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

narrator Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the a ...

announcer An announcer is a voice artist who relays information to the audience of a broadcast media programme or live event. Television and other media Some announcers work in television production, radio or filmmaking, usually providing narrations, ...

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 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

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 Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. Th ...

, 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 Saint Mary's College of California is a Private college, private Catholic Church, Catholic college in Moraga, California. Established in 1863, it is affiliated with the Catholic Church and administered by the De La Salle Brothers. The college of ...

and the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...

Stage

Nesbitt was active in stock theater in Vancouver and Spokane.

Radio

Nesbitt began working for

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 ...

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 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 Entertainmen ...

, Mutual,

NBC Blue The Blue Network (previously known as the NBC Blue Network) was the on-air name of a now defunct American Commercial broadcasting, radio network, which broadcast from 1927 through 1945. Beginning as one of the two radio networks owned by the N ...

and

NBC Red The NBC, National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (known as the NBC Red Network prior to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in operation from 1926 through 2004. Along with the Blue Network, NBC Blue Network it was ...

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 The Ennis House is a residential dwelling in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States, south of Griffith Park. The home was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for Charles and Mabel Ennis in 1923 and was built in 1924. Fol ...

and had it altered by

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...

, 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 Carmel-by-the-Sea (), often simply called Carmel, is a city in Monterey County, California, United States, founded in 1902 and municipal corporation, incorporated on October 31, 1916. Situated on the Monterey Peninsula, Carmel is known for its n ...

.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 ''That Mothers Might Live'' is a 1938 American short drama film directed by Fred Zinnemann. In 1939, at the 11th Academy Awards, it won an Oscar for Best Short Subject (One-Reel). The short is a brief account of Hungarian physician Ignaz Semm ...

'' (1938) Producer & Narrator * ''

Main Street on the March! ''Main Street on the March!'' is a 1941 American short historical film directed by Edward Cahn. It won an Academy Award at the 14th Academy Awards for Best Short Subject (Two-Reel). The 20-minute film gives a brief history of events in Europ ...

'' (1941) Producer & Narrator * ''

Of Pups and Puzzles ''Of Pups and Puzzles'' is a 1941 American short documentary film directed by George Sidney. It won an Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other lan ...

'' (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 ''Goodbye, Miss Turlock'' is a 1948 American short film directed by Edward L. Cahn, released as one of the '' John Nesbitt's Passing Parade'' series. It won an Oscar at the 20th Academy Awards in 1948 for Best Short Subject (One-Reel). Plot A ...

'' (1948) Producer, Writer & Narrator * ''

Telephone Time ''Telephone Time'' is an American anthology drama series that aired on CBS in 1956, and on ABC from 1957 to 1958. The series features plays by John Nesbitt who hosted the first season. Frank C. Baxter hosted the 1957 and 1958 seasons. The progr ...

'' (1956–1957) Host, Writer & Narrator

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nesbitt, John 1910 births 1960 deaths Film producers from British Columbia 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