------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2005 : Issue 382
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
12-12 births/deaths [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
"Cheque & Double Cheque" [ "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed]; ]
The Future Is Before Us [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr" <skallisjr@j ]
Re: The West Affair [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
White Christmas of Archie Nicotine [ "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed] ]
Re: Christmas and Holiday Greetings [ Hal Stone <otrjug@[removed]; ]
Re: Mae West on radio [ "Jim Widner" <widnerj@[removed]; ]
POW Christmas Show [ martyd64@[removed] ]
"Golden Age of Radio and "A One Nigh [ "Bob Scherago" <rscherago@[removed]; ]
Mae West [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
Wally Cox [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
Re: Show picks [ "Paul Adomites" <padomites@ccyberne ]
Re: Star Turns [ "Druian, Raymond B SPL" <[removed] ]
Comprehensive list of OTR books? [ "Matthew Bullis" <matthewbullis@run ]
Mike Wallace [ "George Tirebiter" <tirebiter2@hotm ]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2005 08:14:55 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 12-12 births/deaths
December 12th births
12-12-1893 - Edward G. Robinson - Bucharest, Romania - d. 1-26-1973
actor: Steve Wilson "Big Town"
12-12-1898 - Noreen Gammill - Missouri - d. 12-21-1988
actress: Sister Dinwiddie "Bill Goodwin Show"; Cathy "Opie Cates Show"
12-12-1902 - Helen Menken - New York, NY - d. 3-27-1966
actress: Brenda Cummings "Second Husband"
12-12-1904 - Pete Pumiglio - d. 10-20-1996
musician: "The Ipana Troubadors"
12-12-1907 - Allen Massey - Midland, TX - d. 3-3-1983
singer: (Louise Massey and the Westerners) "National Barn Dance"; "Show Boat"
12-12-1908 - Hank Ladd - Chicago, IL - d. 6-9-1982
actor: Beetle "Phil Baker Show"
12-12-1909 - Karen Morley - Ottumwa, IA - d. 3-8-2003
blacklisted actress: "War Town"; "Lux Radio Theatre"
12-12-1910 - Mary Lou Clark - New York, NY
singer: (The Merry Macs) "Bing Crosby Show"; "New Old Gold Show"
12-12-1910 - Morris Mamorsky - d. 3-12-2003
composer, musical director: "The Eternal Light"; "Wanted"; "Words at War"
12-12-1913 - Winston Burdette - Buffalo, NY - d. 5-19-1993
newscaster: (protege of Edward R. Murrow) "CBS World News Round Up"
12-12-1915 - Frank Sinatra - Hoboken, NJ - d. 5-14-1998
singer, actor: (The Voice), "Your Hit Parade"; "Frank Sinatra Show"; Rocky
Fortune "Rocky Fortune"
12-12-1918 - Joe Williams - Codele, GA - d. 3-29-1999
blues singer: "Count Basie and His Orchestra"; "Stars for Defense"
12-12-1919 - Seymour Korman - d. 8-2-1993
newsman for Mutual
12-12-1923 - Bob Barker - Darrington, WA
disc jockey: "Bob Barker Show"
12-12-1938 - Connie Francis - Newark, NJ
singer: "Horn and Hardart Children's Hour"
December 12th deaths
01-31-1902 - Tullulah Bankhead - Huntsville, AL - d. 12-12-1968
actress, hostess: "Johnny Presents"; "Big Show"
02-27-1891 - David Sarnoff - Minsk, Russia - d. 12-12-1971
executive: National Broadcasting Company"
02-27-1907 - Mildred Bailey - Tekoa, WA - d. 12-12-1951
singer: (Rockin' Chair Lady) "Mildred Bailey Show"; "Camel Caravan"
03-05-1927 - Jack Cassidy - New York, NY - d. 12-12-1976
singer, actor: "Stars for Defense"; "Cue Magazine Salutes ASCAP"
03-10-1915 - Ranald MacDougall - Schenectady, NY - d. 12-12-1973
writer: "The Man Behind the Gun"; "Passport for Adams"; "There Was a Woman"
04-08-1912 - Sonja Henie - Kristiania, Norway - d. 12-12-1969
skater, actress: "Hollywood Hotel"; "Bill Ster's Colgate Sports Newsreel";
"Shell Show"
04-18-1902 - Harry Owens - O'Neil, NE - d. 12-12-1986
bandleader: "Hawaii Calls"; "Sweet Leilani Time"; Harry Owens and His
Orchestra"
05-07-1923 - Anne Baxter - Michigan City, IN - d. 12-12-1985
actress: "Lux Radio Theatre"
05-22-1910 - Johnny Olson - Windom, MN - d. 12-12-1985
emcee, announcer: "Ladies Be Seated"; "Get Rich Quick"
05-23-1883 - Douglas Fairbanks - Denver, CO - d. 12-12-1939
commentator: "KHJ Los Angeles 1921"
07-04-1898 - Johnny Lee - Los Angeles, CA - d. 12-12-1965
actor: Algonquin J. Calhoune "Amos 'n' Andy"
08-02-1903 - Victor McLeod - d. 12-12-1972
writer: "The Bing Crosby Show"; "Stop or Go"
08-29-1916 - George Montgomery - Brady, MT - d. 12-12-2000
actor: "Hollywood Star Time"; "NBC University Theatre of the Air"
09-24-1915 - Larry Gates - St. Paul, MN - d. 12-12-1996
actor: "Radio City Playhouse"
11-07-1911 - Dick Stark - Grand Rapids, MI - d. 12-12-1986
announcer: "It Pays to be Ignorant"; "Perry Mason"; "Walter Winchell's
Jergens Journal"
--
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2005 08:15:13 -0500
From: "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: "Cheque & Double Cheque"
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With all this hype & rave reviews about the new Peter Jackson-directed "King
Kong" remake, I'm reminded that RKO-Radio PIctures biggest money-maker of all
time prior to the 1933 release of the original "King Kong" was a little
picture starring Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll called "Check and Double
Check." At least that's the way I heerd it!
Ether!
Derek Tague
[removed]: A tip of the hat to Sandy Singer and all fans of Frank Sinatra as today
(12) would've been Frank's 90th birthday!
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------------------------------
Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2005 09:45:52 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr" <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: The Future Is Before Us
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Andrew Godfrey notes,
Radio station general managers have to be concerned about the situation
today as more competition challenges them to come up with new ways to
keep the interest in broadcast radio.
Since the demise of broadcast OTR, radio has changed. Besides the
automated or manual all-music stations, the trend seems to be toward
call-in talk radio. In the US, there is relatively little dramatic
radio, though at Christmas, there's The Campbell Playhouse rebroadcast of
"A Christmas Carol." There also is a Disney Christmas show, hardly
drama, but entertaining with recordings of current and deceased
entertainers.
However, verging on the off-topic as this may be, the future of broadcast
radio may be more interactive than before.
Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.
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------------------------------
Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2005 09:39:49 -0500
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: The West Affair
On 12/12/05 8:33 AM [removed]@[removed] wrote:
It seems to me that after the skit created an unexpected sensation, they
were looking for a
scapegoat, and of course they scapegoated the woman.
One key point in considering the West affair is the fact that the "Garden
of Eden" sketch wasn't the most explicit bit in which Mae West was
involved that evening. Later in the broadcast, she appeared in a routine
with Bergen and McCarthy which was far more ribald than the Eden bit --
filled with musky innuendoes about Charlie leaving his car keys in Mae's
apartment, about men being unable to leave her room under their own
power, and about how she changes her men as often as she changes her
clothes. When Mae invites Charlie to "come up and play in my----woodpile"
you can sense the nervousness in the audience's laughter.
Where the innuendo in the Eden bit was rather veiled, there was only one
possible interpretation for most of the lines in the West-McCarthy
routine -- and there's some evidence to indicate that the production
staff realized well in advance that this was going to be an outrageous
bit and set out to deliberately make it so. In fact, it was *promoted* as
such in that week's issue of "Radio Guide," which headlined West's
appearance on the show as "West vs. McCarthy, the Sex Appeal Battle of
the Century." What makes the routine rather creepy is that Charlie was
supposed to be a schoolboy -- a precocious, libidinous, cocktail-swilling
schoolboy, but a schoolboy nonetheless. I suspect that it's these
undertones that caused the most offense for the listeners who were
offended by the broadcast. All told, NBC received about a thousand
letters protesting the West broadcast -- and about 475 letters supporting
the broadcast and protesting against the protest. The FCC received about
400 letters of protest, but after NBC took action by censuring West,
another 200 came in -- 75 of them endorsing the Commission's action in
the matter, and 125 attacking the Commission for its stand.
However, the complaints which actually got the attention of NBC and the
FCC came not from the general public, but were boycott threats made by
high officials of the Archdiocese of New York, which had had a
long-running battle with Mae West dating back to her days on stage in the
1920s, and which, therefore, chose to focus on the "insolent caricature
of the Bible" presented in the "Adam and Eve" skit. And given that
Bergen was NBC's biggest star in 1937, he and Charlie could have done
anything short of running down Sunset Boulevard naked without being
disciplined -- leaving West to be thrown to the mob.
Frankly, if anyone should have been called on the carpet for this
incident, it's Janet MacRorie -- the head of NBC Continuity Acceptance at
the time, with whom the buck was supposed to stop on all matters of
script clearance, and who clearly must have been fast asleep when this
particular script was moving thru the system.
Elizabeth
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2005 09:47:30 -0500
From: "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed];
To: "Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: White Christmas of Archie Nicotine
Some of you have asked about "The White Christmas of Archie Nicotine" (CBC).
I now have transferred my cassette to a .wav CD. If you are interested in a
copy in either format, let me know, and we can work out a trade. It has
nothing to do with smoking, and a lot to do with a minister and his wife and
a Native American. One of my favorite Christmas programs!
Ted Kneebone. OTR website: [removed]
Democrats: [removed]
1528 S. Grant St., Aberdeen, SD 57401 / Phone: 605-226-3344
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2005 10:06:39 -0500
From: Hal Stone <otrjug@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: Christmas and Holiday Greetings
To one and all.
Just a quick posting to send "Holiday" greetings, and more specifically,
(since it is my penchant to be less than Politically Correct) to wish all my
friends here on the Digest a "Merry Christmas" and our best wishes for the
coming year.
We will be leaving shortly to spend Christmas in snow covered Lake Tahoe
with Dorothy's kids. An annual ritual. And we recently returned from Georgia
where we spend Thanksgiving with my children. The other annual ritual.
Keep the faith, and keep alive the spirit of OTR.
Will see you at REPS and the Cincy Con in '06. (at least those who can
attend)
Hal & Dorothy Stone
Mr. and Mrs."Jughead"
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2005 10:35:33 -0500
From: "Jim Widner" <widnerj@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Mae West on radio
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A. Joseph Ross wrote:
Listening to the routine now, it's hard to tell just what was so
objectionable. And why they blamed Mae West. Mae West was a well-known
movie actress, and she always played essentially the same role.
Whoever hired her to play Eve in that skit (with Don Ameche as
Adam) had to have known what they were getting. And it certainly
wasn't Mae West who wrote the lines she delivered.
According to an interview I heard with either Edgar Bergen or Don Ameche
(can't recall which) the whole issue was not in the writing, but HOW Mae West
actually delivered the lines. The story was that in rehearsal there was
nothing wrong with how the lines were delivered, but rather that they were
delivered very suggestively by West live on the air.
Of course, hearing them now, it all seems rather tame.
Jim Widner
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------------------------------
Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2005 13:02:13 -0500
From: martyd64@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: POW Christmas Show
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A few digests ago, someone asked a question about the name/series of a radio
show that took place in a POW camp during Christmas. I don't know if the
name of the epsiode/series was ever stated, but I would like to know, in case
I missed it if someone did post it. The story sounds familiar, but I can
only guess either "Escape" or "Mysterious Traveler", [removed]
Thank you.
Marty
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------------------------------
Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2005 13:46:47 -0500
From: "Bob Scherago" <rscherago@[removed];
To: "Old Time Radio" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: "Golden Age of Radio and "A One Night Stand
with the Big Bands"
The latest "Golden Age of Radio" programs with Dick Bertel
and Ed Corcoran, and "A One Night Stand with the Big Bands"
with Arnold Dean can be heard at [removed].
In the coming weeks we will feature three complete shows
in MP3 format for your listening pleasure or for downloading;
two "Golden Age of Radios" and one "One Night Stand." We
present new shows every week or so. The current three
programs will be available on line at least until the morning
of December 19.
Program 5 - August, 1970 -Jan Miner
>From the 1940's to the 1980's, Ms. Miner was never far from
productions on and off Broadway or on out-of-town stages,
from New Haven and Stratford, Conn., to St. Louis. She was
on many radio programs, including the popular "Boston Blackie"
series as Richard Kollmar's leading lady in the late 1940's, and
was a well-known soap opera star as the heroine of "Hilltop
House." But later in her career she starred in a real television
soap opera in Palmolive Liquid commercials.
Program 6 - September, 1970 - John Gibson
John Gibson was a network radio actor who portrayed
Ethelbert on radio adaptation of the pulp fiction series
"Flashgun Casey, Crime Photographer." In 1943, he was
a tame enough character to make a CBS radio debut as
"Casey, Crime Photographer." Mr. Gibson was also a
broadway, film, and television actor who might be best
remembered by non-OTR buffs for his continuing role
on CBS's "Edge of Night."
"A One Night Stand with the Big Bands" With Arnold
Dean
Buddy Morrow (1974)
Buddy Morrow is recognized as one of the all-time
great trombone players. He first came to prominence
as a featured performer with such leading orchestras
as Tommy Dorsey, Paul Whiteman, Artie Shaw and
Jimmy Dorsey.
In the 1970's WTIC decided that there was a market in
the evening for long-form shows that could be packaged
and sold to sponsors. Two of those shows were "The
Golden Age of Radio" and "A One Night Stand with the
Big Bands."
Dick Bertel had interviewed radio collector-historian
Ed Corcoran several times on his radio and TV shows,
and thought a regular monthly show featuring interviews
with actors, writers, producers, engineers and musicians
from radio's early days might be interesting. "The Golden
Age of Radio" was first broadcast in April, 1970; Ed was
Dick's co-host. It lasted seven years. "The Golden Age
of Radio" can also be heard Saturday nights on Walden
Hughes's program on Radio Yesteryear.
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 1972, 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
Webmaster
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2005 14:46:19 -0500
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Mae West
A. Joseph Ross questioned what was so bad about the "Adam and Eve" skit
after listening to it and trying to figure out what was so taboo. He closed
with
It seems to me that after the skit created an unexpected sensation,
they were looking for a scapegoat, and of course they scapegoated the
woman.
That's about it. Mae West was considered a sex symbol so unlike most guest
celebrities, it wasn't just what she said - but how she said it that was
taken as "offensive." A few points have to be taken into account:
1. It was Sunday evening (people finished their day of worship and dinner
with the radio)
2. The radio program at the time was one of the highest rated programs at
the time
3. Had anyone else said what she did in the manner that she did "I feel
like doin' a big apple," there might not have been as much flack.
Civic minded people listening to the program and learning that Mae West as
guest may have already had a negative attitude toward her being on the show.
Radio broadcasting was still in it's infant status so when a bunch of
letters and phone calls start coming in to the NBC studios, the powers that
be took note and took action. Had NBC not publicly stated that they were
checking out the facts about the matter, they would have looked just as
guilty in the eyes of the many who wrote or phoned the studio. The FCC took
advantage of the opportunity by
1. enforcing their authority and
2. by doing so, making their agency known publicly in the papers
After all, what good would the FCC have been had they not done an
investigation and more importantly - make it publicly known that they were
investigating in the interests of the public.
More info and history to the broadcast including Arch Oboler's recollection
about the trial that came of the broadcast can be found on
[removed] under articles.
Some people today may wonder what the big deal is when they listen to the
broadcast, but remember that Janet Jackson only wore the costume, and it was
she who got embarrassed on National Television - how many people sent in
letters of complaint, phone calls, at least one lawsuit? I don't think
Janet should be the blame but since everyone including MTV (who hosted and
hunded the event) and the broadcasting network had to consult their
contracts and attorneys to see who was to blame, poor . . . poor Janet.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2005 14:47:45 -0500
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Wally Cox
I've been off the web for a few days but i don't think the question of Wally
Cox was answered.
To my knowledge and all my resources, I do not have anything that says he
was the star or co-star of his own radio program. It is possible, but
highly unlikely as he got one of his earliest breaks at stardom by appearing
as a contestant on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts in 1949. Shortly after
Cox began starring on television in MR. PEEPERS and shortly after that the
Philip Rapp (whoa - a Bickersons "OTR connection") produced TV show called
THE ADVENTURES OF HIRAM HOLLIDAY.
Regarding HIRAM HOLIDAY, there were 23 episodes filmed, but only 20 aired
before the network axed the series. At least one episode of MR. PEEPERS is
in circulation but there are and have been for some time, 8 episodes of
HIRAM HOLIDAY available and circulating in collector's hands. There would
be more but most are not commonly available. ([removed] offers the 8
HIRAM HOLLIDAYs and the MR. PEEPERS. Grapevine Video used to offer HIRAM
HOLLIDAY but they discontinued that title some time ago.)
Bear Manor Media offers a book about UNDERDOG for anyone wanting their fill
about Wally Cox in the meantime.
Martin
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2005 14:48:11 -0500
From: "Paul Adomites" <padomites@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: Show picks
Our local theater group is again discussing having an OTR night (the first
two were hits, if not SRO smashes,) so once again I'm asking the folks who
know for ideas. This one is scheduled for February (around Valentine's Day)
so naturally a love story would be great. It would have to be self-contained
(we're also considering the Bickersons, as a comical counter.) My experience
is much stronger in spooky and SF than in love stories, so I would
appreciate any ideas from you folks for good ones to try.
Thanks in advance. Off group replies are fine.
Paul Adomites
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2005 15:31:37 -0500
From: "Druian, Raymond B SPL" <[removed]@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: Star Turns
Who can possibly the late, great "Gangbusters," where the story was
introduced, by proxy, by Norman Schwarzkopf (Sr.). I don't know how many
years, while I was a kid, that I listened to the show, but it was long after
it went off the air that I finally learned what the phrase, "by proxy" meant.
Thanx,
B. Ray
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2005 16:49:50 -0500
From: "Matthew Bullis" <matthewbullis@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Comprehensive list of OTR books?
Hello, I don't know exactly how many books have been produced about OTR and
it's stars, but I'd like to know if there is a list on a website somewhere
which tells what books are out there? I'm familiar with the authors of
books, but some books may be long out of print.
Thanks a lot.
Matthew
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2005 19:44:43 -0500
From: "George Tirebiter" <tirebiter2@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Mike Wallace
You can hear Mike doing cigarette commercials on some very late (1961 or 62)
episodes of SUSPENSE, which seems a little ironic now.
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2005 Issue #382
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