------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2007 : Issue 367
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Jack Benny -- Waukegan vs. Chicago? [ James H Arva <wilditralian@[removed] ]
Missing Suspense followup [ Joseph Webb <drjoewebb@[removed]; ]
"The Fullness of Time(s)"? [ "Kirby, Tom" <Kirby@[removed]; ]
Don MacLaughlin [ <otrbuff@[removed]; ]
Billy Barty [ Ken Greenwald <kgradio@[removed]; ]
Radio rarity - WLAV 10th Anniversary [ rand@[removed] ]
100 in January [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
1-1 births/deaths [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 31 Dec 2007 12:25:23 -0500
From: James H Arva <wilditralian@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Jack Benny -- Waukegan vs. Chicago?
12-31-07
Ron Sayles insists that Chicago -- and not Waukegan -- is Jack Benny's
birthplace. I had never heard this before. I know that Jack considered
Waukegan to be his "home town", whatever that specific phrase meant to
him. This can be evidenced by auditioning the contents of two of his
shows from the Jell-O days ... the 06-18-39 program (#338), where he and
the gang are preparing for next week's trip to Waukegan to do an
on-location show ... and his 06-25-39 program (#339) from the Gennessee
Theater in Waukegan, which included both Van Nuys, CA mayor Andy Divine
and the mayor of Waukegan.
Perhaps he was born in Chicago, but spent his formative years in
Waukegan.
Jim
--
James H. Arva
201 Short St.; Harrisburg, PA 17109; (717) 545-5709
E-MAIL: wilditralian@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 31 Dec 2007 12:25:37 -0500
From: Joseph Webb <drjoewebb@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Missing Suspense followup
In case anyone was concerned about viewing my missing Suspense show list
because it was a Google document, it is now posted elsewhere as a public
document.
[removed]
Thanks to all who responded to me directly over the last couple of days. It
has been very helpful.
Happy New Year to All
JWW
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 31 Dec 2007 15:27:25 -0500
From: "Kirby, Tom" <Kirby@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: "The Fullness of Time(s)"?
Hi:
Apparently, in the 1930's, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day
Saints (Mormons) produced a radio show, with dramatizations of church
and sciptural history. Has this series survived?
So far, I've found 1 episode, "A City Beautiful", dating to 1938. Are
any others in existence?
Thanks,
-- Tom Kirby
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 31 Dec 2007 16:11:40 -0500
From: <otrbuff@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Don MacLaughlin
Stuart Lubin observes:
Perhaps someone who is versed on early TV and late OTR
can help me in this dilemma: I just read that the
last year of "Road Of Life" was 1959, and I know that
"As the World Turns" debuted on TV in 1956. Was Don
MacLaughlin on radio during the first three years of
"As the World Turns", while he was doing TV?
Don MacLaughlin was on the televised As the World Turns from Day 1 (April 2,
1956). He was a radio drama veteran having appeared in many enduring
features, often as the lead. His repertoire, in addition to The Road of
Life as protagonist Dr. Jim Brent, included Buck Private and His Girl,
Chaplain Jim [removed], David Harding -- Counterspy, Lora Lawton, The Romance
of Helen Trent, The Story of Mary Marlin, Young Widder Brown, You're in the
Army Now and more.
Addressing Stuart's inquiry, for MacLaughlin, the failed attempt of The Road
of Life on CBS-TV -- which breathed life for only six months, Dec. 13,
1954-July 1, 1955 -- gave him exposure that was to prepare him for an
unparalleled opportunity just ahead. When As the World Turns went on as the
first of two debuting half-hour daytime serials on the same day (the other,
The Edge of Night), MacLaughlin was in the propitious spot of becoming one
of the first two masculine leads in 30-minute washboard weepers (John Larkin
the other, on Edge). MacLaughlin seized upon it to turn it into a career
extension for he remained in his role as Chris Hughes until he died three
decades hence, on May 28, 1986.
He had quit the daily radio grind by the time ATWT arrived although he
persisted in the weekly transcribed Counterspy series on MBS until it left
the air on Nov. 29, 1957.
An insight into the early days of ATWT in my work "The Daytime Serials of
Television, 1946-1960" ([removed]), expounds on the "reign of
terror" that creator-writer Irna Phillips carried out among most of those
who played in the drama then. MacLaughlin is cited for standing up to the
resolute drama mama accustomed to having it all her way. He let her know in
no uncertain terms that he would not be intimidated/petrified (as others
were) by her. She had handed down an edict that not one word of her
dialogue was to be altered.
Said MacLaughlin: "Irna was talented and neurotic. The content of her
scenes was brilliant, but her dialogue was terrible. Many actors, including
myself, would change her [removed] In the first year of the show she told
me flatly she didn't want me rewriting her lines, and I just told her:
'Irna, I'll say what you've written and I'll follow the content of your
script. But if you want me to say your lines word for word, you'd better
get yourself another actor.'"
She retreated and he lasted three decades -- in fact, the maven of matinee
departed her most inspired and favorite drama on more than one occasion,
even ultimately getting fired from it. She died Dec. 22, 1973 and
MacLaughlin had another 12-plus years as Chris Hughes.
Jim Cox
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 31 Dec 2007 18:50:26 -0500
From: Ken Greenwald <kgradio@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Billy Barty
Jim Burns wrote:
(And do you know not know of the Keebler curse on Oprah?)
It's little person, friend, or little [removed]
Or so's I'm told.
This brought a smile to my puss because I remember when Billy Barty was guest
of honor at the PPB Nostalgia Night.
We had a lecturn set up on a small stage in the room. When Mr. Barty was
introduced, he came out of the back room, bowed to the applause, then stepped
up on the stage and walked behind the lecturn. Of course he could not be
seen. He started his talk and got a huge laugh. He then climbed up onto a
tall stool and sat, leaning over the lecturn and spoke into the mike, saying:
"Sorry about that. Sometimes I forget I'm a little person."
Another laugh.
Billy Barty was a bright, intelligent little man who proved it that night
when he held the attention of the audience through his entire talk.
It was Billy Barty and a few other little people who fought hard to stop the
use of the words "midget" and "dwarf" in reference to all the "little people"
of the world.
(may we all have a healthy sense of humor like Mr. Barty's --- and may all of
us have a wonderful new year!)
Ken Greenwald
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 31 Dec 2007 18:51:29 -0500
From: rand@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Radio rarity - WLAV 10th Anniversary
My recent post about the "Night Beat" 45 rpm record set and some of the
conversations around it, prompted me to dig up a rarity from my collection
that I obtained several years ago.
A friend gave me a wire recorder with several wires. The recorder came
from a family somewhere in Michigan. Most of the wires contained snippets
of songs recorded from the radio, family events and the like, but I also
found an usual radio comedy show that was likely never broadcast.
It appears to have been prepared by the staff of WLAV, Grand Rapids,
Michigan for a private party celebrating their 10th anniversary, probably
in 1950. The show is a dramatized history of the station, complete with
music and sound effects, that pokes fun at the station's manager.
Anyone on the list familiar with the station? Recognize any of the actors
in the cast? Anyone understand some of these obscure jokes?
I've posted MP3's of the show on my blog:
[removed]
Even though I've had the wire and made the transfer a few years ago, this
is the first time I've put the full recording online. The show is almost
complete with the opening coming from one wire and the remaining ten
minutes of the show found on another.
For those of you wondering what other radio related material might be on
the wires, there was a long excerpts, probably running a half-hour, from a
live country music morning show originating in Chicago called "Smile
Awhile". The quality is rather poor, with lots of static, and it appears
to be an aircheck. There's also a smattering of station IDs and
commercials amongst the music on the wires. On my blog entry, there's a
link to a page I did a couple of years ago on the wire recorder with
pictures and excerpts of the other material.
Randy
__
Randy A. Riddle
Mebane, NC
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 1 Jan 2008 00:15:25 -0500
From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 100 in January
People born 100 years ago in January
01-01-1908 - Bob Russell - d. 1-24-1998
singer, songwriter: Helped create " Name that Tune"
01-07-1908 - Eliot Daniel - Massachusetts - d. 12-6-1997
music: "Fabulous Dr. Tweddy"; "The King's Men"; "Rudy Vallee Show"
01-08-1908 - William Hartnell - London, England - d. 4-23-1975
actor: The Doctor "Doctor Who"
01-10-1908 - Paul Henreid - Trieste - d. 3-29-1992
actor: "Suspense"; "Lux Radio Theatre"
01-11-1908 - Lionel Stander - The Bronx, NY - d. 11-30-1994
actor: J. Riley Farnsworth "Life of Riley"; Hoolihan "Grapevine Rancho"
01-12-1908 - Joan Burroughs - Chicago, IL - d. 12-31-1972
actor: (Daughter of Edgar Rice Burroughs) Jane "Tarzan"
01-14-1908 - Russ Columbo - Camden, NJ - d. 9-2-1934
singer, bandleader: "Russ Columbo Show"
01-19-1908 - Ish Kabibble (Merwyn Bogue) - Erie, PA - d. 6-4-1994
comedian: "Kay Kyser's Kollege of Musical Knowledge"
01-27-1908 - "Hot Lips" Page - Dallas, TX - d. 11-5-1954
jazz trumpeter: "Milt Herth Trio"; "Eddie Condon's Jazz Concert"
01-31-1908 - Connie Desmond - Ohio - d. 3-3-1983
sportscaster: play-by-play for the Brooklyn Dodgers
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 1 Jan 2008 00:15:36 -0500
From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 1-1 births/deaths
January 1st births
01-01-1867 - Lew Fields - NYC - d. 7-20-1941
comedian: (Weber and Fields) "The Eveready Hour"; "George Jessel Show"
01-01-1878 - Edwin Franko Goldman - Louisville, KY - d. 2-21-1956
bandmaster: "The Cities Service Concert"; "The Pure Oil Band"
01-01-1879 - [removed] Forster - London, England - d. 6-7-1970
novelist: Many works adapted for radio
01-01-1889 - Alexander Smallens - St. Petersburg, Russia - d.
11-27-1972
conductor: "Rising Musical Star"
01-01-1889 - Charles Bickford - Cambridge, MA - d. 11-9-1967
actor: "Radio Hall of Fame"
01-01-1889 - Maruice Baron - Lille, France - d. 9-5-1964
conductor of various symphony orchestras for radio
01-01-1895 - Art Gillham - St. Louis, MO - d. 6-6-1961
piano playing vocalist: (Whispering Pianist) Plugged songs to sell
sheet music
01-01-1895 - Bernard Schubert - Brooklyn, NY - d. 8-4-1988
writer, producer: "The Falcon"; "Murder and Mr. Malone"
01-01-1897 - Walter Greaza - St. Paul, MN - d. 6-1-1973
actor: "Columbia Workshop"; "Suspense"
01-01-1900 - Xavier Cugat - Tirona, Spain - d. 10-27-1990
bandleader: (King of the Rhumba) "Camel Caravan"
01-01-1904 - Lou Kosloff - Chicago, IL - d. 2-12-1986
orchestra leader: "Blondie"; "Sad Sack"; "Sherlock Holmes"
01-01-1905 - Dick Aurandt - d. 7-xx-1984
orchestra leader: "Voyage of the Scarlet Queen"; "Steve Canyon"
01-01-1905 - Richard Keith - NYC - d. 9-16-1976
actor: Ray Hunt "Myrt and Marge"; Frank W. Brock "Special Investigator"
01-01-1908 - Bob Russell - d. 1-24-1998
singer, songwriter: Helped create " Name that Tune"
01-01-1909 - Dana Andrews - Collins, MS - d. 12-17-1992
actor: Matt Cevetic "I Was A Communist for the FBI"
01-01-1909 - Frank Kettering - Monmouth, IL - d. 6-xx-1973
bass player: (Hoosier Hot Shots) "National Barn Dance"
01-01-1911 - Hank Greenberg - NYC - d. 9-14-1994
baseball great: "Play Ball"; "We the People"; "Philco Radio Time"
01-01-1911 - Leona Ledoux - d. 8-16-1987
actor: Robespierre Higgins "Baby Snooks"; Bumstead Children "Blondie"
01-01-1913 - Norman Rosten - d. 3-7-1995
writer: "Cavalcade of America"; "An American in Russia"
01-01-1915 - Earl Sheldon - NYC - d. 11-14-1977
orchestra leader: "The Bickersons"; "Jack Smith Show"
01-01-1915 - Irv Orton - d. 5-xx-1960
musical director: "Double or Nothing"
01-01-1916 - Earl Wrightson - Baltimore, MD - d. 3-7-1993
singer: "Highways in Melody"; "Getting the Most Out of Life"
01-01-1917 - Shelby Storck - Kansas City, MO - d. 4-5-1969
actor: Speed Robertson "The Air Advs. of Jimmie Allen"
01-01-1917 - Ted Cott - Poughkeepsie, NY - d. 6-12-1973
announcer, emcee: "So You Think You Know Music?"; "Music You Want"
01-01-1919 - Carole Landis - Fairchild, WI - d. 7-5-1948
actor: "Warner Brothers Academy Award"; "Command Performance"
01-01-1928 - Helen Westcott - Los Angeles, CA - d. 3-17-1998
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "My Wildest Dream"
01-01-1938 - Norma Jean Nilsson - Hollywood, CA
actor: Kathy Anderson "Father Knows Best"; Cookie Bumstead "Blondie"
January 1st deaths
02-04-1908 - Jack Fraser - Lawrence, MA - d. 1-1-2000
newscaster: "John Gordon Fraser and the News", "Monitor"
02-15-1907 - Cesar Romero - NYC - d. 1-1-1994
actor: "Movietone Radio Theatre"
04-17-1915 - Joe Foss - Sioux Falls, SD - d. 1-1-2003
south dakota governor: "Tops in Sports"
04-25-1919 - Albert Aley - NYC - d. 1-1-1986
actor: Hop Harrigan "Hop Harrigan"; Bob James "Stella Dallas"
05-16-1911 - Margaret Sullavan - Norfolk, VA - d. 1-1-1960
actor: "Electric Theatre"; "Hollywood Playhouse"
06-16-1907- Joan Winters - Dayton, OH - d. 1-1-2001
actor: Alice Ames "Girl Alone"; Sylvia Bertram "Road of Life"
07-14-1932 - Del Reeves - Sparta, NC - d. 1-1-2007
country singer: "Grand Old Opry"
08-09-1908 - [removed] Bezzerides - Samsun, Turkey - d. 1-1-2007
screenwriter: "Lux Radio Theatre"
08-16-1913 - Joe Lilley - d. 1-1-1971
orchestra leader: "Drene Time"
08-17-1899 - Ralph Goll - d. 1-1-1957
scriptwriter: "The Lone Ranger"
09-11-1896 - Robert S. Kerr - Ada, Oklahoma Territory - d. 1-1-1963
governor oklahoma: "Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy Show"
09-12-1888 - Maurice Chevalier - Paris, France - d. 1-1-1972
actor, singer, host: "Chase & Sanborn Hour"; "This is Paris"; "Bing
Crosby Show"
09-17-1923 - Hank Williams - Georgiana, AL - d. 1-1-1953
singer: "Louisiana Hayride"; "Grand Ole Opry"; "Health and Happiness"
09-17-1941 - Robert Takeo Matsui - Sacremento, CA - d. 1-1-2005
congressman: Democratic response to President's radio address
10-06-1905 - Helen Wills Moody - Centerville, CA - d. 1-1-1998
tennis playeer: "Information Please"
12-02-1914 - Ray Walston - New Orleans, LA - d. 1-1-2001
actor: "The Woolworth Hour"
12-06-1898 - Jack Beall - Waxahachie, TX - d. 1-1-1963
newscaster: "News of Tomorrow"; "American Legion Presents"
12-16-1890 - Jane Morgan - North Platte, NE - d. 1-1-1972
actor: Mary Lane "Aunt Mary"; Mrs. Margaret Davis "Our Miss Brooks"
12-25-1902 - Barton Maclane - Columbia, SC - d. 1-1-1969
actor: "Thirty Minutes In Hollywood"
12-27-1914 - Jack Latham - Washington - d. 1-1-1987
announcer: "The Man Called X"; "Wake Up, America"
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2007 Issue #367
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