Curt Massey (May 3, 1910 – October 21, 1991)DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . Pp. 185-186. was a musician in the

old-time radio The Golden Age of Radio, also known as the old-time radio (OTR) era, was an era of radio in the United States where it was the dominant electronic home entertainment medium. It began with the birth of commercial radio broadcasting in the early ...

era.

Early years

Massey was born in Midland, Texas. He came from a musical family, the best known of whom was probably

Louise Massey Louise Massey (born ''Victoria Louise Massey''; 10 August 1902 – 20 June 1983, in San Angelo, Texas), American singer and songwriter born in Midland, Texas. The Massey family left Texas while Louise Massey was very young and she grew up near ...

, a country and western singer. Their father was Henry Massey. As a youngster, he studied violin, trumpet, cornet, and piano. He went on to study music at the Horner Conservatory of Music in Kansas City. Curt played violin for the family's musical group, Louise Massey and the Westerners.

Radio

Massey had two self-titled music-variety programs. ''Curt Massey Time'' was 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 ...

beginning in 1943;Terrace, Vincent (1981), ''Radio's Golden Years: The Encyclopedia of Radio Programs 1930-1960''. A.S. Barnes & Company, Inc. . P. 67. ''The Curt Massey Show'' was on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

beginning in 1949. The latter co-starred

Martha Tilton Martha Tilton (November 14, 1915 – December 8, 2006) was an American popular singer during America's swing era and traditional pop period. She is best known for her 1939 recording of "And the Angels Sing" with Benny Goodman. Tilton was born ...

and was sometimes billed as ''The Curt Massey and Martha Tilton Show'' or as ''

Alka-Seltzer Time ''Alka-Seltzer Time'' (aka ''The Alka-Seltzer Show'') was a 15-minute radio series broadcast weekdays on both CBS Radio and the Mutual Broadcasting System (not to be confused with an earlier ''Alka-Seltzer Time'' that was renamed ''Herb Shriner ...

''.Sies, Luther F. (2014). ''Encyclopedia of American Radio, 1920-1960, 2nd Edition, Volume 1''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . Pp. 18, 173. Other programs on which Massey was featured included ''Nash-Kelvinator's Musical Hits'', ''Sheaffer World Parade'', ''Romance in Rhythm'', ''Twilight Trail'', ''The Friday Night Show'', '' The Andrews Sisters Program'', ''

Avalon Time ''Avalon Time'' is an American old-time radio comedy/variety program that ran from 1938 to 1940 on NBC's Red Network. The program was named after its sponsor, Avalon cigarettes. Over the course of its run, ''Avalon Time'' was also sponsored by Si ...

'', ''KMBC Brush Creek Follies'', ''Holiday for Music'', ''Plantation Jubilee'', and ''Plantation Party''. On January 2, 1956, Massey debuted on KNX radio in Los Angeles with a 25-minute weeknight program. It lasted three months. In some cases, Massey arranged music for programs in addition to singing and playing instruments.

Television

In October 1956, Massey began a Monday-Thursday program on

KRCA KRCA (channel 62) is a television station licensed to Riverside, California, United States, broadcasting the Spanish-language Estrella TV network to the Los Angeles area. It is the flagship television property of Burbank-based Estrella Media. ...

-TV in Los Angeles, California. The 6:15 p.m. (Pacific Time) program also featured

and Country Washburn and was broadcast in color at least during Summer 1959. Massey also wrote and sang the theme song for the television series ''

Petticoat Junction ''Petticoat Junction'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from September 1963 to April 1970. The series takes place at the Shady Rest Hotel, which is run by Kate Bradley; her three daughters Billie Jo, Bobbie Jo, and ...

''.

Recognition

In 1961, Massey received an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

"for his career in radio and television."

Personal life

Massey and his wife, Edythe, had two sons, Stephen and David.

Death

Massey died October 21, 1991, at

Eisenhower Medical Center The Eisenhower Medical Center (EMC) is a not-for-profit hospital based in Rancho Mirage, California, serving the Coachella Valley region of Southeastern California. It was named one of the top one hundred hospitals in the United States in 2005. ...

in Rancho Mirage, California. He was 81.

Filmography

Film

Television

Screenplay credits

Television composer credits

Soundtrack credits

Partial discography

*''If I Had My Way'' (Columbia 1945) *''You've Got Me Where You Want Me'' (Columbia 1945) *''Sweetheart of My Dreams'' (Columbia 1945) *''

Candy Candy, also called sweets (British English) or lollies (Australian English Australian English (AusE, AusEng, AuE, AuEng, en-AU) is the set of varieties of the English language native to Australia. It is the country's common language an ...

'' (Columbia 1945) *''

Five Minutes More "Five Minutes More" is a 1946 American pop song written by Sammy Cahn (lyrics) and Jule Styne (music). It is sometimes referred to as "Give Me Five Minutes More". It was featured in the movie ''Sweetheart of Sigma Chi'', sung by Phil Brito, and ...

'' (Cadet 1946)

References

External links

*
Streaming episodes of ''Alka-Seltzer Time'' with Curt Massey and Martha Tilton, from The Internet Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Massey, Curt 1991 deaths 1910 births American male violinists American television composers People from Midland, Texas Singers from Texas 20th-century American singers American radio bandleaders 20th-century American composers 20th-century American violinists 20th-century American male musicians