------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2009 : Issue 150
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
8-7 births/deaths [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
Jews in radio [ rand@[removed] ]
what they did and did not report abo [ Donna Halper <dlh@[removed]; ]
The Timeless Jack [removed] [ Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed] ]
Green Hornet on YouTube [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
More Green Hornet [ <radioaz@[removed]; ]
Radio And The Jews [ "Joe" <jpostove@[removed]; ]
8-8 births/deaths [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
Jews on the radio [ "A. Joseph Ross" <joe@attorneyross. ]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:16:45 -0400
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 8-7 births/deaths
August 7th births
08-07-1883 - Reinald Werrenrath - NYC - d. 9-12-1953
baritone: "Old Company Program"
08-07-1884 - Billie Burke - Washington, [removed] - d. 5-14-1970
comedienne: "Billie Burke Show"; Mrs. Featherstone "Gay Mrs.
Featherstone"
08-07-1902 - Charles Cornell - Budapest, Hungary - d. 12-3-1993
composer: "Boston Blackie"; "Date with Judy"
08-07-1903 - Hilda Hopkins Burke - d. 4-6-1978
soprano: WBAL Baltimore, Maryland
08-07-1904 - Dr. Ralph Bunche - Detroit, MI - d. 12-7-1971
activist: "The Big Show"
08-07-1904 - Herbert Colin Rice - Guilford, England - d. 5-27-1991
creator, writer, producer: "Bobby Benson"
08-07-1906 - Ernestine Wade - Mississippi - d. 4-14-1983
actor: Sapphire Stevens "Amos 'n' Andy"
08-07-1907 - Alexander Turner - London, England - d. xx-xx-1993
writer: "Coat of Arms"
08-07-1908 - Dave Bacal - NYC - d. 9-12-1986
staff organist for CBS
08-07-1908 - Kathleen Fitz - d. 4-22-1998
actor: Judy Price "Dr. Christian"; Portia Brent "Brenthouse"
08-07-1909 - Sheldon Stark - NYC - d. 2-6-1997
writer: "The Columbia Workshop"; "Straight Arrow"
08-07-1910 - Freddie Slack - Westby, WI - d. 8-10-1965
pianist, bandleader: "Kraft Music Hall"
08-07-1911 - Nicholas Ray - Galesville, WI - d. 6-16-1979
director: Free lance
08-07-1913 - George Van Eps - Plainfield, NJ - d. 11-29-1998
guitarist: "Pete Kelly's Blues"; "Guest Star"; "Just Jazz"
08-07-1914 - Clifford Thorsness - d. 6-14-2002
sound effects: "Fibber McGee and Molly"; "Edgar Bergen/Charlie
McCarthy Show"
08-07-1914 - June Travis - Chicago, IL
actor: Stormy Curtis/Wilson "Girl Alone"; Bernice Farraday "Arnold
Grimm's Daughter"
08-07-1920 - Mel Diamond - NYC - d. 4-5-2002
comedy writer: Kate Smith, Milton Berle, Bob Hope and Mickey Rooney
08-07-1921 - Poni (Jane) Adams - San Antonio, TX
contestant escort: "Darts for Dough"
08-07-1921 - Warren Covington - Philadelphia, PA - d. 8-24-1999
orchestra leader: "Warren Covington and His Orchestra"
08-07-1926 - Stan Freberg - Los Angeles, CA
comedian: "That's Rich"; "Stan Freberg Show"
08-07-1927 - Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer - Paris, IL - d. 1-21-1959
actor: "Thirty Minutes In Hollywood"
08-07-1942 - Garrison Keillor - Anoka, MN
vocalist, storyteller: "A Prarie Home Companion"
August 7th deaths
01-05-1902 - Eve Sully - NYC - d. 8-7-1990
comedian: appeared with husband Jesse Block on radio
01-18-1892 - Oliver Hardy - Harlem, GA - d. 8-7-1957
comedian: "Ruth Lyons Show"
01-28-1900 - Mahlon Merrick - Farmington, IA - d. 8-7-1969
music: "Jack Benny Program"; "Skippy Hollywood Theatre"
01-28-1914 - Tom Neal - Evanston, IL - d. 8-7-1972
actor: "I Am An American"; "The Unexpected"
02-09-1901 - Walter Preston - Quincy, IL - d. 8-7-1982
singer: "Philco Hour"
03-07-1905 - Ruth Freed Akst - Vancouver, Canada - d. 8-7-1989
composer/violinist lead singing and instrumental trio on radio
03-07-1937 - Anne Kristen - Scotland - d. 8-7-1996
actor: "Carver"
03-10-1903 - Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke - Davenport, IA - d.
8-7-1931
jazz musician: "Band Remotes"
03-16-1885 - Rev. Dr. William L. Stidger - Moundsville, WV - d. 8-7-1949
pastor: "Getting the Most Out of Life"
04-13-1889 - Herbert Yardley - Washington, IN - d. 8-7-1958
writer: "Stories of the Black Chambers"
05-18-1894 - Raymond Paige - Wausau, WI - d. 8-7-1965
conductor: "Hollywood Hotel"; "Musical Americana"; "Stage Door Canteen"
05-30-1912 - Jerry D. Lewis - d. 8-7-1996
writer: "This Is Your FBI"
06-09-1912 - Ingolf Dahl - Hamburg, Germany - d. 8-7-1970
conductor, pianist
06-11-1920 - Robert Hutton - Kingston, NY - d. 8-7-1994
actor: "Proudly We Hail"; "NBC University Theatre"
07-15-1900 - Helen Shields - Champaign, IL - d. 8-7-1963
actor: Linda Dale "I Love Linda Dale"; Sylvia Meadows "Amanda of
Honeymoon Hill"
07-25-1917 - Arthur Alsberg - NYC - d. 8-7-2004
wrote comedy routines for Milton Berle and Danny Kaye
07-27-1920 - Henry "Homer" Haynes - d. 8-7-1971
comedian: (Homer and Jethro) "WLS National Barn Dance"
07-29-1938 - Peter Jennings - Toronto, Canada - d. 8-7-2005
news broadcaster: "When Conventions Were Conventions"
08-16-1888 - Howard Marsh - Bluffton, IN - d. 8-7-1969
singer: "Buick Presents"; "Evening in Paris"; "Frigidaire Program"
08-25-1931 - Hal Fishman - Brooklyn, NY - d. 8-7-2007
television news anchor: Got start on campus radio at Cornell
09-14-1918 - Bill Hanrahan - d. 8-7-1996
newscaster, announcer: "Inheritance"
10-05-1913 - Lois January - Fort Worth, TX - d. 8-7-2006
actor: "County Fair"
10-20-1922 - John Anderson - Clayton, IL - d. 8-7-1992
actor: William Clark "Horizons West"
Ron
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:17:06 -0400
From: rand@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Jews in radio
Evan in Atlanta in the last digest, when discussing Jews on radio, noted:
This forum is perhaps not suited for such horrific topics as the Holocaust,
but if there was a mass appeal on behalf of European Jewry, I must also
mention that I find no broadcasts available.
I hope to remedy that next week. I obtained an original line check of a
broadcast that NBC made on behalf of the United Jewish Appeal, broadcast a
few months after the end of World War II. The show dramatizes the plight
of Jews dislocated by the War.
I'm posting the show next week to my blog ([removed])
as part of group of shows that look at the end of World War II. The main
program that I'll post is a special show broadcast for VJ Day by AFRS, but
I'll also be posting some other rare and uncirculated recordings that deal
with this theme. August 14/15 is, of course, the anniversary of VJ Day.
I was hoping the posts would be a surprise, so *ssshhhh* - don't tell
anyone. :)
Randy
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:17:15 -0400
From: Donna Halper <dlh@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: what they did and did not report about Jews
Evan Torch wrote--
I always found it curious that so many Jewish stars of the era, Cantor,
Jolson, Benny, Burns, Brice and on and on couldn't sqeeze out a single "and
Happy Hanuka , too" as they were signing off their annual Christmas shows. At
least the Goldbergs admitted that the family was Jewish!
This forum is perhaps not suited for such horrific topics as the Holocaust,
but if there was a mass appeal on behalf of European Jewry, I must also
mention that I find no broadcasts available.
Alas, even today, Jewish broadcasters will wish people a Merry
Christmas but not mention Hanukkah. On the other hand, sometimes
when you least expect it, somebody steps up and shows some Jewish
pride-- I remember very clearly how one night, on CNN, Larry King
(who is by his own admission totally non-observant) wished Aaron
Brown a happy New Year just before the Jewish New Year in 2005. Most
viewers probably missed the meaning of the remark, given that Aaron
seldom if ever mentioned his Jewishness, and Aaron actually looked
kind of shocked when Larry said it. I may be playing amateur
psychologist, but many of the Jews on radio and TV today were raised
by parents who had survived brutal anti-Semitism during the 30s and
40s, and they may have assimilated the idea that the less said about
one's Jewishness, the better.
Eddie Cantor actually did speak out more than most-- when Henry Ford
received a medal from Hitler's government in 1938 (and accepted it),
it was Eddie Cantor alone who lashed out and expressed outrage to
newspaper reporters. Radio in the golden age absolutely did have
Jewish programs which featured rabbis speaking out on
anti-Semitism. Stephen S. Wise of New York did this often. But
again, these programs were only aimed at the Jewish audience (some I
believe were in Yiddish). There were several Public Service
programs that ran on NBC Radio in the late 30s that tried to raise
funds to help the Jews of Europe; and while the audience was probably
just American Jews, I'd like to believe that non-Jews knew something
about what was happening, since radio commentator Dorothy Thompson
(herself a non-Jew) did at least one and possibly two radio
commentaries about Hitler's anti-Jewish policies. Thompson later
became a vocal critic of Israel, but during WW II, she was one of the
few who spoke about what Hitler was doing to the Jews.
There is an excellent essay that appeared in the publication of the
Simon Wiesenthal Center back in 1997, by Joyce Fine. It's called
"American Radio Coverage of the Holocaust," and it describes in
detail which news reporters on the networks spoke up about Hitler and
his anti-Jewish policies, when they spoke up, and what they
reported. It's sad but true that most of the network reporters
either downplayed or ignored anti-Semitism in the culture, and
network news rarely mentioned the Final Solution till circa
1944. The Jewish media had been howling about it endlessly, but the
mainstream media, not so much. Joyce Fine's essay offers some
theories as to why such a terrible tragedy was seldom discussed on
radio till it was too late. And she did find some transcriptions of
the network newscasts that mentioned the Holocaust-- they are
preserved in the Library of Congress. Here's the
essay: [removed];b=395127
Donna L. Halper, Asst. Professor of Communication
Lesley University, Cambridge MA
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:17:33 -0400
From: Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: The Timeless Jack [removed]
This article from the Columbia Daily Tribune reviews the Jack Benny Show
from a modern perspective and argues - as I often have - that it holds up
much better than other comic programs of its era. She specifically calls
out Bob Hope, whose appeal is largely lost on me as well, as well as Milton
Berle.
[removed]
Interesting, if brief, analysis.
Sean Dougherty
SeanDD@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:17:39 -0400
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Green Hornet on YouTube
Terry Salomonson did a presentation about THE GREEN HORNET at the
Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention two years ago and the first 20 minutes of
the presentation is on YouTube. The purpose of the posting was to help
promote the MANC convention, which was done with the consent of the attorney
representing The Green Hornet, Inc. The YouTube clip has garnished a number
of private e-mails through YouTube, and interest in the convention including
a fan club devoted to THE GREEN HORNET which has already pre-paid and
pre-registered almost 30 members attending this year for MANC. While Terry's
presentation is not the same as the one being delievered at the MWOTR Club or
FOTR, it is worth seeking out and watching for those who have been asking me
(and posting on the Digest) for a request of a HORNET presentation on YouTube.
For those who attended the presentation at SPERDVAC in May, the up-coming
displays a number of revisions and additional material that will please any
HORNET fan.
As for the book on [removed], they are retailing the price at $[removed] but you
can get it for $[removed] on [removed]. The difference in price is the
same reason for THE TWILIGHT ZONE book last year. Two different sizes means
two different prices. There is no difference between the larger size book or
the smaller size book. Both are 816 pages. The ONLY difference is the
printing size. Buying from [removed] will not support the endeavors of Terry
and I. That web-site only pays out 45% of the retail and subtracting printing
and shipping costs, we don't make much at all while a purchase from
[removed] will allow us 100% profit subtracting the printing cost. This
has been pointed out a number of times on the Digest -- authors ONLY make
money off a book they wrote when purchased directly from the author or their
publishing company. Third hand sources only grants other parties "a piece of
the action."
The cost factor to create the book has been enormous for both Terry and I.
Just this past week I drove up to Buffalo, New York to browse an archive that
would allow me a little cross-referencing. $154 in gas, $210 in hotel, $8 in
copy fees and $23 in food expenses gave us enough material to verify facts
contained in a footnote and add two paragraphs to the manuscript. You can
only imagine the expenses that went into having a book more than 800 pages
thick. It'll be worth it, not financially, but for personal satisfaction.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:17:46 -0400
From: <radioaz@[removed];
To: "OTR Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: More Green Hornet
We mustn't forget that next July there will be a new Green Hornet movie
released. It begins filming in September. I will most likely go see it
although I am having difficult time picturing Seth Rogan in the lead role.
To his credit, though, he lost 30 pounds to play Britt Reid [removed] the Green
Hornet.
Ted
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:17:55 -0400
From: "Joe" <jpostove@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Radio And The Jews
"Eternal Light" was a longtime program on radio and television, which I
believe existed until the 70's on the tube. I wonder if this show, about
Judaism, would have at Passover time explained and perhaps even recreated a
Seder for the listening audience.
Please excuse me, but CBS TV had three great public affairs programs until
they were cancelled in 1979 to make room for "CBS Sunday Morning". They were
"Look Up And Live", "Camera Three" and "Lamp Unto My Feet" (which was, I
think more of a Christian oriented [removed] would be glad to be corrected).
These programs ran from the 50' until the 70's covered almost every subject
of interest under the sun. I wonder if they ever recreated a Seder. I know
this really belongs more on the "Kine'" Digest, but since the conversation
is here, I thought I'd bring this up.
Thanks,
Joe Postove
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:18:03 -0400
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 8-8 births/deaths
August 8th births
08-08-1885 - Gene Buck - Detroit, MI - d. 2-25-1957
president of ascap: "World's Fair Concert"
08-08-1887 - Malcolm Keen - Bristol, England - d. 1-30-1970
actor: "Cavalcade of America"
08-08-1889 - Major J. Andrew White - d. 3-13-1966
Pioneer announcer, sportscaster and executive
08-08-1895 - Nat Pendelton - Davenport, IA - d. 10-11-1967
actor: "Dr. Kildare"
08-08-1896 - Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings - Washington, [removed] - d. 12-14-1953
novelist: "Stars in the Air"
08-08-1900 - James Pierce - Freedom, IN - d. 12-11-1983
actor: Tarzan "Tarzan"
08-08-1900 - Robert Siodmak - Memphis, TN - d. 3-10-1973
film director: "Screen Director's Playhouse"
08-08-1900 - Victor Young - Chicago, IL - d. 11-11-1956
conductor, composer: "Shell Chateau"; "Old Gold Don Ameche Show
08-08-1904 - Ray Buffum - d. 12-13-1980
writer, director: "A Man Named Jordan"; "Rogue's Gallery"
08-08-1905 - Nino Martini - Verona, Italy - d. 12-9-1976
singer: "Seven Star Revue"
08-08-1905 - Ross Graham - Benton, AR - d. 1-5-1986
bariton-bass: "Cities Service Concert"; "Show Boat"
08-08-1906 - Joe DuVal - Wisconsin - d. 4-22-1966
actor: Professor Wiz the Owl "Cinnamon Bear", Big Town"
08-08-1906 - Richard Cunliffe - McKeesport, PA - d. 12-12-1968
composer, arranger: "Ted Weems and His Orchestra"
08-08-1907 - Benny Carter - NYC - d. 7-12-2003
saxaphonist, songwriter (Professor) "Chamber Music Society of Lower
Basin Street"
08-08-1909 - Bob Davis - Charleston, MS - d. unknown
singer: "Spotlight Bands"; "One Night Stand"
08-08-1910 - Sylvia Sidney - The Bronx, NY - d. 7-1-1999
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Columbia Presents Corwin"; "Philip Morris
Playhouse"
08-08-1912 - Gail Henshaw - NYC - d. 4-20-1954
actor: Kitty Keene "Kitty Keene"; Linda Munson "The Woman in White"
08-08-1913 - Axel Stordahl - Staten Island, NY - d. 8-30-1963
conductor: "Songs by Sinatra/Frank Sinatra Show"; "Your Hit Parade";
"Coke Time"
08-08-1914 - Pete King - Greenville, OH - d. 9-21-1982
conductor: (Pete King Chorale) "Bing Crosby Show"; "Doris Day Show"
08-08-1917 - Ann Francine (Francine) - Philadelphia, PA - d. 12-3-1999
singer: "Hour of Charm"
08-08-1917 - Malvin Wald - Brooklyn, NY - d. 3-6-2008
writer: "Suspense"
08-08-1921 - Webb Pierce - West Monroe, LA - d. 2-24-1991
singer: ""Grand Ole Opry"; Louisiana Hayride"
08-08-1922 - Esther Williams - Los Angeles, CA
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Tex and Jinx"
08-08-1922 - Rory Calhoun - Los Angeles, CA - d. 4-28-1999
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
08-08-1923 - Jimmy Witherspoon - Gurdon, AR - d. 9-18-1997
blues singer: (Jay McShann's Band) "Jubilee"
08-08-1926 - Richard Anderson - Long Beach, NJ
actor: "Suspense"
08-08-1927 - Basil Kirchin - Blackpool, England - d. 6-18-2005
drummer: "Harry Roy and His Orchestra"
08-08-1930 - Terry Nation - South Wales - d. 3-9-1997
comedy writer: "Goon Show"
08-08-1937 - Dustin Hoffman - Los Angeles, CA
actor: "Soundstage"
08-08-1945 - Percy Granger - Norman, OK - d. 3-10-1997
actor: "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"
August 8th deaths
01-07-1903 - Alan Napier - Birmingham, England - d. 8-8-1988
actor: "Campbell Playhouse"
01-10-1897 - John P. McEvoy - d. 8-8-1958
writer: "Information Please"
01-13-1882 - Domenico Savino - Tranto, Italy - d. 8-8-1973
composer/conductor: "Evening in Paris"; "La Palina Smoke Dreams"
02-08-1905 - Henry King - d. 8-8-1974
orchestra leader: "Burns and Allen"
02-08-1941 - Martin Huston - Lexington, KY - d. 8-8-2001
actor: Jeep Allison "My Son Jeep"
02-12-1905 - Harry Bellaver (Belaver) - Hillsboro, IL - d. 8-8-1993
actor: "Cavalcade of America"; "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"
04-01-1917 - Mel Shavelson - NYC - d. 8-8-2007
writer: "The Bob Hope Show"
04-29-1904 - Russ Morgan - Scranton, PA - d. 8-8-1969
bandleader: (Music in the Morgan Manner) "Russ Morgan Orchestra"
06-04-1912 - Jess Barker - Greenville, SC - d. 8-8-2000
announcer, actor: "Guest Star"; "Proudly We Hail"
07-19-1914 - Lou Krugman - Passaic, NJ - d. 8-8-1992
actor: Tony Griffin "Romance of Helen Trent"; Ulysses Hink "Dear Mom";
"Gunsmoke"
07-26-1899 - Danton Walker - Marietta, GA - d. 8-8-1960
broadway columnist: "Forty-Five Minutes on Broadway"; "Twin Views of
the News"
09-10-1907 - Fay Wray - Alberta, Canada - d. 8-8-2004
actor: Rosemary "Keeping Up with Rosemary"
09-14-1908 - Bernard Green - NYC - d. 8-8-1975
orchestra leader: "The Clock"
09-15-1928 - Cannonball Adderley - Tampa, FL - d. 8-8-1975
jazz saxphonist: "Voices of Vista"
10-07-1896 - Phil Ohman - New Britain, CT - d. 8-8-1954
pianist: "Names of Tomorrow Finding Stardom Today in Hollywood"
10-11-1883 - Fritz Stiedry - d. 8-8-1968
conductor: "New Friends of Music"
10-12-1917 - G. William Marshall - Chicago, IL - d. 8-8-1994
singer: "Fred Waring Orchestra"
10-31-1922 - Barbara Bel Geddes - NYC - d. 8-8-2005
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Ford Theatre"; "[removed] Steel Hour";
"Cavalcade of America"
11-08-1909 - Sam Balter - Detroit, MI - d. 8-8-1998
sports, news commentator: "Inside of Sports"; "Sizing Up the News"
11-30-1907 - Jack Brinkley - Oxford, NC - d. 8-8-1972
announcer, actor: "Aunt Jemima"; "Couple Next Door"
12-14-1919 - Shirley Jackson - San Francisco, CA - d. 8-8-1965
writer: "NBC Presents: Short Story"
Ron
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:18:10 -0400
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <joe@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Jews on the radio
Date: Thu, 6 Aug 2009 13:33:29 -0400
From: etorch@[removed]
There are more profound questions than whether or not seders were
mentioned when discussing the history of OTR in the 30's and 40's. I
always found it curious that so many Jewish stars of the era, Cantor,
Jolson, Benny, Burns, Brice and on and on couldn't sqeeze out a single
"and Happy Hanuka , too" as they were signing off their annual
Christmas shows.
On the other hand, circa 1955, on the Perry Como TV show, after a
major production number with the song "It's Beginning to Look a Lot
Like Christmas," Gertrude Berg appeared as Molly Goldberg and greated
Perry Como with a compliment on the song "It's Beginning to Look a
Lot Like Chanukah." That produced a large applause from the
audience.
--
A. Joseph Ross, [removed] [removed]
92 State Street, Suite 700 Fax [removed]
Boston, MA 02109-2004 [removed]
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2009 Issue #150
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