Edward Bowes (June 14, 1874 – June 13, 1946), professionally known as Major Edward Bowes, was an American
radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...
personality of the 1930s and 1940s whose ''
Major Bowes Amateur Hour
The ''Major Bowes Amateur Hour'' was an American radio talent show broadcast in the 1930s and 1940s, created and hosted by Edward Bowes (1874–1946). Selected performers from the program participated in touring vaudeville performances, under ...
'' was the best-known amateur talent show on radio during its 18-year run (1935–1952) on
NBC Radio
The 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 NBC Blue Network it was one of the first t ...
and
CBS Radio
CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broadc ...
.
Early life and radio career
Bowes’ father died when he was six years old, and young Edward worked as he could to augment the family income. After leaving grammar school he worked as an office boy, and then went into the real estate business, until the cataclysmic
1906 San Francisco earthquake
At 05:12 Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (''Extreme''). High-intensity sha ...
wiped out his fortune. He then moved to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
in search of other opportunities, soon realizing that the theatrical world was lucrative, and he worked busily in New York as a musical conductor, composer, and arranger. He also produced
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
shows such as ''Kindling'' in 1911–12 and ''The Bridal Path'' in 1913. He was married to ''Kindling'' star
Margaret Illington
Margaret Illington (born Maude Light; July 23, 1879 – March 11, 1934) was an American stage actress popular in the first decade of the 20th century. She later made an attempt at silent film acting by making two films with Adolph Zukor's Famo ...
from 1910 until her death in 1934; her portrait by
Adolfo Müller-Ury
Adolfo Müller-Ury, KSG (March 29, 1862 – July 6, 1947) was a Swiss-born American portrait painter and impressionistic painter of roses and still life.
Heritage and early life in Switzerland
He was born Felice Adolfo Müller on 29 March ...
had been painted in 1906 for her first husband, theatre manager
Daniel Frohman
Daniel Frohman (August 22, 1851 – December 26, 1940) was an American theatrical producer and manager, and an early film producer.
Biography
Frohman was born to a American Jews, Jewish family in Sandusky, Ohio. His parents were Henry (1826&nda ...
.
He became managing director of New York's
Capitol Theatre, which he ran with military efficiency. He insisted on being addressed as "Major Bowes," a nickname that sprang from his earlier military rank, though historians are divided on whether he was an active-duty officer in
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
or held the rank as a member of the Officer Reserve Corps.
Bowes brought his best-known creation to New York radio station
WHN in 1934. He had actually hosted scattered amateur nights on smaller stations while manager of the Capitol. Within a year of its WHN premiere, ''The Original Amateur Hour''—its original name, according to historian
Gerald Nachman, was ''Major Bowes and His Capitol Family''—began earning its creator and host as much as $1 million a year, according to ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
''.
The rapid popularity of ''The Original Amateur Hour'' made him better known than most of the talent he featured. Some of his discoveries became stars, including
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...
stars
Lily Pons
Alice Joséphine Pons (April 12, 1898 – February 13, 1976), known professionally as Lily Pons, was a French-American operatic soprano and actress who had an active career from the late 1920s through the early 1970s. As an opera singer, she s ...
,
Robert Merrill
Robert Merrill (June 4, 1917 – October 23, 2004) was an American operatic baritone and actor, who was also active in the musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting an ...
, and
Beverly Sills
Beverly Sills (May 25, 1929July 2, 2007) was an American operatic soprano whose peak career was between the 1950s and 1970s.
Although she sang a repertoire from Handel and Mozart to Puccini, Massenet and Verdi, she was especially renowned for ...
; comedian
Jack Carter; pop singer
Teresa Brewer
Teresa Brewer (born Theresa Veronica Breuer; May 7, 1931 – October 17, 2007) was an American singer whose style incorporated pop, country, jazz, R&B, musicals, and novelty songs. She was one of the most prolific and popular female singers of th ...
; and
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...
, fronting a quartet known as the
Hoboken Four
The Hoboken Four was a musical quartet formed in 1935, uniting a trio of Italian-American musicians who called themselves the 3 Flashes with aspiring singer Frank Sinatra. The trio had been based in Hoboken, New Jersey, before meeting Sinatra in 1 ...
when they appeared on the show in 1935.
The show consistently ranked among radio's top ten programs throughout its run. Bowes' familiar catchphrase "Round and round she goes, and where she stops nobody knows," was spoken in the familiar
avuncular
The avunculate, sometimes called avunculism or avuncularism, is any social institution where a special relationship exists between an uncle and his sisters' children. This relationship can be formal or informal, depending on the society. Early a ...
tones for which he was renowned, whenever it was time to spin the "wheel of fortune," the device by which some contestants were called to perform. In the early days of the show, whenever a performer was simply too terrible to continue, Bowes would stop the act by striking a gong (a device that would be revived in the 1970s by
Chuck Barris
Charles Hirsch Barris (June 3, 1929 – March 21, 2017) was an American game show creator, producer, and host. Barris was known for hosting ''The Gong Show'' and creating ''The Dating Game'' and ''The Newlywed Game''. He was also a songwrite ...
's infamous ''
The Gong Show
''The Gong Show'' is an American amateur talent contest franchised by Sony Pictures Television to many countries. It was broadcast on NBC's daytime schedule from June 14, 1976, through July 21, 1978, and in first-run syndication from 1976 to 1 ...
''). Bowes heard from thousands of listeners who objected to his terminating these acts prematurely, so he abandoned the gong in 1936. Nachman recorded that Bowes, "a businesslike fellow with a mirthless chuckle who, unlike most
emcees, had a gift for nongab," went out of his way to make contestants feel at ease, often taking them to dinner before their appearances. Nachman credits Bowes for featuring more black entertainers than many network shows of the time.
Death and legacy
Major Bowes died on the eve of his 72nd birthday at his home in the New Jersey suburb of
Rumson, New Jersey
Rumson is a borough in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, and is part of the New York Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the borough’s population was 7,343, reflecting a 3.1% increase from the 7,122 enumera ...
. The following week, his talent coordinator
Ted Mack took over hosting duties. Nineteen months after Bowes' death, on January 18, 1948, the program, with Ted Mack as host, debuted on the DuMont Television Network. As a measure of the affection attached to Bowes' name, the show continued to be called ''Major Bowes' Original Amateur Hour'' until the 1950-51 season, when it became simply ''
Original Amateur Hour
''The Original Amateur Hour'' is an American radio and television program. The show was a continuation of ''Major Bowes Amateur Hour'' which had been a radio staple from 1934 to 1945. Major Edward Bowes, the originator of the program and its mast ...
'', and in 1955 became ''Ted Mack and the Original Amateur Hour''. Mack continued to host the show throughout the remainder of its run, during which it ran on all four major networks, until 1970. The radio version, also with Mack, ran until 1952.
Bowes was referred to in Cab Calloway's "I Love to Singa" from the movie ''The Singing Kid'' (1936), and in the Dorothy Fields lyrics for "Never Gonna Dance," from the Astaire-Rogers film ''
Swing Time
In music, the term ''swing'' has two main uses. Colloquially, it is used to describe the propulsive quality or "feel" of a rhythm, especially when the music prompts a visceral response such as foot-tapping or head-nodding (see pulse). This sens ...
'' (1936). He is also referenced in the song ''
I'm Still Here'' from Sondheim's 1971 musical ''
Follies
''Follies'' is a Musical theater, musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman.
The plot takes place in a crumbling Broadway theater, now scheduled for demolition, previously home to a musical revue (based on t ...
''.
Bowes was a benefactor of the Catholic Church. Our Lady of Victory Church in Lower Manhattan is built on land donated by Bowes. Also, the auditorium at Archbishop Stepinac High School in
White Plains is named in his honor. He donated some of the rare books at St. Joseph's Seminary, Yonkers.
In 1939, Major Bowes donated his multi-acre Ossining estate, known as "Laurel Hill," to the Lutheran Church, where it is still being enjoyed as an ecumenical retreat center. Run by a board of Lutheran lay persons and clergy, it is known as Major Edward Bowes Memorial Retreat, and operates year-round for students, church, and community groups in the greater New York metro area.
References
Further reading
*
Gerald Nachman, ''Raised on Radio'' (New York: Pantheon Books, 1998)
External links
*
''Encyclopædia Britannica'' article on Edward BowesOld Time Radio Researchers Database of People and Programs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowes, Edward
1874 births
1946 deaths
American theatre managers and producers
Radio personalities from San Francisco
Burials at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery
Businesspeople from San Francisco
People from Rumson, New Jersey