Raymond Knight (February 12, 1899 – February 12, 1953) was an American actor, comedian and comedy writer, best known as a pioneer in satirical humor for network

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 ...

Life and career

Born in

Salem, Massachusetts Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, located on the North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem would become one of the most significant seaports tr ...

, Knight studied law at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

and passed the Massachusetts bar, but he returned to school to study theater and writing at Harvard's 47 Workshop, followed by more studies at

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

. In 1927, he performed in the Broadway

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

revue ''The Manhatters''. Knight was writing continuity and commercials for NBC in 1929, when NBC programmer

Bertha Brainard Bertha Brainard (June 16, 1890 – June 11, 1946), known to her friends as Betty, was a pioneering NBC executive responsible for setting trends in network broadcasting. Life and career She was born and raised in South Orange, New Jersey, the daug ...

asked him to devise "something cuckoo" for the

Blue Network 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 ...

. He responded with the zany ''

The Cuckoo Hour ''The Cuckoo Hour '', also known as ''The KUKU Hour'' and ''The Raymond Knight Cuckoo Hour'', is an American musical variety radio series created by radio comedian Raymond Knight. It aired on the NBC Blue Network January 1, 1930–March 9, 1936.H ...

'', aka ''The KUKU Hour'', as a showcase for his comedy. One of his characters on the series was Professor Ambrose J. Weems, who ran a radio station where he would give his views on current events and chat with his sidekick, Mrs. Pennyfeather. Radio historian Billy Jack Long described the unique aspects of Knight's satirical series: :This show was the forerunner to most of what America thought was funny afterwards. Ray, unlike most of the other radio personalities at the time, didn't have a background in vaudeville. He did all of his work within a short distance from home. Consequently, Ray had a good grasp on what people did when they were at home. Nothing was safe from Ray Knight's sarcasm. It wasn't meant to be rude or upsetting. But ''The KUKU Hour'' was so different from anything that was going on at the time. He would bounce back and forth between networks. The show started on NBC and was there for a few years before moving to Mutual. ''The KUKU Hour'' did not always have the same characters but it would have the same elements in each show. One of these was a segment called "The Firing Squad". In this, Ray would make comments about a person, a group or an idea, and then have everyone in the studio shoot at it with toy guns. Paper cap guns were provided for members of the studio audience, and even the technical people got involved in this! Knight replaced Aline and Peter Dixon when he took over the children's series, ''Wheatenaville Sketches'', sponsored by

Wheatena Wheatena is an American high-fiber, toasted-wheat cereal that originated on Mulberry Street in New York City, New York, , when a small bakery owner began roasting whole wheat, grinding it, and packaging it for sale under this brand name. Hist ...

. On this program, Knight portrayed editor Billy Batchelor, running a small town newspaper founded by his uncle. ''Wheatenaville Sketches'' and ''The Cuckoo Hour'' were both important influences on comedian Bob Elliott, who attended Knight's show with his parents and later became friends with Knight.

Broadway

In 1935 Knight contributed sketches to ''

At Home Abroad ''At Home Abroad'' is a revue with music by Arthur Schwartz and lyrics by Howard Dietz. It introduced the songs "Love Is a Dancing Thing", "What a Wonderful World" and "Got a Bran' New Suit", among others. The revue follows a bored couple who fl ...

'', a revue with music by Arthur Schwartz and lyrics by

Howard Dietz Howard Dietz (September 8, 1896 – July 30, 1983) was an American publicist, lyricist, and librettist, best remembered for his songwriting collaboration with Arthur Schwartz. Biography Dietz was born in New York City. He attended Columbia Colle ...

about a bored couple who flee America and go on a musical world tour. The original Broadway production opened at the

Winter Garden Theatre The Winter Garden Theatre is a Broadway theatre at 1634 Broadway in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It opened in 1911 under designs by architect William Albert Swasey. The Winter Garden's current design dates to 1922, when ...

on September 19, 1935, and ran for 198 performances. The cast included

Beatrice Lillie Beatrice Gladys Lillie, Lady Peel (29 May 1894 – 20 January 1989), known as Bea Lillie, was a Canadian-born British actress, singer and comedic performer. She began to perform as a child with her mother and sister. She made her West End debu ...

, Ethel Waters,

Eleanor Powell Eleanor Torrey Powell (November 21, 1912 – February 11, 1982) was an American dancer and actress. Best remembered for her tap dance numbers in musical films in the 1930s and 1940s, she was one of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's top dancing stars duri ...

, Reginald Gardiner and Eddie Foy Jr. This was the first Broadway musical directed by

Vincente Minnelli Vincente Minnelli (born Lester Anthony Minnelli; February 28, 1903 – July 25, 1986) was an American stage director and film director. He directed the classic movie musicals ''Meet Me in St. Louis'' (1944), ''An American in Paris'' (1951), ''Th ...

i. Knight's play ''Run Sheep Run'' opened on Broadway in 1938 with a cast that included

William Bendix William Bendix (January 14, 1906 – December 14, 1964) was an American film, radio, and television actor, who typically played rough, blue-collar characters. He is best remembered for his role in ''Wake Island'', which earned him an Academy ...

and Dick Van Patten. The comedy closed after 12 days.

Knight and daytime drama

In 1941, he created and scripted the

radio serial Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine t ...

, ''A House in the Country'', about city couple Joan and Bruce attempting to adapt to country life. It aired on the Blue Network weekday mornings from October 6, 1941 to October 28, 1942. Knight took the role of a shopkeeper on the program. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Knight was the national production manager for

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 ...

. He was a contributor to '' Woman's Day'' and other magazines. In the early 1950s, he wrote for Bob Elliott and

Ray Goulding Raymond Walter Goulding (March 20, 1922 – March 24, 1990) was an American comedian, who, together with Bob Elliott formed the comedy duo of Bob and Ray. He was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, the fourth of five children of Thomas Goulding, a ...

's ''

Bob and Ray Bob and Ray were an American comedy duo whose career spanned five decades, composed of comedians Bob Elliott (1923–2016) and Ray Goulding (1922–1990). The duo's format was typically to satirize the medium in which they were performing, such ...

'' show. In 1953, he died on his birthday, February 12. In 1954, Bob Elliott married Knight's widow, Lee (they had three children together, including

Chris Elliott Christopher Nash Elliott (born May 31, 1960) is an American actor, comedian and writer. He appeared in comedic sketches on '' Late Night with David Letterman'' (1982–1988), created and starred in the comedy series '' Get a Life'' (1990–1992) ...

), creating a comedic lineage that spans across three centuries and four generations, from Raymond Knight and Bob Elliott to

and his daughter, Abby Elliott. Raymond Knight's star 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 ...

is located at 6130 Hollywood Boulevard.

References

Listen to

''The Raymond Knight Cuckoo Hour'' (February 14, 1937)

External links