John Nesbitt (August 23, 1910 – August 10, 1960) was an actor, narrator, announcer,

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

and

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

. Nesbitt was best known as the narrator of the MGM series ''

Passing Parade ''The Passing Parade'', a.k.a. ''John Nesbitt's Passing Parade'', was an American radio series created, written, and narrated by John Nesbitt which was adapted into an Oscar-winning series of MGM short subjects. In both media, the series usually ...

''.

Early years

Nesbitt, born John Booth Nesbitt in Victoria, British Columbia, was a grandson of actor

Edwin Booth Edwin Thomas Booth (November 13, 1833 – June 7, 1893) was an American actor who toured throughout the United States and the major capitals of Europe, performing Shakespearean plays. In 1869, he founded Booth's Theatre in New York. Some theatri ...

. He attended Saint Mary's College of California and the University of California.

Stage

Nesbitt was active in stock theater in Vancouver and Spokane.

Radio

Nesbitt began working for NBC in San Francisco in 1933. In 1935, he was an announcer at KFRC in San Francisco. His signature program, ''The Passing Parade'', was first broadcast in 1937 and ended in 1949, sometimes in 15-minute episodes and sometimes in 30-minute episodes. At one time or another, it was carried on the CBS, Mutual, NBC Blue and NBC Red networks. ''The Passing Parade'' was also a segment on ''The

John Charles Thomas John Charles Thomas (September 6, 1891December 13, 1960) was an American opera, operetta and concert baritone. Biography John Charles Thomas was born on September 6, 1891 in Meyersdale, Pennsylvania. He was the son of a Methodist minister of ...

Show'' (1943-1946).Terrace, Vincent (1999). ''Radio Programs, 1924-1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 177. and on the summer replacement program, ''The Meredith Willson-John Nesbitt Show'' (1942). In the evening of June 6, 1944, known as D-Day in the Allied countries, Nesbitt broadcast a ''Passing Parade'' segment on CBS which captured the historical significance of the military invasion by imagining its story being retold 100 years in the future to schoolchildren. Joseph M. Koehler described Nesbitt's talent in a review in the July 31, 1943, issue of

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

: "His sense of the dramatic, uncanny timing and ability to discover the exact moment when drama must replace the spoken word combine to explain why he's radio's No. 1 story-teller." Nesbitt was also host of the anthology program ''So the Story Goes'', which was syndicated in 1945–1946.

Recognition

Nesbitt has two stars on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Californ ...

, one at 1717 Vine Street in the Motion Pictures section and one at 6200 Hollywood Boulevard in the Radio section. Both were dedicated February 8, 1960.

Personal life

In 1940, Nesbitt bought the Ennis House and had it altered by Frank Lloyd Wright, adding a north-terrace pool and ground-floor billiard room, as well as the first heating system for the building.

Death

Nesbitt died on August 10, 1960, in Carmel, California.Cox, Jim (2007). ''Radio Speakers: Narrators, News Junkies, Sports Jockeys, Tattletales, Tipsters, Toastmasters and Coffee Klatch Couples Who Verbalized the Jargon of the Aural Ether from the 1920s to the 1980s--A Biographical Dictionary''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 211.

Partial filmography

* '' That Mothers Might Live'' (1938) Producer & Narrator * '' Main Street on the March!'' (1941) Producer & Narrator * '' Of Pups and Puzzles'' (1941) Producer & Narrator * ''

Stairway to Light ''Stairway to Light'' is a 1945 American short drama film directed by Sammy Lee. It was one of '' John Nesbitt's Passing Parade'' series. Set in Paris during the French Revolution, it tells the story of Philippe Pinel and his efforts in pointin ...

'' (1945) Writer & Narrator * '' Goodbye, Miss Turlock'' (1948) Producer, Writer & Narrator * '' Telephone Time'' (1956–1957) Host, Writer & Narrator

References

External links

* 1910 births 1960 deaths Canadian film producers Canadian male film actors Canadian male screenwriters Male actors from Victoria, British Columbia Writers from Victoria, British Columbia 20th-century Canadian male actors 20th-century Canadian screenwriters {{Canada-film-producer-stub