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04ffad5 He was born Feb. 10, 1893, in New York's Lower East Side. At 17 he learned to play the piano, beginning his musical career in the beer gardens of old Coney Island, picking out tunes for $25 a week. In Terry Walsh's club he played while a waiter named Eddie Cantor sang. By 1916 he had assembled a small Dixieland combo for the Club Alamo in Harlem. There he met Eddie Jackson, who was to become his partner. In 1923 he and Jackson opened the Cl.. John Dunning
edbbe70 Dr. Benjamin Ordway, the hero of Crime Doctor, was one of radio's classic amnesia cases. Originally a criminal himself, he lost his memory after a blow on the head. With the help of a kind doctor, he built a new life and a new identity, studying medicine and eventually going into psychiatry. When Dr. Ordway regained his memory, his new life was complete: he decided to specialize in criminal psychology because of his understanding of the cri.. John Dunning
3f3f09c As early as 1953 there was talk of television. Perhaps Macdonnell saw the writing on the wall when he told the press that "our show is perfect for radio," that Gunsmoke confined by a picture couldn't possibly be as authentic or attentive to detail. Behind the scenes, he was intrigued. If the cast could be left intact (a major problem, for the once-slender Bill Conrad had ballooned in recent years, giving him an appearance far different from.. John Dunning
b47c537 Some questions were years old, and as the jackpots grew, so did the difficulty of finding people who had now moved elsewhere. Some winners never were found. John Dunning
035044b A far more serious loss that year was Oscar Levant, who left as Maurice Zolotow reported, "when a series of arguments with Golenpaul culminated in a fistfight." John Dunning
d28e45d Hawk Larabee was radio's first half-hearted attempt at an adult western drama, a concept that was not fully realized until the arrival of Gunsmoke five years later. John Dunning
d16b1d3 Adams, then in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, could only appear in the premiere program. He died in 1960; Levant in 1972; Golenpaul in 1974; Kieran in 1981. Fadiman became chairman of the Book-of-the-Month Club board of judges and went on with his literary John Dunning
5222245 Family Theater was created by Father Patrick Peyton of the Holy Cross Fathers in an effort to promote family unity and prayer. Initially it was seen as a forum to broadcast the Rosary: when the networks refused to allow such a narrow one-denominational appeal, Peyton broadened the scope, made it a weekly drama, added the glamor of Hollywood, and saved the "message" for the slots normally reserved for commercials. Throughout the ten-year run.. John Dunning
0055a70 This much is certain. In April 1930, Radio Station WGHP in Detroit was purchased by John King and George W. Trendle, partners who had just liquidated a chain of movie theaters. They planned to make the station "the last word in radio," and soon changed the call letters to WXYZ, to reflect this motto." John Dunning
b590504 Lincoln Highway offered the kind of dramatic stories usually reserved for prime time, and thus began a trend toward quality programming on Saturday mornings. The stories were of people scattered along the 3,000-mile length of U.S. Route 30, which stretched from Philadelphia to Portland and was popularly known as the Lincoln Highway. Most surprising, even to radio insiders, was the long line of top performers willing to appear at that time o.. John Dunning
8df9477 Joyce Jordan progressed slowly from Girl Interne to M.D., the change becoming complete around 1942. But the theme of a woman's difficulty in a man's world remained. In the earliest days it was a progression of suitors. Then Joyce faced the "necessity of choosing between a brilliant career as a physician or becoming the wife of a wealthy man," hospital trustee Neil Reynolds. At last, married to foreign correspondent Paul Sherwood, Joyce foun.. John Dunning
0def41e Bill was a gentle soul but had more than his share of murders to solve. The serial bore all the Hummert trademarks: devious, treacherous villains, cunning and conniving women, and the simplistic overidentification of characters through heavy-handed narration and dialogue. Through it all Bill remained a pillar of integrity, "the salt of the earth," as described by Arthur Hughes, the actor who played the role all the way. "He looked for integ.. John Dunning
73203ef MAJOR HOOPLE, situation comedy, based on the comic strip Our Boarding House, by Gene Ahern. John Dunning
119f6b8 Just Plain Bill was one of the biggest (and first) successes of daytime radio, enjoying a run of more than two decades. It exploited a favored theme of producers Frank and Anne Hummert: life in a small town. The precise location of Hartville was not revealed, but it was always thought to be somewhere in the Midwest. The serial was unusual in at least two aspects: the protagonist was male, and the musical bridges were played on guitar and ha.. John Dunning
d2729ad Charlie Wild was a product of the Red Scare, NBC's hurry-up attempt to salvage something when congressional finger-pointing resulted in the loss of sponsorship for radio's most popular detective, Sam Spade. Both Howard Duff (who played Spade) and author Dashiell Hammett had been "listed" in Red Channels, making Spade sponsor Wildroot Cream Oil increasingly unhappy. After weeks of indecision, Wildroot dropped Spade and shifted to a new detec.. John Dunning
0bbc6a8 His reputation rests on his standing as the wit of his day, though his shows are seldom cited as the funniest in radio. His humor has paled, and today he plays to a tougher audience than he ever faced in life. This is a crowd reared on comedy that censors nothing. It has no hook, but it is harsh, impatient, and unforgiving. In some quarters he is found lacking, but others see him as a humorist in the truest sense. "Fred will last," predicte.. John Dunning
c5ac709 The Life of Riley in its best-known version evolved from a prospective Groucho Marx vehicle called The Flotsam Family. The Marx series failed at audition when the would-be sponsor wouldn't accept Groucho in what was, for him, a straight role--as head of a family. Then producer Irving Brecher saw a film, The McGuerins of Brooklyn, with a rugged-looking and typically American blue-collar man, William Bendix, in one of the leading roles. There.. John Dunning
38a9726 But Grigsby had encountered stiff competition from RCA, which claimed to hold patents on radio tubes essential to the manufacture of modern radio equipment. Grigsby thus had to pay royalties to its staunchest competitor. Grigsby "loved CBS," Paley recalled in his memoir, "because they hated RCA," and RCA was the parent company of NBC." -- John Dunning
4264000 HAVE GUN, WILL TRAVEL, western adventure. BROADCAST HISTORY: (Originated on TV: Sept. 14, 1957-Sept. 21, 1963, CBS.) Radio: Nov. 23, 1958-Nov. 27, 1960, CBS. 30m, Sundays at 6. Multiple sponsorship. CAST: John Dehner as Paladin, soldier of fortune, western knight errant, gunfighter. Ben Wright as Heyboy, the Oriental who worked at the Carlton Hotel in San Francisco, where Paladin lived. Virginia Gregg as Missy Wong, Heyboy's girlfriend. Vir.. John Dunning
c4f1bc9 Alfred Hitchcock answered a question on a real murder case in such detail that Fadiman asked if he knew how the tide was running at the time. Especially appreciated were questions that stumped the experts on the trivia of their own lives. Adams could not name a passage from one of his poems. Novelist Rex Stout failed to identify a recipe for Lobster Newburg, forgetting that his detective Nero Wolfe had used it in the book Too Many Cooks. El.. John Dunning
56ce4aa Calling All Cars was one of the earliest police shows on the air. It dramatized true crime stories introduced by officers of the Los Angeles and other police departments. The show was a crude forerunner of a type that reached its zenith years later on Dragnet: John Dunning
e98211c The Adventures of Gracie catapulted into the top ten. Meanwhile, Gracie's real brother, a publicity-shy San Francisco accountant named George Allen, had to go into hiding when reporters found him and invaded his life. John Dunning
06c2a87 The show ran only in areas where Rio Grande "cracked" gasoline was sold. The sponsor promoted its "close ties" with police departments in Arizona and Southern California, urging listeners to buy its product for "police car performance" in their own cars." John Dunning
769499b There was little or no narration, the action being carried largely in dialogue. When a man walked across the street, a listener heard every step. This style would continue in Gunsmoke. John Dunning
7972153 The 1954 syndications came packaged to a memorable signature. An opening musical sting was followed by the announcement: Bagdad! Martinique! Singapore! And all the places of the world where danger and intrigue walk hand in hand--there you will find Steve Mitchell, on another dangerous assignment! Lloyd Burrell played Mitchell on the transcriptions. John Dunning
076718a Among other plotlines, these unfolded: Sam falls in love with Janet; Ruth Ann falls in love with Dr. Bob. But Ruth Ann frets over the impropriety of this, and Sam hides his feelings under a cloak of banter. The girls open a tea room; the theme of unrequited love stretches its way through the '30s. Sam, teasing, makes up a name of a girl he says he really loves--Marjory Carroll. Then a real Marjory Carroll arrives, and they all become friend.. John Dunning
8504801 The leaders, drummer Carleton Coon and pianist Joe Sanders, had met in a music store and formed their group in 1918. They sang duets through megaphones: hot, roaring numbers, and Sanders's bubbly greeting--"Howdja do, howdja do, you big ole raddio pooblic"--gave further evidence of the unstilting of America. The nation charged into the new era with music that had never been heard outside small bistros and smoky Harlem speakeasies. Radio was.. John Dunning
1674ccb His first New Year's broadcast aired on WBBM, Chicago, in 1927. His theme song, Auld Lang Syne, was already a traditional year-ender, and soon Lombardo became known as "the man who invented New Year's Eve." John Dunning
0db3f65 But momentum picked up in Oakland. The fans had been primed--Goodman records were getting good West Coast air play, and the Oakland date was a boost for everyone. They drove into Los Angeles for the Aug. 21 date at the Palomar. This was the night swing was born: it was the watershed, critics would agree, that would change music for the next 15 years. John Dunning
acbe8ea That all these leaders were temperamental and difficult mattered little to the fans who loved them. Goodman was called "an ornery SOB" by more than one sideman. His icy stare, "the Goodman ray," was usually a prelude to termination. Miller was considered cold and distant. His demeanor kept his men at bay and uneasy. Dorsey could be openly combative. Some stories had it that he and his brother Jimmy sometimes settled disputes with fists in t.. John Dunning
4845d0d And though there were far fewer radio opportunities for black bands than for their white counterparts, it was through remote broadcasts from the Cotton Club that the general public first heard of Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway. Earl Hines had become a radio favorite during a long stand at the Grand Terrace in Chicago in the mid-1930s. And it was on a radio broadcast from the Reno Club in Kansas City that Count (William) Basie was discovere.. John Dunning
5ade0d9 Then, in 1942, a disastrous strike against the record companies disrupted the industry and upset the delicate balance of business. Though it hit directly at record producers, the real target was radio. James C. Petrillo, president of the American Federation of Musicians, was alarmed at the rapid proliferation of disc jockeys. He objected to the free use of recorded music on the air, charging that jocks had cost musicians their jobs at hundr.. John Dunning
e2357be The end of the war marked the end of the bands. Glenn Miller had been lost over the English Channel in 1944. Artie Shaw had disbanded and regrouped and disbanded again. Though name leaders like Goodman and Basie and Harry James would always find work, the financial base eroded and the labor troubles lingered. When Petrillo called a second strike in 1948, the die was cast. Perhaps, as Barnouw said, the cause was just and the problem serious,.. John Dunning
a5c1d25 Technically, however, it was far from simple: its problems were both technical and tactical, and it was a producer's nightmare. The show would put its listeners right into the fields of battle, using shortwave pickups from far-flung theaters. Signals, almost certainly, would be lost, some would be jammed by the enemy. Remotes would have to be cued in advance, by synchronization. This was live radio: entire sequences might vanish while the s.. John Dunning
3e3a34a It seemed the whole world loved Gracie: her wacky, innocent way with a quip, her ability to make the most ridiculous comment seem almost logical. She captured the nation's affection in that first season, 1932. By 1933, Burns remembers, she was one of the five most famous women in America. She set the standard for all the crazy females, from Jane Ace to Marie Wilson, that radio would produce. Her humor wasn't strictly malapropian, though at .. John Dunning
2b31eaa Roosevelt was running for a third term; the Republicans were nominating Wendell Willkie for the futile job of running against him. What about a Gracie-for-President stunt? She would run as a candidate from the Surprise Party. Again she turned up unannounced on rival programs, appearing for a moment with a lamebrained pitch for votes and a bit of screwball political philosophy. Her lines were funny and widely quoted. "The president of today .. John Dunning
13019c0 The Atwater-Kent Hour set the standard for early concert music. Sponsored by a well-known radio manufacturer, Atwater-Kent featured stars of the Metropolitan Opera, backed by a large symphony orchestra. The obstacles to producing such a show in radio's earliest days were political, economic, and personal. Stations were proliferating, and there was no real consensus as to how the airwaves should be used. The idea of commercial radio had many.. John Dunning
8b04360 Others who found their way to the air via Atwater-Kent were Frances Alda, Josef Hoffman, Louise Homer, and Albert Spalding. Fees to the Met alone ran $25,000 a year. By 1930 Frances Alda was the regular soloist. That year, the first that reliable ratings were compiled, Atwater-Kent had a 31.0, finishing third behind Amos 'n' Andy and The Rudy Vallee Hour. An offshoot of sorts was Atwater-Kent Auditions, the first talent scout show, heard in.. John Dunning
0564e8a There is a tendency today to dismiss vaudeville comedy as unsophisticated and even simplistic. Burns himself often apologized when he quoted verbatim from old routines: "This doesn't sound like much now" was usually the tone. But those fascinated by the history of show business cannot but be entertained. Gracie's singing in the shows of the '30s adds an element totally missing from the later run. In the sitcom years it all changed: the line.. John Dunning
6055552 Brave Tomorrow was "a story of love and courage," the challenge of the day being the raising of two daughters in wartime by Louise and Hal Lambert. Jean came of age and married: her husband Brad, waiting to get into the war, was shipped from one small-town Army post to another, places like Dustville, Tex. In one sequence, sister Marty ran away to Texas to join Jean and Brad, and Louise came flying, walking, and hitchhiking in pursuit. Louis.. John Dunning
98990ce For several months McNeill wrote out his scripts by twisting news events into cornball humor. He wore out two jokebooks in the hunt for fresh material. Then the show passed a plateau: about three months into it, the mail picked up. About 100 letters a day were coming in, many with poems, gags, and cheerful American sentiment. It suddenly occurred to McNeill, as he would often recount in later life, that "the folks who listen in could write .. John Dunning
d59832d There was always risk in putting unknown people in front of a live microphone, and one agency man during the sponsored years confessed that "I get twinges in my ulcer everytime I listen to it." But the informality helped build its reputation as "radio's most unrehearsed show." John Dunning
17b99e5 Gracie Allen wasn't as dumb as she seemed on the air. She proved that in 1939, appearing on the intellectual quiz show Information, Please, and holding her own with the experts. It takes a keen intelligence to play a dumb role that long and well, but Gracie had more than that. From the beginning, she had a singular ability to make audiences love her. "The audience found her, I didn't," said George Burns in a Playboy interview years after he.. John Dunning
1ddc4fe Burns continued to work, doing a routine with Carol Channing that was short-lived. For a time it seemed that the old sentiment was to be proved true: that Burns without Gracie was a stale act indeed. Then he got a role in a movie, intended for his friend Jack Benny, who became ill and had to decline it. He won an Academy Award as Best Supporting actor in The Sunshine Boys, a 1975 release. His performance in the title role of the 1977 film O.. John Dunning
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