------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2005 : Issue 158
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Jerry Vale and Page Cavanaugh [ "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed]; ]
RE:Jon Pertwee [ "Garry Lewis" <garrylewis747@earthl ]
Re: Bill & Jon Pertwee [ mickey <mickey44@[removed]; ]
Shelock Holmes [ "RadioAZ@[removed]" <radioAZ@bas ]
Bill Pertwee [ "[removed]" <donsplace@[removed]; ]
CBS Radio News/Tone/Chirp [ "bcockrum" <rmc44@[removed]; ]
CBS World News Roundup [ Art Chimes <achimes@[removed]; ]
Galen Drake [ Jack & Cathy French <otrpiano@erols ]
OT dylan thomas [ "Kurt E. Yount" <blsmass@[removed]; ]
studds terkel [ "Kurt E. Yount" <blsmass@[removed]; ]
Damon Runyon, On George Burns [ jameshburns@[removed] (Jim Burns) ]
5-22 births/deaths [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
Jack Benny's last live broadcast [ Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed]; ]
Henry Corden [ Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed]; ]
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 21 May 2005 17:30:29 -0400
From: "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Jerry Vale and Page Cavanaugh
Hi Everybody,
we just book Jerry Vale for the June SPERDVAC meeting [removed]
Jerry was the singer on the the 1950s Peter Lynn Hayes show. Does any one
have a copy of this show that we can use? I also just book Page Cavanaugh
for the September SPERDVAC meeting. Did Page have his own radio show? I
have him with Spike Jones, and Songs by Sinatra. Page is still playing
piano around CA. In fact I just receive a new CD with him playing piano
on some of the tracks. Take care,
Walden Hughes
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 21 May 2005 17:31:00 -0400
From: "Garry Lewis" <garrylewis747@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: RE:Jon Pertwee
According to IMDB Jon and Bill were cousins. They don't have a death date
for Bill, so I he maybe still alive. Jon died in 1996.
A side note was that Bill was the "godfather" to Ian Lavender( Pvt. Frank
Pike ) on "Dads Army".
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 21 May 2005 19:58:01 -0400
From: mickey <mickey44@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Bill & Jon Pertwee
Kermyt Anderson wrote:
Since they both appeared in popular BBC shows starting in the
50s, I presume they were brothers? Is Bill still alive?
Bill is still alive and is the slightly younger (B - 1926) cousin of Jon.
mickey
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 21 May 2005 19:58:26 -0400
From: "RadioAZ@[removed]" <radioAZ@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Shelock Holmes
Shelock Holmes holds the distinction of being the most often portrayed
fictional character in movies. Anyone know the most often portrayed
historical character in movies?
I was recently in a Half-Price bookstore and saw a boxed set of Sherlock
Holmes radio shows. I was about to purchase it when I noticed it was not
OTR. These were recently produced scripts. I don't recall who put them
out. I'm not sure if they used the OTR scripts which are liberally
available from the archives of the Wisconsin State Historical Society in
Madison. Or, were they written anew for that series. Anyone know any more
about that new Holmes set?
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 21 May 2005 19:58:54 -0400
From: "[removed]" <donsplace@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Bill Pertwee
Bill Pertwee, according to a number of short biographies posted on
the 'net, is the cousin of the late Jon Pertwee.
Don't know much about Jon' s radio work, but he did do voice work on
the Teddy Ruxpin series, and was brilliant on TV as both Dr. Who and
Worzel Gummidge. Absolutely the most gracious and forgiving man I've
ever spilled hot coffee on.
[removed]
"Nobody knows the exact age of the human race, but everybody agrees
that it is old enough to know better."
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 21 May 2005 21:24:03 -0400
From: "bcockrum" <rmc44@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: CBS Radio News/Tone/Chirp
Can't help but joining the discussion about CBS and can't help but believe
some of the effusive, positive comments the last couple of days are more
from nostalgia than a serious look at the radio network's news on the hour.
Those good ol' days of a news organization's own correspondents in the major
capitals of the world are long gone and with them the advantage of having
someone who has some depth of knowledge of what he's talking about. (What
was the drummers' song in "The Music Man," -- "ya gotta know the territory"?
In addition to using stringers for reports from the scene, these days there
is a plethora of "readers" done by a second reporter ... no more than a
second voice whose purpose is ... to be a another voice in the newscast. For
instance, the newscast anchor in NY throws it to a "reporter" in Washington
for a story about such-and-such government study that is coming out today --
and the reporter is reading nothing more than what could be wire copy or a
rewrite from the Washington Post. And I've written before of my disgust of
cutting in and out of CBS (TV) News audio during special programming.
Nor, of course, is CBS Radio really into news as it once was in terms of
length. The 10-minute newscast on the hour in the 1960s made the network the
New York Times of the air. And the 15-minute newscast in the morning (The
CBS World News Roundup) and in the evening (The World Tonight), added to
that image (not to mention Lowell Thomas). But today the news roundups are
only 10 minutes long in the morning, nine in the evening, with many local
stations cutting away after the first few minutes.
I seldom hear an ABC newscast, so I'm not sure how well they do. And for
that matter, listening to CBS gives me such heartburn that I don't listen
much to them anymore, except to set my watch -- which is really unnecessary,
thanks to an Internet link to the government's atomic clock ... or just by
looking at my own radio-controlled clock.
The "bong," by the way, is really a piano note. I don't recall which one.
NBC might have had the famous chimes to close out a program, but CBS at
least had a strong on-the-hour voice with its tone, compared with NBC's
puny, high-pitched one.
-0-
Regarding the "chirps" -- we used to just call them "bleeps" -- which are
still around, though unnecessary through a second automation system. When I
first visited a CBS affiliate while in college, the CBS NetALERT (that's the
way they spelled it) device sat in an equipment rack to the left and behind
the announcer in the control room. It was gray, took up about 10 inches of
space vertically and was emblazoned with "CBS Laboratories" across the
bottom. It was a noisy affair -- while the listeners might have heard the
chirp one second before the start of the program, in the control room the
sound was "ka-chunk" as a relay in the device moved a wheel with backlit
numbers showing through a little window (maybe an inch in diameter) ...
followed by another ka-chunk as the wheel re-set itself, going from "1" back
to "0". The noise was particularly unnerving to the announcers whose
microphone would occasionally pick it up. By the time I went to work there a
year or so later, the NetALERT box had been moved to another room and
replaced with a row of 10 buttons (in front of the audio board and above the
Western Union clock) that silently lit up, reflecting the cue that was being
fed by CBS.
The one chirp was commonly called the system cue, signaling the start of a
regularly scheduled program, on the hour or otherwise. I'm not sure I
remember them all, but it would have been something like: two chirps -- a
closed circuit feed ... sometimes a matter of updates on planned programs,
but there was a regular closed circuit report in the afternoon in which
affilates were told of the latest changes to the commercials that were
scheduled, etc. Three chirps -- a news bulletin ("We interrupt this program
for a CBS Radio NetALERT bulletin.") ... Four chirps -- a longer form
special report. I'm not sure of the rest; it seems that at least a couple of
numbers were listed as "spares" ... and then there was number nine -- a
national emergency.
Bob C.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 21 May 2005 22:05:48 -0400
From: Art Chimes <achimes@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: CBS World News Roundup
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/mixed
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain
George Tirebiter wonders (Digest 2005:157) whether there is a morning
version of the "CBS World News Roundup Late Edition."
The original "CBS World News Roundup" has been on the air at 8:00 [removed]
for as long as I can remember. I haven't listened to it in a long time
-- I much prefer NPR news -- but according the the website of parent
company Westwood One, it is still on the air as a 10-minute feed with
multiple optional cutaways. The clock for this and the 7:00 [removed] "Late
Edition" (all times Eastern) are at
[removed]
I seem to remember the Roundup as a 15-minute program in years past, but
I could be wrong.
Incidentally, I hope Mr. Tirebiter won't mind me revealing (for those
who aren't in on the joke) that his nom de listserv is a Firesign
Theater character. Firesign produced a number of extraordinary comedy
albums in the late '60s and early '70s (or so), which included a
significant number of OTR references and sendups, such as hard-boiled
detective Nick Danger, Third Eye. You could write a dissertation
deconstructing their work, and maybe someone has. A few years back they
were doing short segments of uneven quality on "All Things Considered."
-Art-
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*** as the sender intended. ***
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 21 May 2005 22:09:28 -0400
From: Jack & Cathy French <otrpiano@[removed];
To: OTRBB <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Galen Drake
For those seeking information on Galen Drake, in addition to several of
his shows in circulation, about 150 of Drake's programs are set forth
verbatim in the book, "This is Galen Drake" published by Doubleday &
Company in 1949. It runs about 300 pages and Joseph Auslander wrote the
introduction to it. Several on-line sellers of used books have it for
sale or it can be obtained through the Inter-Library System by going to
your nearest public library.
Jack French
Editor: RADIO RECALL
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 22 May 2005 10:21:42 -0400
From: "Kurt E. Yount" <blsmass@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: OT dylan thomas
I know this is off topic, but you mentioned that recording of Dylan
Thomas. It is very valuable. I have not heard about such a recording
from washington. Just thought I would tell you. I have been interested
in Thomas for years and this is the first I heard of him giving a poetry
reading in Washington. Hold on to it. Kurt
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 22 May 2005 10:21:52 -0400
From: "Kurt E. Yount" <blsmass@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: studds terkel
He was on WFMT I believe. I don't know when he quit, or even if he has.
I heard a new interview with him on KPFK a couple of weeks ago. Quite a
guy. Kurt
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 22 May 2005 10:23:53 -0400
From: jameshburns@[removed] (Jim Burns)
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Damon Runyon, On George Burns
Doing some research the other day, I came across a column by Damon
Runyon--
On George Burns!
(Runyon, of course, was the inventor of all those "guys and dolls," and
some say, first with his work as a sports-writer, and then his famous
short stories--America's way of actually thinking about a mythological
Broadway, of another [removed])
My best guess, is that this seems to be from the early [removed]
Best, Jim Burns
________________________
"Burns the Devestating"
By Damon Runyon
I am a tough one to make laugh.
I have a dead pan and a soul above laughter or even chuckles, except on
very great provocation. I mean you to have to say or do something funny
to cause me to go har-har-har or even ho-ho-ho.
There are not many fellows on stage or screen and none on the radio who
can extract a giggle from me. A few do it with the written word. What I
am trying to convey to you, dear reader, is that I am a hard-berled
audience.
Yet there is one man who utterly devestates me when he opens up his bag
of tricks at a private gathering. He has me laughing up and down the
scale. His power over my risibilities is something extraordinary. I am
speaking of George Burrns, whose wife is the inimitable Gracie Allen and
the firm name Burns and Allen.
Now George Burns is a professional performer, an actor no less. He has
been on the stage, in pictures, and on the air with Mrs. B for years. I
do no recall that via any of these mediums he has ever drawn a giggle
from me, because George is always the straight man and Gracie has all
the funny cracks. Hence, George never penetrated my sense of humor until
I connected with him socially.
I would say that I am his greatest audience with possibly one
exception--his wife. Gracie listens to him entranced and keeps
remarking: "Isn't George wonderful?" or "Isn't George cute?" She has
heard the same jokes and seen the same routine over and over again but
it never fails to kill her. I think this must be love.
Still, there is another who finds George just as funny as either Gracie
or old Doctor Runyon and that is Jack Benny, a comedian himself. He
literally falls right on the floor laughing at George. What appeals to
Jack about George's performance is the seriousness with which George
goes about it. He works like a dog. He loves to be "on," or the center
of attraction, all the time and is a bit inclined to resent the attempts
of others at entertainment.
He is pretty cunning about it, and his long experience enables him to
out-maneuver the average rival for the spotlight. I saw him one night
against Eddie Cantor, Lou Holtz, Jack Benny and Danny Kaye, all on the
floor of a living room at a Hollywood party at the same time, and George
was out in front all the way. He would not work as hard on the stage for
a large salary as he does for nothing at a party.
I have known George many years. He was in vaudeville a long time before
he went to Hollywood with Gracie to win fame and fortune.
He draws largely on his vaudeville experiences for his party routine,
stories, imitations, songs and dances. He goes all the better among
professionals because they know the people he is talking about.
I have great admiration for George for the unaffected manner in which he
treats his toupee. Never in this world was another such toupee. It fits
George's head like the paper on the wall, only much better. I want to
tell you how good that toup is. I did not know it was one until George
himself made some crack about it. He is not at all abashed by his
toupee. He boasts of it and occasionally tamps it down in public
without embarrassment.
I like that. I mean if a man has a great toupee like George's he is
entitled to brag about it, the same as a man who has an extraordinary
set of oral furniture is entitled to take it out and display it. One
trouble with this world is that too many persons are ashamed of these
gifts.
I would like to bet that no other man in show business has a greater
memory for old time names and places than George. He is an encyclopedia
of vanished vaudeville though he is still in his middle years. He is
the business head of the Burns-Allen firm. They have a beauitful home
in California but live very quietly, their greatest dissipation being
one of those parties I have been telling you about.
I have to stop now because I am laughing just thinking of George and it
inteferes with my typing.
________
Courtesy the James H. Burrns [removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 22 May 2005 10:24:01 -0400
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 5-22 births/deaths
May 22nd births
05-22-1859 - Arthur Conan Doyle - Edingurgh, Scotland - d. 7-7-1930
author: "Adventures of Sherlock Holmes"
05-22-1879 - Alla Nazimova - Yalta in the Crimea - d. 7-13-1945
actress: " I'm An American"; "Towards the Century of the Comman Man"
05-22-1891 - Parks Johnson - Sheffield, AL - d. 10-4-1970
emcee, interviewer: "Vox Pox"
05-22-1903 - Ward Wilson -Trenton, NJ - d. 3-21-1966
actor, announcer: Mr. DeHaven "Aldrich Family"; Beetle "Phil Baker Show"
05-22-1906 - Harry Ritz - Newark, NJ - d. 3-29-1986
comedian: (The Ritz Brothers) "Hollywood Hotel"
05-22-1907 - Laurence Olivier - Dorking, England - d. 7-11-1989
actor: "Biography in Sound"; "Document A/777"; "Hour of Mystery"
05-22-1910 - Johnny Olsen - Windom, MN - d. 12-12-1985
emcee, announcer: "Ladies Be Seated"; "Get Rich Quick"
05-22-1934 - Peter Nero - NYC
socialite pianist: "Voices of Vista"
05-22-1938 - Susan Strasberg - NYC - d. 1-21-1999
actress: Emily Marriott "Marriage"
May 22nd deaths
02-01-1902 - Langston Hughes - Joplin, Mo - d. 5-22-1967
writer: "America's Town Meeting of the Air"
02-27-1915 - Donald Curtis - Cheney, WA - d. 5-22-1997
actor: Michael Shayne "Michael Shayne"
03-27-1921 - Fletcher Markle - Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada - d. 5-22-1991
actor, director, producer: "Columbia Workshop"; "Studio One"; "Mercury Summer
Theatre"
04-04-1902 - Bernice Berwin - Bay Area, CA - d. 5-22-2002
actress: Hazel Barbour "One Man's Family"
05-11-1892 - Margaret Rutherford - London, England - d. 5-22-1972
actress: "Wisdon of Miss Marple"; "Theatre Guild On the Air"
06-19-1912 - Martin Gabel - Philadelphia, PA - d. 5-22-1986
actor: John Wayne "Big Sister"; Gregory Hood "Casebook of Gregory Hood"
06-29-1907 - Joan Davis - St. Paul, MN - d. 5-22-1961
comedienne: "Sealtest Village Store"; "Joan Davis Show"
07-04-1884 - George Trendle - Norwalk, OH - d. 5-22-1972
executive: WXYZ Detroit; Original idea for "The Lone Ranger"
08-12-1926 - John Derek - Hollywood, CA - d. 5-22-1998
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
08-30-1917 - Dan Enright - d. 5-22-1992
producer: "Put Up or Shut Up"; "Brain Train"; "Juvenile Jury"; "Life Begins
at 80"
--
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 22 May 2005 11:30:37 -0400
From: Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Jack Benny's last live broadcast
Joe Mackey wrote:
5/22
1955 - Jack Benny signed off his last live network radio broadcast
after a run of 23 years.
If I'm not mistaken, Jack's show hadn't been broadcast live for several
years by this time. I know that in the final years the show would be
recorded in front of an audience, with somebody (sometimes Joan Benny)
reading Mary's lines, and then Mary's lines would be recorded
separately and edited in before the broadcast. The broadcast itself
(like most--if not all?--radio comedy and drama of the mid-50s) was
transcribed. So this raises the question: when was the last time Jack's
radio show was broadcast live? Perhaps as early as 1950? (Maybe Laura
Leff has the answer to this?)
Kermyt
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 22 May 2005 12:00:55 -0400
From: Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed];
To: OTR <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Henry Corden
I've just read on [removed] that Henry Corden has
died. He was the replacement to Alan Reed for Fred Flintstone's voice,
and was part of Jack Webb's television Dragnet stock team. Does anybody
know if he did radio work? It seems more than likely.
Kermyt
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2005 Issue #158
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