Subject: [removed] Digest V2007 #279
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 9/29/2007 10:18 PM
To: [removed]@[removed]
Reply-to:
[removed]@[removed]

------------------------------


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2007 : Issue 279
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                             [removed]
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  9-29 births/deaths                    [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
  Seeking biographical information abo  [ AudioBoyMA@[removed] ]
  Don Wilson as sportscaster            [ "Jim Hilliker" <jimhilliker@sbcglob ]
  This week in radio history 30 Septem  [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
  RE: What to do with old VHS tapes?    [ Vince Long <vlongbsh@[removed]; ]
  Fear on Four                          [ Jeff Knowling <jeff_knowling@hotmai ]
  Old Radio Mags                        [ "Ian Grieve" <austotr@[removed]. ]
  Gifting of Memorabilia, scripts and   [ "Tom Bewley" <fords3137@[removed] ]
  9-30 births/deaths                    [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2007 01:23:33 -0400
From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  9-29 births/deaths

September 29th births

09-29-1895 - Colonel Roscoe Turner - d. 6-23-1970
host, narrator: "Sky Blazers"
09-29-1898 - Doris Hursley - Wisconsin - d. 5-5-1984
writer: "American Women"; "Cousin Willie"; "Those Websters"; "The
Truitts"
09-29-1898 - Leonard Salvo - d. 7-22-1985
organist: "Little Orphan Annie"; "Cisco Kid"; "Billie Burke Show"
09-29-1903 - Ted de Corsia - Brooklyn, NY - d. 4-11-1973
actor: Flip Corkin "Terry and the Pirates"; Dan McGarry "McGarry and
His Mouse"
09-29-1904 - Greer Garson - County Down, Ireland - d. 4-6-1996
actor: "Arch Oboler's Plays"; "Everything for the Boys"; "Star and
the Story"
09-29-1907 - Gene Autry - Tioga, TX - d. 10-2-1998
singer, actor: "National Barn Dance"; "Melody Ranch"
09-29-1907 - Richard Harkness - Artesian, SD - d. 2-16-1977
newscaster: NBC network, occassionally filled in for [removed] Kaltenborn
09-29-1910 - Bill Boyd - Fannin County, Texas - d. 12-7-1977
singer: (Cowboy Ramblers) WRR Dallas, Texas
09-29-1910 - Virginia Bruce - Minneapolis, MN - d. 2-24-1982
actor: Susan Read "Rexall Summer Theatre"
09-29-1911 - Pat Murphy - Bismark, ND
actor; Timothy Storey "Midstream"; Scoop "Girl Alone"
09-29-1913 - Gerald Strachan Pawle - Bishops Stortford, England - d.
7-26-1991
author of several radio plays
09-29-1913 - Trevor Howard - Cliftonville, England - d. 1-7-1988
actor: "London Playhouse"
09-29-1915 - Brenda Marshall - Island of Negros, Philippines - d.
7-30-1992
actor: Nancy Smith "Smiths of Hollywood"
09-29-1915 - Norton Mockridge - NYC - d. 4-18-2004
newspaper columnist: Hosted radio program on CBS radio (1964-1970)
09-29-1918 - James Wood - Elgin, Scotland - d. 3-5-1984
author of radio plays
09-29-1922 - Lizabeth Scott - Scranton, PA
actor: "Stars Over Hollywood"
09-29-1922 - Lou Dinning - Franklin, KY
singer: (The Dinning Sisters) "Dinning Sisters-Songs"; "Eddy Arnold
Show"
09-29-1924 - Steve Forrest - Huntsville, TX
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
09-29-1934 - James R. Wiseman - North Little Rock, AR
author: "Excavations at Corinth"

September 29th deaths

01-03-1893 - Gilbert Seldes - Alliance, NJ - d. 9-29-1970
writer: "Americans All, Immigrants All"
01-18-1889 - Brad Barker - Hempstead, Long Island, NY - d. 9-29-1951
animal sounds: Sandy "Little Orphan Annie"
02-01-1922 - Miriam Wolfe - Brooklyn, NY - d. 9-29-2000
actor: Nancy "Witch's Tale"
02-21-1907 - W. H. Auden - York, England - d. 9-29-1973
writer: "Columbia Workshop"
05-09-1887 - William P. Adams - Tiffin, OH - d. 9-29-1972
actor, announcer: Uncle Henry "Collier's Hour"; Uncle Bill "Let's
Pretend"
05-20-1926 - Miles Davis - Alton, IL - d. 9-29-1991
sideman: "Billy Eckstien Orchestra"
06-13-1917 - Elizabeth Reller - Richmond, IN - d. 9-29-1996
actor: Connie Barclay "Doc Barclay's Daughters"
06-26-1900 - Richard Crooks - Trenton, NJ - d. 9-29-1972
singer: "Voice of Firestone"; "Maxwell House Coffee Hour"
07-07-1920 - Charles Flynn - Chicago, IL - d. 9-29-1999
actor: Jack Armstrong "Jack Armstrong, The All-American Boy"
08-15-1916 - Van Patrick - d. 9-29-1974
detroit lions play-by-play: "Jean Shepard Show"
09-08-1907 - Eleanor Phelps - Baltimore, MD - d. 9-29-2001
actor: Susan Chandler "Life and Loves of Doctor Susan"
10-03-1912 - Gabriel Julian - Newark, NJ - d. 9-29-2002
piano: "Bobby Byrne Orchestra"; arranger: "Glenn Miller Orchestra"
10-31-1886 - Courtney Ryley Cooper - Kansas City, MO - d. 9-29-1940
writer: "The Gibson Family"
11-07-1907 - Tom Hanlon - Kansas - d. 9-29-1970
announcer: "Jane Endicott, Reporter"; "That's My Pop"; "Beulah Show"
11-12-1914 - Charles Marion - Philadelphia, PA - d. 9-29-1980
writer: "The Eddie Cantor Show"
12-05-1904 - Harold Huber - NYC - d. 9-29-1959
actor: Hercule Poirot "Hercule Poirot"; Fu Manchu "Shadow of Fu Manchu"
12-29-1921 - Robert Latting - Michigan - d. 9-29-1983
announcer: "The Cavalcade of America"; "Woman in White"
xx-xx-xxxx - Bruce Stewart - New Zealand - d. 9-29-2005
writer: "Omega Point"; "Tor Sands Experience"

Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2007 01:23:49 -0400
From: AudioBoyMA@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Seeking biographical information about
 writer/director Al Lewis

Hi everyone!

I'm looking for some biographical information on "Our Miss Brooks"
writer/director Al Lewis.  We're doing a recreation of an OMB episode as part
of our live Halloween show and we want to include bios of the writers of the
plays we're performing in our printed program. Material regarding Mr. Lewis
has been difficult to find, at least on-line, and though I have a couple of
books about OTR, their information on him is very, very minor.

Can anyone point me to, or provide me with, some details about this man's
life and career?

Thanks!

-N

PS: This probably isn't news to most of you but, from what I've read, I
gather this is not the same Al Lewis who played Grandpa Munster.

--
Neil Marsh * neil@[removed]
The Post-Meridian Radio Players * [removed]

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2007 01:24:03 -0400
From: "Jim Hilliker" <jimhilliker@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Don Wilson as sportscaster

[removed] was wondering if anybody has any information on Don Wilson's work as
a play-by-play radio sportscaster.  I was checking some old Los Angeles
Times radio logs of college football games, and found that Don Wilson
announced the USC games over KFI radio in 1931.  I was wondering how long he
continued doing sports and did he also do this type of radio announcing
while with Jack Benny?

Jim Hilliker
Monterey

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2007 12:00:24 -0400
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otrd <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  This week in radio history 30 September to 6
 October

 From Those Were The Days --

9/30

1930 - Death Valley Days was first heard on the NBC Red network this day
(and) became one of radio's biggest hits. The 30-minute,
Western-adventure series starred Tim Daniel Frawley as the Old Ranger,
Harvey Hays as the Old Prospector, John White as the Lonesome Cowboy,
Edwin Bruce as Bobby Keen, Robert Haag as Sheriff Mark Chase and Olyn
Landick as Cassandra Drinkwater.

The tales heard on Death Valley Days were all based on fact and were
human interest stories revolving around the borax mining town of Death
Valley, California. The show was created by Ruth Woodman, a script
writer for a New York ad agency. She had never seen Death Valley; but
had found the vehicle to sell 20-Mule-Team Borax. As time went on, Ms.
Woodman did make a trip to Death Valley. She went back again and again
after that, digging up facts for her scripts. She even met an
honest-to-goodness old ranger, Wash Cahill, who knew everyone and
everything about the mining town.

Death Valley Days was renamed Death Valley Sheriff in 1944 and The
Sheriff in 1945. And Ruth Woodman continued to write the scripts. She
even wrote scripts when Death Valley Days became a TV show. Buy some
20-Mule-Team Borax in commemoration.

1933 - The theme song was Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here and it opened
the National Barn Dance. The half-hour country music and comedy show,
originally heard on WLS, Chicago since 1924, moved to the NBC Blue
network this night. National Barn Dance was broadcast from the Eighth
Street Theater in Chicago, where the stage was transformed into a
hayloft every Saturday night. The host was Joe Kelly. Uncle Ezra was
played by Pat Barrett who was known to say, "Give me a toot on the
tooter, Tommy," as he started dancing. A few of the other Barn Dance
characters were Arkie, the Arkansas Woodchopper; Pokey Martin; the
Hoosier Hotshots; the Prairie Ramblers; cowgirl, Patsy Montana; Pat
Buttram; Lulu Belle and the Cumberland Road Runners. Gene Autry and Red
Foley were heard early in their careers on National Barn Dance. Although
there were plenty of sponsors (Alka Seltzer, One-A-Day vitamins,
Phillips Milk of Magnesia), the National Barn Dance was one of the few
radio shows to charge admission.

1935 - "Calling all [removed]" The Adventures of Dick Tracy came to radio
for the first time -- on the Mutual Radio Network. Based on the comic
strip created by Chester Gould, the 15-minute adventure show was heard
Monday thru Friday at 5:45 [removed] The sponsors were Quaker Puffed Wheat
and Quaker Puffed Rice.

10/1

1942 - People Are Funny went on the air with host Art Baker.

10/3

1901 - The Victor Talking Machine Company was incorporated on this day.
After a merger with Radio Corporation of America, RCA-Victor became the
leader in phonographs and many of the records played on them. The famous
Victrola phonograph logo, with Nipper the dog, and the words "His
Master's Voice", appeared on all RCA-Victor phonographs and record labels.

1946 - Dennis Day started his own show on NBC. Dennis, a popular tenor
featured on The Jack Benny Show, played the same (type) naive young
bachelor he played on the Benny show. A Day in the Life of Dennis Day
aired for five years.

10/4

1948 - Gordon MacRae hosted the premiere of a radio classic. The
Railroad Hour debuted on ABC. The theme song was I've Been Working on
the Railroad and the show was sponsored by -- get ready -- America's
Railroads.

10/5

1930 - The New York Philharmonic Orchestra was first heard on the air
over CBS from Carnegie Hall. The Sunday afternoon concerts set CBS back
$15,000. Not per week, but for the entire season!  (That would be
$170,875 in today's money. [removed] --ed)

1930 - This was a big day for CBS. Following the orchestra broadcast
(above), Father Coughlin, The Fighting Priest was first heard on network
radio. He lit up the airwaves with oratory that aired into the early
forties.  He was first heard on WJR Detroit in 1926.

1934 - The first major network radio show to originate from Hollywood
aired on this day. Hollywood Hotel was heard on CBS and was heavily
promoted as being the first to broadcast from the West Coast of the [removed]

1947 - A small Northern California company got a major boost from Bing
Crosby. The first show recorded on tape was broadcast on ABC. 'Der
Bingle' was so popular, that his taped show promoted wide distribution
of the new magnetic tape recorders that would become broadcast classics
-- the venerable Ampex 200.

1952 - After an 11-year run, Inner Sanctum, the legendary mystery
series, was heard for the final time. We'll never know if they oiled
that squeaky [removed]  (Of course there is the story of a staffer who did
actually oil the door before one [removed] ed)

10/6

1937 - Hobby Lobby debuted on CBS. The host was the dean of American
hobbyists, Dave Elman. The show's theme was The Best Things in Life are
Free. Sponsors included Fels Naptha soap, Hudson paper products and
Colgate Dental Creme.

Joe

--
Visit my homepage: [removed]~[removed]

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2007 12:00:38 -0400
From: Vince Long <vlongbsh@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  RE: What to do with old VHS tapes?

One more idea, if you plan to donate them as blank tapes, look to your
community-access cable television channel.  Ours have DVD capabilities but
most of the programming produced at the station and brought in by independent
producers is still on VHS.  Some of these stations have fund-raisers and
tapes such of these might bring some additional income, whether as blanks or
for their content (legal issues aside.)

Vince

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2007 12:01:00 -0400
From: Jeff Knowling <jeff_knowling@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Fear on Four
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

BBC 7 is currently running Fear on Four on Saturdays.  You can listen online
at [removed]

I often record online streaming using Audacity (free recording and editing
program) and save them as mp3.  You can get audacity at
[removed]

If you have questions about Audacity, contact me off-list and I'll help if I
can.

Jeff Knowling
It's easy!
kt=en-us

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  ***                  as the sender intended.                   ***

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2007 18:37:49 -0400
From: "Ian Grieve" <austotr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Old Radio Mags

Recently there were a couple of mentions about Old Radio Magazines.  In
Australia I have a pretty large collection of various Radio magazines from
1924 through to the 1960's.  These are used for reference and slowly I am
scanning them into .tif format.  Very slowly unfortunately, its a big job.
Once they are scanned, even though each page is a picture, it makes research
a lot easier as various software programs these days allow for the text on
the pages to be treated as text and you can seach for a particular word or
set of words and the pages containing that word is displayed in a list.  It
makes searching for a series or actor very easy.  Whilst I don't have plans
to make these available on the internet any time soon due to the download
costs of offering such a service, I do use them to answer the email
questions I receive most days asking if a particular person or series came
to Australia.  I just bought another 350+ A3 sized weekly radio newspapers
so I have years of scanning ahead of me.  Unfortunately I have more scanners
than I have people to scan, for the uninitiated it is a very boring task.

The Old Time Radio Researchers Group do have plenty of volunteers, as well
as scanners, and they have a project for scanning radio related magazines
and club newsletters etc and making them available online for people to
access and research.  Just check out [removed] and follow the
Publications link to the section of your choice.  I see almost 30 different
types of magazines and newsletters listed and each of those has multiple
copies up there.  I see they are missing certain editions like Collectors
Corner where they miss Issue #9.  If you have a magazine or newsletter that
you see hasn't been included, you can contact them and they will be very
pleased to hear from you.  If you don't want to part with your magazine
permanently and are unable to scan it yourself, They will return the
magazine and give you a scanned copy AND refund your postage.  All
contributors of Magazines, Newsletters and Catalogs are listed in the
publications section as Patrons.  You will see see well-known Digest
contributors already listed there.   I understand that they have several
hundred more magazines to add before the end of the year, including 28
issues of Radio Guide from 1928 to 1935.

Please check out the Publications section of the website and see if you can
assist with issues they are missing.  You will be assisting OTR researchers
throughout the world.  Check out the other projects whilst you are there.
Its amazing the number of volunteers all working together to document OTR.
You will need to check back often as publications keep being added.

Yes I am a member of the Researchers Group and I advise on Australian
related OTR and heavily biased towards the hundreds of volunteers working on
so many different OTR projects.  Its a big job and someone has to do it.

Ian Grieve

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2007 23:09:01 -0400
From: "Tom Bewley" <fords3137@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Gifting of Memorabilia, scripts and OTR program
 masters
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

A recent posting to the Net asked what one should  do with vhs otr tapes .This
has prompted me to submit the following.
I have been collecting and enjoying OTR shows  for the past 40 yrs. I have
known several otr actors and [removed] have had bad experiences with
gifting . I would very much appreciate a discussion of the subject of gifting
otr scrips and program masters, etc by otr actors and writers. My limited
contact with same has left me with the impression that leaving any of the
above generally means throwing them into a dark hole. The gifted items are
then generally out of reach of fans, students or researchers; even those who
gifted.  I have discusssed this with several otr fans who have the same
opinion. Am I right or wrong? Would anyone like to share their advice on this
subject with otr actors,  writers and fans who might be facing this decision?

Tom Bewley
Shoreline, Wa

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------------------------------

Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2007 23:09:08 -0400
From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  9-30 births/deaths

September 30th births

09-30-1875 - Sigmund Anker - d. unknown
vilolinist: KRFC San Francisco, California
09-30-1891 - Fabien Sevitzky - d. 2-3-1967
director: "The Indianaoplis Symphony Orchestra"
09-30-1895 - Lewis Milestone - Odessa, Russia - d. 9-25-1980
film director: "Screen Director's Playhouse"
09-30-1896 - Howard Wright - San Diego, CA - d. 7-2-1990
actor: "Lights Out"; "Mystery is My Hobby"; "Ma Perkins"
09-30-1905 - Michael Powell - Bekesbourne, Kent, England - d. 2-19-1990
screenwriter: "Lux Radio Theatre"
09-30-1908 - Jay Michael - NYC
actor: Butch Cavendish "The Lone Ranger"
09-30-1911 - Jerry Scoggins - Mount Pleasant, TX - d. 12-7-2004
singer: (Member of the Cass County Boys) "Gene Autry's Melody Ranch"
09-30-1912 - Kenny Baker - Monrovia, CA - d. 8-10-1985
singer, comedian: "Jack Benny Program"; "Glamour Manor"; "Kenny Baker
Show"
09-30-1916 - Wendell Noble - Mesa, AZ - d. 2-10-1988
singer, actor: "Bride and Groom"; "Listener's Digest"
09-30-1917 - Tom Reddy - d. 8-xx-1961
announcer: "Chesterfield Supper Club"; "Fitch Bandwagon"
09-30-1921 - Deborah Kerr - Helensburgh, Scotland
actor: "Hollywood Calling"; "Hollywood Star Playhouse"; "Lux Radio
Theatre"
09-30-1922 - Lamont Johnson - Stockton, CA
actor: Tarzan "Tarzan"; Mark Douglas "Wendy Warren and the News"
09-30-1922 - Oscar Pettiford - Okmulgee, OK - d. 9-8-1960
jazz composer, bass player: "Mildred Bailey Show"; "Esquire Jazz
Concert"
09-30-1924 - Truman Capote - New Orleans, LA - d. 8-25-1984
author: "Cather: A Look of Remembrance"
09-30-1930 - Ben Cooper - Hartford, CT
actor: Brad Burton "Second Mrs. Burton"; Scotty "Mark Trail"
09-30-1935 - Jill Corey - Avonmore, PA
singer: "Jill Corey Show"; "Stop the Music"
09-30-1935 - Johnny Mathis - Gilomer, TX
singer: "Star Carousel"
09-30-1939 - Lou Cariou - Winnipeg, Canada
actor: "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"

September 30th deaths

01-04-1919 - Al "Jazzbeaux" Collins - NYC - d. 9-30-1997
disc jockey: "Collins on a Cloud"; "Happy Al"
02-01-1912 - Clete Roberts - Portland, OR - d. 9-30-1984
news correspondent: Covered both World War II and Korea
02-08-1931 - James Dean - Byron, IN - d. 9-30-1955
actor: "Hallmark Playhouse"
02-16-1903 - Edgar Bergen - Chicago, IL - d. 9-30-1978
ventriloquist: "Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy Show"
02-23-1926 - Isabel Bigley - The Bronx, NY - d. 9-30-2006
singer: "Music for America"; "Heartbeat of Broadway"; "Let Freedom Sing"
03-18-1886 - Edward Everett Horton - Brooklyn, NY - d. 9-30-1970
actor, host: "Shell Chateau"; "Kraft Music Hall"
04-19-1907 - Lin Basquette - San Mateo, CA - d. 9-30-1994
actor: "Whatever Became of  . . . "
05-23-1912 - Marius Goring - Newport, Isle of Wight, England - d.
9-30-1998
actor: Sir Percy Blakeney/Scarlet Pimpernel "Scarlet Pimpernel"
05-31-1905 - Jeff Sparks - NYC - d. 9-30-1981
announcer: "Ben Bernie and all the Lads"; "Death Valley Days"
06-08-1905 - Ruth Bailey - Pittsburgh, PA - d. 9-30-1989
actor: "First Nighter"; "Kitty Keene, Inc."; "Guiding Light"
06-10-1911 - Mary Lansing - Louisiana - d. 9-30-1988
actor: Betty Crane "The Greatest of These"; Julie Collins "The
Guiding Light"
07-07-1924 - Mary Ford - Pasadena, CA - d. 9-30-1977
singer: "Les Paul and Mary Ford Show"
07-18-1920 - Charlie McCarthy - Chicago, IL - d. 9-30-1978
dummy: "Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy Show"
07-30-1890 - Casey Stengel - Kansas City, MO - d. 9-30-1975
hall of fame baseball manager: "DiMaggio Farewell"; "Witness!"; "Tops
in Sports"
08-09-1892 - Joe Emerson - Grand Rapids, MI - d. 9-30-1969
gospel singer: "Hymns of All Churches"; "Hymn Time"
09-27-1925 - Burkett "Uncle Josh" Graves - Tellico Plains, TN - d.
9-30-2006
dobro player: (Foggy Mountain Boys) "Grand Ole Opry"
11-25-1896 - Virgil Thomson - Kansas City, MO - d. 9-30-1989
composer: "Columbia Workshop"
12-09-1906 - Freddy Martin - Cleveland, OH - d. 9-30-1983
bandleader: "Penthouse Serenade"; "Fitch Bandwagon"; "Jack Carson Show"
12-18-1913 - Alfred Bester - NYC - d. 9-30-1987
writer: "Charlie Chan"; "Nick Carter, Master Detective"; "The Shadow"

Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2007 Issue #279
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