the studios in the 1940's were one of the
things that got Congress' attention in the first place. (When Robinson left the party he declared,
"I was duped and used. I was lied to. ("An Empire of Their Own," Crown 1988, p. 334))
The book "Red Star Over Hollywood" (Encounter, 2005) by respected historians Ron and Allis Radosh
recounts how writer Lillian Hellman's reaction to the Nazi attack on Russia was "The Motherland
has been attacked!" She remained a Stalin apologist to her dying day, choosing to ignore the
Moscow show trials and the Gulags. For this she was lionized in Jane Fonda's 1977 film "Julia."
There was an organization called the Hollywood Independent Citizens Committee of Arts, Sciences
and Professions (HICCASP). Members included Frank Sinatra, Olivia deHavilland, Orson Wells,
Katherine Hepburn and FDR's son, James. At the July 2, 1946 meeting Roosevelt suggested that with
it's many repudiations of fascism, HICCASP should quell rumors of Communist control with a
resolution denouncing that political extreme as well. A donnybrook ensued. Artie Shaw stood up and
declared the Soviet Union more democratic than the US. Writer Dalton Trumbo (of the "Hollywood
Ten) called the idea "wicked." (Schweizer, p. 9) Also at this meeting was actor Ronald Reagan, who
would soon be elected President of the Screen Actors Guild with the backing of such people as
deHavilland, George Murphy and Gene Kelly. (It was Kelly who placed Reagan's name in nomination.)
Reagan fought the blacklists as SAG president. The future US President would complain that Sen.
Joseph McCarthy was "using a shotgun when he should have been using a [removed] He went with a
scatter gun and he lumped together fellow travelers, innocent dupes and hard-core Communists.
("With Enough Shovels," Random House, 1982, p. 255) In a 1951 article in "Fortnight" magazine,
Reagan wrote, "We play right into their hands when we go around calling everybody a Communist."
But he had seen the violence and the lies first hand. This coddling and glossing over of the
horrific nature of Communism is what started Reagan's political conversion from chairing the
League of Hollywood Voters to re-elect Harry Truman to icon of the modern Republican Party.
We do ourselves a disfavor when we rewrite history or ignore real threats to make cheap political
points.
[ADMINISTRIVIA: This discussion will continue only so long as it remains civil. --cfs3]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 4 Feb 2007 19:11:58 -0500
From: <verotas@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Odd Old AM Station Call Letters
Rummaging through my half-century of collecting, I came across an envelope
filled with those little call-letter inserts one could put into the
semi-automatic dialers on more expensive radios. Some of the station calls
puzzle me.
There are 7 pages of these sheets with the call letters arranged
alphabetically, one chip per station. Except for the last page there are
about 190 such chips per page, for a total of well over 1000 radio station
chips, PLUS about 40 which just bear two-digit odd-numbered chips running
from 21 through 99, AND 11 chips, each of which just has a blank white area
in which one could write his desired notation.
What puzzles me is the call letters in addition to those starting with the
familiar C (Canada including CM9RT), K ([removed] west of the Mississippi), W
([removed] east including such as W3XDD and W8XNU)), and X (Mexico).
These include calls starting with F (FQN), H (HIN, HIT and 3 others), T (TGW
and TIX plus 10 others including 5-letter call TIGPH), V (VAS and 3 others),
Y, (YSS), and Z (ZNS)!
My only guess is that one or more such category may be for short-wave
stations - but distributed to people buying large AM receivers? Perhaps the
multi-band ones?
Can anyone tell me what all these other letters were for? Many thanks!
Lee Munsick
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 4 Feb 2007 19:12:11 -0500
From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 2-5 births/deaths
February 5th births
02-05-1893 - Carlton Coon - Rochester, MN - d. 5-4-1932
bandleader: (Coon-Sanders Nighthawks) "Florsheim Frolic"
02-05-1898 - Sidney Fields - d. 9-28-1975
comic, comedy writer: "Abbott and Costello Show"; "It's Time to Smile"
02-05-1901 - Arthur Sheekman - Chicago, IL - d. 1-12-1978
writer: "The Marx Brothers"
02-05-1906 - John Carradine - NYC - d. 11-27-1988
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
02-05-1911 - Bert Wilson - d. 11-5-1955
chicago cubs play-by-play announcer 1944-1955
02-05-1918 - Tim Holt - Beverly Hills, CA - d. 2-15-1973
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
02-05-1919 - Red Buttons - NYC - d. 7-13-2006
actor: "Guest Star"; "Friar's Club Roast"
02-05-1934 - Hank Aaron - Mobile, AL
baseball legend: "Baseball: An Action History"; "Tops In Sports"
02-05-1941 - David Selby - Morgantown, WV
actor: "Empire of the Air"
February 5th deaths
01-16-1907 - John Hiestand - Madison, WI - d. 2-5-1987
announcer: "Amos 'n' Andy"; "Cinnamon Bear"; "Feg Murray Show"
02-11-1909 - Joseph L. Mankiewicz - Wilkes-Barre, PA - d. 2-5-1993
screenwriter, film director: "Theatre Guild On the Air"; "Lux Radio
Theatre"
02-14-1905 - Thelma Ritter - Brooklyn, NY - d. 2-5-1969
actor: "Aldrich Family"; "Big Town "; "McGarry and His Mouse"
04-10-1868 - George Arliss - London, England - d. 2-5-1946
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
05-04-1913 - Carroll Moore, Jr. - Somerville, MA - d. 2-5-1977
writer: "The Henry Morgan Show"
06-10-1909 - Larry LeSueur - NYC - d. 2-5-2003
CBS news correspondent: "This Week in Europe"; "The World Today"
06-29-1908 - John Hench - Cedar Rapids, IA - d. 2-5-2004
actor: Stanley Gilman "Those Happy Gilmans"
07-06-1905 - Pauline Drake - Denver, CO - d. 2-5-1981
actor: Bessie "Great Gildersleeve"; "Miss Duffy "Duffy's Tavern"
07-22-1912 - Orren Allen - d. 2-5-1993
sportscaster: WKAN Kankakee, Illinois
11-07-1903 - Dean Jagger - Lima, OH - d. 2-5-1991
actor: "Crisis in War Town"; "Columbia Workshop"; "Cavalcade of America"
11-14-1914 - Court Benson - Vancouver, Canada - d. 2-5-1995
announcer, narrator: "Tennessee Jed"
12-01-1896 - Ethel Shutta - NYC - d. 2-5-1976
singer-comedienne: "Jack Benny Program"
12-08-1910 - Ruth Matteson - San Jose, CA - d. 2-5-1975
actor: Nicole Scott "Against the Storm"
xx-xx-xxxx - Kuda Bux - Kashmir, India - d. 2-5-1981
magician: "Believe It or Not"
Ron Sayles
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 4 Feb 2007 19:48:33 -0500
From: "B. J. Watkins" <kinseyfan@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Don't Touch that Dial lineup
Monday midnight, February 5 to 3 am Tuesday (Pacific Time) DON'T TOUCH THAT
DIAL will air on KPFK [removed] FM and stream at [removed] Hosts Bobb Lynes &
Barbara Sunday will play MR. PRESIDENT, JACK BENNY and HONEST HAROLD, plus
an eye witness account of Lincoln's Gettysburg address. For those not able
to listen live the show will be archived for 60 days.
>From 3-5:30 am Roy of Hollywood continues on SOMETHING'S HAPPENING with
shows dealing with trains:
Academy Award Theatre (11-13-46) "Night Train" with Rex Harrison,
Cavalcade of America (4/15/36) "Railroad Builders", Columbia Workshop
(3/13/39) "In the Train", Escape, (9/6/53) "Train from Olbiefelde" with
William Conrad and Suspense (4/13/53) "The Great Train Robbery" with Fred
MacMurray.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 4 Feb 2007 19:48:53 -0500
From: "B. J. Watkins" <kinseyfan@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: February SPERDVAC meeting
The next SPERDVAC meeting will take place on Saturday, February 10 at noon
at the South Pasadena Community Room in the 1000 block of El Centro in South
Pasadena. It's two short blocks from the Mission station of the Gold Line.
The guest will be ALFRED BALK, author of the new McFarland book "The Rise of
Radio, from Marconi through the Golden Age." He's making a special trip out
to California just for this occasion, so we need to get as many people to
this meeting as possible. He'll talk about his book and hopefully, will
have some available for purchase at the meeting. The meeting is free and
open to the public.
[NOTE: The March 10 SPERDVAC meeting will be held in the same location but
ONE HOUR EARLIER, at 11 am. The guest will be Bill Idelson who is best
remembered for his role of Rush on VIC AND SADE.]
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2007 Issue #40
********************************************
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]