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Those Websters
''Those Websters'' was a radio situation comedy series starring Willard Waterman and Constance Crowder as George and Jane Webster. The program was launched in New York and then moved to Chicago for a short spell before finishing its run from Hollywood. The series replaced '' That Brewster Boy'' (1941–45), which starred a teenaged Dick York. Several ''Brewster'' cast members continued on with ''Those Websters'', and the two situation comedies were quite similar. The transition is evident in the near-anagram: Brewster=Webster. In a 1991 interview with John Douglas, Dick York explained how ''That Brewster Boy'' morphed into ''Those Websters'': :Pauline Hopkins and Owen Vincent were the writer and director of ''That Brewster Boy''. They were sending bundles to the Communists to help fight the Nazis, so naturally they were branded as Communists. The advertising agency came around, hired everyone from under them, and they were going to change the name of the show and get rid of Pauline ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fran Allison
Frances Helen Allison (November 20, 1907June 13, 1989) was an American television and radio comedienne, personality, and singer. She is best known for her starring role on the weekday NBC-TV puppet show ''Kukla, Fran and Ollie'', which ran from 1947 to 1957, occasionally returning to the air until the mid-1980s. The trio also hosted ''The CBS Children's Film Festival'', introducing international children's films, from 1967 to 1977. Biography Early years Frances Helen Allison was born to Jesse Louis Allison and Anna M. "Nan" (née Halpin) Allison in La Porte City, Iowa, where her father worked as a clerk in a grocery store until his stroke in 1913. They then moved in with her paternal grandparents, David Allison, a Civil War veteran, and Susan (née Booth) Allison. Their house still stands on Sycamore Street in LaPorte City. She was a 1927 graduate of Coe College, where she was a member of Alpha Gamma Delta. She was a fourth-grade teacher for four years in Schleswig, Iowa, Sch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Willard Waterman
Willard Lewis Waterman (August 29, 1914 – February 2, 1995)Cox, Jim (2008). ''This Day in Network Radio: A Daily Calendar of Births, Debuts, Cancellations and Other Events in Broadcasting History''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . was an American character actor in films, TV and on radio, remembered best for replacing Harold Peary as the title character of '' The Great Gildersleeve'' at the height of that show's popularity. Early years In the mid-1930s, Waterman attended the University of Wisconsin, where he joined Theta Chi, acted in student plays, and was a friend of Uta Hagen. His growing interest in theater put an end to his original plan to be an engineer, and he gained experience in radio at the university's station, WHA. Radio Waterman began his radio career at WIBA in Madison, singing in a quartet that performed "musical interludes between programs," and came to NBC in Chicago in early 1936. Waterman replaced Harold Peary on ''The Great Gildersleeve'' in 1950, after ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
That Brewster Boy
''That Brewster Boy'' is an American old-time radio Sitcom, situation comedy. It was broadcast on NBC from September 8, 1941, to March 2, 1942, and on CBS from March 4, 1942, to March 2, 1945. It was also carried on 13 stations in Canada. Overview ''That Brewster Boy'' focused on Jim and Jane Brewster (a prominent couple in a small town), their mischievous son, Joey, and their teenage daughter, Nancy. Joey often found himself in trouble that had been instigated by his friend Chuck. Other characters who were often heard were Phil Hayworth (Nancy's boyfriend), Herbert Clark (who was also fond of Nancy) and Miss Edmond (Joey's English teacher). Quaker Oats Company, Quaker Oats sponsored the program on both networks. A review of the premiere episode in the trade publication ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' praised the actors and the overall program, saying, "Script is excellently written and capably interpreted and abounds in clever comedy." Personnel Marvin Miller (actor), Marv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dick York
Richard Allen York (September 4, 1928 – February 20, 1992) was an American radio, stage, film, and television actor. He was the first actor to play Darrin Stephens on the ABC fantasy sitcom ''Bewitched''. He played teacher Bertram Cates in the film '' Inherit the Wind'' (1960). York's career was hampered by a serious back injury he sustained while working on the film ''They Came to Cordura'' in 1959; although his role in ''Bewitched'' was a success, he left the series in 1969 after a further decline in his physical health, and rarely acted thereafter. Early life York was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana to Bernard York, a salesman, and Betty, a seamstress. He grew up in Chicago, where a Catholic nun first recognized his vocal promise. He began his career at the age of 15 as the star of the CBS radio program ''That Brewster Boy''. He also appeared in hundreds of other radio shows and instructional films before heading to New York City, where he acted on Broadway in ''Tea and Sympat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jean Hagen
Jean Hagen (born Jean Shirley Verhagen; August 3, 1923 – August 29, 1977) was an American actress best known for her role as Lina Lamont in ''Singin' in the Rain'' (1952), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Hagen was also nominated three times for an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as Margaret Williams (1953–56) on the television series ''Make Room for Daddy''. Early life Hagen was born August 3, 1923, in Chicago, to Christian Verhagen, a Dutch immigrant, and Marie, his Chicago-born wife. The family moved to Elkhart, Indiana, when she was 12, and she graduated from Elkhart High School. She studied drama at Northwestern University, where she was a roommate of actress Patricia Neal. She graduated from Northwestern in 1945. She also worked as an usher. Career Radio Hagen began her show-business career in radio in the 1940s performing in ''Light of the World'', ''Hollywood Story'', and other p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Newspapers
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports and art, and often include materials such as opinion columns, weather forecasts, reviews of local services, obituaries, birth notices, crosswords, editorial cartoons, comic strips, and advice columns. Most newspapers are businesses, and they pay their expenses with a mixture of subscription revenue, newsstand sales, and advertising revenue. The journalism organizations that publish newspapers are themselves often metonymically called newspapers. Newspapers have traditionally been published in print (usually on cheap, low-grade paper called newsprint). However, today most newspapers are also published on websites as online newspapers, and some have even abandoned their print versions entirely. Newspapers developed in the 17th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill Idelson
Bill Idelson (August 21, 1919 – December 31, 2007) was an actor, writer, director and producer widely known for his teenage role as Rush Gook on the radio comedy ''Vic and Sade'' and his recurring television role as Herman Glimscher on ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' in the 1960s. Background Idelson was born in Forest Park, Illinois, his parents were Russian immigrants. He joined the U.S. Navy in World War II and was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross and four Air Medals as a night fighter pilot. He later married actress Seemah Wilder with whom he had three sons, Paul, Howie and Jonathan as well as a daughter, TV writer and actress Ellen Idelson, who died in 2003. Idelson died in 2007 from complications due to a hip injury. On his death, writer-director Norman Corwin told the ''Los Angeles Times'' Idelson was "a luminary, he stood out among the radio comedians." Creator of ''The'' ''Dick Van Dyke Show'' Carl Reiner, said Idelson was "a very subtle actor. He made no big moveme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parley Baer
Parley Edward Baer (August 5, 1914 – November 22, 2002) was an American actor in radio and later in television and film. Despite dozens of appearances in television series and theatrical films, he remains best known as the original "Chester" in the radio version of ''Gunsmoke'', and as the Mayor of Mayberry (Roy Stoner) in ''The Andy Griffith Show''. Early life, family and education Parley Edward Baer was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. He studied drama at the University of Utah. Career Baer had a circus background, but he began his radio career at Utah station KSL. Circus Early in his career, Baer was a circus ringmaster and publicist. He left those roles for military service in World War II. In the 1950s, he had a job training wild animals at Jungleland USA in Thousand Oaks, California. Still later, he served as a docent at the Los Angeles Zoo. Military Baer was commissioned as an officer in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II, attaining the rank of C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eddie Firestone
Eddie Firestone (December 11, 1920 – March 1, 2007) was an American radio, television, and film actor who accumulated over 200 total credits during his performing career. Early life When he was 12, Firestone was in the cast of ''Wheatenaville'', broadcast on NBC's Pacific network. Career An early success was in the title role of radio's ''That Brewster Boy''. While doing that program, he also was an undergraduate student at Northwestern University. He left the program during World War II to join the United States Marine Corps in 1943, where he was commissioned, reaching the rank of captain, remaining in the Marine Corps Reserve until 1957. At that time, he was billed as Eddie Firestone Jr. Some of the first television appearances with Eddie Firestone was in the first season of Jack Webb's ''Dragnet'' (1951–52). He guest-starred in "The Big Lamp" in Season 1, Episode 14 on '' Dragnet'', in Season 1, Episode 3 of ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'', and in 1961 in the episode "Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harold Peary
Harold "Hal" Peary (July 25, 1908 – March 30, 1985) was an American actor, comedian and singer in radio, films, television, and animation. His most memorable role is as Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve, which began as a supporting character on radio's ''Fibber McGee and Molly'' in 1938. Early life Born as José Pereira de Faria in San Leandro, California, to Portuguese parents, Harold Peary (pronounced ''Perry'') began working in local radio as early as 1923, according to his own memory, and had his own show as a singer, ''The Spanish Serenader'', in San Francisco, but moved to Chicago, Illinois, in 1937. While in San Francisco, he also had several parts in ''Wheatenaville'', a program broadcast on NBC's Pacific network beginning September 26, 1932. Gildersleeve In Chicago he became a regular on ''Fibber McGee and Molly'', where he originated the colorful and arrogant Gildersleeve character as a McGee neighbor and nemesis in 1938. He also worked on the horror series '' Lights O ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Great Gildersleeve
''The Great Gildersleeve'' is a radio situation comedy broadcast in the United States from August 31, 1941 to 1958. Initially written by Leonard Lewis Levinson, it was one of broadcast history's earliest spin-off programs. The series was built around Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve, a regular character from the radio situation comedy ''Fibber McGee and Molly''. The character was introduced in the October 3, 1939, episode (number 216) of that series. Actor Harold Peary had played a similarly named character, Dr. Gildersleeve, on earlier episodes. ''The Great Gildersleeve'' enjoyed its greatest popularity in the 1940s. Peary played the character during its transition from the parent show into the spin-off and later in four feature films released at the height of the show's popularity. In ''Fibber McGee and Molly'', Peary's Gildersleeve had been a pompous windbag and antagonist of Fibber McGee. "You're a ''haa-aa-aa-aard'' man, McGee!" became a Gildersleeve catchphrase. The character ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
