My Friend Irma
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''My Friend Irma'' is a
media franchise A media franchise, also known as a multimedia franchise, is a collection of related media in which several derivative works have been produced from an original creative work of fiction, such as a film, a work of literature, a television program or ...
that was spawned by a top-rated, long-running radio situation comedy created by writer-director-producer
Cy Howard Cy Howard (September 27, 1915 - April 29, 1993) was an American director, producer and screenwriter. He won an Primetime Emmy Award in the category Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series for the television program ''The Smothers Brothers C ...
. The radio show was so popular in the late 1940s that its success escalated the films, television, a comic strip and a comic book that comprise the franchise. Marie Wilson portrayed the title character Irma Peterson on radio, in two films and the television series. The radio series was broadcast on CBS from April 11, 1947 to August 23, 1954.


Characters and story

Dependable, level-headed Jane Stacy (
Cathy Lewis Catherine Lee Lewis (December 27, 1916 – November 20, 1968) was an American actress on radio, film, and television. She is remembered best for numerous radio appearances but also noted for making a number of film and television appearances in ...
—plus
Joan Banks Joan Banks (October 30, 1918 – January 18, 1998) was an American film, television, stage, and radio actress (described as "a soapbox queen"), who often appeared in dramas with her husband, Frank Lovejoy. Early life Banks attended a school of ...
during Lewis' illness in early 1949 and Mary Shipp later) began each weekly radio program by narrating a misadventure of her innocent, bewildered roommate Irma, a scatterbrained stenographer from Minnesota. The two central characters were in their mid-20s. Irma had her 25th birthday in one episode; she was born on May 5. After the two met in the first episode, they lived together in an apartment rented from their Irish landlady Mrs. O'Reilly (Jane Morgan, Gloria Gordon). Irma's boyfriend Al (
John Brown John Brown most often refers to: *John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid in Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859 John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to: Academia * John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Ir ...
) was a deadbeat, barely on the right side of the law, who had not held a job in years. Only someone like Irma could love Al, whose nickname for Irma was "Chicken". Al had many crazy
get-rich-quick scheme A get-rich-quick scheme is a plan to obtain high rates of return for a small investment. The term "get rich quick" has been used to describe shady investments since at least the early 20th century. Most schemes create an impression that partic ...
s that never worked. Al planned to marry Irma at some future date so she could support him. Professor Kropotkin (
Hans Conried Hans Georg Conried Jr. (April 15, 1917 – January 5, 1982) was an American actor and comedian. He was known for providing the voices of George Darling and Captain Hook in Walt Disney's ''Peter Pan'' (1953), Snidely Whiplash in Jay Ward's ''Dudle ...
), the Russian violinist at the Princess Burlesque theater, lived upstairs. He greeted Jane and Irma with remarks like "My two little bunnies with one being an Easter bunny and the other being Bugs Bunny." The Professor insulted Mrs. O'Reilly, complained about his room, and reluctantly became O'Reilly's love interest in an effort to make her forget his back rent. In 1953, Conried left the program and was replaced by
Kenny Delmar Kenneth Howard Delmar (born Kenneth Frederick Fay Howard,
''
as his cousin Maestro Wanderkin. Irma worked for the lawyer Mr. Clyde (
Alan Reed Alan Reed (born Herbert Theodore Bergman; August 20, 1907 – June 14, 1977) was an American actor, best known as the original voice of Fred Flintstone on ''The Flintstones'' and various spinoff series. He also appeared in many films, includin ...
). She had such an odd filing system that once when Clyde fired her, he had to hire her back again because he couldn't find anything. Useless at dictation, Irma mangled whatever Clyde dictated. Asked how long she had been with Clyde, Irma said, "When I first went to work with him he had curly black hair, then it got grey, and now it's snow white. I guess I've been with him about six months." Irma became less intelligent and even more ditzy as the program evolved. She also developed a tendency to whine or cry whenever something went wrong, which was usually at least once every episode. Jane had a romantic inclination for her boss, millionaire Richard Rhinelander III ( Leif Erickson). Another actor in the show was
Bea Benaderet Beatrice Benaderet ( ; April 4, 1906 – October 13, 1968) was an American actress and comedienne. Born in New York City and raised in San Francisco, she began performing in Bay Area theatre and radio before embarking on a Hollywood career that ...
.


Sponsors

The show was sponsored by
Swan Soap Swan was a brand of soap introduced by the Lever Brothers Company in 1941 to compete with Ivory. Swan may have been advertised as a soap that could be used in the kitchen as a hand soap or in the bathroom to bathe the baby. Actually, during the r ...
, and Irma would usually make a silly remark about it so the name could be advertised. Frank Bingman was the announcer for Swan Soap. The program also was sponsored by ENNDS which got rid of breath and body odors and each tiny capsule was said to contain 100 mg of chlorophyll.
Pepsodent Pepsodent is an American brand of toothpaste with the minty flavor derived from sassafras. The brand was purchased by Unilever in 1942 and is still owned by the company outside of the United States and Canada. In 2003, Unilever sold the rights t ...
was also a sponsor. Because of the popularity of the show (early in the series, shows 41–43), a contest was run for the services of Irma/Marie Wilson to act as a secretary for the highest bidder for one day, with her willing to travel anywhere in the U.S. The money was to go to the
March of Dimes March of Dimes is a United States nonprofit organization that works to improve the health of mothers and babies. The organization was founded by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938, as the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, to comba ...
charity to fight
polio Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe s ...
. Three businessmen bid $1,000, but the winner was the
Coca-Cola Bottling Company Coca-Cola Consolidated, Inc., headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, is the largest independent Coca-Cola bottler in the United States. The company makes, sells and distributes Coca-Cola products along with other beverages, distributing to ...
of Fort Worth, Texas which bid $5,000.


Lawsuit

In 1946, writer Arthur Kurlan had worked with CBS Radio in an attempt to bring the premise and characters of the popular play and film ''
My Sister Eileen ''My Sister Eileen'' is a series of autobiographical short stories by Ruth McKenney, originally published in ''The New Yorker'', which eventually inspired many other works: her 1938 book ''My Sister Eileen'', a play, a musical, a radio play (a ...
'' to radio. Soon after this effort failed, the very similar ''My Friend Irma'' was created. Kurlan took legal action, and ultimately received a settlement from CBS.


Films and television

The TV version, seen on CBS from January 8, 1952 until June 1954, was the first series telecast from the
CBS Television City Television City, alternatively CBS Television City, is an American television studio complex located in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles at 7800 Beverly Boulevard, at the corner of Fairfax Avenue. Designed by architect William Pereira and Ch ...
facility in Hollywood in October 1952. The film ''
My Friend Irma ''My Friend Irma'' is a media franchise that was spawned by a top-rated, long-running radio situation comedy created by writer-director-producer Cy Howard. The radio show was so popular in the late 1940s that its success escalated the films, ...
'' (1949) starred Marie Wilson and
Diana Lynn Diana Marie Lynn (born Dolores Eartha Loehr, July 5, 1926 – December 18, 1971) was an American actress. Early years Lynn was born in Los Angeles, California. Her father, Louis Loehr, was an oil supply executive, and her mother, Martha Loe ...
, but is mainly remembered today for introducing
Dean Martin Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor and comedian. One of the most popular and enduring American entertainers of the mid-20th century, Martin was nicknamed "The King of Cool". M ...
and
Jerry Lewis Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian. As his contributions to comedy and charity made him a global figure in popular culture, pop culture ...
to moviegoers, resulting in more screen time for
Martin and Lewis Martin and Lewis were an American comedy duo, comprising singer Dean Martin and comedian Jerry Lewis. They met in 1945 and debuted at Atlantic City's 500 Club on July 25, 1946; the team lasted ten years to the day. Before they teamed up, Martin w ...
in the sequel ''
My Friend Irma Goes West ''My Friend Irma Goes West'' is a 1950 American comedy film directed by Hal Walker and based on the radio show ''My Friend Irma.'' It stars the comedy team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. The film is a sequel to ''My Friend Irma'' (1949) and was r ...
'' (1950).


Comic strip and comic book

The ''My Friend Irma'' comic strip, illustrated by Jack Seidel, began syndication with the
Mirror Enterprises Syndicate The ''Los Angeles Times'' Syndicate was a print syndication service that operated from 1949 to 2000. Owned by the Times Mirror Company, it also operated the ''Los Angeles Times'' Syndicate International; together the two divisions sold more than ...
on September 11, 1950, receiving a promotional boost in the November 7, 1950 issue of ''
Look To look is to use sight to perceive an object. Look or The Look may refer to: Businesses and products * Look (modeling agency), an Israeli modeling agency * ''Look'' (American magazine), a defunct general-interest magazine * ''Look'' (UK ma ...
''. In 1951,
Dan DeCarlo Daniel S. DeCarlo (December 12, 1919 – December 18, 2001) was an American cartoonist best known for having developed the look of Archie Comics in the late 1950s and early 1960s, modernizing the characters to their contemporary appearance and ...
took over the strip with
Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Publications which ...
scripting.
Atlas Comics Atlas Comics may refer to * Atlas Comics (1950s) Atlas Comics is the 1950s comic book, comic-book publishing label that evolved into Marvel Comics. Magazine and mass market paperback, paperback novel publisher Martin Goodman (publisher), Martin ...
(
Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics ...
) published the ''My Friend Irma'' comic book which ran from #3 to #48 (1950 to 1955), and was most often written by Stan Lee with art by
Dan DeCarlo Daniel S. DeCarlo (December 12, 1919 – December 18, 2001) was an American cartoonist best known for having developed the look of Archie Comics in the late 1950s and early 1960s, modernizing the characters to their contemporary appearance and ...
. After Atlas stopped publishing ''My Friend Irma'', DeCarlo and Lee created a similar feature for Atlas titled ''My Girl Pearl''.


References


External links

* * *


Further reading

* {{My Sister Eileen 1947 radio programme debuts 1954 radio programme endings 1950s American sitcoms 1950 comics debuts 1955 comics endings 1952 American television series debuts 1954 American television series endings American comedy radio programs Black-and-white American television shows CBS original programming CBS Radio programs Comics based on radio series English-language television shows Humor comics Radio programs adapted into films Radio programs adapted into comics Radio programs adapted into television shows Television series based on radio series