------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2005 : Issue 395
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Early TV with radio stars [ "[removed]" <asajb2000@ ]
radio---->tv [ "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed] ]
Re: Bold Venture [ Jim Widner <widnerj@[removed]; ]
Holiday Parodies [ seandd@[removed] ]
Holiday Greetings! [ "Stuart Lubin" <StuartLubin@[removed] ]
Yes, Dixon, there is a "Wally Cox Sh [ "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed]; ]
Does "Shaving Cream" ring a Bell? [ "Stuart Lubin" <StuartLubin@[removed] ]
Wishing everybody a Merry Christmas! [ "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed]; ]
re: Fibber & Molly on TV [ Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed]; ]
Family Tree of Candy Matson [ jack and cathy french <otrpiano@ver ]
The Lineup? [ "dennis townsend" <dltnkt@[removed] ]
12-24 births/deaths [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
Amos and Andy [ "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed]; ]
Bold Venture [ Rutledge Mann <cliff_marsland@yahoo ]
Amos & Andy [ "A. Joseph Ross" <joe@attorneyross. ]
Radio Milestone - 1906 Christmas Eve [ "WEH" <nbcblue@[removed]; ]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 09:51:26 -0500
From: "[removed]" <asajb2000@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Early TV with radio stars
I figured I would try downloading some early TV from
iTunes, even though I do not yet own a video iPod (you
can still watch it on the desktop). My 11-year-old
son likes cop shows, so I downloaded the very first
Adam-12 shows (Log #1). These are fofered without
commercials.
I watched these when I was a kid. Jack Webb directed
this one and thie episode featured Art Gilmore and
Howard Culver. I kindof knew by the voices that these
folks were somehow associated with oldtime radio in
some way and then the names are very familiar.
Of course, the closing is how I remembered it: the
sweaty hand using a mallet to stamp into a stone the
production company name "Mark VII Limited" and then
the Universal TV logo.
I never thought people would pay for TV shows but it's
a matter of convenience, After all, they've sold 3
million TV downloads so far and about 4-5 million
people are signed up for Satellite (Pay) radio.
I know a lot of early television boasted many radio
stars because these folks were basically unemployed
when radio drama was being phased out. For instance,
Parley Baer did much early TV.
Andy Blatt
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 12:09:20 -0500
From: "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: radio---->tv
IOW, the tv "Fibber" was out of character for something Fibber would do.
And the same thing with the Gildersleeve tv show, which I have never
seen. One writer to the digest a couple of years ago said one of the
producers of the tv show bragged he had never heard the radio show and
knew nothing about it.
Infuriating, isn't it? Yet the same thing happened when young radio
producers tried to adapt old music-hall acts to radio. People in new medium
(media?) tend to be young and brash, and don't always have a lot of respect
for what went before.
M Kinsler
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 12:10:09 -0500
From: Jim Widner <widnerj@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Bold Venture
[removed]@[removed] wrote:
In researching titles and play dates for Bold Venture I have come across some
conflicting data. Hopefully someone here may be able to clarify.
Most popular logs indicate 78 shows were produced. Many of these logs also
indicate or cross reference Ziv production numbers where available.
The person to ask about this might be Mike Martini, who used to be with
WVXU radio. His organization is the keeper of the Ziv archives and they
have all the Bold Ventures. His email address is mmartini@[removed].
Jim Widner
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 12:10:22 -0500
From: seandd@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Holiday Parodies
This link to National Lampoon parodies of classic Christmas specials pokes
fun at both The Mercury Theater and National Lampoon Radio Hour.
You have to be of a certain mindset to realize exactly how funny "Ayn Rand's
'A Selfish Christmas'" is - but I laughed out loud.
Sean Dougherty
SeanDD@[removed]
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 13:03:32 -0500
From: "Stuart Lubin" <StuartLubin@[removed];
To: "Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Holiday Greetings!
I wish to send all readers of the Digest my best wishes for a great holiday
season and a healthy 2006. I especially want to greet all my new friends
whom I met in my first visit to Newark last October. I finally got to
Newark, after 25 years in the hobby.
OTRadiofan Stuart
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 13:26:43 -0500
From: "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Yes, Dixon, there is a "Wally Cox Show"
Merry Christmas, Gang:
Last night NOT at the Billy Rose:
Since the NYC transit strike was not effectively settled until late last
night, I was unable to spend my usual Thursday late night at the NYPL/Perf
Arts. So instead, I decided to use the time catching up on about 19
back-issues of the Digest. Some folks had been asking me off-list where've I
been. Nowhere in particular--I've just been busy. Besides, I really hadn't had
anything relevant, pertinent, and/or clever to post (yes, I know that hasn't
stopped me in the past).
So now that I've caught up, I'd like to address the dormant thread about Wally
Cox. My pal Dixon Hayes wrote in response to a birthday listing in Ron
Sayles's daily almanac:
12-06-1924 - Wally Cox - Detroit, MI - d. 2-15-1973
comedian: "[removed] Steel Hour"; "Wally Cox Show"
Does anyone have any more info on "The Wally Cox Show," format, sponsor,
when it ran, episode availability, [removed]
Councilor A. Joseph Ross wrote about Cox's TV sitcoms "Mister Peepers" and
"The Adventures of Hiram Holiday," prompting Mr. Hayes to rejoinder:
But those are both TV shows, and I figured the implication in his being
mentioned in the radio birthdays/deaths column was that "The Wally Cox
Show" was on the radio, not TV. Therefore "Total Television" wouldn't
be the place to look. I'm aware of Cox's TV work but had not heard
anything about his being on the radio (except maybe "Arthur Godfrey's
Talent Scouts").
Everybody's favourite newlywed pop culture historian and convention impresario
Martin Grams, Jr., commented:
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.
<snip>
Well, I've been known to have off-list differences of opinion with Prof.
Sayles, but now I feel it's imperative for me to back him up, while, at the
same time, contradicting my good friend Martin, but imparting some welcome
info to Dixon while doing so. The following review by someone using the
pen-name "Rose." appeared in an issue of weekly VARIETY, dated October, 3,
1951:
WALLY COX SHOW
Writer: Bill Kaland
15 [removed] Sun. 10 [removed]
Sustaining
WNEW, [removed]
Wally Cox, the nitery-radio-TV comic, has inaugurated a 15-minute Sunday
night "diskless disk jockey" show. Without being too precious or overly cute,
Cox's gentle, satirical banter, while hovering in a somewhat rarified
atmosphere and having specialized appeal, adds up to fun and good listening.
Certainly WNEW, which has pioneered through the years in exploring disk
jock techniques (and in the process parlayed them into a billings bonanza)
rates a nod for this off-the-beaten-track excursion into kididng its own
program formula and platter spinners in general. [DT: The review does, indeed,
use the word "kididing," and I am not able to ascertain whether this is a
typographical error for the word "kidding," or whether "kididng" was some sort
of industry jargon for which VARIETY was notorious. Back to the [removed]]
Cox's casual, uncertain delivery, with its high-pitched voice, his
far-fetched commentary which has nothing to do with disk jockeying or show
business or anything, for that matter, the sudden intrusion of weird cacophony
from assorted music boxes, piano rolls, "orchestrions," hurdy-gurdies, etc.,
combines some clever scripting with some delightful zaniness. Rose.
There's more Wally Cox arcana where this came from. One time last spring when
the research biz was slow, I decided that the world needed a full-blown
biography of the enigmatic and underrated Wally Cox. Therefore, I proceeded to
Xerox everything in his file folder, and the ones for "Peepers" and "Holiday."
Amid this discussion, OTR publisher Ben Ohmart over at [removed]
chimed in:
I'm HAPPY to report that there will be a full biography of Wally Cox
(including lots of great stories about Marlon Brando) out in early 2007
from BearManor Media. The man was a Real character.
With Ben's announcement, I've now concluded that the world really doesn't need
TWO books about the voice of "Underdog." So, if Ben sees this, please have
your Wally Cox biographer contact me off-list. Also, if I may importune Mr.
Ohmart a bit [removed] the Wally Coz book isn't due out until 2007,
tell us about something more intervening, [removed], Bear Manor's upcoming book
about the Ritz Brothers, for I shall be able to deliver an eager customer who
is arguably the Ritzes's biggest fan, viz. "Uncle" Floyd Vivino.
Yours in the "wreath-"er!
Derek Tague
[removed]: What's an "orchestrion"?
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 13:28:20 -0500
From: "Stuart Lubin" <StuartLubin@[removed];
To: "Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Does "Shaving Cream" ring a Bell?
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When I saw that Derek was writing about shaving cream, I was sure that he was
referring to the shaving cream pie in the face which he received in such good
spirit, from the ever-loveable Soupy Sales. That was at the FOTR last October,
and thank you, Derek, for being such a good sport.
OTRadiofan Stuart
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[ADMINISTRIVIA: See [removed] --cfs3]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 19:04:33 -0500
From: "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Wishing everybody a Merry Christmas!
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To everybody in the Ether!
With Christmas and Chanukah co-inciding this year, I would like to take this
opportunity to wish every Digest subscriber a Happy Holiday season with hopes
that we can all learn from the OTR shows we cherish. So for one and all,
whether your daily drama unfolds in a big city like New York with a "Grand
Central Station, or in a small town like "Lum 'n' Abner's" Pine Ridge,
Arkansas, I'd like to wish you all continued joy in listening to, discussing,
and scholarly chronicling Old Time Radio in 2006.
May you always possess a scintilla of a child-like belief in Santa Claus just
like Clifton Finnegan down at Duffy's Tavern.
May you be inspired to do something extraordinary for somebody special in your
life this season as Andy Brown does for his goddaughter Arbadella Jones years
after year.
May you find the perfect gifts for those you love without driving store clerks
crazy as Jack Benny always does.
May you likewise be moved to bring Christmas to the less fortunate and lonely
as many OTR characters like Brit "the Six Shooter" Ponset, and Fibber & Molly
McGee have done time and again.
[May Harry Harrison and the estate of the late David Garroway not sue me for
appropriating the "may you always" concept!]
I realize that for many, Christmas can be a sad and depressing time. As
someone who has had many tragedies in my life occur in the Christmas season, I
cannot offer any quick-fix, easy answers for you. However, if you're soured on
the holidays and have lost the Christmas spirit as once happened to Archie,
the Bartender, before he found his "Miracle in Manhattan," please rest
assured that Sgt. Joe Friday is on the case.
Here's raising a toast to Listmaster Charlie Summers in recognition of his
tireless devotion in bringing so much fun and friendship into the lives of his
subscribers. I wholeheartedly look forward to another year which I hope will
be filled with heretofore uncirculated OTR shows, more nifty OTR-themed books,
fewer OTR obituaries, and fun times at OTR convention gatherings.
Until we meet again, I humbly [removed]
Yours in the ether, and Yours in the Lord,
Derek Tague
Orange, New Jersey
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------------------------------
Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 19:04:33 -0500
From: Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: re: Fibber & Molly on TV
Joe Mackey wrote:
On the tv show "Fibber" would try to hide the elephant from Molly.
It struck me some time ago that virtually all TV sitcoms have just two
basic plots. 1) The main character either does something stupid, and
spends the rest of the episode trying to hide it from the others
(ultimately to no avail). Or 2) The main character does something
stupid, but is unaware of it and keeps narrowly missing the
consequences time and again, until it hits him at the end of the show.
I think this is the main reason I gave up watching (or at least
enjoying) TV sitcoms many years ago.
Those two basic plots are used quite frequently in OTR, of course. But
somehow I can stomach them much better when there's a talented comic in
the lead role--say, William Bendix or Eve Arden. Maybe the reason TV
sitcoms don't appeal to me has more to do with the actors on them than
the plots.
Kermyt
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 19:04:34 -0500
From: jack and cathy french <otrpiano@[removed];
To: OTRBB <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Family Tree of Candy Matson
As a Yuletide treat, two dedicated researchers, Irene Heinstein and
Michael Dewees, have just unwrapped some interesting historical facts
about the leads in "Candy Matson, YU 2-8209."
Natalie M. Park was born November 23, 1915 in San Francisco. Her
mother, Miranda Thomas Park, who was born March 8, 1894, had a brother
three years younger, Nathaniel Fisher Thomas. He was called "Jack " to
distinguish him from his father who had the same name. When he went on
the stage, he adopted "Jack Thomas" as his professional name. Years
later, he would play "Rembrandt Watson" to Natalie's "Candy Matson."
(Miranda is the one who had Monty change the original gender of "Candy"
so her daughter would play the title role instead of him.)
Niece and uncle were active in the Wayfarer's Civic Repertory Theatre
in the Bay City. Natalie joined Uncle Jack there about 1935, when she
was just twenty. Despite their difference in ages, they frequently
played the leads, including Natalie as "Ophelia" and Jack in title role
in "Hamlet" (1935) as well as when he was "Voltaire" and she was
"Cunegonde" in "Adventures of Candide" (1939.) She was the female lead
in "As You Like It" in 1941, which Jack directed.
Montgomery Mohn was one of the co-leads in "Hawthorne House," a radio
Sunday night soap opera similar to "One Man's Family," which was
produced in San Francisco. Beginning about 1935, he met Natalie when
she joined the cast. Later he adopted the professional name of "Monty
Masters" and married Natalie.
Some twenty years after "Candy Matson" began, Monty died, in 1969.
Natalie lived to be 70 and passed away on February 9, 1986. Just one
year later, their only son, Thomas (who was called "Topper") died of
alcohol poisoning, leaving a young wife and two children. By
coincidence, Jack Thomas also died in 1987, but he had then reached 90
years of age.
Jack French
Editor: RADIO RECALL
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 19:02:04 -0500
From: "dennis townsend" <dltnkt@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: The Lineup?
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I have only found a few of these shows but would like more. Any idea where
some might be found? I have 14 there are supposed to be 61 in circulation.
Thanks for any help. Dennis
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------------------------------
Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 23:13:49 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 12-24 births/deaths
December 24th births
12-24-1881 - Charles Wakefield Cadman - Johnston, PA - d. 12-30-1946
Composed "At Dawning," used as theme for "The Brighter Day."
12-24-1886 - Michael Curtiz - Budapest, Hungary - d. 4-10-1962
film director: "Lady Esther Screen Guild Theatre"; Screen Director's
Playhouse"
12-24-1893 - Harry Warren - New York, NY - d. 9-22-1981
composer: "Good News of 1940"; "Great Moments to Music"
12-24-1895 - Ruth Chatterton - New York, NY - d. 11-24-1961
actress: "Lux Radio Theatre"
12-24-1906 - Franz Waxman - Konigshutte, Germany - d. 2-24-1967
composer-conductor: "Good News of 1939"
12-24-1910 - Fritz Leiber - Chicago, IL - d. 9-5-1992
science fiction writer: "X Minus One"; "Future Tense"; "Audion Theatre"
12-24-1910 - Mitchell Ayres - Milwaukee, WI (Raised: New York, NY) -
d. 9-5-1969
bandleader: "Dunninger Show"; "Chesterfield Supper Club"
12-24-1913 - Myrtle 'Lulubelle' Wiseman - Boone, NC - d. 2-8-1999
singer: (Lulubelle and Scotty) "The National Barn Dance"
12-24-1914 - Ralph Marterie - Naples, Italy - d. 10-10-1978
bandleader: "Marlboro Cigarettes Show"
12-24-1915 - Helen Brown - Washington - d. 9-9-1994
actress: Miss Foster "Big Town"
12-24-1916 - Morton Fine - d. 3-7-1991
writer: "Bold Venture"; "Broadway Is My Beat"; "The Front Page"
12-24-1920 - John Barron - London, England - d. 7-3-2004
actor: "Dad's Army"; "Brothers In Law"
12-24-1922 - Ava Gardner - Grabtown, NC - d. 1-25-1990
actress: "So Proudly We Hail"; "Prudential Family Hour of Stars"
December 24th deaths
01-25-1878 - Ernest Alexanderson - Uppsala, Sweden - d. 5-14-1975
engineer: Possibly first voice ever heard on radio 12-24-1906
02-02-1888 - Lee Millar - Vancouver, Canada - d. 12-24-1941
actor: (Husband of Verna Felton) Appeared on various radio shows
05-26-1895 - Norma Talmadge - Jersey City, NJ - d. 12-24-1957
actress: "Thirty Minutes in Hollywood"
05-31-1898 - Norman Vincent Peale - Bowersville, OH - d. 12-24-1993
preacher: "Art of Living"
06-26-1924 - Bob Maxwell - Custer, KY - d. 12-24-2002
actor: "The Lone Ranger"
06-29-1911 - Bernard Herrmann - New York, NY - d. 12-24-1975
conductor, composer: "Columbia Workshop"; "Mercury Theatre on the Air/
Campbell Playhouse"
09-07-1923 - Peter Lawford - London, England - d. 12-24-1984
actor: "Radio Reader's Digest"; "Suspense"
11-23-1888 - Nana Bryant - Cincinnati, OH - d. 12-24-1955
actress: Miss Tilsey "Fabulous Dr. Tweedy"
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 23:13:58 -0500
From: "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Amos and Andy
Hi Everybody,
what are the dates of the surviving 15 minutes Amos and Andy shows that were
sponsor and who has them?
Merry Christmas to All,
Walden Hughes
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 24 Dec 2005 00:13:21 -0500
From: Rutledge Mann <cliff_marsland@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Bold Venture
Sorry to throw BV back into confusion again - but I
have Ziv transcriptions #55 (Fetsui jade) and #56
(Sailor's husband), (the highest number I have of BV),
and from master reel 53 and 54. Could they have been
repackaged from earlier episodes?
Trav
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 24 Dec 2005 00:20:10 -0500
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <joe@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Amos & Andy
Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 09:24:50 -0500
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
This relationship continued until 1954, when sponsorship was
assumed by CBS-Columbia Electronics, a subsidiary of CBS itself,
which carried the sitcom for its final season.
That season was when I first heard the program, and I remember a
commercial in which someone -- probably Kingfish -- was devising a TV
set in which, instead of a channel knob to turn, there would be a
slide selector. He was told that CBS Columbia had already invented
such a TV set and it was on sale.
I remember seeing those TV sets in stores. Like Chrysler's push-
button automatic transmissions, the idea didn't catch on.
--
A. Joseph Ross, [removed] [removed]
15 Court Square, Suite 210 Fax [removed]
Boston, MA 02108-2503
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 24 Dec 2005 08:27:33 -0500
From: "WEH"
<nbcblue@[removed];
To:
<[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Radio Milestone - 1906 Christmas Eve Broadcast
Christmas Eve, 1906, at 9 PM ship radio operators of the United Fruit
Company and the [removed] Navy as well as amateurs along the east coast, were
astounded to hear the sounds of voices and music over their wireless sets.
Reginald Fessenden, a Canadian born scientest and engineer, using an
Alexanderson alternator, broadcast from Brant Rock, Massachusetts. The
broadcast included a speech by Fessenden, his playing of 'Oh Holy Night' on
the violin, and reading from the Bible. The broadcast was heard in areas of
the North and South Atlantic and in the West Indies.
Earlier attempts to modulate spark gap transmitters with voice and music had
been met with little success. The Alexanderson alternator produced a clean
continious radio wave at frequencies up to 100 kHz (the upper frequency was
limited by the maximun speed which the alternator could obtain without
flying apart). A carbon microphone was placed between the output of the
alternator and the antenna to Amplitude Modulate the radio signal.
Wishing all a Happy Holiday Season
Bill H.
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2005 Issue #395
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