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The Fitch Bandwagon
''The Fitch Bandwagon'' was an American radio show that aired on NBC from 1938 to 1948. It was sponsored by the F.W. Fitch Shampoo Company, an Iowa-based manufacturer of hair care products. It aired on Sunday evenings at 7:30 p.m. ''The Fitch Bandwagon'' had three different incarnations over its decade on the radio. Beginning with its premiere in fall 1938 through spring 1945, it was a bandstand style show. Freddy Martin, Jan Savitt, Harry James, Tommy Dorsey, and other top bandleaders appeared and played popular tunes. From fall 1945 through spring 1946, it was a musical variety show starring Cass Daley and co-starring Francis “Dink” Trout and Henry Russell. Popular bands performed between skits. ''The Fitch Bandwagon'' is best remembered for its final two seasons, from fall 1946 through spring 1948, as a situation comedy show starring real-life husband and wife Phil Harris of ''The Jack Benny Program'' and movie star Alice Faye. Harris and Faye played fictionalized v ...
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English Language
English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the island of Great Britain. Existing on a dialect continuum with Scots, and then closest related to the Low Saxon and Frisian languages, English is genealogically West Germanic. However, its vocabulary is also distinctively influenced by dialects of France (about 29% of Modern English words) and Latin (also about 29%), plus some grammar and a small amount of core vocabulary influenced by Old Norse (a North Germanic language). Speakers of English are called Anglophones. The earliest forms of English, collectively known as Old English, evolved from a group of West Germanic (Ingvaeonic) dialects brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the 5th century and further mutated by Norse-speaking Viking settlers starting in the 8th and 9th ...
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Harry James
Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947 but shortly after he reorganized and was active again with his band from then until his death in 1983. He was especially known among musicians for his technical proficiency as well as his Tone (musical instrument), tone, and was influential on new trumpet players from the late 1930s into the 1940s. He was also an actor in a number of films that usually featured his band. Early life Harry James was born in Albany, Georgia, United States, the son of Everett Robert James, a bandleader in a traveling circus, the Mighty Haag Circus, and Myrtle Maybelle (Stewart), an acrobat and horseback rider. He started performing with the circus at an early age, first as a contortionist at age of four, then playing the snare drum in the band from about the age of six. It was at this age ...
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1940s American Radio Programs
Year 194 ( CXCIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Septimius and Septimius (or, less frequently, year 947 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 194 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire * Emperor Septimius Severus and Decimus Clodius Septimius Albinus Caesar become Roman Consuls. * Battle of Issus: Septimius Severus marches with his army (12 legions) to Cilicia, and defeats Pescennius Niger, Roman governor of Syria. Pescennius retreats to Antioch, and is executed by Severus' troops. * Septimius Severus besieges Byzantium (194–196); the city walls suffer extensive damage. Asia * Battle of Yan Province: Warlords Cao Cao and Lü Bu fight for control over Yan Province; the battle lasts for over 100 day ...
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American Comedy Radio Programs
American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, people who self-identify their ancestry as "American" ** American English, the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States ** Native Americans in the United States, indigenous peoples of the United States * American, something of, from, or related to the Americas, also known as "America" ** Indigenous peoples of the Americas * American (word), for analysis and history of the meanings in various contexts Organizations * American Airlines, U.S.-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas * American Athletic Conference, an American college athletic conference * American Recordings (record label), a record label previously known as Def American * American University, in Washington, D.C. Sports teams Soccer * B ...
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Rexall
Rexall was a chain of American drugstores, and the name of their store-branded products. The stores, having roots in the federation of United Drug Stores starting in 1903, licensed the Rexall brand name to as many as 12,000 drug stores across the United States from 1920 to 1977. The "Rex" in the name was derived from the name of Ellen M. Regis, who developed "Rexall remedies" and from whom the company purchased the mark. Founding In 1903, Louis K. Liggett persuaded 40 independent drug stores to invest $4,000 in a retailers' cooperative called United Drug Stores, which sold products under the Rexall name. After World War I, the cooperative established a franchise arrangement whereby independently owned retail outlets adopted the Rexall trade name and sold Rexall products. The company was based in Boston, in an area now occupied by Northeastern University. Rexall Train The Rexall Train of March to November 1936 toured the United States and Canada to promote Rexall drug store ...
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The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show
''The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show'', was a comedy radio program which ran on NBC from 1948 to 1954 starring Alice Faye and Phil Harris. Harris had previously become known to radio audiences as the band-leader-turned-cast-member of the same name on ''The Jack Benny Program'' while Faye had been a frequent guest on programs such as Rudy Vallée's variety shows. After becoming the breakout stars of the music and comedy variety program ''The Fitch Bandwagon'', the show was retooled into a full situation comedy, with Harris and Faye playing fictionalized versions of themselves as a working show business couple raising two daughters in a madcap home. Cast *Phil Harris – A fictionalized version of himself as the co-star of a fictionalized version of the show. *Alice Faye – A fictionalized version of herself as the co-star of a fictionalized version of the show. *Elliott Lewis (radio), Elliott Lewis – Left-handed guitar player Frank Remley. The character was renamed Elliott Lewis ...
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Walter Tetley
Walter Tetley (born Walter Campbell Tetzlaff; June 2, 1915 – September 4, 1975)DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 260. was an American actor specializing in child impersonation during radio's classic era, with regular roles as Leroy Forrester on ''The Great Gildersleeve'' and Julius Abbruzzio on ''The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show'', as well as continuing as a voice-over artist in animated cartoons, commercials, and spoken-word record albums. He is perhaps best known as the voice of Sherman in the Jay Ward- Bill Scott ''Mr. Peabody'' TV cartoons. Career Tetley's foray into voices for theatrical cartoons began in 1936, as the voice of Felix the Cat in three of Van Beuren's ''Rainbow Parade'' cartoon shorts: ''The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg'', ''Neptune Nonsense'', and ''Bold King Cole''. The latter short starts with Tetley singing "Nature and Me", showcasing h ...
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Anne Whitfield
Anne Whitfield (born August 27, 1938) is an American former actress on old-time radio, television, stage, and film. Her first name is sometimes seen spelled Ann. Early years Born in Oxford, Mississippi, Whitfield was the daughter of Richard N. Whitfield, Jr. and Frances Turner Whitfield. Her father was director of bands at the University of Mississippi, and her mother was a speech teacher. After moving to California, she attended Rosewood Avenue Public School. By the time she was 17, she was studying at the University of California, Los Angeles, scheduling her classes around her work on radio programs. Radio As a youngster, Whitfield "played child roles on practically every comedy and dramatic series originating in Hollywood". Her radio debut came in September 1945, when she "stepped up on a box before an already lowered microphone in an NBC studio and said, 'I want another slice of bread'" for a commercial. She became a member of the cast of ''One Man's Family'' when she was 7 ...
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Jeanine Roose
Jeanine Ann Roose (October 24, 1937 – December 31, 2021) was an American child actress and psychologist. Life and career Roose was born on October 24, 1937, to Ivan R. and Agatha Roose. Her first job was on ''The Jack Benny Program'' at the age of eight; the role, as that of "Baby" or "Little" Alice Harris, is one she would keep for most of her entertainment career. She was also featured as a character on ''The Fitch Bandwagon'' and ''The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show'' from 1946 to 1954. The character shared a name with the real-life daughter of Phil Harris and Alice Faye; the couple's two daughters did not wish to appear on the program. Other radio appearances included playing Chris in the ''Lux Radio Theatre'' production of '' I Remember Mama'' and an episode of '' Mr. President'' with Edward Arnold. Her sole film credit was as young Violet Bick in the 1946 film classic ''It's a Wonderful Life''. She also starred in the unaired television pilot ''Arabella's Tall Tales''. R ...
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Elliott Lewis (actor)
Elliott Lewis (November 28, 1917 – May 23, 1990) was an American actor, writer, producer and director who worked in radio and television during the twentieth century. He was known for his ability to work in these capacities across all genres during the golden age of radio, which earned him the nickname "Mr. Radio". Later in life, he wrote a series of detective novels. Early years Elliott Bruce Lewis was born in New York City, on November 28, 1917, to Julius Lewis and Anne Rabinowitz Lewis. His father was a printer. He had one younger brother, Raymond. By 1930, the family was living in Mount Vernon, New York. Lewis headed west to Los Angeles to take a pre-law course in his twenties but found himself drawn to acting. He attended Los Angeles City College, where he studied music and drama.DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . p. 165. Radio career Lewis made his radio ...
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The Jack Benny Program
''The Jack Benny Program'', starring Jack Benny, is a radio-TV comedy series that ran for more than three decades and is generally regarded as a high-water mark in 20th century American comedy. He played one role throughout his radio and television careers, a caricature of himself as a minimally talented musician and penny pincher who was the butt of all the jokes. Producer Hilliard Marks was the brother of Benny's wife Mary Livingstone. Format On both television and radio, ''The Jack Benny Program'' used a loose show-within-a-show format, wherein the main characters were playing versions of themselves. The show often broke the fourth wall, with the characters interacting with the audience and commenting on the program and its advertisements. In his first years on radio (c. 1932–1935), Jack Benny followed the format of many other radio comedians, standing at the microphone, telling jokes and stories, and introducing band numbers. As the characters of Jack and his cast became ...
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Tommy Dorsey
Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-toned trombone playing. His theme song was "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You". His technical skill on the trombone gave him renown among other musicians. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey. After Dorsey broke with his brother in the mid-1930s, he led an extremely successful band from the late 1930s into the 1950s. He is best remembered for standards such as "Opus No. 1, Opus One", "Song of India (song), Song of India", "Marie", "On Treasure Island", and his biggest hit single, "I'll Never Smile Again". Early life Born in Mahanoy Plane, Pennsylvania, Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. was the second of four children born to Thomas Francis Dorsey Sr., a bandleader, and Theresa (née Langton) Dorsey. He and Jimmy, his older brother by slightly ...
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