JANET WALDO SET FOR MARCH 10 MEETING AT MID-VALLEY LIBRARY ...sperdvac.com/radiogram/radiogram201203.pdf · JANET WALDO SET FOR MARCH 10 MEETING AT MID-VALLEY LIBRARY IN NORTH HILLS

March 2012Volume 36 • Number 12

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JANET WALDO SET FOR MARCH 10 MEETING AT MID-VALLEY LIBRARY IN NORTH HILLS

2 sperdvacRADIOGRAM • MARCH 2012

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THANK Y

OU

• ALICE AKINS in memory of Glen Akins• DAVE AMAREL in memory of Jim

Harmon• ARTHUR J.M. ANDERSON in memory

of Orson Welles• ERIC BAELEN• JUDIE BARTELL in memory of Harry

Bartell, Ben Wright and Vic Perrin• PAUL M. BENNETT• FRED BONDY in memory of the whole

Gunsmoke gang• GEORGE BRECKENRIDGE• DAVID & LINDA BRENINGER• BUD BRESNAHAN in memory of Rich-

ard Crenna• RICHARD A. BROCKELMAN• DENNIS B. BURK in memory of Phil

Harper• CHRIS M. BUZZARD• RICHARD CHANDLEE in memory of

Truda Marsen Chandlee• GEROLD M. CLEMENSEN• WARD L. COCHRAN• BERT H. COHEN• RICHARD F. COLAVECHIO in memory

of Bryna Raeburn, Craig McDonnell, Bill Zuckert and Florence Robinson

• JOHN COLLINS• THOMAS W. COLLINS in memory of

William Conrad• TOMMY COOK in memory of Arch

Oboler• IVAN CURY in memory of Bob Novak• DIX DAVIS• LLOYD DE LLAMAS• ROSEMARY DOBBS• JUNE FORAY DONAVAN in memory of

Hobart Donavan• WIL DUFOUR• BOB DUNCAN, JR.• HERB ELLIS in memory of Larry Dob-

kin, Harry Bartell and Parley Baer• JAY ELZWEIG in honor of the Long

Island Radio & TV Historical Society, John “The Movie Man” Carpenter, Eddie “The Old Philosopher” Lawrence and in memory of Norman Corwin

• HENRY C. ENGELHARDT III in memory of Michael Meredith

• CARMEN FINESTRA• ART FORSTER in memory of Gil Strat-

ton and William Conrad• JACK FRANCE• BARBARA FULLER in memory of John

Newland, Peggy Knudsen and Laughter• JACK GAGNE• BARRY GERBER• STANLEY D. GINSBURG• RICHARD GLASBAND in honor of Bobb

Lynes and Barbara Watkins• KATHLEEN GRAMS-GIBBS in memory of

Mary Grams• JOHN F. HALLEY• HELPING HANDS FOR THE BLIND• BOB HICKS• GORDON HIGBEE• DR. MICHELE HILMES• STEPHEN E. HOLDEN• GERALD A. HOLZMAN• JAMES F. HORNER in memory of The KNX

Radio Drama Hour• SEAMAN JACOBS in memory of Fred S.

Fox• ROBERT JANOVICI• SALLY JANUS• DENNIS C. JOHNSON• RALPH M. JOHNSON• SAM KAMLER• CASEY KASEM• GLENDA KELLY in memory of Stuart

Lubin• NILAN L. KINCAID• ALBERT J. KOPEC• DENIS KRAY in memory of Glenn, Ray,

Marion, Tex, and all the boys in the band• RON LANGSETH• JEFFREY J. LEBRUN in memory of all

departed voice artists• ALFRED LUCAS• LON McCARTT in memory of Smilin’ Ed

(Froggy the Gremlin) McConnell• ROBY & JOYCE McHONE• ESTHER GEDDES McVEY in memory of

my leading man, Tyler McVey• JAN MERLIN in memory of Frankie

Thomas and Mona Bruns Thomas• MILLIE MORSE in memory of Jim Har-

mon• BOB MOTT to all the SFX artists when

radio was still radio• GEORGE (BOB) & VIRGINIA NEWHART in

memory of Bill Quinn• DR. WAYNE OTT• FORREST F. OWEN• GARRY PAPERS• DAVE PARKER in memory of Fred Foy• PHIL PROCTOR• LEE SMITH

• BRIAN E. RAMSEY• CHESTER RAWSKI in memory of Car-

rolyn Rawski• MARIE RAYMOND• RONALD M. REISNER, M.D.• DICK RICHARDS• D.W. RICHARDSON• STEPHEN K. SHUTTLEWORTH• STUART & JANIS SIMON• CHUCK SIVERTSEN• LOREN SLAFER• KENNETH L. SLEEPER• LEE SMITH• MICKEY SMITH• C. W. STAUFENBERG in memory of Paul

Rhymer and members of the “Vic and Sade” cast

• RICHARD STONE• ROBERT A. SUMMERS• JON D. SWARTZ• RICHARD & MADELENE TEPERSON in

memory of Gil Stratton• JOAN TREMAYNE in memory of Les

Tremayne• EDMUND TOTMAN• EUGENE J. WARD• WASHINGTON OLD TIME RADIO CLUB

in memory of Jim Harmon• EDWARD C. WEAVER• BETSY L. WEINBERG• LESLIE C. WEST• JAMES C. WORDEN

sperdvac 3MARCH 2012 • RADIOGRAM

BOARD OF DIRECTORSpresident

Bob Steinmetz• • •

Dan Haefele • Dave StruthersRex Quinn • Glenda Kelly

Barbara Harmon

Editor

PATRICK LUCANIORADIOGRAM is published monthly except December by sperdvac, the Society to Preserve and Encourage Radio Drama, Variety and Comedy, a California nonprofit public benefit corporation, P.O. Box 669, Manhattan Beach, Cali-fornia 90266-0669. Dues are $25 for first year and $15 for renewals; $30 American currency for Canadian members. Annual subscriptions to Radiogram only are $15 in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, and $20 in all other countries. Edito-rial submissions are welcome, but the publisher assumes no responsibility for the return of unsolicited material. All editorial-related photographs and artwork received unsolic-ited become the property of sperdvac. Opinions expressed are not necessarily the opinions of sperdvac All rights to letters sent to Radiogram will be treated as uncondition-ally assigned for publication unless otherwise stated. The publishers make every effort to ensure the accuracy of information published in editorial and advertising material but assume no responsibility for inconveniences or damages resulting from editorial error or omissions. Publisher is not responsible for typographical errors. All photographs and illustrations are believed authorized for reproduction as set forth within. Entire contents are copyright © 2012 by the Society to Preserve and Encourage Radio Drama, Variety and Comedy. All rights reserved. Nothing contained in this issue may be reproduced, in whole or in part, by any means, including the Internet, without prior written permission from the publisher.

EDITORIAL SUBMISSIONS should be sent to Radiogram, Patrick Lucanio, Editor, 1097 Janus Street, Springfield, Oregon 97477; e-mail: [email protected]. E-mail attachments in Microsoft Word are encouraged for all articles submitted. Articles sent by U.S. Mail should be Microsoft Word formatted compact disk accompanied by hardcopy.

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Volume 36 • Number 12 • March 2012

OfficersTreasurer ....................................................... Dan HaefeleSecretary .......................................................Glenda KellyActivities Chair ................................................Bobb LynesAcquisitions Chair ......................................... Dan HaefeleMembership Chair ........................................ Barry OpligerElections Chair ........................................... Neil J. MitchellMerchandise ..................................................Michael PlettCatalogs .....................................................Bob SteinmetzNew Members .................................................. Rex Quinn

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The Society toPreserve and Encourage

Radio Drama, Variety and Comedy

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OUne of the frustrating aspects of old-time radio is the loss of so much history. True, complete or almost complete runs exist

of some popular series and occasionally old transcriptions re-surface bringing the dead back to life. Unfortunately, many series lan-guish in dusty obscurity with barely an audible whisper to remind us that they once graced the airwaves. The idea behind this column has always been to shine a bit of light on a few of the more dimly remembered personalities and events from radio’s past.

A short while ago an article appeared in Radiogram chronicling the formation and dissolution of the Progressive Broadcasting System. Supposedly not a single recorded example of any PBS show survives. That is one of the definitions of frustration for any fan of otr.

In the current issue of this publication is an account of the exploits of Jack Ramshaw, the golden eagle—literally. Included in that article is a passing reference to an appearance by the celebrated bird on Hobby Lobby. Hobby Lobby constitutes yet another definition of frustration for otr enthusiasts.

Not only has Mr. Ramshaw’s appearance on Hobby Lobby been lost but little survives to remind us that for much of a 13-year period this weekly program even existed. Lost also is the week that Eleanor Roosevelt took over hosting duties in the absence of the show’s creator-host, Dave Elman. Aside from John Dunning’s insightful 300-word account, a couple of episodes in common circulation and a few yellowed newspaper clippings, little else remains.

Dave Elman, the guiding force behind Hobby Lobby, represents just one of the many overlooked stories from otr’s past. Born in Park River, ND, on May 6, 1900, Elman hit the vaudeville circuit while still in his teens. He tried his hand variously as a musician, comic and hypnotist. In the 1920s, Elman moved on to write songs with W.C. Handy in addition to playing jazz saxophone profes-sionally.

Radio appeared and offered one more venue for Elman to test his talent and ideas. In the midst of the Depression, millions of Americans had turned to hobbies as a means of taking their minds briefly off their worries.

For instance, it was well known that President Roosevelt was an avid stamp collector. Elman came up with the idea of a weekly human-interest program highlighting the multitude of hobbies and hobbyists across the nation and the result was Hobby Lobby, which went on the air as a sustainer on May 18, 1937, carried over WOR-Mutual. The new show quickly picked up Hudson Automobiles as sponsor and moved to CBS where the new show began to build an audience. The following year El-man and Hobby Lobby filled in as a summer replacement for The Jack Benny Program and generated more success and attention.

As such Elman was dubbed variously as “The Dean of American Hobbyists” and as “The Man of 100,000 Hobbies.” He was receiving 3000 letters a week from people requesting to appear on Hobby Lobby.

It is a little publicized story but apparently even a few Nazis wanted to appear on Hobby Lobby. According to an account recorded in later years by family friend Martin Segal, the FBI contacted Elman during the war with a dire warning. Nazis were going to try out for Hobby Lobby. The plan was for fifth columnists to appear as guests on the show and then bury coded messages in their inter-view comments. Elman and his family were surreptitiously placed under FBI protection after a number of death threats were received against Dave and his family.

Hobby Lobby left the airwaves for good in the summer of 1950. By then Elman was ready to turn his career in an entirely new and unique direction. He had always been interested in hypnotism. As a small boy he had watched as his father had been hypnotized to relieve pain from the cancer that had over-taken the senior Elman. Though Dave had once used hypnotism as a vaudeville gimmick, he had continued to study and maintain an appreciation for the medical application of hypnotism in pain relief. By the mid-1950s Elman had gained a reputation as one of the leading hypnotherapists in the country, train-ing medical personnel and publishing ground-breaking works on hypnotism in medicine.

By the time of Elman’s death on December 5, 1967, his radio efforts had been all but eclipsed by his work in hypnosis.[

Dave Elman:From Hobbyist to Hypnotist


For just $3.07 (the price of postage) we’ll send 20 cassettes to any SPERD-VAC member. You can re-quest specific shows and if we cannot fill your re-quest we’ll send you simi-lar shows. Send your re-quests to:

SperdvacP.O.Box 669

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Be sure to include your membership number


Actress and voice artist Janet Waldo, known to otr fans as Miss Corliss Archer and TV animation fans as Judy Jetson, will be sperdvac’s special guest March 10 at its monthly meeting at the Mid-Valley Regional Library in North Hills.

Janet, longtime sperdvac friend, is noted for her distinct voice talents. She had ap-peared in countless radio programs begin-ning with Lux Radio Theatre and continu-ing through such diverse programming as

Favorite Story, The Red Skelton Show, People Are Funny, Four-Star Playhouse, Big Town, and One Man’s Family. But she’s noted for portraying the lead in the CBS sitcom Meet Corliss Archer, in which she played a “typical” American teenager, a role that she repeated in other programs including a co-starring role with Jimmy Lydon in the sitcom Young Love. Janet also played the recurring role of Emmy Lou in The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, which included several on-screen appearances as Emmy Lou in the television incarnation.

Fans of I Love Lucy will also recognize Janet as Peggy, the teenage girl smitten with Ricky Ricardo. Richard Crenna appeared as her “immature” boyfriend.

Janet’s vocal talents can also be heard on many animation series including Shazzan, The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show,The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan, Thundarr the Barbarian and Wacky Racers. But she is best known as the voice of Judy Jetson in the Hanna Bar-bera production of The Jetsons, a knock off of their own Flintstones

program set in the far distant future. In addition, she was the voice of Josie in the cult favorite Josie and the Pussycats.

Although known for here voice talents Janet had also appeared in front of the camera costarring with Anthony Franciosa in Valentine’s Day. She also appeared in The Andy Griffith Show, The Lucy Show, and several Tim Holt westerns.

Janet is still heard on radio in Focus on the Family’s Adventures in Odyssey as Joanne Allen.

For trivia fans, Janet dubbed the voices of Danish actresses Ann Smyrner and Mimi Heinrich for the English-language release of the science fiction film Reptilicus.

The meeting begins at noon and is free and open to the public. The Mid-Valley library is located at 16244 Nordhoff Street in North Hills.

Janet Waldo Set for March 10 Meeting

‘Quiz Kid’ Robert Easton DiesRobert Easton, known as the Henry Higgins of Hollywood, died

December 16. He was 88.At age 14 he appeared in the radio’s Quiz Kids

which led to many dramatic roles on other radio series. He transitioned to television and usually ap-peared as a hayseed in such fare as Gunsmoke, I Love Lucy, My Little Margie and Burns and Allen. In order to escape typecasting, he once said, he studied lan-guages and phonetics including a stint at University College in London. He returned to Hollywood and became a dialect coach. Reportedly, he had mastered 200 dialects that included re-gional and sociological accents.


Anyone would agree that one of the finest actresses of radio’s golden years was Lurene Tuttle. She was also one of the busiest, playing in movies and TV along with continuing radio roles like Effie Perrine, secretary to detective Sam Spade.

As a matter of fact, in the spring of 1949 Lurene was forced to spend some time in the hospital. Her 19-year-old daughter, Barbara, took

over as Sam’s secretary, Buffy, and filled his office with the joy of youth. Barbara Ruick, born in 1930, was the daughter of Lurene and her husband, Melville Ruick. He was an

actor and for some time was the announcer on Lux Radio Theatre. Lurene was cast in movies like Mr. Blandings Builds his Dream House, Sweet Smell of Success, The Fortune Cookie, and

Psycho. On TV, she acted on Pete and Gladys, Julia, I Love Lucy. The Beverly Hillbillies, Little House on the Prairie, and St. Elsewhere.

House parties were a way of life in the Hollywood Hills with movie and TV people spending scads of money to impress each other and work on big deals. The hosts always provided entertainment, often just a good pianist who could play any song requested. One of these was a young jazz pianist named Johnny Williams. Born in Queens in 1932, he came from a musical family. His father was the drummer in many New York radio studio bands.

Williams and Barbara Ruick were married while Barbara, who was a real dish, was in the middle of her own showbiz career. She was in movies like Invitation, The Bandwagon, and The Affairs of Dobie Gillis. She also was a talented dancer. Barbara suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and died on March 3, 1974. Williams was left alone after 18 years of marriage to raise their three children. He re-married in 1980.

In his career, John Williams, working mainly with producer-director Steven Spielberg, has scored numer-ous films including the memorable themes from Jaws and Star Wars as well as Superman and E.T John Williams has been nominated for 27 Academy Awards and has won five, plus all the awards and honors a film composer can gather. His stint as conductor of the Boston Pops brought more achievements. He seemed to be enjoying that gig when I saw him conduct a concert in Symphony Hall in Boston.

Between her movie and TV assignments, Lurene Tuttle tutored young actors and sharpened their skills. Actress Helen Hunt won an Academy Award in 1997 for her work in the movie As Good as it Gets. In her ac-ceptance speech, she graciously credited Lurene Tuttle for helping her become a better actress.

Tuttle died in 1986 at the age of 79.[

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK

Above, Lurene Tuttle in a nasty snit during a CBS radio produc-tion with sound effects man applying the right effect, and, right, John Williams and Barbara Ruick in a happy moment.

by Bill Ryan




Knight managed Mr. Ramshaw’s release from the London Zoo and the two began a partnership that would span almost 30 years. Soon after teaming up with Mr. Ramshaw, Knight began the slow and laborious proce-dure of teaching Mr. Ramshaw the ancient art of falconry. Only a small number of eagles had ever been successfully trained in the art of falconry. Charles Knight was determined that Mr. Ramshaw would be counted among the few.

Ramshaw received his name when Knight’s daughter, Jean, offered her opinion that the eagle closely resembled a family acquaintance, Mrs. Ramshaw. The golden eagle thereafter became Mr. Jack Ramshaw. The partnership between Knight and Ramshaw would stretch through the ensuing years to include lectures, books, films, radio appearances as well as a remarkable personal friendship.

Fred Allen had read in the New Yorker magazine that Captain Charles Knight and Mr. Ramshaw were in New York for one of their frequent lecture tours. Allen arranged to meet them at their hotel. The three enter-tainers seemed to hit it off well enough and the Captain and Mr. Ramshaw were invited to appear on Fred’s Sal Hepatica Revue on March 20, 1940. There was no reason to think that the appearance would be anything but a routine one. Just prior to appearing on Al-len’s show, Captain Knight and Mr. Ramshaw had appeared on Hobby Lobby alongside host Don Elman without incident.

At rehearsal everything went smoothly

enough. Fred and the Captain engaged in a lengthy bit of banter about eagles in general and Mr. Ramshaw in particular. All the time Mr. Ramshaw would be perched politely on Captain Knight’s wrist. As a finale to their appearance, Fred thought it would be a fine thing for Mr. Ramshaw to take a short flight around the studio, demonstrate his impressive wing-spread for the audience and then come in for a landing on top of the bandstand. They tried it several times during rehearsal without any sign of a problem. During the actual broadcast, however, matters did not fare so well. When it came time for Mr. Ramshaw’s flight the eagle took wing on cue but once in the air he became disoriented. Allen surmised in Treadmill to Oblivion that the glare from the orchestra’s brass section confused the eagle and he couldn’t locate the bandstand. As a

consequence, Mr. Ramshaw began clawing wildly in the air. Part of the audience was screaming, part laughing and Captain Knight began running about the stage excitedly try-ing to coax Mr. Ramshaw back to earth. Mr. Ramshaw, in the meantime, had found it necessary to relieve himself, nearly missing one of Fred’s other guests seated on the stage. Eventually, the frightened eagle found a spot to perch close to the ceiling and refused to come down. Listeners were initially alerted to the unscripted behavior of Mr. Ramshaw when Allen was heard to ask Captain Knight how he planned to get the eagle down. The Captain could be heard off mike explaining that he would try and entice Mr. Ramshaw with a nice juicy steak.

Since the show must go on, it did—in cha-otic fashion. With the audience focused on

MR. JACK RAMSHAW—bon vivant, lecturer and world traveler—appeared as a guest on Fred Allen’s radio show on two separate occa-

sions in the company of his friend and fellow lecturer, Captain Charles William Robert Knight. The two chums first met at the London Zoo

in the late 1920s where Mr. Ramshaw was residing as a guest of the management. Mr. Ramshaw was, in point of fact, literally a golden

eagle (Aquila chysaetos) and Captain Knight a renowned naturalist, photographer, lecturer and writer specializing in falconry. Knight’s

rank of Captain had been duly earned through service in the 1914-18 war in which he saw duty as a sniper. Knight had operated on

fronts ranging from Ypres to Messines Ridge to the Somme, in the process collecting an impressive number of decorations and awards.

Mr. Ramshaw’s notable career lay entirely before him at the time of their introduction.


Mr. Ramshaw and Captain Knight’s futile ef-forts to entice him down from his perch, Fred and his cast valiantly tried to continue with the show. But Mr. Ramshaw became the undis-puted center of attention throughout most of the remaining program. Listeners began to get the drift of the on-stage confusion through a steady stream of ongoing ad-libs from Fred and the hysterical laughter erupting from the studio audience as the show continued.

L’affaire eagle, as Allen came to refer to the episode, did allow Fred the opportunity to demonstrate his prowess with an ad-lib. The demonstration began immediately after Mr. Ramshaw strayed off course and con-tinued for much of the remaining show with quipping intermittently with such oneliners as “Mr. Ramshaw is up there, but with his back turned to the program I guess he’s seen all that interests him..” He continued with: This is apt to be a half hour program tonight; all we need now is Mr. Ramshaw to make his own station break; while Captain Knight is go-ing to borrow a cow to get Mr. Ramshaw down, Miss Wynn Murray will attempt to sing “When Love Beckons on 52nd Street;” we will get Mr. Ramshaw down. We just phoned to book a steeplejack for next week.

Even Harry Von Zell got into the act dur-ing delivery of the Sal Hepatica commercial, claiming that the eagle had so upset him that

he couldn’t remember the name of the prod-uct that he was supposed to promote.

In the Question of the Week portion of the show, three members of the audience were routinely picked each week to be interviewed by Allen. That week, one of Fred’s guests, Milton Evans, was unexpectedly inter-rupted in the middle of an answer by fren-zied laughter from the audience. That segment of the show came to an abrupt end. It was once more left to Allen to ex-plain things to listen-ers at home. The stu-dio audience, privy to what was happening in the rafters, needed no explanation from Allen but those lis-tening in their living rooms were enter-tained by Fred:

The eagle has come to life. Mr. Evans, I want to congratulate you. You are the first one to get a rise out of the eagle since he got up there. I think that as long as the eagle is

a bird of prey that we had better discontinue the question and start praying. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to get to the question tonight. We have a loose eagle in the studio. Mr. Rockefeller is hurriedly building a lot of ad-lib exits here. Captain Knight was back there with a minute steak a little while ago but it was too well done and the eagle sent it back. Now he just arrived with the proper steak and I can assure you Captain Knight has the eagle or vise versa. Meanwhile, we have no question on the show. We did have a question: were we going to get out of here alive?

Mr. Ramshaw did descend from the raf-ters before the end of the broadcast and was rewarded with the promised steak. Surpris-ingly, under the circumstances and all the ad-libbing, the program ended on time without being cut off abruptly as was sometimes the habit with an Allen performance. The next hurdle was the West Coast broadcast that was to follow in three hours time. It was a given that Mr. Ramshaw would be grounded for that show and events unfolded in a more predictable and less tumultuous fashion this time around. The West Coast audience had reason to feel slighted.

The end of the broadcast, however, was not the end of the eagle affair. Allen had great fun with the incident, as did critics, commentators and the public at large. Other comedians naturally had a field day with the event. Al-

len’s nemesis, Jack Benny, couldn’t allow his own Sunday pro-gram to cycle through without a comment on Fred’s embarrass-ment. Said Mr. Ben-ny: “I happened to hear Mr. Allen’s pro-gram last Wednesday and I’d much rather be a straight man for Orson Welles than a perch for an eagle.”

In fact, the only voices showing signs of not taking the in-cident with good hu-mor were network of-ficials and advertising executives who were all busy taking um-

brage at the out-of-control nature of Fred’s show that particular night. Network officials and advertising executives invariably topped

Fred Allen greets his guests Captain Charles William Robert Knight and Jack Ramshaw for the second time. This time for Allen’s CBS program and this time Jack stayed perched on his master’s sleeve much to the delight of the program’s sponsors.


Allen’s list of least liked personages. Among the complainants was John F. Royal, a network func-tionary with the temerity to put his displeasure in the form of a memo, which he forwarded to Allen. Fred responded with a less than apolo-getic letter of his own, which he reprinted in its entirety in Treadmill to Oblivion. To quote from Allen’s reply:

“Toscannini , your house man, has foisted some movements on ra-dio audiences in 8-H, the Bulova Company has praised its movement over your network facilities, but when Radio City is being torn down to make way for another parking lot, the one movement that will be recalled will be the eagle’s movement on Wednesday last.”

In conclusion, Allen threatened to sign Sabu and his elephant for an interview seg-ment on an upcoming broadcast.

Mr. Ramshaw seemed none the worse for the experience. This was not the first time Ramshaw had taken an unauthorized flight. During a previous stay in New York, Mr. Ramshaw somehow managed to slip his chains on the rooftop of the Gotham Hotel and took off for a sightseeing trip of his own. The Captain last spotted Ramshaw in the distance circling over Radio City. Knight reported the disappearance to the police and an all-points-bulletin was issued for one Jack Ramshaw: eleven pounds, five-foot eleven-inch wingspread. An alert policeman eventu-ally spotted Mr. Ramshaw riding on top of a taxi headed up Madison Avenue.

After the Fred Allen Show fiasco, Ram-shaw and the Captain forged ahead with their lecture tour as if nothing untoward had taken place and eventually returned home on schedule. As summer was about to turn to fall that same year, Knight and Ramshaw were preparing to return to the United States for yet another lecture tour. The “Twilight War,” as Churchill had described the opening days of World War II, had now given way to the all-out ferocity of the Battle of Britain.

Undeterred by the dan-ger of cruising the Atlan-tic in wartime, the two companions set out for Liverpool from which point they would board a Dutch liner, the Volen-dam, for the crossing to New York. Three days out to sea and suddenly things went quite wrong for the Captain, his eagle as well as the passengers and crew of the Volen-dam. A large explosion rocked the ship; either the ship had struck a mine or a torpedo had

found its target; reports varied. The order was given to abandon ship. Captain Knight refused to leave, thinking the ship wasn’t that badly hit and that he could save Mr. Ram-shaw. Under protest, Knight was ordered off the damaged ship by the Volendam’s captain. Knight departed in the last available lifeboat without Mr. Ramshaw. The survivors were rescued by a British destroyer two hours later and ultimately set ashore in Scotland. A dejected Captain Knight returned home as-suming that he would never see his old friend Jack Ramshaw again.

Soon after he reached home, however, Knight received notice that the Volen-dam had not sunk after all; the ship had beached at the entrance to a Scottish river.

Knight wasted no time in

hurrying to the damaged ship and to his sur-prise and joy discovered that Mr. Ramshaw, despite being rather wet and bedraggled in the leaking ship’s cargo hold, was alive and well.

Undeterred by this minor setback, Knight and Ramshaw revised their plans and pro-ceeded to again hit the lecture circuit in America. They caught another Dutch ves-sel and arrived without incident this time, a bit off schedule but determined. Here Mr. Ramshaw’s second guest appearance on The Fred Allen Show comes in. By the Fall of 1940, Allen was back on the air with a new Sponsor, Texaco gasoline and a new network, CBS. Once again Allen heard of Captain Knight and Mr. Ramshaw’s arrival in New York and once again Allen thought it would be a fine thing to invite the pair to appear on the radio. Mr. Ramshaw’s harrowing experiences, cou-pled with all the attention garnered from his first appearance eight months before, held the allure of a large audience and an equally large Hooper rating. This second appearance was slated for Wednesday, November 20, 1940.

In anticipation of Mr. Ramshaw’s imminent return to the microphone, Fred and Portland were busy making preemptive remarks warn-ing the audience of the unspoken possibilities:

Portland: Hello Mr. Allen and goodbye.Fred: Hey, now wait a minute. You’re not

leaving already, Portland?Portland: Well, I’m frightened.Fred: Frightened? Why?Portland: There’s a big bird outside with a

man under it.Fred: Well, that’s Mr. Ramshaw the eagle.Portland: That same bird who last year…?

Fred: Yes, the eagle who’s o u r

Mr. Ramshaw gets screen credit in the 1955 British production Wee Geordie.


guest again tonight.Portland: Goodbye, Mr. Allen!Fred: And as Portland flees, ladies and

gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to in-troduce an old friend, rather two old friends, Captain Charles Knight and his famous eagle, Mr. Ramshaw.

Fred began the conversation with predict-able references to Mr. Ramshaw’s last visit to the microphone, segued into jokes about Mr. Ramshaw looking at Allen as if he were hungry and sizing the comedian up as possible bird food. Then there were more jokes about Ramshaw’s last visit. Knight’s own droll sense of humor and practiced delivery sharpened in lecture halls around the world played well on radio. The give and take between Allen and Knight was smooth and well rehearsed.

The principal reason Allen had invited Knight and Ramshaw back on the show was to recount their recent extraordinary experiences at sea. With characteristic un-derstatement Captain Knight outlined their misadventures at sea, which had already been incorporated into their lecture circuit routine. Knight retold the story of how the Dutch liner had been bit, of being forced to abandon ship without Mr. Ramshaw, of learning that the ship had not sunk after all and finally locating Mr. Ramshaw still aboard safe and well and their joyous reunion. As Knight explained to Fred, “For the first time in his life the old blighter was happy to see me.”

This time Allen refrained from suggest-ing that Mr. Ramshaw take a fight around the studio. Instead, everyone, including Mr. Ramshaw, stuck to the script without incident.

Radio actually proved to be one of Jack Ramshaw’s lesser accomplishments even though it became the most remembered as-pect of a many-faceted career. In collusion with Captain Knight, Ramshaw’s life was chronicled in a series of books, magazine articles and films going back to the 1930s. In 1936, for example, Knight penned the biographical The Adventures of Mr. Ramshaw the Eagle (Dodd, Mead & Company). By then Mr. Ramshaw was also being featured regularly in a series of wildlife films turned out for both lecture and general audiences. Ramshaw’s close brush with death served as the basis for the 1943 volume All British Eagle: The War-Time adventures of Captain C.W.R. Knight’s World-Famous Golden Eagle—Mr. Ramshaw (Hodder & Stoughton). Also in 1943, a film based on those same experiences, Mr. Ramshaw Battles the Blitz, was released

to audiences.A reader only had to turn as far as the first

paragraph in the preface to All British Eagle to get a glimpse of the close bond that existed between Captain Knight and Mr. Ramshaw:

“There can never be another Mr. Ram-shaw. What a personality; what poise; what dignity! And how tremendously alive he is! Nothing seems to escape his crystal-clear eyes—or for that matter—his keen ears. I have only to peep round the door at him, and at once, that sleek head and those searching eyes will be turned expectantly in my direction.”One of Jack Ramshaw’s last appearances

was as “The Eagle” in the 1955 British produc-tion Wee Geordie (UK title: Geordie) in which he received screen credit in the closing titles as “Mr. Ramshaw,” a most respectable nod to an extraordinary performer.

By the time of the film’s release, however, Charles Knight was in declining health. Re-luctantly, he began considering arrangements for Mr. Ramshaw’s future care. It was decided that Mr. Ramshaw’s new home would be the Detroit Zoo. Ramshaw’s final trip from his home in Kent to the United States took place in October 1956. His residency in Detroit sadly proved a brief one; on February 1, 1957, Mr. Ramshaw died. Captain Charles William Robert Knight died on May 19 that same year.

Ramshaw and Knight on the Fred Allen program—one of the great partnerships of a bygone era—amounted to more than one out-of-control comedy broadcast. Back in the day, the team of Ramshaw and Knight logged more than 250,000 miles educating as well as entertaining audiences during times of peace and war.

All in all not a mean accomplishment for any partnership.[

Frame enlargement shows Mr. Ramshaw in action in the opening sequence from the 1955 British production of Wee Geordie. One might say that Mr. Ramshaw shared billing with Alistair Sim and Bill Travers.

YOU’LL BE

BY BLACKSTONE’S

AMAZING MYSTERIES OF

• THE FROZEN

LADY

• THE TALKING

SKULL

•THE VOODOO

TREASURE

GENERAL CATALOGREELS 58 THRU 60

sperdvac


March 10JANET WALDO

May 12

September 8 • October 13ALL MEETINGS ARE SATURDAYS

12 NOON TO 2AT THE MID-VALLEY REGIONAL LIBRARY

16244 Nordhoff Street • North Hills

While a majority of the air’s luminaries are apparently quite indiffer ent as to which show takes over while they vacation believing that an announcement of their return will suffice to have their fans again dial them in, Ralph Edwards Truth Or Consequences are talking no chance.

Closing up shop for a two-month period, Edwards, on his adieu broadcast of July 5, selected from the studio audience Albert and Betty Anderson, a young Los Angeles couple whom he’s sent off on one of the wildest treasure hunts ever concocted. The Andersons have two months to collect their list of ten items and will report back to emcee Ralph Edwards when T Or C returns to the air Sept 6. Now, here’s a list of the items which Albert and Betty must collect, and the prizes they will win if they succeed:

1. A cigar, partly smoked by Winston Churchill. Prize—a washer.

2. A band from a hat worn by former Mayor LaGuardia of New York City. Prize—a com-plete man’s wardrobe.

3. A hair from Jack Benny’s toupee. Prize—a diamond ring.

4. A salt cellar from Senator Pep per of Florida. Prize—a vacuum cleaner.

5. A hambone autographed by vegetarian George Bernard Shaw. Prize—a radio pho-nograph combination.

6. A shilling or twenty-five cent piece contributed by Scotsman Sir Harry Lauder. Prize—two wrist watches.

7. A copy of the Missouri Waltz, auto-graphed by President Truman and Senator Taft. Prize—a gas refrigerator.

8. One of former President Her bert Hoover’s collars, autographed. Prize—a gas range.

9. A hair from the eyebrow of John L. Lewis. Prize—a 12-piece set of Sterling silver.

10. A portion of a sheet worn by Mahatma Gandhi, and autographed by him. Prize—a home freezer filled with frozen foods.

Yes, this Edwards lad is taking no chances on having no audience when he gets another

zany season under way next Sept. 6.

“I’ve been listening to the new Wendy Warren show and am almost certain that 1 recognize the voice as one I hear on an-other show. Could you please inform me through your column. I’d appreciate it very much,” writes Mrs. Alice VanVelzer of Portland, Me.

This new series, a combination of news and drama over the CBS net work, stars Florence Freeman, one of radio’s best-known actresses. At one time or other, she’s appeared on just about all of the daytime serials and is heard regularly as the lead on Young Widder Brown. Florence en tered radio back in 1933 after a brief career in summer stock and although married and the mother of two young daughters, she still finds time to carry out one of the heaviest sched ules in radio today.

Mrs. Watkins writes: “Can you tell me

if Sally Flowers is still on the air and what has become of Ed East and Polly? I enjoyed them so much.”

Sorry that we’re unable to supply an answer to your first question as we have no informa-tion as to the whereabouts or present activities of Miss Flowers. I believe, however, that she is not on a network series at this time or our files would contain some record.

Ed East and his wife. Polly. have been in Hollywood now for several months. They’re on the air but are heard only over a small West Coast network in an audience-participation show. Present plans do not call for any expan-sion of listener coverage so I am afraid it may be some time before you’ll be hearing them again in this part of the country.

“What has become of the pro gram Af-fairs of Ann Scotland, and is Arlene Fran-cis still on the air?” asks H. M. Petersen. Augusta, Me.

This series had rather a short run over ABC during the past Winter. Canceled out

OLD NEWS IS GOOD NEWS

Portland Press Herald • Portland, ME • Tuesday, July 15, 1947

by the sponsor, it was continued as a sustain-ing feature by the network for several weeks and then shelved when apparently could not be resold. Arlene Francis, star of the series, does not have a regular show at the moment, but is planning a new series for a fall premiere.

If you have a question about a network personality, or radio in general, just address it to Inside Radio, Press Herald, Larchmont, New York.

WILLIAM CONRADB e n O h m a r t is working on a new book about William Conrad. Anyone who has interviews or pho-tos or who had worked with Wil-liam Conrad please contact Ben Ohmart at [email protected] or 580-252-3547. Thanks.

ADAY

INTHELIFEOF

DENNIS WRITES A RADIO SCRIPT • REEL 1124DENNIS DOES A RADIO SHOW • REEL 1126

DENNIS KEEPS THE RADIO STATION ON THE AIR • REEL 1127

SPERDVAC GENERAL CATALOG


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WANTEDAnyone who has interviews or pho-tos or who had worked with William Conrad please contact Ben Ohmart at [email protected] or 580-252-3547. Thanks.

BEATRICE LILLIE and Alec Templeton are the talented twosome who will be

Bing Crosby’s guests during his ABC broad-cast tonight at 10.

Miss Lillie, who recently became the toast of Broadway in the revue, “Inside U.S.A.,” will present a fast moving travelogue titled “Inside U.S.A.—From the Outside” and sing a flock of memorable tunes with Bing. Alec, too, in addition to playing the piano, occasion-ally will raise his voice in song.

The nostalgia-laden medley will consist of “Just One More Chance,” “Don’t Blame Me” and some English music hall songs “When Father Painted the Parlor,” “Beside the Seaside Beside the Sea,” “Lily of Laguna,” “Cocoanut Mat,” “It’s a Great Big Shyme” and “There’ll Be No War.”

7:30 p.m.—WPAY-CBS: Buddy Clark sings “Those Things Money Can’t Buy,” “The Little Old Mill” and “I’ll Dance at Your Wedding.”

8 p.m.—WPAY-CBS: “The Music of Manhattan.” Music on the program tonight will be “It’s Only Love,” “Encore, Cherie,” “Ida,” “Green Eyes,” “Deep Purple” and “That Little Dream Got Nowhere.”

DISCUSSION8:15 p.m.—Mutual: “Speak Your Mind.”

Lou H. Lindemann of Chicago states his ob-jections to some political practices.

10:30 p.m.—WPAY-CBS: Rep. Clarence J. Brown from Ohio, who is chairman of the executive committee of the Republican national committee, will face a barrage of questions from three CBS Washington newsmen on election prospects and on his stand concerning the vital issues confront-ing the nation when he is guest on “Capitol Cloakroom.”

DRAMA8:30 p.m.—WPAY-CBS: The grand prize-

winning radio play of the 1948 “Dr. Christian” annual award competition will be broadcast tonight. Jean Hersholt stars in the title role and Rosemary DeCamp plays Judy Price, his nurse and assistant.

9:30 p.m.—NBC: “Mr. District Attorney.” A blind safe cracker left on the scene of a crime by his cheating wife lead the D. A. to “The Case of the Deadly Snowflake.”

COMEDY8 p.m.—ABC: “Abbott and Costello.”

Guest Benny Rubin, in the role of a French captain of the Foreign Legion, persuades Bud and Lou to enlist. Vocal interludes are by Sue Miller accompanied by Matty Malneck’s orchestra.

From the Portsmouth, OH, Times.


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