Ben Gage (born Benjamin Austin Gage, October 29, 1914 – April 28, 1978) was an American radio singer and announcer, occasional off-screen film singer dubbing the voice of non-singing actors, and television actor active from 1937 to 1975. Born in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, he was married to film star

Esther Williams Esther Jane Williams (August 8, 1921 – June 6, 2013) was an American competitive swimmer and actress. She set regional and national records in her late teens on the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team. Unable to compete in the 1940 Summer Ol ...

Early career

Gage joined

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

's Hollywood announcing staff in 1937. Later that year, he became the announcer for the Olsen and Johnson radio program. On May 20, 1940, ''Blue Network Varieties'' was launched on the NBC Pacific Blue network. Gage was the singing announcer of the five-day-a-week half-hour program. That same year, he and Mary Jane Barnes were "featured singers" on ''Remember This Song?'', a weekly program also on NBC Pacific Blue. In September 1941, he joined the ''Bob Hope Show'', replacing

Bill Goodwin William Nettles Goodwin (July 28, 1910 – May 9, 1958),Palm Spr ...

as announcer. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Gage was a sergeant in the U.S.

Army Air Force The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

. He worked with the USAAF's band on ''Soldiers With Wings'' on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

radio.

Postwar and television

He served as announcer and vocalist for ''Maxwell House Coffee Time'', a musical summer replacement program in 1946. In 1947, he was a regular on

Meredith Willson Robert Reiniger Meredith Willson (May 18, 1902 – June 15, 1984) was an American flutist, composer, conductor, musical arranger, bandleader, playwright, and writer. He is perhaps best known for writing the book, music, and lyrics for the 195 ...

's ''Ford Showroom'', serving as singer and announcer. He also played Dr. Crenshaw on ''

The Joan Davis Show . ''The Joan Davis Show'' is a title applied — in some cases specifically and in other cases generically — to several old-time radio comedy programs in the United States, some of which had other distinct titles as indicated below. Comedian Joa ...

''. In 1948, he was the announcer for the ''Danny Thomas Show''. Gage resembled

James Arness James Arness (born James King Aurness; May 26, 1923 – June 3, 2011) was an American actor, best known for portraying Marshal Matt Dillon for 20 years in the CBS television series '' Gunsmoke''. Arness has the distinction of having played the ...

and could imitate his voice perfectly, and played ''

Gunsmoke ''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centers on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central character ...

'' spoofs in four episodes of the ''

Maverick Maverick, Maveric or Maverik may refer to: History * Maverick (animal), an unbranded range animal, derived from U.S. cattleman Samuel Maverick Aviation * AEA Maverick, an Australian single-seat sportsplane design * General Aviation Design Burea ...

'' television series, which is the work for which he is best remembered, especially for a 1959 ''Maverick'' episode with

James Garner James Garner (born James Scott Bumgarner; April 7, 1928 – July 19, 2014) was an American actor. He played leading roles in more than 50 theatrical films, including '' The Great Escape'' (1963) with Steve McQueen; Paddy Chayefsky's ''The Ameri ...

called " Gun-Shy" (with Gage as "Marshal Mort Dooley" instead of "

Marshal Matt Dillon Matt Dillon is a fictional character featured on both the radio and television versions of ''Gunsmoke''. He is the U.S. Marshal of Dodge City, Kansas, who works to preserve law and order in the western frontier of the 1870s. The character wa ...

") as well as "A Tale of Three Cities" with Jack Kelly, "The Misfortune Teller" with Garner, and "A Technical Error" with Kelly. He also appeared on ''

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...

'', ''

Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 13, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 432 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running western, the second-longest-running western series on U ...

'', ''

F Troop ''F Troop'' is a satirical American television sitcom Western about U.S. soldiers and Native Americans in the Wild West during the 1860s that originally aired for two seasons on ABC. It debuted in the United States on September 14, 1965, and c ...

'', ''

The Donna Reed Show ''The Donna Reed Show'' is an American sitcom starring Donna Reed as the middle-class housewife Donna Stone. Carl Betz co-stars as her pediatrician husband Dr. Alex Stone, and Shelley Fabares and Paul Petersen as their teenage children, Mary an ...

'', ''

The Lucy Show ''The Lucy Show'' is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from 1962 to 1968. It was Lucille Ball's follow-up to ''I Love Lucy''. A significant change in cast and premise for the fourth season (1965–1966) divides the program into two distinct ...

'', and ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...

''.

Personal life

Gage married swimmer/actress

on November 25, 1945. They divorced April 8, 1958, and they had three children: Benjamin, Kimball (1950-2008), and Susan. Gage and Williams made a personal appearance tour September 10 - October 13, 1954. ''For Sentimental Reasons'', the couple's album, was released by

MGM Records MGM Records was a record label founded by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946 for the purpose of releasing soundtrack recordings (later LP albums) of their musical films. It transitioned into a pop music label that continued into the ...

in November 1954. Gage later married Anne Martin Arnold in Beverly Hills, CA, on April 6, 1969, and they remained together until Ben's death. The couple did not have any children. Ann Gage was bor
Anne Martin
on January 24, 1934, in Seattle, WA, and died on March 24, 2021, in Yucaipa, CA. Ben Gage died on April 28, 1978; he was 63 years old.

Partial filmography

*'' The Big Operator'' (1959)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gage, Ben 1914 births 1978 deaths Male actors from Chicago American male television actors 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American singers 20th-century American male singers

Early career

Postwar and television

Personal life

Partial filmography

See also

References

External links