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Anne Hummert
Anne Hummert (née Schumacher) (January 19, 1905 – July 5, 1996) was the leading creator of daytime radio serials or soap opera dramas during the 1930s and 1940s, responsible for more than three dozen series. Biography She was born in Baltimore, Maryland, one of four children. Little is known about her parents or her childhood: some sources say her father Frederick was a police lieutenant; census documents say he was a steamfitter and contractor, and still other sources say he was an engineer."We Pay Our Respects". ''Broadcasting Magazine'', April 1, 1935, p. 31. After attending Towson High School, she attended Goucher College, where she majored in history, graduating Phi Beta Kappa and ''magna cum laude'' in 1925. While at Goucher she also worked as a college correspondent for ''The Baltimore Sun''. She then took a job with the Paris precursor of the ''International Herald Tribune''. It was in France that she married reporter John Ashenhurst, a former member of ''The Baltim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The American Album Of Familiar Music
''The American Album of Familiar Music'' is a radio program of popular music broadcast from October 11, 1931, to June 20, 1954, first on NBC, then on ABC and then on local stations. Directed by James Haupt, the show was produced by Frank and Anne Hummert, better remembered today for creating ''Ma Perkins'' and numerous other soap operas. Sponsored by Bayer Aspirin, the show highlighted performances by a variety of vocalists, instrumentalists, and vocal groups. When it began on October 11, 1931 on NBC, the lead vocalists were Frank Munn and Virginia Rea, two of early radio's top stars because of their previous appearances as "Paul Oliver" and "Olive Palmer" on ''The Palmolive Hour'' (1927–31). Ring Lardner observed, "under any name, they sound as sweet." Lardner outlined his "perfect radio program" for ''The New Yorker'' magazine, and found a place for The Revelers along with Paul Whiteman and Fanny Brice. In the late 1930s, Munn was joined on the program by soprano Jean Dickens ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soap Opera
A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored by soap manufacturers.Bowles, p. 118. The term was preceded by "horse opera", a derogatory term for low-budget Westerns. BBC Radio's ''The Archers'', first broadcast in 1950, is the world's longest-running radio soap opera. The longest-running current television soap is '' Coronation Street'', which was first broadcast on ITV in 1960, with the record for the longest running soap opera in history being held by '' Guiding Light'', which began on radio in 1937, transitioned to television in 1952, and ended in 2009. A crucial element that defines the soap opera is the open-ended serial nature of the narrative, with stories spanning several episodes. One of the defining features that makes a television program a soap opera, according to Alber ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Backstage Wife
''Backstage Wife'' is an American soap opera radio program that details the travails of Mary Noble, a girl from a small town in Iowa who came to New York seeking her future. Personnel Vivian Fridell had the title role from 1935 until the early 1940s. It was then taken over by Claire Niesen, who played Mary Noble for 14 years, until the end of the series. Mary's husband, Larry Noble, was portrayed by Ken Griffin, then James Meighan, and finally, Guy Sorel. The music was supplied by organist Chet Kingsbury. Plot Each episode opened with the announcer (Pierre Andre, Roger Krupp, Stuart V. Dawson) explaining: :Now, we present once again, ''Backstage Wife'', the story of Mary Noble, a little Iowa girl who married one of America's most handsome actors, Larry Noble, matinée idol of a million other women — the story of what it means to be the wife of a famous star. In 1946, when the program was in its 12th year, a newspaper article summarized the plot's status as follows: :When her h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fifth Avenue
Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It stretches north from Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village to West 143rd Street in Harlem. It is one of the most expensive shopping streets in the world. Fifth Avenue carries two-way traffic from 142nd to 135th Street and carries one-way traffic southbound for the remainder of its route. The entire street used to carry two-way traffic until 1966. From 124th to 120th Street, Fifth Avenue is cut off by Marcus Garvey Park, with southbound traffic diverted around the park via Mount Morris Park West. Most of the avenue has a bus lane, though not a bike lane. Fifth Avenue is the traditional route for many celebratory parades in New York City, and is closed on several Sundays per year. Fifth Avenue was originally only a narrower thoroughfare but the section south of Central Park was widened in 1908. The midtown blocks between 34th and 59th Streets were largely a residential ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mary Jane Higby
Mary Jane Higby (May 29, 1909 - February 1, 1986)DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 129. was an American actress in the era of old-time radio and the early years of television. She is best known for her 18 years in the leading role on ''When a Girl Marries''. Early years The daughter of vaudevillian parents, Mr. and Mrs. Wilbur Higby (known professionally as the Higby Players) Mary Jane Higby was born in St. Louis, Missouri, "between a matinee and an evening performance." According to a newspaper photograph's caption, "literally she was carried on the stage by her theatrical parents as a prop when she was only 2." Perhaps her earliest public performance occurred when she was 5 years old. An article in the ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' in 1914 listed Higby as one of "a number of helpful children howill give a performance for the benefit of the Post-Dispatch Pure Milk a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stella Dallas (radio Series)
''Stella Dallas'' was an America radio soap opera that ran from October 25, 1937, to December 23, 1955. ''The New York Times'' described the title character as "the beautiful daughter of an impoverished farmhand who had married above her station in life." She was played for the entire run of the series by Anne Elstner. Her husband Stephen Dallas was portrayed at various times by Leo McCabe, Arthur Hughes and Frederick Tazere. Initially, Joy Hathaway played Stella's daughter Laurel with Vivian Smolen later taking over the role. Laurel's husband was Dick Grosvenor (played by Carleton Young, Macdonald Carey, Spencer Bentley, George Lambert and Michael Fitzmaurice). The series was created and produced by the husband and wife team of Frank and Anne Hummert, based on the 1923 novel '' Stella Dallas'' by Olive Higgins Prouty. The 15-minute drama began on October 25, 1937, as a local show on WEAF in New York City, in the wake of the successful movie version starring Barbara Stanwyck, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich (, ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the town had a total population of 63,518. The largest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast (Connecticut), Gold Coast, Greenwich is home to many hedge funds and other financial services firms. Greenwich is a principal community of the Greater Bridgeport, Bridgeport–Stamford–Norwalk–Danbury metropolitan statistical area, which comprises all of Fairfield County. Greenwich is the southernmost and westernmost municipality in Connecticut as well as in the six-state region of New England. The town is named after Greenwich, a List of place names with royal patronage in the United Kingdom, royal borough of London in the United Kingdom. History The town of Greenwich was settled in 1640, by the agents Robert Feake and Captain Daniel Patrick, for Theophilus Eaton, Governor Theophilus Eaton of New Haven Colony, who purchased the land from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Our Gal Sunday
''Our Gal Sunday'' is an American soap opera produced by Frank and Anne Hummert, network broadcast via CBS from March 29, 1937, to January 2, 1959, starring Dorothy Lowell and, after Lowell's 1944 death, Vivian Smolen in the title role. The origin of this radio series was a 1904 Broadway production, ''Sunday'', which starred Ethel Barrymore. This play was the source of the catchphrase, "That's all there is, there isn't any more." Characters and story The Hummerts adapted the Broadway play into a long-running melodramatic radio serial about a Colorado orphan who marries a British aristocrat. It began when two grizzled miners, Jackie and Lively, found a child abandoned and left at the door of their mountain cabin. She was given the name Sunday because that was the day she entered their lives. Later, her last name was given as Smithson. As an adult, she was desired by her childhood friend, Bill Jenkins. She fell under the spell of wealthy Englishman Arthur Brinthrope, who came to ch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Judy And Jane
''Judy and Jane'' was a radio soap opera originally heard on CBS from February 8 to June 17, 1932 and on NBC from October 10, 1932 to April 26, 1935. Sponsored by Folgers Coffee, it was heard regionally in the U.S. Midwest only. One of the first soap operas on radio, ''Judy and Jane'' was extremely popular in the Central Time Zone. Even after the network run ended in 1935, it continued to be distributed through transcription until 1947. The series was written by Robert Hardy Andrews and produced by Frank and Anne Hummert. Cast *Judy – Margie Calvert, Joan Kay *Jane – Donna Reade, Betty Ruth Smith, Ireene Wicker Ireene Wicker (born Irene Seaton, November 24, 1905 – November 17, 1987) was an American singer and actress, best known to young radio listeners in the 1930s and 1940s as “The Singing Lady”, which was the title of her radio program. She a ... and Margaret Evans *Announcer – Jack Brinkley References {{US radio soaps 1932 radio programme debuts 1947 ra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Little Orphan Annie
''Little Orphan Annie'' is a daily American comic strip created by Harold Gray and syndicated by the Tribune Media Services. The strip took its name from the 1885 poem "Little Orphant Annie" by James Whitcomb Riley, and it made its debut on August 5, 1924, in the New York '' Daily News''. The plot follows the wide-ranging adventures of Annie, her dog Sandy and her benefactor Oliver "Daddy" Warbucks. Secondary characters include Punjab, the Asp and Mr. Am. The strip attracted adult readers with political commentary that targeted (among other things) organized labor, the New Deal and communism. Following Gray's death in 1968, several artists drew the strip and, for a time, "classic" strips were reruns. ''Little Orphan Annie'' inspired a radio show in 1930, film adaptations by RKO in 1932 and Paramount in 1938 and a Broadway musical ''Annie'' in 1977 (which was adapted on screen four times, one in 1982, one on TV in 1999, one in 2014 and another a live TV production in 2021). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John's Other Wife
''John's Other Wife'' is an American old-time radio soap opera. It was broadcast on NBC-Red from September 14, 1936, until March 1940. In that month it moved to NBC-Blue, where it ran until March 20, 1942. Overview ''John's Other Wife'' centered around a store executive, his wife, and a woman who worked for him. The man in the title was John Perry, who owned Perry's Department Store. His insecure wife, Elizabeth, suspected John of being romantically involved with either Annette Rogers, his secretary, or Martha Curtis, his assistant. The program was one of many soap operas created and produced by Frank Hummert and his wife, Anne. Sponsors included Bi-So-Dol, Old English floor wax, Louis Phillipe lipstick and Freezone. The theme was "The Sweetest Story Ever Told", by Stanley Davis. Beginning on May 8, 1939, ''John's Other Wife'' was broadcast via electrical transcription on WMCA WMCA may refer to: *WMCA (AM), a radio station operating in New York City * West Midlands Combined ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
