MARCH

Posed by JESSICA. DRAGONETIE ·

COME BACKSTACE WITH EDDIE CANTOR THE ROMANCE OF OLSEN AND SHUTTA in The Stars • Numbers Handwriting • Dream Omens Your Palm Our Bargain Price

(Ss.oo Value)

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? H AV E YOU HEARD •

Maybe you never thought that Ruth Etting, that mistress of the News tit-bits and chit "sob-song," might have made a chat gleaned around grand bathing beauty. Well, folks, just look this over and see the radio studios what you think.

f •

OHTON DOW j\;E Y G E\ ) I ~Gl,~ , I{ ~I<\,~ . and and DONALD l'\()­ (J I ~.AC H , r\LU .. :\ are M VIS are feud ing over H oll y wood-hound. Two p ic­ their spots on that vVoodbury tures Il a \'e heen wri tten for air show. Maybe. by the time the111 ... ] nternational H ousc" this reaches ~ou . the shoot­ ancl "College H ulllor" a re ing will be allover. Again. their titlc ~. Thn·'ll he re­ maybe it won ·t. Mayhe thl" leased thi s surl1ll1 e~· . 1 i they i \\'0 top-flight canal'ies will reach your neighhorhood clll~ 1 still be at each oth cr';, you a re low on chl1ck les 0 1' throats. Funnv s ituatio11. g uffa\\·s. he sure to see them. isn't it? T he;'c'5 Downey. whuse voice goes clear u p t(l l~)J DELL H !\LL. the there. and Novis, whose voice W H. e c1- h e a d e (~ 1\ l u sic can do practically all of Dow­ Maker. is plaving in Chicago ney's tricks plus some of hi, over \\'1130. This news o\\·n . both on the same bill. comcs to us fr01ll a reader \'Voodbury did it. but why ~ who read our article of se\'­ Off the air, J\10rt and ])011 eral m o nth s ago ask in g a re pal s. On it-whe-e-e-e-c I "\"'here ;\re the S tars of Yestervear ?" v\'elldell. our B11 \ G: C.R 0 S B Y a n <1 in fo rt; l anl. confides. was R"CSS COLU;VJBO "dressed in a hrown suit and will resume their e5rth-shak­ it is a banjo hc plays. not a ing, ear-splitting" Battle of guita r. 1-1 e still has a mus­ the B a r itunes. j \ 5 thi, i ~ tache and 1 might add he stil l penned, they're not on thc' sl11 0kes just as much as ever, a ir. But B ing goe:; vocal fo r Chester fields early in 1933 possibl y 111 ore." Thanks. 1\Ir. Pallller . \ \' e are \'en and K13C execs are plotting to put Columbo on the spot glad to get that dope. with a sustaining pick-up. So wha1? So-o-o-o what ? So. sez B ing, Bub-buh-bllIJ-bou, bub-bllb-bub-boo. bub- l\.Aj\;K PARKER, the NBC tenor. has gone in for polo Fin a a reat big way The other ria V he "'u t a letter COll- 1mb-bull-boo .... h ... " .. . h "- taining hi s rating as a player f r ol11 the '1'olu Association. W ALTER \iVIKCH ELL lost ten pounds during his Tenderly and expectantly. he opened the letter and read broadcast on Christmas night. i\ t horne lay G lo ri a. it. H is rating. as awarded hy that very discl'tning a~~() ­ his eight-year-old daughter, whom he idoli zed, ver}:, ·very ciation. was a gTeat big zero. Uo VOll SltppOse Frank iii. \ \ 'alter went to the studio and w ise-cracked. gagged will go in for ping-polig now or tennis C O r .wi ll hl' a nd clow11ed th rough a mi lc-a-mi11ute p rogram. 1\ few assert hi s stick-to-itive ness and kcep un at polo C homs a fter he returned home, Glori a died. O W ELl" THO;\I.,\S. news conversationalist and glohl'­ T()()I':\ :\GLE and BUDD are the only two " nati ve" L gi rdler. has Illo\"ed his oAice. It was in the Elllpire S air c01ll edians who can l11easure up to the buffooneries ~tate Building on F ifth :\\,enul'. YOU kno\\ . But its hal b () f thc Cantur- I 'earl-.13enny stage stars. Stoopna,glc and gut cluttered up. People. learning that he \\"a~ in thl' Budd. now audible on the I>ontiac perf O r1ll a11Ce~ each bu ilding. canle up tn shake hand ~ . . \ s a result. Tholllas Thur~dav. h,1\'e ilwented their OW11 sort of humor. Thc\' had to sh;ll

• C OM E BACKSTAGE w I T H. E D D I E Have you ever wondered how Eddie looks as he broad­ casts for those Chase and Sanborn hours? Here's your chance to find out what the entire broadcast IS like C A NTO R·

By OGDEN • M E R ... •• .

(Below) James Wallington, the an­ nouncer for the Chase and Sanborn program and the chap who wisecracks with Eddie Cantor. 'Tis said the two of them may go into a show this spring. (Right) Wallington again and Eddie at the mike during a broadcast.

ET out your hotcha hats and c~onskin ~oats ~nd Another view of the stage during the actual broadcast. Yes, that's G button yourself into ~ load. of JO):. We re gOIng Rubinoff on the dais leading the orchestra. Evidently Eddie is nervous partying. folks; partyll1g .wlth ~ddle Cantor. at those broadcasts for you'll notice he has his collar unbuttoned ill Tonight Eddie is host. He IS taktng us backstage to both pictures. Or maybe it was just more comfortable. a Chase a'nel Sanborn broadcast. \\Te' ll see Wal1i:1gton. Rubinoff and all the other unmasked marvels of thIs gay O'uy's pr;gram. Are you ready) Le~'s go! Whe-e-:-e-e-~ 1 b We're at the T imes Square studIOS of the N.BC. It IS And here comes Jimmie \Vallington, with two ladies. he talked to her on the phone and she said, "waah." a little theatre perched in the top of a 42nd Street sky­ Dark-as night, six feet high, young and cocky, but with Hear that voice? Sharp, staccato, insistent .. . Cantor's scraper. Eddie will meet us he,r,e. ~ee those en:'pty seats. a smile that knocks you for a goal, that'~ Jimmie. And voice. He's coming through that door. =:fhere! "Hi, about eight hundred of 'em? I hey II fi ll 111 a J\ffy \~he.n the women? They are racli'o ·actresses. Eddie !" the crowd an-i ves. But come on backstage . Tim; IS Gray trousers and dark-blue coat, white kerchief in a ACKST AGE here is a crazy quilt sort of place. Chairs a barksfagc party. . . . " breast pocket. And eyes that you've seen pictured a thou­ B and music racks everywhere, with each rack holding Look! See that huge yellow backdrop \vlth Its PlctUH sand times. He stops, shakes hands, grinning.... of a can of "dated" coffee as tall as a man, and f~t red at black folder full of music. On the right is the sound "That was a swell picture on your last moi1th's cover," letters spelling Chase and Sanborn's coffee? No mIstake effects table. Bells and telephones and a pile 01 empty he says. "But your artist made a big mistake. He made huit boxes stand alongside a big cylinder full of com­ about who is paying for this broa(~ s: a t. . me good-looking." ThrOlwh the wings there, see 111111 ? 1 mean the dark pressed air. And a basket of glass with a hammer in it. He's gone, darting into a little roonroffstage. It holds a fell ow ~th the longish hair ancl the cleep eyes. Loo ~ s Queer odds and ends these noise wizards collect . . loudspeaker and .the program comes in there just as it Here come the musicians. They've got a room on an­ gypsyish, doesn't he ~ Music sheets in his ? han.d, he.!s does in millions of homes. Artists rest there between their leaning on a $200 vlOhn case. Guess who. RIght. It s other floor where they pile their cases and clothes. All turns at the mike. dressed in tuxedos. Rubinoff becomes the center of a Rubinoff 1 • That clock on the wall says one minute to go. People Ruhinoff! There's a magic name these days. Down In noisy group. Fiddle under chin, he saws unbeautiful prac­ are getting into their positions. A. K, Spencer, produc­ tice chords from it while they ask him questions. the alley, he's just left a $12,000 foreign .car and a cha~f­ ti on man, dashes past with a stop-watch in his hand. His feur. His apartment is the sort of th111g about whIch Chatter, chatter . . . some of them are talking about job is to get the show on and off the air, and that is a Roman emperors used to dream. Ernie Watson, arranger and saxophonist. His baby spli t-second business. daughter was born last week up in Canada. An hour ago, Now! 'We're going on the air. The big velvet curtain 6 7 D I 0 5 TA rts R ADO F A V 0 R I T E 5 REV E A uL E D

ALL IN THIS ISSUE Have You Heard? .. _ ..... _ ..... _ .. __ ...... __ ...... _ ...... _.. . 4 Last m inute news a nd c h a tter abou t the radio stars Come Backstage With Eddie Cantor . . .. . _.. _.. _ . .. . . Ogden Mayer 6 See the inimitable Eddie actually at w o rk with the Chase and Sanborn proArarn Take My Advice . _.. _...... _ ...... _ . _ . Faith Baldwin 9 Sane and in t eIliAent criticism of current radio prot-rams and performers · I The Romance of George Olsen and Ethel Shutta . . _ . Curtis Mitchell 10 A c harmint, lov e story ahout two famous people t • Not So Easy __ . __.. _.. . . . _ . . .. _ ...... Cecil B. Sturges 13 \ The inside story 01 Mr. and Mrs. A ce Meet the Mills Boys . . .. _ . __ __ . _ . __ . . _ . . .. _.. _ . Thyra Samter Winslow 17 A famous author Aive s you the }ow-dowp on these fo u r famous c olored b oys The Greatest Liar of Them AII __ .. .. _ .. . _.. .. . __ . . . .. Katherine Albert 18 There's a pathetic traAedy in Jac k Pearl' s life Kate Smith's Path to Glory ..... _ . . _.. _ ...... _Peggy Wells 20 T h e early show business advent ures of this Arand sinAer Let's Gossip About Your Favorites ...... __ ...... ___...... __ ...... 22 N e ws. c hit-chat and wise-c rac ks 01 radio lavorites Buried Alive for Four Years ... __ . _ ...... Iris Ann Carroll 32 How VirAinia Rea almost lost her identity Would You Take This Risk? ...... _ ...... D. L. Provost 33 The Pic kens Sisters are endanAerinA their beauty lor success At Home With Jessica. _...... _...... _ . . __ . .. _ ...... 34 C0111e and visit the char111inA h0111e o f J essic a DraAonette Those Mad Marx Brothers _ ...... _ .... _ .. . _ ...... David Ewen 36 How jt all began- and where it led to

RADIO STARS ALBUM Vincent Lopez ...... _ . . .. 28 Peggy Keenan and Sandra Phillips 31 Ireene Wicker ...... _ 29 Fred Allen _ . _ ...... _ ... _ . _ . _. 38 Frank Munn ...... _ ...... 30 David Ross _ ...... 39 \ Jack Nelson ...... 40 And also: Intimate Shots of Your Favorites, 14; All Around the Dial, 26.

Editors: Ernest V. Heyn and Curtis Mitchell Associate Editor: K. Rowell Batten Art Editor: Abril Lamarque

NEXT MONTH Do you know Father Coughlin? You must, of course, if you're a radio fan. He'_s the Detroit priest who had a parish of thirty-six families only-and then he went on the air and now he has millions of followers. Don't miss the fascinating story on this unique personality. And Jane Froman, the blues singer. She has made good despite the greatest handicap a woman can have. A most sympathetic story. And the life story of Vincent Lopez. Lopez was one of the first to go on the air-and, in spite of the fact that he's been labelled "through" a number of times-is still going strong. Incidentally, we promised you this I story in the March issue, but we didn't have room for it. J 5 RADIO STARS

"vVhy:'" 1immi e deman

("l1IVf'I" Service Pictures stands at the m ike. looking' not quite as pop-e\'ed a ~ is hi s footli ght hallit. and doesn't e \'cn rai se his voicl·. T hat's what j'adio does. The per­ fl ses. Peek through the wings at former has tn develoJl a ne \\' tech­ those a uditorium seats, They're full nique that sa ti stie~ the ear in stead oj now. to the limi t. The announcer is sav- the eve. Persnnalh'. I' d like a fel\, extra ing, " Ruhinoff a nd his violin ." . hops. please, l\'Jr. Ca !ltO;·. , Rubinnff walks from the wings and spreads hi s feet More musIc. Jimmie accidentally backs intn the sound ht'fore a mike. Thc orchestra is all'ead\' playing. :H e eq ui pment and turns over a sta nd. The clatter bangs into begins to sa\I' that hOI\' back and forth . \\-e can't hear a the wi ngs. Jimlllie doesn't (:'\'en seem to notice it . Ten thing and we're less than twenty feet from him. But seconds later. he is hahbling into a Illike "of the virtue, that hlack II1 ctal mi ke hears him. (I ( elated coffee. 1 wonder if he smokes 1\ I urad.,. As he fini shes. Cantor a nd \ Vallingtoll step Ollt of the Hut as he cOlll es off the stage. he savs. "J certainl\' sidc rOlllll. Cantor's collar is turncd u p a nd he has a scram hIed that up." '- wuma n's fox fur a round hi ;; neck. \\'alli ng-ton sees a lad:.. Listen to that. Cantor is kidding :Ruhinoff again. sitting in the \I'ings with a fur around her neck. "Let Jl1 e You've heard it on the air a dozen times. So have 1. And borroll' it." he says. Ii fting it off. l'\'e wondered ho\l' Hubinoff felt and hO\I' he looked. Cri sp dialogue spill s s\I'i ftl)' into thc foremost mikes. ?\ e\-er, you know, has he made a retort. It tells liS thev arc \'i siting the Xorth Pole so thel' can " There's Ruhinoff," Eddie chants. "Look at hi s sllli lt." ask Santa C1a~l s for Christ;nas prcs ent~. . Tn m illi ons of homes. peo plc imagine that they see J\uh- "\\'e'll h ~~ve him bring all saxophonists a COII'." Eddie inoff grinning. but herr-here! \\'here is Huhillol!:' states and w(' wait fll r the next lill\'. X ot IJ1l the stage. Cantor i, (CoJitinued 011 /,(1,01 ' 48 i RADIO STARS

" ... Must you whistle?" this Would like Mr. McNamee to Why do the sponsors make author asks Morton Downey. smooth his jittery speaking. Ruth Etting sob all the time?

I • . -says this famous author to TA K E MY various radio personalities, and stop doing the various things which annoy-instead o( please. ADVICE Here is sane criticism

By FAITH HIS compilation which, I hope, more? I'm sure vou haven't lost is not im pertinent and which, I that genius fo r tl{e right word at Ttrust, is constructive rather than BALDWIN the right time-and all unpremedi­ destructive cntlclsm, is the resul t tated. T he written and rea d lines of a great many hours spent at are not nearly as good . . . or as the radio with the dials turned on, while I li sten to in ­ funny. Let's have more of your casual, cuckoo selves_ numerable programs; and is addressed to the program Ruth E ttil1 g. A whole program of straight songs with ­ makers with the most friendly intentions. So here goes- out sobbing would fasten me to my loud speaker. \Vh\, Take my a'dvice- is it necessary for the girl s who can put over songs as A ll Amwultrcrs. P lease do not distort the E ngli sh well as you can, to break down into tears in the middle ~ language into something it isn't, in a frenzied effort after Edwi;t C. Hill. More news. less disinterment of past good diction. 1 othing shows up more glaringly on the newspaper legends would hold the in terest of yql1r audi­ radio than affectation. enc e a li ttl e more. I think. You ca n really interpret the T ed [-[using. You're a swell sports announcer. tht' news, but too much of that "story behind the headlines " _best we have. Stick to that last; forget the gags and palls. after a time. - the facetiousness. W e like your stuff to come to us Fred .Ill/ell. What's wrong ? You have me consider­ straight f 1'0 111 the shoulder. ably mystifi ed. You are so exceedingly funny in the stage Graham McNamee. Never mind the critics. You do shows. 13tH what is cramping your styl e on the Bath an awfull y good job. but isn't it possibl e to smooth you r Cl uo spot: jerky and jittery descriptions into the even fl ow which is Jl!!ills Brothers. Don't get too eccentric and tricky. ,\ so much easier to li sten to. 1\1 r. McNamee? . novelty is a novelty- the first ti me; but a good quartet DacJid Ross. You merited the 1932 Di ction medal but whi ch si ngs close harmony as you do is good for inmll 11 - don't J'et it get you. Too much diction is a curse. K eep erable times. The public is tiring o f voice aild in struml'nt yoUl' Poet's Gold programs on CBS natural. Stay- -­ stunts . yoursel f. Vaughn De Leath. How about the theme song? It Bill l-la'y. P lease, for the love of heaven, do not an­ does n't do -your voice justi ce-or you. Could you lJe nounce Amos and Andy in that infuriating manner. You persuaded to change it' a ren't presenting a symphony or an Edwin Booth. The Rudy Vallee. 1. reali ze that it is necessary to explain sponsor-plugging sounds li ke a blow by bl ow descri ption your guest stars to the milli ons of li steners. iJut can YUlI of W estminster Abbey. Try and be natural- as the boys not be more brie f ? Let's ha ve terser announcelllents and are (artfull y) natural. Tooth paste isn't a cure-all . Ancl fewer: and more o f your o~"n singing. Amos and Andy are not a couple o f male Duses. Lady Hugs.You·re a man-e lous team and co ul d h(' th e Stoo/,nogle alld Budd. Isn't it possibl e to ad lib a little l.e st on the air in " Gur li ne (Collt il/ucd au puq(' 5 (j) 9 RADIO STARS RADIO STARS

He was leading the orchestra, The romance she Was singing. The music dro¥fned out her words and of George she was furious! That was the beginning of a romance which-because of its con­ OLSEN stancy -surprises Broadway an d Et h °e I .. .' By CURTIS SHUTTA MITCHELL

(Left) Isn't Ethel (Right) George Ol­ lovely looking? sen- he was playing (Right) Meet Mr. out on the coast and Mrs. Olsen when Fanny Bri ce and the two chil­ heard him and at HEY are children of Broadway, a gay son and daugh­ dren. The elder · once sent a long train was bringing a blond Viking man into her life. ter of the nervous, hectic entertainment world-but boy is called telegram of praise Olsen reached New York with his musicians. He was Tthey are the haI'piest married couple I know. Charles Monroe, to the late Florenz to play for the "Follies". Rehearsals were under way. This romance of George Olsen and Ethel Shutta is a and the younger, Ziegfeld. That was There were mad, frantic days of headaches and fears and miracle. Almost invariably, Broadway condemns its chil­ George Edward. the beginning of sleeplessness. 'Would he satisfy the Great Glorifier? dren to heartbreak. Somehow, the tinsel and brittleness There's a special George's real suc­ Could he match the matchless standards of Broadway ? of our gay gulch of bright lights jinxes the lives of those reason for the "Ed­ cess. And it Jed to who touch it. Walter Winchell calls it a street where ward." (See sto.ry.) romance, too. N the last rehearsal night, Florenz Ziegfeld decided sun-tqD comes out of a lamp and love comes out of a O that he needed Ethel Shutta's help in his "Follies." bottle. And how he knows his Broadway ! So he arranged that she should have a spot midway Yet, we have the dazzling, triumphant spectacle of through the performance. It demanded tl]at she leave the George and Ethel. theatre where "Louis XIV" played at the end of the first It could never happen, people said; not in the glare of act, race to the "Follies" show house, do her numbers, the rainbow signs where all the roads of the world cross. and race back to her own show. But it did happen, and therein is the amazingly human No entertainer in New York was busier than Ethel. story of a girl whose life had been spent behind the foot­ Two shows in one night, benefi ts, posing for pictures, lights and a boy with a bee in his bonnet about music endless demands on time and endurance. AneJ a family who met 0\1 the spotli ghted stage of the Ziegfeld "Follies." sweet-swinging drum major for the Michigan U. band. Fanny who indirectly brought George and Ethel together. at home depending upon her. It never occurred to' her, I want to tell this thrillingly romantic story in as sweet Inevitably, he had a college orchestra. Not a good one, Fannv who was so soon to know heartbreak. led them to I think, that she was working too .hard. It was the only and simple a way as it deserves. George and Ethel insist but not a bad one. After graduation, he had another in happ(t;ess. . . life she knew. the only one she had ever known. It was that I tell only the truth-the grand truth that here is a his home town of Portland, Oregon. A continent sep­ Fanny liked Olsen's music and sent a long telegram to her life. man ~ nd here is a woman who have found the greatest arated George and Ethel. They played at the bri~ of Flo Zieg£eld. The answering wire, invited George to Let's go to tha~ dress rehearsal for a moment. The thing in life. They are so proud of each other, and so a two oceans, entirely unaware of each other, unknowmgly bring his band to New York. The merry-go-round was orchestra-Olsen's orchestra was on the stage. Lost in part of each other. awaiting the turn of life's merry-go-round that would beginning to turn! the maw of the black auditoriwl1 were Ziegfeld and his Ethel Shutta was a name in Broadway's brightest lights whirl them together. . At the moment. Ethel Shutta was working in one of assistants. T he show stumbled through its colorful when George was a student in the University of Michigan. A visitor in Portland heard George's music. Her name F lorenz Ziegfeld's shows caIl ed "Louis XIV." To her. routine. At her cue, Ethel walked to her place under the Since five, she had acted. Still in her 'teens, she was a was Fanny Brice, the girl who gave us that magnificently it was just another job, another role to play in the li me­ floodlights and began to sing. reigning queen of the musical shows. And he was a pathetic song, "My Man." Curiously enough, it was light's glare. No one could tell her that a transcontinental I doubt if she even saw the stocky orchestra leader 10 11 RADIO STARS whose crew accol11panied her song. But she heard him. For the first time, Ethel realized how tired she was. Bouncing, bubbli 1lg harmonies swelled from those vVest A nd how much she needed someone. She is no clinging Coast instrumelltalists, flowed through the proscenium vine, never, but here was a strong man on whom she arch, and smothered Ethel's bra vest tones. might lean and rest. It gave her a delicious sense of She went straight to Ziegfeld, her cheeks afire. reli ef and joy. "I won't do it," she snapped. "I can't sing with an Shortly afterwards, her show went on the road and orchestra that plays like that. What's the use of my being she went with it. George remained in New York. 'When there at all ? I couldn't even hear myself. You'd better she left, he escorted her to her Pullman. They heard get someone else." Angry, flame in her eyes and face, music. Somewhere, a phonograph was playing "vVho ?" tossing up her job in the "Follies." Olsen and his orchestra had made that record-today Ziegfeld said, "Why don't you speak to Olsen ?" it is one of the two biggest sellers in musical history. T hey had never been introduced, but the freemasonry "Who stole my heart away . . . ?" of their backstage world George's "who" was Ethel. He mad e it unnecessary. made that record for her, with She sought George out, every sweep of his baton writing sti ll smarting, knowing his love for her in wax. This day, that orchestra leaders he had bought the phonograph are often touc:hy and and sent a friend to play it in her stubborn. Pullman stateroom as she came "vVould you m i I ~ d alongside her ca r. It was his way playing a bit softer, of saying, "Goodby, my dear. I next time?" she asked. love you. " "Just tell methow That road trip was the worst you want it," George that Ethel ever took, and she had said. ''I'll do anything taken many. For the first time in YOll suggest. " her life she came to know the Sweet, wasn't he ? heart-sickness of one who is lonely The memory is still in the special sort of way women aglow in her thoughts. reserve for the men they love. That sweetness drew the sting from her N each new town that she visited . mind. She forgot to be I she found fresh tokens of angry. And George? George's thoughtfulness. Always, He was standing there, her hotel room had been reserved trembling, thrilling at for her. Always, it was filled with the compliment this fresh cut flowers. Often there gorgeous gi rl was pay­ were presents-a box with a dozen ing him by asking that new handkerchiefs, or a dozen her music be played in pairs of silk hose. A lways there a certain way. He felt were telegrams and long distance that it was a compli­ phone calls. ment that she noticed Ethel had read about such things him . vVho was h e in stori es, but here it was actually but a youngster with a happening to her. The thrill of i't band from the sticks? When Ethel first went on the air she thought excited and frightened her. It was He hadn't meant to she kn ew exactly how a song should be sung so grand, so perfect in its delight drown her song. His into the mik e. But she was going by her stage .. . but what if it should suddenly inexperience had caused training . George Olsen advised her. At first, stop? She knew other women who it, inexperience that he Ethel rebelled a little about being advised. had been in love . . . knew that was too proud to admit. 111 0st of them had suffered for it. He knew only thi s : she After a few more weeks, she had asked him to do gave up her role in the show and something to please her, and he wanted to please her. He bought a ticket to New York. On the third night after felt that he wanted to please her all the rest of her Ii fe. her arrival. she and George sl ipped away from their \ Vhen she sang again, the music was perfect. friends and drove to New Haven, Connecticut, where they were married. FTER that, George formed the habit of waiting for That first year, they lived in a heavenly tW Q-room apart­ A her outside the stage door. They began to go places ment on lower Fi £th A venue. In 192Q, she knew that together-and to sit in shadowy corners, forgotten of the she was to have a baby. At the time, George had an offer world and forgetting it. that would take him to California. It was important and They saw so much in each other, so much that was it meant a lot of money. fine and clean and romantic. To her, he was a channing "You go on," Ethel told him. "I'll follow later with Lochinvar. a Viking Lochinvar unspoiled by adulation the baby." . and the mock worship of Broadway's leeches. To him, So George went to Hollywood to make music fo r the she was a princess of an impossibly romantic kingdom. movies. On September 17, 1926, he· got a phone call She knew all the right places to go and the right people from New York that announced a son. By long distance, to meet. The sort of unbelievable girl of whom one might he and E thel decided to call the baby Charles Monroe dream but never possess. He pinched himself often to O lsen. Five weeks later, Ethel took her infant to hi s make sure she was by his side instead of atop a platinum father. pedestal where she belonged. The years have been busy since then-and happier than One night when the wi ld cacophony of the nervous Ethel dreamed they ever could be. At first, she was cer­ f city was sti ll ed and an indulgent 111 00n turned Central tain she was through with the stage doors of theatres for Park into an onyx-and-silver paradise, he told her what the rest of her life. A home and a boy and a husband was in his heart-told her how much he loved her. of whose love she was certain, (C01 1ti'llued au. page 46) 12 RADIO STAR S

N ot as easy as it looks. Re ad about them and see what you think of Mr. and M rs. Ace as they really are NOT so EASY

(Above) That funny gadget in the center of the table is a microphone. It enables the Aces to broadcast direct from the bridge table. At right you see Mr. and Mrs. Ace at work on their script. Isn't Mrs. Ace cute 7

B y C Ee l L B. S TURG ES

, HE elevator operator shot me to the top of the Drake of the table was a twin mike, hung from the ceiling by HcJtel in Chicago, opened the door. and said. "Walk four guy-like cables. T up them stairs and ask for Goodman Ace." In a co rner ... a heap of sound effects lay in di sorder. You know Goodman Ace. He talks through hi's tonsils left from a previous broadcast. On the Aoor .. . rubber and lathers hi s bOllHWts with sarcasm, usually at the covered electric cables coil ed and twisted in all dir ection~ expense of Jane, that dumb daughter of the radio di als. li ke vines. Four empty green chairs stood at the tabh-. So Goodman Ace was up that flight o f stairs ?Up their backs painted with the singi ng words. "Easy Aces." those steps was the studio from which the Lavoris laugh­ Overhead. weary-looking lamps gave a faded light. ] drama emanated. 1 climbed them. felt a sense of disorgani zation . of carelessness. It \\'a, Ace met me. shushed me into a chair against a studio none of 111\' busin ess but I wondered whv thi" studio ha d side. and vani shed. You've never seen such a place. 1n such an lltidusted look. 'i\:lost studios are scrupulouslv ti(h·. the center of a room about the size of Uncle Nesbit's A nd this- thi s puzz led me. A bux beside one bridge dra\\'ing 1'00111 was a battle-scarred bridge table. A bridge chai r helel up the end () f a Ii f teen foot bam boo pole . .i us! table with accessori es. The center of the top was cut out the sort of pole on \\'hich mother used to roll her carpets. and a CBS mike stuck its black, square face up from The other end was lashed tn it cloor knob in tht: oPP"- below. E ighteen inches above. suspended above the center site wall of the sturJ i(). (Con liHu('d on /)al/I' 44) 13 RADIO STARS RADIO STARS INTIMATE SHOT S OF YOUR FAVORITES

(Left) Ben Bernie and AI Jolson are great friends. (Below) Mildred Bailey, the famous · radio singer, Here you see them in an informal moment in Kelvin Keech, NBC announcer of importance, and Chicago. Ben was largely responsible for AI's get­ Vera Engels. Vera Engels is a German movie player ting on the air. What's the joke, AI? (Below) Marie who has been signed up by RKO. (Right) Petite Lee Dressler and Rudy Vallee the night Marie appeared Wiley, the blues singer who is heard with Leo Reis- on the Fleischmann hour. man's orchestra.

The Three X Sisters. They've startled the radiG world (Right). When Gracie Allen was told +0 change -.the' with their amazing imitations of outlandish musical plate In the camera it was only natural that she instruments. Their most popular number is the High­ should run in~o the kitchen and grab a dinner plate land bagpipes. (Left) Peggy Healy and Irene for the work In hand. The photographer's subject is Taylor, both of Paul Whiteman's orchestra, reading George Burn.s. (Abov.e) A mar~elous close-up of fan mail between numbers. .. Ruth Ettlng throwing a sob Into the mike.

Take a pe~k at the radio stars when they're . unaware Mildred Bailey,Vallee,Jolson,andothers in informal moments

14 15 RADIO STARS

Come with us to the opening of Ted Weems' orchestra at the Pennsylvania Hotel. Marvelous intimate pictures of radio stars

!Above} Jack Benny, Ted Weems, the !Above} Well, well, if it isn't the important personage of the evening, once very obese Paul Whiteman. He Budd of Stoopnagle and Budd-ond certainly dropped some poundage. · the Colonel himself. Too bad Budd's The pretty little lady with him ~ s not face is hidden by the mike. !Below} . a radio performer. !Below} Front Mrs. and Mr. Jesse Crawford, organ­ row: George Olsen, Guy Lombardo, ists supreme; Jeannie Lang, blues Paul Whiteman, Ted Weems, Jacques singer; Jack Denny and Mrs. Denny. Renard. Back row: Leon Belasco, If you know the Pennsy Grill you can Harold Stern, Abe Lyman, Anson tell this picture was taken there. Weeks and Don Bestor.

Pictures by -Culver Service

,.

III RADIO STARS

The romantic story of the success of these four delight­ ful colored boys, as told by this famous writer, is better than ' a Horatio Alger yarn

By THYRA SAM .T E R WINSLOW ME ET T-H E M I'L L S BOY S

OUR complete Success Stories in one family! . mustn't forget that. But then you won't, if you've heard . Four enti re A Iger Books rolled into one romance! them. And, if you haven't heard them, just turn .over to F Four male Cinderellas who went frolll rags to riches ! the next page and forget all about this. Or, better still, Ladies anel Gentlemen, the MILLS Brothers! find a radio and snuggle up close to it-and stay there until Some day when you're feeling blue and it occurs to the l\,l ill s Brothers are on the ai r. you that nobody gets ahead any more, that sudden success The Mill s Brothers play Hot Harmony. And is it hot ~ has been relegated to the past or to the pages of fiction You're asking me -; If you 've already read stories ah() ut and that. things being what they are. nobody who is un­ them-and a lot of stories both true and untrue l1Gve known has a chance. consider the Mills Brothers. And, been printed-you'll know that the only real instrument considering them, you may change your mind. they play is a guitar. They simulate all the rest! For the lVlills Brothers are a practically perfect exam­ I didn't believe it until I heard them myself-in person. ple of getting ahead. Vvithout influence. \ Vithout family. It's true. They really do! John plays the guitar. They Without background. Oh, but with talent. Yes, you bought it, years ago, from a ( Continued on paye 47) 17 Yes, the greatest liar and braggart of them all-Baron Munch a u sen-wh e never he's before the mike. But Jack Pearl has experienced a Pagliacci tragedy that reads like fiction-and at heart he is melancholy, sen­ sitive, weighed down by the world's suffering

It's a tough business being a funny man, says Jack Pearl. Al­ though people may think his humor comes spontaneously, he insists he has to work hard at it.

ACK P EA R L, whose amusing line of patter, whose are eight days of intensive mourning. He mourned in­ tall stories as the modern Baron Munchausen make wardly and sincerely for hi s mother all during the day J countless thousands of radi o li steners hold their sides and at night he stepped on a stage and made people laugh! with laug hter, is the real Pagliacci a f the ai r. And for months thereafter there was a sharp. stab of pain A ll those trite phrases-"the show must go on" and "a through hi s heart every time he thought o f her but he had real trouper never lets hi s audience down"-may ue ap­ a show to give and nothing must stop him from giving it ! pli ed to Jack. H e was pl aying in a Zieg felcl show, cutting Jack Pearl is, by all odds, the most melancholy of capers, making hi s rubber face do all the comedians. By his own admission he amazing tricks of which it is capable, worries eighteen hours a day. He wor­ when word was brought to the theatre By K A THE RI N E ri es terrificall y about the depression. O n that hi s mother was dead. H e loved hi s his way to the Times Square Studio mother devotedly. S he had, for years, where he performs hi s weekly broadcast been a shining light of inspiration for him ALBERT he passes hundreds of men and women and her .death, U1iexpected as it was, was with marks of sorrow upon their faces a crushing and a bitter bl ow. But they and only the fact that he knows his clown­ told him- as if any good trouper doesn't know- that he ing over the microph one might cheer them a little makes had to give a performance that ni ght. it possible fo r him to keep going. H e went out before them, in hi s funny clothes , his face He is terrifically sensiti ve. F or his friends he has a smeared with g reasepaint that made him look the more deep and sincere loyalty and if one should pass him on ludicrous and he gm1e the best alld iU1m'iest pl'r iOrmQ.1lc(' the street without speaking- he is harrassed for hours of his career. Those in the audience who wiped away the until he is assured that he was not seen by the friend. tears of laughter could not see that tears of grief were 1n Phi ladelphia he vi si ted the jail there ( the sheri ff is cutting a furrow through Jack's make-up. But something a fri end of hi s) and the sights he saw so depressed him in sid e him- the knowledge that people who wanted to that it was difficult for him to appear and yet he knew forget their own troubl es for a time had paid their money that li steners-in to the L ucky Strike hour were waiting to see him and expected to be amused and entertained­ for him and it was his duty to make them bugh. Human kept hi111 from breaking, kept hi m going on. suffe ri ng hurts him since he. himself, has suffered so Norma Shearer and I r ving T halherg were in the audi­ much. ence that ni ght. T hey were the onl y two "out front" who Yet hi s amusing remarks are quoted and re-quoted all knew what had happened. As he took hi s last curtain cal! over the country. A little schonl girl was expell ed on .~o rl11 a bl ew him a ki ss and Irving nodded hi s head rev­ acc ount of one M r. Tack Pearl , ali as Baron M unchausen . erently to him. It was a lovely triuute which J ack Pearl You know how, when his announcer doubts hi s amazing will never forget. ane! fantastic stori es, he always says- with a sly intona­ And it wasn't onl y that night that he had to go on. tion- " \Vas you cl ere, Charlie ?" \Aiell. it seems that thi" O ne can meet one such emergency, perhaps, but the next little girl had fail ed to recite her hi story lesson correctly. day he came f rom sitting l> eside hi s mother's boel y to the The teacher told her wherein she was wrong and the girl theatre and the day after that he came f rol11 her' funeral answered, " vVas you cl erc, Charli e?" This crack, as you to amu se the audi ence. According to Pearl's faith there might well im agin e. threw the enti re school room into a IS RADIO STARS THE GREATEST L I A R OF TH EM ALL I

f •

(R ight) All dressed up for one of his frequent microphone appear­ ances. If you can think of a crazier costume you're a better man than Jack-to say nothing of ourselves.

panic-and the little girl was figuratively thrown out on her ear.

N CIDENT ALLY, that funny line "vas an accident. I The name of J ack's announcer ( the man who works with him in the broadcasts) is Cliff Hall but the writer of the scripts did not know this and used, instead, the name Charlie. Naturally, " \Vas yOll dere, Charlie ?" is much funnier than "Was you dere, Cliff?" Before the broadcast you find Jack P earl very worried and very busy. He is as nervous as if it we re hi s first ni ght on the air but he is extremely eager to please. Each new person who comes into hi s dressing room- no matter what that person's position may be- is treated with an eager, real deference by Jack. He is ofle of the most sincere people I have ever met. A nd one of· the most melancholy. But hi s wife is the balance wheel for him. H e met \Vini f red Desborough when they were playing together in "The Belle of New York" and they were married shortly after the cl ose of the show. She is a calm, level­ headed woman-very pretty and attracti ve-who under­ Jack disc ussing a broadcast with Cliff Hall , stands J ack thoroughly and cheers him up when he feels his a nnouncer. Cliff is the chap Jack a l­ low. I t is she who makes hi m fig ht for hi s rights in ways calls Charlie. There's a n amusing how business (chann ing and sympathetic fellow that he reason fo r the change of name. You'll see is, he woul d all ow everybody to run over him rough shod) why in the story. It is she, al so. who handles all (Conlin li ed 0 11 page 50) 19 RADIO STARS RADIO STARS KAT E S MIT H I s PATH TO CLORY

(Above) Imagine anyone being un­ pleasant enough-as one man was­ Kate recently signed with Paramount to call this girl "clumsy lummox"l to appear in movies (after "The Big (Above, right) Ted Collins, Kate her­ Broadcast"). She has already ap­ self and that Gable feller. It was peared in movie shorts, though. That's taken at station KNX on the coast. Cliff Edwards with her. (Left) Getting • • camera-wise on the Paramount lot. By PEGGY WELLS she' buried him in a blanket and a box in the garden. The story that gave her that high-hat reputation had a . _ K-K-K-Katy, Beautiful Katy, People hav~ called her cold and hard and high-hat. curious origin. It shows how the most innocen~ action on You're the only g-g-g-girl that I adore; . They don't krlOw Kate . . . the real Kate. I mean. y.'hen­ was ·m:cidental. She said, "I tore it on a fence, momsy." the part of a celebrity may be twisted into viciousness. Vf;'hen the m om-tn-moon shines over the moun/cun. ever I hear people criticizing her I always thmk of Her first heartbreak ... she was just thirteen. It was Her manager and several others interestoo in her suc­ I'll be waiting at the k-k-k-kitchen door. these stories. They are scraps of life .. . ordinary frag­ summertime and the Smiths were vacationing at Colonial cess were throwing a party for her. ..she was to meet ments out of a meteoric career, yet so very warm and Beach. Kate sat on the porch reading a book. Miz walked some New York newspapermen and writers, who could ATE SMITH has been called a woman . without ro­ human. up to her, licked her hand briefly, and went away to lie give her the news "breaks" that are so coveted by those mance. Is it true? I asked her just the other day. Her first lie ... she was just eleven. Her favorite in a sha~ed corner. Presently, she heard him growl; he who seek careers. KAnd her answer was straight to the point. pal was a bulldog named Miz. She had a new winter . often growled when he slept. She read until her mother Kate came to the party. She said hello as· brightly and "I'm not the type," she said. . coat. This afternoon, Miz felt very full of pep and went . came to call her to dinner. Mrs. Smith started to say honestly as she knew ho''''' The place was fogged with something and stopped Kate is voung-just twenty-three or four. Why Isn't racing like mad all over the spacious Smith ba~kyard. in mid-sentence. Kate 'saw her tobacco smoke. There were cocktails. Men she had never she the type? Doesn't anybody love a fat woman? You Somehow, his teeth caught in the new coat and npped a . eyes, followed them to the dog in the corner. seen before came up and murmured; "Katey, 01' girl, I would be amazed at the number of proposals she has had. great jagged hole dow.n the skirt. Kate's mother came "l11iz," she cried. "Miz!" think you're wunnerful ..." Miz didn't answer because Miz was dead. They come in almost every .mail.. Lonely ba~helor s en­ home from a club meet111g and saw the damage. The gift of detecting insincerity is something with amoured of her voice, song-sIck WIdowers seek1l1g a com­ "How did it happen, Katherine?" Kate didn't sleep at all that night. The memory of 'which Kate Smith was born. She hates a hypocrite with panion. She could marry a dozen men .. . but she says Kate visioned her precious Miz tied up or beaten, his Miz licking her hand, of Miz begging for her attention unconcealed passion. She has a violent dislike for men she isn't the type. high spirits shattered by punishment for something that as he was dying, and then wandering away unnoticed to who use profanity in a lady's presence. A liquor breath die alone ... all that twisted her girlish heart. Next day, blown in her face makes her (Continued on page 42)

All about Kate's later school days and her first· hospital days And, too, her first years In show business. Years which she hated 20 21 RADIO STARS RADIO STARS LET 'S GOSSIP ABOUT YOUR F A V ·O R I T' E S

•

Meet the Paul Whiteman Rhythm Boys. (Left Have you ever wondered what the Radio "The Pinochle Players" in action. Chet to right) Jimmy Noel, George McDonald, Rubes look Irke? Well, here's the answer. Do Cathers, Marshall Sohl, Winifred Aukland Ray KulZ-and AI Dary. You hear them oyer you suppose. it's okey to say they look as if Lundberg, Grant Merrill and Casey Jones. the NBC network, wi'th Whiteman. they've all gone to hayseed? Just a moment at Station KJR. - IT'S a boy at the Morton Downeys and Morton has didn't give a hoot . : . the polar bear rolled his eyes and already written a new song to celebrate the gay occa­ swayed drunkenly .. . the camel did a shimmy ... and sion. It's name- the song's, not the boy's-is "vVe l­ the yaks looked sad. . come, Little Stranger."

IT'S a small world after all. Fanny May Baldridge, the R EMEMBER that "Fifteen minutes of Su-u-u-u-un­ Dixie Girl whose Miracles of Magnolia emanate from shine" that used to brighten our lo ~ dspeakers, all for good the. Chicago NBC air castles, went to a stable for a ride 01' Doctor Strasska's toothpaste or something? Well, last week. Her regular mount was in use so the attendant Charlie Hamp, none other than Old Man Sunshine hisself, gave her another horse. is back on the air. Station WBBM, six nights a week "It's very bad manners," Fanny May said, "not to be except Sunday. He is one of radio's highest paid one- introduced to your steed. What's her name." man shows. • "Fanny May," said the attendant.

THERE is a story about that song you sometimes hear IT could never happen now ... never, never! But How­ on the "Myrt and Marge" programs. One Saturday last ard L. Peterson, organist for WJJD in Chicago, remem­ fall, Frank Westfall, who directs the musical activities of bers the time he started a progran~ at midnight in 1927 \V-B BM in Chicago, was asked to supply a love theme for and promised to play just as long as requests came for the following Monday night broadcast. He scratched him to continue. He played, believe it or not, for five through his supply of ballads and discovered nothing that and one-half hours. And quit, not. because phone 'calls satisfied. So he got out his pencil and paper and wrote and telegrams weren't demanding more, but because he "How Can I Go On Without You?" Just like that, if got organist's cramp in both hands. you please. And the thing is selling like hot cakes. Over ten thousand copies at the last report. D ON'T miss these Five Star Theatre presentations. They're a new and ambitious effort to create something P ETER V AN STEEDEN, whose music has recently bigger and bounci~r in the way of-broadcast ballyhoos. supported a lot of Barbasol blurbs, got scientific the other Just to show you that it is different, it uses both net­ day and took his band up to the Central Park Zoo to works, Columbia and NBC. ' And it gives its listeners learn how the animals would act under the influence of almost every sort of entertainment. The Marx Brothers, The gal whose feet are just above is Doris jazz. for instance. Concert singers. Dramatizations by fine Robbins, "the Angel of the Air." (Right) Two extremes of the Chicago NBC studios. The astounding result, ladeez and gent~ . .. zebras just short story writers and novelists. Light operas presented Jackie Heller and tall Norman Cordon.

How the zoo reacted to jazz! Th en there's that 5% hour program Wales orders every Annette Hanshaw record. Yet doesn't know her name 22 23 RADIO STARS LET'S GOSSIP ABOUT YOUR FAV'ORITES

Alice Remsen, crooning contralto, Here's Roy Atwell-you know, Have you heard Adele Ronson signs up with WL W, Chicago. the chap on the Linit Bath Club and Matthew Crowley as Wilma With her are Richard Nicholls, program. The 'One who manages and Buck in the "Buck Rogers in WL W's production manager to get most of his words hind end the Year 2432" program? Very (seated) and William C. Stoess, foremost. He's with Bolumbia thrilling drama series about this WL W's musical director. Croadsasting Bystem. world 500 years hence. by the Aborn Opera Company. And Charlie Chan, the Y OU'VE got to di al WLV.,r, the " nation's station" in Chinese detective character created by Earl Derr Biggers. Cincinnati , to catch those Randall Sisters. Bonnie, Ruth, F ive stars, they' say. A s tar for each of the fi rst five and Shirley are their names. Not long ago, they were at week nights. T he Standard O il Compani es of New J er­ the New York Biltmore performing with Paul W hi teman. sey . Pennsylvani a, and Louisiana, and the Cotonial Beacon Before that, they li ved in Memphis. Before . . . well, they Oil Company are footing the bill. come from a billet known as Bogue Chitto, Loui siana­ which sounds like a gil t-edge start in Ii fe for any trio, doesn't it ? M ONT HS ago, T ed \ iVeems was vi siting Minneapolis with P ierre Andre, announcer for "Easy Aces." T hey turned on their hotel radio and heard a voice that held MONT H before last, Radio S tars called attention to their attention. " If she looks half as good as she sounds, the fact that Hindermann and T uckermann, two of the I 'll hire her," Ted said as they hurried to the studio. air's prime jesters in days of yore, had vani shed. It's T he si nger was A ndrea Marsh. She got the job. You good news to learn that they are back. NBC, we hear, can hear her these days over the Columbia network in is now tossing their tumultuous antics to the fo ur winds the Jack Benny ~r oadca s t s. fiv e days a week. And millions of new fans are being treated to a brave new type of comedy, THE P rince of \Vales has a standing order fo r all the phonograph records made by Gay E ll is, Dot Dare, and L OOKS li ke somebody will have to do something about Patsy Young. A ll of which makes Annette Hanshaw, the Smiths. \Ve had AI during the political storm and bl ues si nger on Captain Henry's ,Maxwell House Show strife. We've still got Kate, \Vhi spering Jack, and the Boa.t, ve ry proud and happy. It's like this. Gay, Dot, Smith Brothers. A nd we hear there's a new one in Chi­ and Patsy are all Miss Hanshaw's working names. Since cago with a voice that goes cl ear up to the-e-e-e-ere who getting her start in a music store in Mount Kisco, N. Y ., may- dazz le the kil ocycles any month n,ow . - she has made between three and four millions of records for various phonograph compani es. But she has never taken a music lesson in her life and admits that she can't P AUL W H ITEMAN tell s the story of two idle vaude­ read a note of music. vill e actors who met on Broadway wi th the depression blues. "Why don't you join me toni ght at Bryan.t Park?" said one. "I can't. I've got a bri dge date," the other THE loudspeaker someti;n es emits some startling sounds explained . "All right, I'll jump off .with you," exclaimed -and are our pluperfect announcers embarrassed ! One hi s fri end. of recent vintage came from the CBS chain. J ohn Mc­ Govern, hero of the evening in Paris Mysteri es , meant to say. ''I'll give the bell a pull ," but he said, "I'll give S INGIN' SAM has his name painted in small letters on the bull a pill." the door of hi s car. T he other cl ay, a cop stopped him,

Don't miss Paul Whiteman's excellent gag about the two actors out of a job 24 RADIO STARS LET'S GOSSIP ABOU.T YOUR FAVORITES

I •

Ben Bernie wonts to ploy golf all Here are the Randall Sisters: Good Lo rdI Four aces! Singin' win ter. But he can't go south be­ Bonnie, Ruth . and Shirley. You Sam - Columbia's deep-voiced cause of his Blue Ribbon Malt can hear them do their three­ singer of old-time songs and contract. So he ron this little part harmony over Chicago's minstrel melodies-doesn't know thing up at home to wear on the WLW. They're on the Doodle- quite what to do. He's thinking winter golf links. socker programs. of consulting Mr. and Mrs. Ace.

Sam claimed he wasn't going more than twenty miles an ing to his boss, that he is set for fi fty-two more, hour. "Never mind that," the cop cracked. "My wife and I've been arguin' about your looks for months and I want to give her th e straight dope." S OME bright broth of a lad thought up a lot of words not long ago that he called the most beautiful in the English language. They were dawn, hush, lullaby, mur­ y OU don't see many black cats around the studios, but muring, tranquil. mist, luminous, chimes, 'golden, and you can run into plenty of superstitions. "Home, Sweet melody . . Home" is one song that must never be sung. T he same David Ross got busy with the list and decided that lilt, goes for Tosti's "Goodby." And whistling before a per­ thunder, and lambent beat dawn, golden, and chimes. formance is absolutely taboo. Fred Allen added stooge and sponsor. In the recent anniversary performance of the "Myrt Colonel Stoopnagle wired his selections from F lorida: and Marge" troupe, every actor had on the same clothes Fizz, fuzz, zither, eczema, muzzle, buzzer, buzzard, daze, which he had worn one year earlier on the opening night maze, and maize. He's fond of "z", he explains, having of the broadcast series. Those garments were lucky. f all owed the "z" for many years. T hey're packed ~way right now, waiting for next year. It took Walter W inchell, the blab boy of the air, to ri ng the bell. His ten favorite words are money, money, money, money-and so on. H AVE you li stened to KJR's Mardi Gras? It started two years ago out of a clear sky and is still going. Two years ago, KJR suddenly found itself with an B EAGLE, SHYSTER & BEAGLE are the fi rm of law­ afternoon wide open. It hac! to be fi lled. A program had yers that the l\rlarx Brothers pretend to be. They have to .be concocted. ~omebody suggested a Mardi Gras. But dug up some curiosities of the law whi ch we present. whoever heard of a Mardi Gras in the north ? KJR is in Connecticut, for instance, prohibits the -chewing of to- Seattle, Vvashington. There were plenty of sceptics. bacco without a doctor's permit. • That afternoon, though, a show went on the air and It is illegal to peel an orange in a hotel room. T hat's a every member of the studio staff participated. E nough California Jaw. people li ked it to keep it going. Since then it has grown In St. Paul , Minnesota, the Jaw says that a motorist unti l the Northwest's Mardi Gras is one of the big ' events meeting a horse drawn vehicle must get out .and help of the week. the driver to pass the auto. I n Kansas, every able-bodied citizen is required to de­ IT isn't news any more that R udy Vallee has signed up vote one full day a year to killing grasshoppers. with F leischmann again. But that's just what the wavy­ In Idaho, if you walit to sel1 a chicken after sunset, haired conductor and master of ceremoni es has done. you've got to get a permit fr0111 the sheriff. A lready, he has completed three years of continuous A nd you'll be arrested in E li zabeth, Tennessee, if you weekly broadcasts, Done them so satisfactorily, accord- wear a watch 011 your ankle.

Those old laws are a riot which the Marx Brothers, eminent lawyers, dug up 25 To identify these pictures, look for the number on the picture which corresponds with the number here. I. Jules Bledsoe, the baritone of "Captain Henry's Show Boat." 2. Bill Elliott, the crooner of the entertaining staff, WBT, Charlotte, N. C. He used to be a star on the North Carolina foot­ ball team. 3. This is Singin' Sam. He's now on WABC Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 8.30 ALL AROUND 4. Mary Steele, NBC's songster who is heard daily, except Sunday, at II a. m., from Chicago. 5. Doris Robbins whom you've heard with Ben Pollack and his orchestra over WABC from Chicago. 6. Georgie Price does a little female impersonating for one of the Chase and Sanborn programs. 7: The Durham trio, whose ages range from nine to thirteen, are famous over WBT for their string melodies. 8. Miss Madge Tucker outlining her plans for Children's Tour programs to some of THE D I A L the youngsters ~f the NBC "Lady Next Door" program. 26 27 RADIO STARS dllzr/TL

Vincent Lopez

almost became a

priest-long ago

F you're a radio tuner­ ilUler you certainly I know of Vincent Lo­ pez. His band was one of the first to broadcast. It is still one of the best. Strangely enough, not many people really know this sleek. suave orchestra master. H e is hard to . know, his friends say, but once he accepts a man as his pal nothing is too good for that lucfY fellow. Behind his back, they call him "the Duke." His cl othes and his carriage win him the title. He dresses-impeccably is the word . . E:-.opez carries himself with a sureness and certainty that tell s the world that horoscopes would paint any town a very bright red. "the Duke" knows what he wants and how to get it. A But a man must have sOtJ1,e extravag-ance. less-than-medium tall fellow, hair as slick as he can brush And you ought to hear him argue. O n anything. Par­ it, round-faced, spotless and something of a dandy, that ticularl y ~vith E lmer, hi s valet. E lmer's especial job is to . is "the Duke." make Lopez change hi s neckties. T here are hundreds in O nce, he took to the fl owing vestments and long black the Lopez apartment but "the Duke" chooses onc on Mon­ skirts of the priesthood. That was when he was a Brook­ day and wears it all week without a shi ft unless E lmer lyn kid looking ahead into Ii fe. interferes. The seminary where he studied bored him so he turned No orchestra spends money more lavishl y . .. but he hi s nimble fingers into livelier channels. One of hi ::; first always c()ltnts hi s change. He ha s been broke a haIf­ jobs was playing the piano in a Sheepshead Bay oyster dozen times since his name on a theatre marquee meant house. big business. So, aside f r0111 hi s horoscope weakness, he Sincc he organized his first orchestra he has made a is an economical soul abo\1 t 111 0St thing·s . point of hiring the best talent that he can find. That A half dozen t.imes hi s associates have marked him off accounts for hi s long stay in the top Right of dance bands. their li sts. thi nking that he had lost his popularity and Secretly, he is something of a mystic. At heart. proh­ following. But he always comes back stronger than ever. ahly. he is still a priest. He goes for astrology and nl1!ller­ And hi s Rucnt piano playing is one reason. ulogy in a big \Va\·. Some uf th(" fees he has paid iar Hi~ favurite saying- is ... ·' I.upez "peak ill ~.·· 28 RAD IO STARS dllztm

Ire ene Wicke r married during a footba ll game

lady was a mystery and her sponsors, the Kellogg people, demanded her si­ lence. It was in her con- tract. • But now we know. Ireene is the real Singing Lady who sings that de­ lightful "Little Jack Hor­ ner." And she is so much more than just that. She is a charming person with one of the brightest smiles ~n radio. If you like her voice, you would love her. Her talent doesn't end with nursery rhymes or fairy stories. She is an exceptional actress as her roles in "Judy and Jane" attest. EOPLE thought because she didn't show her face to Chicago is her home and all her broadcast~ come from the puhlic, that the "Singing Lady" of Kell ogg fame there. It was in Chicago that she met bla[-k-haired vValter P must be as old and ugly as the stepmothers she sang Wicker whom you've heard in "Today's Children" and about. One persistent rumor had it that her voice was ''Judy and Jane." They went to a football game one day. all that remained of her former charms-that she had Ohio State was playing Illinois. During the first half, been burned by acid about the face as a child. v\falter said , "Let's get married." "Let's," . Ireene an- All the while, pretty, petite Ireene \Vicker- don't for­ swered. So, between halves, they were wed. . get the two e's in Ireene-went gaily and busily up the Her hardest broadcast came the afternoon she left her rungs of radio stardom with her "Painted Dreams," "Singing Lady" program, leaped into a cab and raced to "Roses and Drums," and "Judy and.Jane." She never another studio where she took the leading roles in ex- ' told anyone that she w

Frank Munn wanted to sleep late every day. Now he does

F Frank Munn had done what folks told him to, I the business of broad­ casting would never have known a Paul Oliver. You remember Paul, don't you? Paul was one of Palmolive's pets during four bright years of soap selling. Now he is a "for­ gotten man"-and Frank Munn is as pleased as can be. It all really started in a machi ne shop up in New York's northern end known as · the Bronx. Frank Munn was a day laborer with engineering aspirations. And a yen for lONg and undisturbed hours of slumber. This machine shop opened at the No reprimand. Praise from a ten-miJlute egg. That heathen hour of seven a. m. decided Munn. "If I can please hi.pl, I can please the Frank is a jolly, stout fellow with a great big heart world," he decided. and a manner that indicates that this is .a lazy world and His pursuit of a job that would let him sleep took him he wants to live in it. The burdensome business of plink­ to Gustave Haenschen, the orchestra conductor, and the ing his pinkies against a cold carpet at SUIl-UP each day two became friends. Haenschen put him in a spot on old was something that got under hi s skin. vVJZ before it was an NBC network station. Somehow, That machine shop and its inexorable call to work be­ that doughty foreman knew what he was saying. for came a taskmaster that he hated. He wanted to sleep Frank's tenor voice clicked immediately. late-like a gentleman. His· biggest si ngl e account has been with Palmolive. But hm\' ? But that program calI ed him Paul Oliver for four years, One dulI afternoon, he was singing at hi s lathe when mind you. VVhen the account went off the air. Frank the shop foreman slipped up behind Frank and li stened . was sunk. He had a great radio voice, and no name. This foreman was a tough bebby. I.ittle children ran Nobody in A merica had ever heard of Frank Munn. So, from him and he could look at a bottle of cream and make for over a year now, he has been painfully building up it curdle. In the midst of Frank's song. he . felt this hard his own reputation. The voice and the performance are gent's breath on the back of hi s neck. He stopped. the same . .. which counts. "Nize tune," said the foreman. "Yez gotta good voice." A nd he sleeps late every morning. 30 RADIO STARS

Keenan and Phi ll ips and two pianos flew over New York

Knabe parlor grand. Later, at the University of Southern California she distinguished herself as a rooter tor Trojan football teams. She also p layed the piano. A year in Europe really broadened her. Sometimes, she admits to her best friends that it practically flattened her. Before she came back home to Uncle, she gave c.oncerts in both Paris and Berlin. Sandra Phillips (whose parents don't make dental magnesia tooth paste) was born in Berwick, Pa., a - mining town what was a OU will have to look a long time before you will find m111111g town. A real tough one, I mean. two other young ladies who would do it. And the At the call oused age of four, she played- "Frankie and Yones who did it probably wouldn't do it again. 'vVe Johnnie" on her mother's pianner. ' mean that flight that Keenan and Phillips took last year After high school, which she finished with relish, she above the spires of Manhattan in a big airplane. sallied into New York in quest of fame and frolics. She It was a stunt, of course. But it worked. Peggy and has found both. Vaudeville lured her. Sandra piled their two pianos into the interior of a giant A fter various appearances, she met Peggy Keenan and plane, soared aloft a mile over Manhattan and broadcast they decided to team up for the purpose of stalking a for fifteen thrilling minutes. microphone job. They teamed, as you know, and they Peggy and Sandra (Misses Keenan and Phillips of the stalked, as you know. And they got the job, (P. S.) "Piano Pictures" broadcasts. if you pliz) are two cour­ as you know. ageous lassies. Look at their hair, if you doubt it. Look Today, two of their favorite vices are matching pennies - and see recI. • and eating broccoli. Don't ask why. To date, Sandra is Peggy Keenan comes fr0111 California, and a gi fted thirteen pennies ahead. which she attributes to clean liv­ family. Among her close relati ves are I"i. ve concert ing anel hard work. Peggy calls it "reel-headed luck." pianists. Their most recent vaudeville appearances have been As soon as she was big enough to chin herself on a with Tony \Vons of Scrapbook fame. Their Illusic plus piano stool she beg-an to play tinkly tunes on the family the \Vons philosophy seem to be clicking. 31 RADIO STA~S RADIO STARS BURl ED A L I V E WO U L D y o U ? FOR FO U R RUNT HIS R 15K •

Virginia Rea is a little gal from the old By IRIS ANN South. She was born (Right) As kids. (Further in Louisville, Kentucky. right) Jane, the next to CARROLL ' Although brought up the eldest, ' in the old in traditional Southern Georgia day~. Them fashion, she is any­ there mules is Gawgia ] . . thing but a clinging mules, and that there vine, as you will see. colored boy is a Gawgia darky, suh. (Right, below) As they are today. Reading left to right: Jane: Patti, the baby: and Helen, the eldest.

In order .to make the original vocal BLIVION is clubs and societies an ugly word. . were demanding her noises which have made them O Virginia Rea on so many programs hates it because she and taking so much of famous, the Pickens Sisters have to knows so completely her time that she had what it means. For four none left for school. constantly distort their faces into fretful years, she fought it In Des Moines, she told no with all her strength. And one that she could sing. She strange, beauty-destroying shapes lost the fight, even forgot it herself, for not a Believe me, she knew oblivion, program of her high school's musi­ She knew what it was to be buried- cals carried her name. At Drake U ni­ By D L. PROVOST by the hurrah aQ.d huzzas of the public- versity, though, she found the opportunity to under a personality she had created but who did not exist. study languages and harmony too much to resist. She majored in fine arts, and laid the first bricks in the foun­ For four years, she lived in tne shadow of a famous ghost OU ought to see the Pickens Sisters. I mean you their features take punishment. Their audiences aren't named Olive Palmer. It was inevitable that a woman dation of a career of which she was just beginning to dream. ought to see them. Gathered around a microphone, accustomed to it, however. Very few people are allowed of her fire and spirit should rebel. And that· was a Y to watch them work. battle royal. Who should survive , , . Virginia Rea or By graduation, she was determined to go to New York they do things to their faces that would make a 'child for further study. An astute and canny uncle who knew run for its mother. Such facial contortions you can't There's always a place for you in radio, the broadcast ' Olive Palmer? moguls tell us, if you are original. Originality is the price Here is a scrambled life; rather here was a scrambled the concert business from the inside took her part against imagine. And it's all a part of their singing routine. It is a current idea around the world that women with­ of success. The Pickens Sisters have it. life. Now, wIth her victory finally woI.1, Virginia looks her parents. "Let her go for a summer," he said; and out exception wish to be, and seek to be, beautiful. You ahead for new worlds to conquer. then, aside, "She'll come back cured." . wouldn't think, would you, that three girls as pretty and THOSE bubbly, buttery tones that gurgle like water In those days, though, she didn't dare look ahead. I'll So she got her summer. At its conclusion the folks poured from a jug, for instance. No normal throat tell you why, and if you are one of the many whose eyes in Des Moines began to plan for her home-~oming. A wise as these Georgia misses would deliberately assault their features? Or twist their noses and pound their could ever concoct them. Those Pickens kids stick out are on the ladders that lead to radio careers, you may find letter came by special delivery addressed in Virginia's their lips, flop them up and down with a bristling, beating a star or two to set your course by. handwriting. cheeks ? But they do ! '. - It's their act, I've said. You've heard their vocal gym­ forefinger, and sing like sinners. Result: a musical effect But first, the girl herself ... softly Southem, a bru­ "I've just gotten a job making records with the Bruns­ nastics, haven't you ? If you haven't, they do tricks with that the radio never knew until they came along. 'Or they nette, with that "schoolgirl complexion" that she used to wick Phonograph Company," she wrote. "I'll not be able will clutch both cheeks, pinching them with the fore­ advertise, of medium height, as feminine as the lace on to come home." their three-ply voices that send little shivers down your spine. Those tricks are no accidents. Rather, they are fingers, and vibrate them back and forth or in and out. a handkerchief, and charming. . . . That was her . first job. She had gone after it cinched The result is bizarre and pleasing. One effect requires it, and wangled a year's contract. The money wa~ enough inventions. - They've invented new ways of making faces-and mak­ that they pinch their noses at the bridge and slide the OUISVILLE,KENTUCKY, was home until she was to keep her comfortably while she continued her studies. thumb and forefinger down.to the very end, pulling it all thirteen. Then, Des Moines, Iowa. She sang from ing vocal noises. Musical noises. What fun, one might L There is a legend about another job that she had. She the while. Pulling one's nose, now there's a way to make the very first, the immature sweet pipings of a child. think, to do a program while making faces. Actually. was out west somewhere when she accidentally got news a living! Finally, her mother was forced to discourage it because that aNew York impresario ( Continued on page 42) these girls can't look at each other when they work. If they did. ~hey would l;>ur.st out laughing. When they first And a way to ruin one's beauty, if the face cuIturists started thiS type o·f S1l1g111g, they had to rehearse in dif­ are to be helieved. Pat, but don't pull, they advise. Rup Ask Virginia Rea "what's in a name?" She'll tell you the. answer vigorously ferent rooms. Now, they're more accustomed to seeing upward, never downward. If ( Continued on page 46) 32 33 RADIO STARS RADIO STARS

(Above) The view from Jessica's apartment.....;. which once belonged to a very famous artist­ compris¥ l)1ajestic Radio City and the build­ ings of upper Manhattan. (Right) The drawing room. Of course there'd be a grand piano. And just look at that tapestry. (Bottom of page, left and right). The dining room-heavy ." oak furniture. And Jessica in her study.

AT HOME W"I T H

(Right) Miss Dra"gonette and part of her collection of rare and beautiful books. (Below, left) The be~­ room. Note the luxurious shoe closet. (Below, right) A corner of the bedroom showing the dainty dressing J ES 'SICA table and exquisitely panelled walls.

The Dragonet"te home-in one of Manhattan's nicer skylines -IS a lovely place. Quiet, "remote, and beautifully decorated

34 Photographs by Cu lver ServlCt" 3S RADIO STARS RADIO STARS

Mad? Of course THO S E they're mad! But what a marvelous MAD fasci nati ng, a Ito­ gether charming M A R X insanity it is. And, incidentally,. thei r Br0th madness goes 9n er s always. Not just By when t hey ' re DA V ID EWEN "working" a - -

(Above) Chico, who plays the piano. (Left) Above} Groucho. He is the worst punner. Chico and Groucho back in 1916. Would Right} -Groucho and Chico again-as they you recognize these two cherubic kids? I are today. Clowning about as usual.

HOSE mad Marx Brothers-you've seen them on the There is Zeppo, the straight man, who supplies the love go on the stage. Mother Marx had always harbored an missing the enthusiastic mother. But Mother Marx was T stage, on the screen, and now you're hearing two of interest and who sings the love songs. ambition to see her sons on the stage. Night after night soon to have her day. An extra part in a tragedy was . them over the air-are, like the four musketeers, Finally, there is Harpo the Great, who had been a bell­ she listened to her brother Al (a vaudeville actor who suddenly available, and the booking agent asked Mrs. inseparable. "Pun for all, and all for pun" is their rally­ hop. and a guardian of Cissie Loftus' dog for a quarter was later to become famous as Al Shean, of Gallagher 'Marx If one of her prodigies was accessible. Groucho ing cry. To them the pun is mightier ·than. the sword, a day, who landed into vaudeville only because his brothers and ' Shean) tell glamorous stories · about the stage, and was the one to be selected, because he was the oldest. and these four mad marxeteers go through .life with a were there and wanted to keep the profits in the family, as she listened she weaved magic dreams in which her And as he went through the one line allotted to him, pun on their lips. and who was so perturbed on the day of his debut that sons featured as star vaudeville actors. Mrs. Marx sighed deeply and felt that her life's dream There is Chico, who speaks the Italian dialect with such he forgot his .lines completely-and has remained mute But Mother Marx was not the one to satisfy herself had at last reached fru i ti~n . a queer nasal twang and who plays the piano with such ever since. Add them together and you have the Marx with mere idle dreaming. She bothered the booking agents capricious fingers, who, when asked if he ever saw. a Brothers. day after day, repeating to them that in her family there NCE on the stage-always on the stage. Having "habeas corpus" answers that he never did, but he saw On the ait:, you're hearing only Groucho and Chico be­ was more talent than in a whole artist's colony: Groucho O tasted of Sllccess (several people applauded him!), "Habie's Irish Rose." cause-radio being what it is-neither the silent panto­ had the voice of an angel; Zeppo had the personality of Groucho decided to remain an actor. He enlisted the ser­ There is Groucho, the philosopher, who losing his job miming of Harpo nor the straight act of Zeppo can be Francis X. Bushman; Chico could play the piano like vices of his brother, Chico, and together they planned a in his ' adolescence as a choir singer because his soprano reproduced effectively through the microphone. In repre­ Paderewski; and Harpo--well, Harpo was in a class by song and piano act. Their act was, of course, awful. and voice had become ,unforgivably bass, turned to vaudeville senting their family on the air, Groucho and Chico are himself. no booking agent would listen to their pleas. They de­ and who, of the four, suffers most from pun habit. repeating history-for It is they who were the first to "Oh, yeah?" the booking agent said skeptically, dis- cided that their act needed (Coutinued on page 49) 36 37 RADIO STARS

Fred A"en was a

juggler-he learnt

it In a library

AVE you heard Fred All en, master mil:t~­ H maker of - the Llmt Bath C lub programs? He's got a hayseed voice and a bright galaxy of gags. Each week he gets a princely sum from the Linit sponsors. His first professional appearance, though, was different. He was a juggler on a vaudeville program, billed as "Paul Huckle, Euro­ pean Entertainer." His pay was exactly $3.00. F unny thing about this fellow's names. He was born John Florence Sulli- van. F rom that to P aul HHckle was quite a step. In 1914, he migrated from Boston to New York. 'With 'With no ticket, he got On a train headed for New another new name ... Fred James. Still later, he Orleans where he had a credit rating. - The conductor switched to Fred Allen. came up and asked fo r his ticket. F'"red stuttered a reply His introduction to juggling is a story. He was at .. . and at that moment the train was side-swiped by a work in the Boston Public Library when he came upon passing freight. When A ll en dug himself out of the a slim, alluring tome called "The Art of Juggling." He wreckage. he proceeded to N e\,;' Orleans . • studied it, slipped it out under his coat each night and His wife is the Portland Hoffa who plays d~mb on his practiced at home. Linit programs. T hey met when they were in a show He became a juggler in earnest. Amateur shows. at together. _ first. One night, someone offered a grand prize of $25.00. On his right hand is a gunpowder mark. In one of His piCce de rcsiste"llce was juggling a derby, a li ghted his shows, the 'property man shot him. He never smokes, cigar, and a cane. He got along famollsly until the cigar but he carries special cigars which he uses for chewing exploded. A backstage villain had switched cigars on him. purposes. One of his favorite stunts is to trace old gags. The lure of the roael show beckoned him to all sorts Remember the song written about the line, "Take off of odd places. Australia, for one. He booked himself for your clothes and dance around in your bones"? Some­ a tour of Texas and then a long hop to the "Down-under" body accused Fred of stealing it from Mark Twain. F red land. Through carelessness at a card game, he became had a lot of fun proving that Twain lifted it from a guy stranded in E I Paso, Texas. vVhatto do? named Smith who li ved in England in the year 1771. 38 RADIO STARS

Davi d Ross studied to be a farmer once

unneeded exercise and the continued respect of hi s girl friend. T he Ross family was not wealthy. At an early age. David was impressed with the necessity fo r learning a way to earn his li ving. Even then his horizons were not limited by the city towers that rose about him. Sky and sun and the good earth were hi s ideais. He reso­ lutely decided to become a scientifi c farmer. It is a matter of painful record that he enroli ed in dear old Rutgers for that very reason. 1t is al so a matter 0 f I-JAT about this David Ross who won the 1932 painful record that David didn't fit the part. He rattled Gold l\{edal for Good Diction? What about this around in it like a pea in a pod. Ask bim about it today W David Ross who has chamled you on the Pond's and you'll discover that he still thinks he mi ght have made program. A rabesque, and Poet's Gold? a very good farmer. \ Vel l. it's an A lger story with a typical Alger hero. It Instead. he makes a better announcer. coming to it is titled The Dreamer, or From Newsboy to :\ nnOltncer. from a se ries of jobs that had him supervisiilg an orphan David Ross was born in .l'\ew York C'ity. One of his asylum. soothing a temperamental Russian baroness as first jobs was the delivery of Sunday papers. He pushed her secretary. and writing poetry. them about town in a senil e. staggering hulk of a baby In appearance he is belo,,\' avel·age-height. From time carriage that had been salvaged from some junk heap. to time, newspap.ers re fer to him as Columbia's diminu­ That is. ul1til he fell in love. She Ii ved. not on hi s paper ti ve announcer. Ross doesn't like that and who can blame route. but 0 11 the road home. ]~ I e will never forget the him? H e isn't diminutive·; he fi ll s out hi s coat like a problem his passion presented. You sec. David was a bi g man. His clothes are probably the hest cut in radio pridefl1l youth and onl y too well aware of the sight he row. presented at the helm of his c1euepit perambl1 lator. Love This Diction A ward that he has won is a coveted prize. could not survive that spectacle. he knew. H.ather than It i's awarded for voice. enunciati on. pronunciation, free­ chance it. he c h o~ e to take the long way home aroLlnd a dom from local peculiarities. personality and culture. A park for an additional two mi les. gaining thereby much large order. that. But Dave Ross lill s it. RADIO STARS dillfm

Jack Nelson

once took a

fifteen-cent room

I •

..

ACK NELSON, of the "Myrt a nd Marge" J sob - and- smi le shows, is a slender, dark chap named Vinton Haworth.' A dark chap named Vin­ ton Haworth ( hi s own monicker, by the way) who started to be an actor in Washington, D . C, which is not a good place to start to be an actor. Vinton found that out. So he left WaslJington for the richer pickings of Broadway and its play- ' houses, Manhattan smiled not too kind l v on the ...... southerner. A ;'oad sho\\' offered beans and bread and a place to sleep. ]-1e went with it, performing under a tent from P ennsylva ni a Christ 1lla s. ;\ wedding fit fm a stury bu.ok, Vinton's pal tu V irginia. was calling un a girl. O ne night. this girl br()ught hcr Have you ever wondered at the richn ess and fri endli­ rOOIll -mate along. ness of hi s "Nelson" voice on the air? He learned to The gi 1'1. who was J ean 0 \\'en5, a sweet-as-cider south­ act in that interstate tent trek. J~ I e learned to act better erner. hea rd hill1 proposc. A nd heard herself accept. She and bigger roles during four years in vaudevi lle. Two heard hi1ll suggest a day for their marriage. A nd heard years of stock pl aying in hi s 01' home town gave hil11 a hersel f accept. The day was Christmas Eve .... and here polish that e\'en Chi cago coul dn't kill. It ahl1lost did. they had met each other for the Ii rst time a week ago. His show went broke on the road. Vinton snagged a Crazy. kid stuff. eh ~ l\laylJe. On Christmas Eve. Ha­ ride to the \Vindy City and spent fifteen cents for a room worth had to work. H e wa s on the air until tcn o'clock with a bed in it. That was ebb tide for him. ]~ I e lIli ssed that night. At home in a little Chi cago penthuuse the\' Illore than one meal before he gilt a break. \ Vhen it came, had rented. Jean Owens \yas trying to get him on her he grabbed it. Broadcasting was his dish, he discovered. radiu. A nd she blc\\' out the fuse. Vintun got home at He became an announcer. Recollect the "Three Doctors"? ten-thi rt y. to fi ncl cla rkness and e verythi ng gone Wrollg'. FI"c wa~ their personal spieler. He directed television ac­ Someho\y. he and the preacher fixed it. For at ele\'en­ tiyities for \\'9-:\.,'1, P . He turned aerOl'. Got a jolJ in a furty-fi\'c he and Jean were married. Bibl e story over W:'vf /\ 0. A nd at nine-fort\'-fi\'e o'clock the next morning, he The next high spot was his weelding. a year aJ~'o last was hack in the st'u(li o hroadcasting. 40 Bing Crosby's back on the air again I Ha.ve you heard him? Of course you havel Who isn't a Crosby fan? But in case you haven't all the facts and would like to hear his swell baritone reg­ ularly, just tune in on C B Severy Wednesday and Saturday evening at nine p.m. It's the Chesterfield program, you know, and Bing does his stuff for a grand fifteen min- utes at these times. RADIO STARS Buried Alive for Four Years

(Con tinued fro ll1 page 32 ) was going to produce twenty operas. She call ed a doctor but he fa il ed to tJ-acted for exclu si velv but not her 1t was something she particularly explain the malady. 'vVhat to do? The sen-ices. S he coul d si ng under any wanted to do. So she call ed this im ­ concert had to begin at eig ht o'clock. oiher namc. A nd some bright Palm­ presal-io on the long dista nce telephone. Jt was a hi gh spot in the city's social olive minstrel invented Olive Palmer. A nd there was an hi ;;toric conversa­ and a rtistic life. A good na me-except for Virginia. tion. She wanted a job but the impre­ "1 must cancel," she told the concert That all sounds harmless enough, sario said a ll the roles had been taken. manager. doesn't it? Well. it was almost Vir­ No, there was absolutely nothing. It " You ca n't," he told her. g inia Rea's prote 'sional death warrant. was much too late for an audition. She In the end , she consented to try to Shc became O liv e Palmer with the saw she was getting nowhel'e, so she sing. A nd she did sing, to a housc initial l-'al III 01i vc broadcast. That fi rst began to sing . The "Bell Song" from packed with the cream of that CiLy'S year, she enjoyed it. The second year, "Lakmc" on the phone, mind you. society. A ll but the last number on her she began to worry. W ould peopl e re­ VVh en she fini shed, the impresario in program. She was too faint to at­ mcmber that there was a singer named New York hired her. tempt it. Virg inia Rea? Thc third year she di s­ She was only nineteen when she left Becausc shc wouldn't a ttempt it, the cO\'cred that Olive Palmer was a tyrant. N ew York on a transcontinental con­ concert manager refused to pay her. That fourth vear she reali zed that shc cert tour. Only nineteen and the sort Virginia went to bed for a week, bat­ was buried aii ve. S he had been buried of cuddly, helpless looking mi ssy you tli ng th at ba fAin g weaknes;;. The town ali ve-for four yea rs I would expectfo u.t of the old South. H er split in t\\·o camps, The women's cluo She resented - it. ~ h c was human P ullman poneI' looked a t her, evaluated refused to pay her full fee and the bu~i­ enough, too, to want for herself the her experience- ol- lack of it-and said, ness men said, if the women wouldn't. fa me her popularity brought her. Not " Honey, don't you ever talk to no men they would pay it. She sickened of the for an invented name. lI'fatters came to on these tra in s." whole mess and wi red her brother to a head when Palmoli\'e finally went off Onl v nineteen . .. hut she crossed come to Chicago to meet hcr. thc air. - Amer[ca four times, unchaperoned. And H ere was a singer who had cha rmed she took that porter's advice. A S she was ca rried aboard her train, mi lJi ons, suddenly stra nded at thc crest the women's club sent its apologies of her career. V\ -hen she went back on A LL those concerts weren't the milk- a nd a check. \Vithin six hours she was the air, should she be herscJ[ or the and-honey affairs such a rty' occa­ feeling better. 'vVh en the train steamed g host ? As Olive Palmer. milli ons kne\\' sions are supposed to be. O ne-a town into Chicago, shc was her old self again . her . As Virginia Hea, she was a no­ in VVa shing ton-gave her a new sen­ A nd the brother who had come all the body , .. worsc, she was a nobody who sation, that of being ha ted. way from N cw York was quite a nnoyed sang exactly li ke Olive Palmer. -Radio She got off the train and sa\\' white, to find that she wasn't an invalid. audiences don't take kindly to imitators. 'ang ry faces gla ring at her. \Vhere\'er This maladv that had laid her low She saw very clea rlv that those who she went, people deliberately snubbed was nothing ;t a ll , she lea rned late!". heard her sin"g as Vrrginia Rea would her. She couldn't undel'stand it. Nothing but the altitudc. Ne\\' lV[exico think her only an imitator. Can't you VVhat was it? 'vVell , the l1lan who is a hi gh country anc! she had come picture h er dilemma? had hired her to appear was fighting from the coast. It took a lot of thoug'h t to settle it. the town's Fortnightly Music Club. These concerts led her finall y to E u­ She came to a gallant decision. She A nd everybody in town was a member I'ope whcre she learned that a career is woul d start again, this time as herself. of the Fortnightly g roup. It was hav­ a costly proposition. Virginia camc as Virginia Rea. She hoped people ing a !"ivaI entertainment that very home again and found the budding busi­ would forget Olive, hoped they would night. ness of broadcasting. like her just as well as before. T hat very night, Virg inia Rea went H er first contract was with the Ever­ You hear her now as Virg inia Rea, to the auditorium and sang her heart Ready Hour. And her second brought of course, She wi ll nevel- sing again out to rows and rows of vacant, empty her face to face with the g host who was under another na me. O nce in a while, benches. Her audi ence was the 111an to haunt her for four years, the ghost she gets an excited letter from a fan who had hil'ed- her, the janitor of thc named Ol ive Palmer. who thinks she IS stealing Olive auditorium and a handful Qf oth ers. T he Palm olive people were going on Palmer's stuff. In New Mexico, she suffered another the air and thev wanted a coloratura O n the other hand, she is finding ne\\' experience. At the hotel. she felt dizzy. soprano. Virg in ia Rea wa. sin ging for f riends with every broadcast. Virginia As the afternoon passcd, it became so another company but they decided that Rea's friends. She likes that; loves it, bad she had to go to bcd. All strength thcy wanted her. They settled it like in fact. For it means that she has ban­ seemed to ha ve Aed from her body. this : Virg inia Rea's name was con- ished that fa mous ghost.

Kate Sniith's Path to Glory

(Colltinlled frail/. page 21) ill. She doesn't smoke nor drink. Don't you see the w rong of it ? Kate I-cason in the \yorld for "looking doesn't let any of the men who work was out of hcr element and kncw it. throug h" people. S he doesn't sec them with her ever usc a rough or profane S he thought the others \\'ould hayc a ... reall y. F or hate is near-sighted. expression. Can't you imagine how bctter time if she were not therc. A nd \\'hcn shc perfomlS, she wears glasses out oi place she felt at that "press she had the courage to Icavc. so she can I'ead the music on the rack tea" ? "But I 've passed her a dozen times ulldcr the mikc. Glasses. understand? So she slipped away. on the strect and she doesn't even Shc won't wear the III outside the studio T don't know w hat newspaperman speak. She looks right through me," - it's a frag ment of vanity, 1 suppose fi rst discovered that she had gone. But a musician protestcd the other day. -and thc h(1\' s \\' 11 0 want to critici se it was hc who started the ston·. " S hc's ha \'e another' wcap01l. gone . ' . . thinks she's too good for us I 'M telling no secret when I admit to Last month. ] left hate Smith 111 high-hat !" you that Kate Smith has the best VVashington, D. C . growing up to 42 RADIO STARS womanhood. And singing as she grew. School clays were al ways a tri al to her. The old President A rthur school, MODERN SCREEN has More Readers now torn down, was her first alma mater. Then four years of secondary education, finally graduation. Her sister, Helene, was her model. Helene is twenty-eight now and a secre­ tary in the Department of Justice in Washi ngton. She never had any trou­ ble passing her subjects. Kate always did. When a family conference decided that Kate was to become a nurse and then, possibly, a doctor, her Ii fe seemed to be all planned and settled. No more adventures, no more juvenile j ousts with fate. She accepted it, wondering darkly if this was what she wanted. And remem­ bering the years full of escapades that were no"" all banished. This escapade, for instance. She was playing with her gang of boys. Hide-and-seek Was. the game. She found a furniture van standing at a curb and crawled across the tail board into the dark, yawning interior. Sec­ onds passed as she awaited her pur­ suers. Suddenly, the door slammed tight and the truck leaped ahead. She pounded the walls with panicky fists. The van swayed on a curve and stead­ ied away for a long ride. Hours later, the doors were opened again and she flu ng herself at an amazed truckman somewhere in Marvland. Fortunately for Kate, the driver took her home that same night. For days, her narrow escape was the talk of the neighborhood. And this! It was Hallowe'en night and Washington was alive with mis­ than any other motion picture magazine chief-makers. Kate was dressed and painted like a Mother Goose witch. in the world! She and three friends boarded a trolley to a party. Across the aisle, a drunken man leered at the gay Cjual'tet and lurched to his feet. Before anyone The answer to that question will be perfectly obvious the could move away, he grabbed one of Why? moment you see your first copy of MODERN SCREEN, them and tried to kiss her. Kate was It's a bigger, better, handsomer magazine than anything fifteen and growing big and solid. AI- you 've ever seen at the price. Let's glance through the ,ways, a man wJlO doesn't respect current issue, for instance: women infuriates her. She remembers that she closed her fingers tight . , . "What Star Faced Death Four Times?" An amazing narra­ and hit straight out. tive of four real-life escapes from the Grim Reaper, made The man staggered away, loosing his grip, and bounced off the car-side. by one of your favorite actresses.. . . "Journey's End." Kate admits now that she was scared Charles Beahan, famous author of "Jarnegan" and other to death. T he man slunk away. hits, tells in his own words the story of his delightful romance But now-now, she had to go to a with Sidney Fox .... "Hard to Handle?" Faith Baldwin asks nursing school. To George Was11i ng­ the question about J immy Cagney and answers it in her ton University. She started out, typical, straightforward fashion .... "What You Should bravely, keeping a stiff upper li p. Know About Aline MacMahon." The story of an interesting And singing! Everyone in Wash- actress whose popularity has been increasing phenomenally. ington knew Kate Smith in those days. . .. "Did You Know It Before?" Some odd, new fQcts about She sang for every club that asked the stars . ... And many, many other features, including her. And at amateur nights. Her scores of beautiful portraits and informal snapshots ol all father. keeping his pride in hel' a secret, frowned on it. Her mother intimated the screen stars. Look especially for "All. In One Night," that a lady of the south would avoid seven solid pages of interesting photographs snapped by the stage as a plague. Kate loved it our exclusive cameraman on a jaunt. around Hollywood. insti~lctively. Get that March MODERN SCREEN. You'll never regret it H ER first professional engagement -and you'll never miss a future issuel was an accident. A vaudeville team that had been hired to appear at a theatre failed to arrive. The man­ At Kresge Stores, ager ( Kate had sung for him 111 In- Kress Stores, and (Continued on page 45) newsstands. 43 RADIO STAR S Not So Easy

(Contin ued from page 13) The big entrance door through wh ich man leaned over to a box and thum ped had ever been on the air. She got her I had come opened and Goodman Ace it with hi s fi st. Knock . . . knock . . . words twisted, accused him of trying came through. A nd three other people. knock .. . . to "get her ghost. " T hey signed off, I'd seen none before, nOI' their pictures. "Come in," he call ed chuckl ed about the epi sode, and went They took their seats a round the bridge H e leaned the other way and picked to a party. table, spread thick sheafs of paper be­ up that long bamboo pole that was A new day started on .the morrow, fore them. lashed to that doorknob in t he wall. and a new deal in Ace's li fe. A music Ace looked at me. H e seemed out of Twisting it, the knob turned and he company's president had heard that last place in this reckless room. A dark pull ed the door open. Beyond, just an fi ve minutes. And liked it. He hi red suit, blue kerchief peeking from the empty closet, but the opening door's the Aces-together- for a seri es at breast pocket, bl ue ti e, close-combed sounds were caught in the mike and broadcasts. A nd he paid them real, hai r . . . all nea t. sent across A merica. Slamm ing it, he genuine silve r doll ars. Ace couldn't " W e're going on the air," he call ed. was fifteen feet away but the pole gave beli eve it, J ane coul dn't believe it, their "I don't know how ... well, you're the him the needed reach. H e snapped friend s couldn'.t bel ieve it. Not even fi rst visitor I've ever let into the studio." back into the dialogue again. Sound when a drug store gave them more "Don't mind me. I'm house-broken," affects are Ace's own worry. H e money and KMBC spread their antics I told him. opens and closes hi s own doors and through the Middle West. Then a The loudspeaker on the wall began to that partic ul ar portal in that studio is coffee company took them to Chicago hum with harmp ny. The Boswell Sis­ hi s pet. "It's the best-sounding door fo r seventeen weeks 014 W GN. Lavori s ters in New York were concluding their on the air," he boast hooked them next, got their names on program. Then came the sound of the dotted line for four years. saxophones pl aying from another studio, W HEN they got down to pl aying Jane and Goodman Ii ve in a modest introducing the Lavoris Easy Aces. bridge, he huffl ed real cards along­ Chicago hotel. T hey like it there be­ side the black mouth of that mike in the cause it is withi n easy walking distance A CE leaned his sq uai'i sh, good-looking table's center. Real cards, all ri ght, but of thei I' studi o. "And some of .these face toward ' the mi ke, laughed they're so old and flim sy I'm pretty sure da\'s. " Ace told me. " we're going to deepl y in his throat, and said , "Ladi es no respec tabl e bridge player would be walk it." and gentlemen, Easy Aces." caught dead wi th them. Jane began her dumb Dora di alogue. A nd that's the way the Easy Aces H E'S a guy like th at, if yo u get it. ''I'll say th e world," she piped. T hat broadcast, effi ciently, ti med to the sec­ Always cracking wise. Many of hi, voice . . . who can fo rget it ? She ond, crispl y. in direct contrast to that gags ha ve decorated the country's gaiest doesn't put it on ; she doesn't have to. careless studio room. Trv and under- columns. Usuall y, he is tryi ng to think When she goes shopping, salesgirls stand it. . up new ones fo r hi s olVn show. A nd recognize her by it. I've got to hand it to Goodman Ace. that is a job, take it from him. Elec­ There she sat, drawling that good old A nd to the broadcasting business. It tion night. fo r in stance. He'll never Kansas City drawl, looking cute- as a certainlv takes its talent where it fin ds fo rget it. coupl e of kittens. J ane Ace is a blonde. it. A c ~ grew up, training himself for Joke writers all work along the same That night, I didn't know who she was newspaper work. In Ka n sa~ City where general line, yOtl pr o b a b~y don't know. until she spoke. B right head bent over he met and married Jane. he was a And it is inevitable that so me of them her continuity, capable shoulders in a newspaperman. A movie cl- itic, colum­ shoul d hit upon the same gags. This stylish pl aid silk dress-top. A nd under ni st, man of all work. And hungry part election night, Goodman was wor ried. the table a slick pair of ankles as trim of the time. He had a fl ock of jokes about the elec­ and slim as a Folli es g irl's_ H e just happened to go on the air. tion. \Vhat would the other comics T ruman B radl ey sat at J ane's left. T hey call ed him "The A nswer Man," have? Burns & A ll en. both good pals broad-shouldered and cocky. They say and he answered the sill y questi ons of the Aces, were on the air first from in Chicago that he doesn't have to act penned by bashful school lassies anent New York. W ould they have stumbled to play the role of Brad D ixon. It their movie hel'Oes. \Vas John Gilbe rt on the same comi c spots that he had comes natural. - Marge had the fourth Ma rried? W as Greta Ga rbo in love) invented) H e had fif teen minutes. if I chair. a dark girl wh0se home town W as Marie Dressler the sister of \Val­ remember it right ly. to fin d out. So he name is Mary Hunter. lace Been-? took a radi o in the studio. li stened to Easy Aces on the a ir . . . they read His broadcast was at ni ght. J ane their broadcast, and checked their gags off their lines carefull y, cleverly, not woul d come and wait fo r him outside <1 gainst his own. A nd would you beli eve revealing the fact that they were read­ the stud io door. One ni ght- and this it. not a one of them confli cted . ing. Jane sputtered on a coup le of syl­ ought to make you beli eve in Fate or . But so metimes it does happen. T oo lables, something she almost never does. something-Goodman Ace fi nished hi s often, when it does, this western wag " N ervousness," Goodman told me next last question and realized that he still has to chop open hi s .carefully prepared day. " W e'd never let anyone else in the had fiv e minutes left. F ive minutes to continuity, eli minate the line that some studi o before and she was uneasv." fill. ...a nd what to do about it ? J ane other guy has ' ruined, and think up The dialogue indicated that sOI;l eone was outside the door so he pull ed her something else. Thinking up somethin O' was coming down the hall to thei r apart­ in and introduced her to his publi c. else, he can tid ed, is one of the reasons ment door. thei r H oll ywood apartment They clowned for fiv e minutes. J ane radi o humorists die young. door, if you remember the scri pt. Good- was dumb, dumber th an anybody that Easy Aces, eh ? 1 ot so easy. DON'T FAIL TO READ THESE STORIES IN OUR NEXT ISSUE-_DATED APRIL The amazing radio rise of Father Coughlin-the priest who, before he went on the air, had a following of abo.ut thirty-six families, and now has a following of millions. How Jane Froman, the blues singer, overcame the greatest handicap any woman can have and won her way to success. The life story of the man who everybody said was through-but wh o has proved time and again that he isn't through. Know who it is? 44 RADIO STARS

Kate Smith' 5 Path to Clary

(Co l/tillllcd trolll pagl' 43) numerable amateur contests) telephoner! and she had not been with him at th e thc Smith home. hatc will tell 1'01.1 end. because-because her boss had told today that li fe seldom affords so th;'i ll ­ her to take the l1lidni ght train. Blindly. ing 'a moment. H e offerer! hcr $75.0(J she blamed that man. She still blame.; to s1l hstitute fo r the (eam. him . It is curious to di scover in this She went on with a piano pla\·er. g irl who is so bi g of heart and soul She sang a few simple songs and the the bit of steel that hold s the imprint sight oi her standing up, unasha'mcd of 01 that harrowing ni ght. her ample fi gure, throwing her full B ACK in New 'York, she sang on young voice to the hack of tklt music " \- ' hall. wa ll her an ovation, After thaI through the run of "Flyin' High." O nl\' the contract held her in it. She Al fir st ni ght, she made a decision. S hc , ' / . I would never go back to the George had- no friends there: rather, they tried \Vashington nursing school. A nd sl1(' to humiliate her. One performer, a I) never did. ma n, prodded her ni ghtly wi th such That engagement pl acer! her feet asides as, "Get out oi my way, yuu firmly on a ladder that was to lead to fat sloh I" "You're lousy tonight, you all so n s oi unexpected things. First. cl ul1l sy lummox." Each ni ght, every ~illLfou~ she got a jph. in "Honeymoon L ane" night. it was like that. IS with Eddi e Dowling. It took her to One night her mother a nd some -th is new mascara New York where she I'ehearsecl for friends came from \"iashingtun to see ei ght miserable weeks. "1 cried every her. She wanted desperately to do day." Kate told me. Week-ends. she her best. She went to this man a nd WATERPROOF \\'cnt home to v isit her mother. When begged him to 1ea \'e her al one. During the show opened, l'd rs. Smith came to that performance. he \\'as worse than EVEN the tea riest t alkie can't el·er. New York and li ved with her. spoil your eye rn a ke-up if you use Liquid The next show was "Flyin' High." She was ready to quit. even to go \Vinx. It is the one mascara tha t's really And here was more mi se ry. She sang back to nursing, when she happened to -and almost stopped the show. She \\·ander next dav into the oftie l' of T ed waterproof-that won't smudge or run-ever. danced, all two hundred anrl twelve Collins, then vi~e-pr es id e n t of the Co­ And how it fl a tters eyes ! It makes YO llr pounds of her-and' did stop the sho\\' . lumbia Phonograph Company for whom lashes look dark-long-full. It keeps thelll But jealousies arose among the cast. she was making some records. soft. M en are capt.i vated by such lashes. She was big and green and easil y This man Collins-you've heard him Liquid Win x is easy to apply. Beauty teased. The other gi rl s kidded her, announce her progral~l s a nd seen him authorities recommend it. , , 75c at a ll drug ragged her, made her li fe a horror. with her in movie shorts-is a kindly . a nd department stores, . , Orsend IOc fo r the sympathetic lrishman. Somehow, I; e There were dozens of times when she conve nie nt Vanity Size. felt that she had to stop. arOllsecl trust in K ate. " vVhat's wrong. But her boss wouldn't let her. The kid ?" he asked. "Aren't they treating man who paid her salary knew she was you right ?" one of the hits of his show. H e drove Kate S mith broke clown and told him __wlnx the truth. P ride a nd hope were al l for­ her ahead. ROSS ('0 ,\'\"" NY Kate always shudders when she re­ gotten. H ere was it man wh o seemed ~-t.) \V,. .'s l I 7th S t .. N~'w York City-Dept.R. :! members this one black da\', H er to understand. Thev talked for three I c nelose IO c for Liquid Winx Vanity Size. father was ill in \Nashington. 'A phone soli d hours that fater'ul afternoon. call from her mother told hel' that he At the encl , Ted Collins had come was not expected to live through the to the bi ggest decision he ever made ni ght. Kate adored her dad with in hi s life. He thought he saw in (hi s NanH: ______. _. ______• ______• __ __ _ child-like worship. She told her man­ big, broken-spirited girl something that ager that she had to go to· 'VVa shing-ton. nobody else had ever seen. H e thought Adclr('ss ______. ______"It's probably just a hospital scare, " it was worth the bi ggest gamble he he ~aid. " Yo u know how the\' arc. coul d make. Play tonight's show and take the mid· "You need a manager," he said. night train down. You'll be there by " Do I" Kate asked . LOPEZ' LlFE­ ,even in the morning." "If vou'll do exactl\' what 1 tell y O U NEXT - Kate had a n understudy who could and not ask me why, '1'11 make you 'one ISSUE have taken her part but, bein g young of the bi ggest names in show business." and anxious to p'lease, she stayed. And Kate stared at him through tear­ sang with her heart and mind full 0 f stai ned eyes. What should she do ? horrid doubt, knowing that her fath el' Chewing her fin gernails nervo uslv-a lavon hi s death hed. At midnight. she habit she stdl has-she tried to 1 ~ l a k e to'ok her train south. up her mind. T o ci a all that . . , to She was still on the train . tossing ask no questions . , . to be the bi ggest sleeplessly in a P ullman berth , when name. . . . Bill Smith died in Washington. H e "H ow about it ?, Ted Collins asked . S.n Francisco, Cal. was dead th ree hours when she reached T hat was Kate's cross-roads. Should the hospital. she put her life in thi s dapper Irish­ 1 ha ve told you that li fe had not man';; ha ncl s? Or shoul d she stick it taught he r to meet grief and tragedy. out alone? That morning , she could think ot onl y \'Vhat die! Kate decide ? And why? this one th ing ... her father was dead (To be cO lltiullcd) REMEMBER-RADIO STARS IS A MONTHLY MAGAZINE! 45 RADIO STARS The Romance of George and Ethel

(C ontinu,ed from page 12) was all she thought she'd ever want. had sung on more stages than he had time that Olsen was offered a rich con­ Eddie Cantor persuaded her to come seen. She kn ew just how to put a song tract-but the offerers intimated that back for "Whoopee." Both on the stage over-when she faced footli ghts. She they would not need his w ife on their and on the screen. During the time be­ thought the mike was the same so rt of program. George's answer was: tween the closing of the show and the proposition. George told her to sing "No Ethel, no George." making of the picture another son was softly, gently, to forget the "punch" that A year passed during which Ethel's born to Ethel-named, this time, George sold a song clear back to the last row softly exciting styl e caught the public Edward Olsen. That Edward is in of an auditorium. Ethel admits that fancy .. A new sponsor was looking for honor of Eddie Cantor. she didn't take his suggestions kindly. talent and he decided she had just the With two children, Ethel settled back A nd George, who recogni zed in her voice he wanted. H is offer was stun­ to enjoy her life. Show business isn't voice something sweet and new for ning, more money than she had ever soothing to the nerves. It is night work, radio, raged and harangued. One re­ earned. But he had contracted already a topsy-turvy existence that she nevel' mark Ethel still treasur.es : fo r an orchestm and coul d not possibly really liked. "I'll bet if I wasn't your . husband, use the Olsen banel. Ethel's answer, I But radio, she 'learned, was something you'd take m)' advice." think, is a key to the amazing success else. It meant pleasant hours and a new Eventually, he moulded her and of this most amazing of Broadway's technique. coaxed her until she learned the tech­ matches. She said, simply: "George has taught me everything I nique of the microphone. And that was "No Georgie. no Ethel." • know about radio ' technique," she told the beginning of her success on the a ir. FOUl' simple words, t~lat's all. But me. They are splendidly loyal to each they tell the 'whole story of the romance That teaching was no easy job. She other. A Broadway legend tells of the of George and Ethel.

Would You Run This Risk?

(Contiu.l/ cd from page 33) Patti, Jane, and Helen had stuck to opera star, was possibly the most musi­ T hey were hired on sight. those rules, they would never have got­ cal. But Jane was the singer. At twelve Unromanticall y easy, wasn't it ? Not ten such success on the ai r. she was performing in three different many have such luck. That getting on the air, by the way, churches each Sunday. In order to keep P resently, with their own triple har­ is a story. But fir st . .. 'let's turn time her schedule, she rode a bicycle from mony on the air in direct competition back for seventeen, twenty-one, and one to the other. Helen didn't care for with a dozen other trios, they realized twenty-four years and move to the state music, and even now she would much they had to fight to retain the spot' into of Georgia. rather be a fashion al·tist. which they had been pushed. It is Jane Twenty-four years ago, Helen was None of them, except Jane, had any who pil ots the P ickens Sisters. It was born. Jane was second and Patti was definite idea, ever, of becoming singers: she who started the business of lip slap­ third. Theil' father was a g reat athlete We wi sh we could tell yo u that they ping and nose tweaking. The others and it was hi s dream to have sons. Sons sta rved and slaved in order to crash the took it up, added variations. that he could train to become even gates to radio's Olym.pus. But that And what of beauty? 'Well, in the greater athletes. would be stretching the truth. What beginning the fates conspired to give Fate has a curious way of toying with actually happened is this: H elen had them more than thei r share, so they those who try to plan their own li ves. been living in New Ybrk a short while can afford to lose a little. And are they Instead of sons- well, do you think Mr. when the other two gi rls came up from losi ng it ? Friends have warned them Pickens ever regretted his three daugh­ their home to visit her. The night they about their noses. They beg them to ters? Not one ininute. He accepted a rrived, they went to a party in. Green­ stop tugging at their cheeks and lips. them, said they were the ·next best wich Village. During the course of the I think the Pickens Sisters don't even thing to boys, and proceeded to make evening, they harmonized a few songs listen. of them just about what he would have together. A pubJ'icity woman from one They like to sing. They like the thrill made of hi s sons. of the studi os was present. She was of discovering new musical notes. Crea­ He taught them boxing, wrestling and thrilled and deli ghted. tion, that. And originality. Just the jiu jitsu. And never regretted it until other day a radio poll revealed that the- time Helen tangled with the fresh T HROUGH her, these girls were given hundreds of thousands of fans haye son of a neighbor, threw him over the an audition. At the Victor Company. voted them the most pDpular harmony porch railing, and broke hi s arm. T wo weeks were all otted for rehearsals. team on the air. , Now a man can't have his daughters They sang on schedule, sang the songs Beauty culturists say that anyone can going around breaking people's arms. they had known do\vn south and added become beautiful. A nyone at all, if she So Mr. Pickens dropped their athletic a few of the newest and neatest bl ue uses the ri ght pats and puffs and does training and substituted more ladylike tunes. A cpntract to make records was the I'ight things. B ut JIOW many can pursuits. their reward. sing those _sweet southern songs? How Shortly after that an NBC official many can-well, just you li sten to the T HOSE kids' years were typical1y heard one of their recording. " We can P ickens Sisters. Georgian, sun-shot and ,golden and use those g irls," he said, sending for That is the reason they are willing gay. Patti, named after the famous them. This time, there was no audition. to take the ri sk. KATE SMITH'S HOllYWOOD EXPERIENCES- Fascinating anecdotes about Kate Smith and all the people she met in Hollywood. Movie stars, titled personages, famous directors. And what her reactions were to the cinema cameras and to the town itself. It's a honey! IN THE NEXT ISSUE OF RADIO STARS. DATED APRil - OUT EARLY IN MARCH. 46 RADIO STARS

lVonld YOI' ~l'.rry II .UalJ- Meet the Mills Boys - a I COil/iI/lied Irvin paye 17) AERIAL ELIMINATOR Goes Right Inside Your Receiver mail order house, a nd it docs verY w ell , :\ II F. & I I. ('a p:t<"i ty At' I';n I El i III ,0 th~\ ' h an~ Il' t thought of changing it illn tfll' I"'JlI;II~ II \·I'I':I .:.!·' · 7:-1 - [0, ,t :t ~·ri :l l . .-,11 f~'I ' 1 llij.!'h , Ch','!'- ~l'\·:ltl'r :-:~' Il :- i ior a licttcr n ll C. T he other in strulllcn h tidl\' :llld , ',,1 11 111" \)11 luHlt 101':11 :11111 they "play" ,,· ith their yoices. Thcy can 11:.\ ":-:I:ltion..; , l~ ot·~ :twa,' Wi1h IJlJ I £1111.1' :11 "';:1 1:-.. 1",1 1':-', g.uy \\'il'(',- , successfull \' imitate the clar inct. the -to U4"iorm IIi ... '! :-:poilt·d \\'0/1<1\\'01'1" ligllflli u :.!" Iw z the trombonc and the tuba. :Irl):-.. I'V ' , ~(. Ii,l.dn Eo:('("].' I'1 1'\' 1111 \'" saxo ph a n e~ tiou, III' ('UITI'1l1 11:00"\1 in lI}lt'r;lti.III. There is a slight icgend ,g'oi ng aroull d Or dn )'OIL believe, witlt m(lny ('ho:-<,'" for I ' S , :'\:1";11 11 0:-<]1;1:11 nthPrs. Ih(ll it i" n h opeipss !ask ? 11 :-:1', I 1l:,1:t 11 (,.1 [(,I' :lIl~- :o;1't b y :IllY that it's hard ior a colorcd bOI' to Illakt' on" ill :I 11\'111"'111 , l \ JlH'P:l l j·d in..;jd" good. You kll()\\·-thl' colnr' lillc-al1 - I1I'1'IJlit...; Illodll;,!' !o=('t :lnyw lu·\'I' :11 \\"h at a strange he~dt111ing for ;:l ff)1llJ.ll(' l ClllUp\('h' "'ill. Ea r'l! II':-:I'\'(] Oil 11:!'i-lHi l l '(t:-;[jI:tid sorts n f dit1icuitic, . 1 asked 1111' friend -:! pri:'-IJll cell- Y cl it \\'a ~ here that :1 con­ r l 'f'I'I)! iun , _\ I t-J IOti d.·a It·!',.. . fir ~. ' II,J 1'0111'(111 alld ~ 1,111/ I 'a ul l{oile;;llll about it one n ight. A ll d \ ' ict'~ life hegall ant' \\' , S(/Illtthing 1' 1 ;[ F . & II. tUlltO 1. . \1I0({ATOI{l~; ,. Paul told !lll'. W()lllall '~ e\'t'~ made him do ubt for tIl(' fll ,',< tim e in his life th e wi::;. dom of hi s c r1 1111I1 ,\ 1 U t" Jlt. 41. FarJ.:tI , :", I) . "Till' oll ly difficulty toc];t\' i" that if allliJili411b. r------MAIL !------, a collJrt'ri bOI' ~I](J\\< all\, ta1c1ll at al1 This clra1l1:ni c mecting: is a tender 1101 t.' i l ~ I ~ (' rlll OIl "; F , &. II . ( 'all,wilY ,\.'ri al fOI $1 . 111/ tl'a:-: h, I (Inc of t h e IllOSt g ripping li fe stories yuu along all I' ;lJ ·-ti ~ tic line he is g il'c n tuo [I'L1I h:!\'c read, "Against Fe;lrful Odd:-;"' i:-; a I ' / " ;:; il~ ' I~).': [ ~ I.() -r ~ n('IIl ~ I 'd · 'Il l! ,l .ftt:r1 ~~:~: {,t'! ll~~::~:.~' I I '.... J\ \/1.. 1i Hli ~ H'I YI.t! \\ I 1't'!IHlf It I, Tllu ch Cllcuurag·e ment. Even it mcdiocr e powerful s li ce o f r eal Ii fe. told il,' the man talen! is praised and encouraged until who Ii, ed il: in s imple. ab~orhin ~ manne r . I ,\ II[I"I ' ~:-:' the boy i;.; completely spoiled. The sallle l ~ lIt does the sweet devot ion and staunch I ('1 '1' \ ,...... ~ 'L\T L . .. . , I ;;Iight talenl ill a " ' hi te hoy II'ould un­ faith oj" Sue \\ ;ltkins!'oll sh ow him the wa\' I_(~' ~ ~ " :.I~ 1,:£'::',:': ~C~ ' ~ :: l~ I~ I ~_ , to t"eciamati(In t)f l1i :-; so n I ? \1al1 \' Clllothc"r doubtedly pa"s unnoticed." woman h :1s t ried it ",.-ilh man y anothe r m~Hl :-;0. t.hc .\ I il l, B roth cr~ II'ere no/ kept - :llld i,ailed. back hccau,e of their color. Ami. hal'­ Y\Ht' ll get a mighty thrill OUt rtf this true ,tMY. Thotlg-h it's ~ r e),ula r S2.00 hook­ ing 1llore than a slight talellt, they \\'ere le ngth n O\'e1, it :l ppea rs cnlllpll..'le in the cur­ Ilot taken up a nd spoiled becau;.;e o f rent issue of "rODER" RO,,[A" CES, to­ om- their acconlplishmen t,. They seemed gel her with lllany ~ h () n c r true c;:;to ries a nd Size 16x20 Inches Same ",;ce for full quitl' a, ullspoiled, II'hCIl I spokc to :-' Jlec ial f ea rllre ~ . For l( )\'e r ~ of r c:..t1 !-' tories 98 ~no~~s~ r I ~~d~!i~: C from rl.'al life t'hen.~ i s IlO bel'te r mag;lzine pet. animals, et.c ., o r thcnl, a~ thel' must have been \l'hell thl'l' :l lHl 11(j ,gre:tte r \ ·::t ll1 (' t h :1n e nlarl{ernents o f U!l Y port o f g roup T)lC- left 11On1('. 'rllOugh, II·hen you ('Oill e I :) ture. Saf o returt) o f yo ur own oriR"ioal ph oto J!uarantced. th ink of it. tllat 11·;.,sn·t l'Cry long' ag(l. SEND NO MONEY Thel' alT merc children, 11011'. the ~i~~1 ~~I\e~tll~o:!~~~S~I?~(!~rL receive )'our b e:mlitull ifc-liko cnlargemen t s i'l.c1 6x20in,l:ruar­ :'IJill, ·Ihmhers. Though three of them Rn teed fadeless. ray pol'tmnn 9& plus postage or Bend $ 1,00 !l;1\'C had bi nhda I'S si Ilec thei r succe" 'With ordt!r and WCI)ay postage. II'a, a"url'd thl'l" art' sti'JJ mere inialll ' ... JHug fJ zill" 0/ Special Free Offer ~~~~ \I'li en c ('('nte r nf a ttrac Or An, Other In&trllm ~ nl lio ll , i\lu :-: i c i all~ are I II II:1.n' ~' ~ 'IJ \'(' 1'\ small. eager colored IJO\· ,. t!t ci'r vited f' very\\'h(' r l ~ E ll fll ~ 'rl!n H' T ll " Inq l'lJlIJt' u l ' RADIO STARS little red mouths cl osing and opening soon they began putting in little orig­ They are stilt young and eager. Stilt oh, so fast, trying so ha rd to make inal bits-and then they weren't just a a bit more P iqua, Ohio, than New York harmonies? straight quartette any more. Harry had City, though they're getting along very It probably sounded pretty good even been playing on a gazook-don't ask ni cely in New York, if you ask me. then. But the cops in P iqua, Ohio, me what a gazook is, J ohn told me They've 1earned to dress in the accepted didn't think so. A nd where are those about it-and one night he forgot it New York fashion fo r colored boys who cops today? U ndoubtedly still chasing and imitated one instead. A nd, except have made good in radio. But they little colored boys off street corners. for the faithful guitar, that was the end send their money to their mother and But the chasing did, temporarily, di s­ of the " real" in str uments. The audi­ she saves it for them. courage the Mills Brothers. They sang ence liked the simulated gazook far They haven't a car, now. They travel around the house for a while, after that. better than they had liked the real one. so much that they fi nd it more conve­ Barbering wasn't so profitable in Pretty soon, imitations of trombones ni ent to depend on rented cars. T hey Piqua, so the fami ly moved to Bellefon­ and tubas began to appear-and the have a valet, but, after a 11 , when you taine. The boys were in school then, boys' engagements at smokers and have to make changes in vaudevilte­ and · they kept on going to school in social s g rew in number and impor­ and a 11 those new clothes to be taken Bellefontaine. And then fi nances grew tance. care of. more stringent and they had to go to Then Martin Bower gave the boys a work. John was a sophomore in High chance to appear at May's Opera House A LL four of them prefer living in the School, then. The others quit before in P iqua at an A merican L egion enter­ country. They like New York but they reached High School. tainment. That was their first big ·'some day" there is going to be a big There aren't many things that young chance. And did they make good? One country house-or a number of country colored boys in a small town can do. guess, now. houses. Near New York, likely as not. But they weren't lazy-that is, none They got anothet· "opera house" en­ They spend most of their time learn­ but Donald-and he was such a little gagement after that. A nd, before they ing new songs. They have an extensive boy ! They all ,fopnd jobs. J 0 1111 tended knew it, t hey were pl aying vaudev i11 e repertoire and it takes a couple of hours fl owers in a g reen house. Then he was houses. Then came a chance at the to learn a song and put in the proper a janitor in a bank. H arry was a boot­ radio- a local Cincinnati station. A nd "orchestrations." Then, this year, they black. Of course ! Doesn't one have to they went over something grand. have gone in extensively for sports. be a boot-black to make this a proper T hey wet·e a little bit doubtful about John likes golf. H erbert and Harry success story? There were dozens of coming to New ' York for an audition. like golf, too, but prefer tenni s and other jobs. It takes a lot of working to But they fin ally did come. That big horseback. Donald, while he's interested buy enough g roceri es fo r so many thing call ed "influence", which you've in nearl y every out-of-door game, pre­ young hungry mouths. heard so 11luch about, was absent fers polo. He doesn't want to li ve, in entirely. the summer, very. far from a good polo T HEN one of the boys thougHt of They got an audition. A nd three field . A nd, if things keep on, there's sing ing. P ublicly, that is. Without days later they were sched uled fo r thei r no reason why he'll ever have to. the benefit of cops on the corner. So first broadcast. They went on cold, From boot-black to tennis player. they rehearsed some songs, singi ng without a line of publicity or advance From window washing to golf. F rom them straight as a quartette and got notice. A nd, immediately the telephone P iqua, Ohio, to polo. From being chased some engagements. Not many, but a began to ring. What about that quar­ by the cops on the corner to-but I few. Just a quartette of young colored tette? \Vho were the Milts Brothers? reall y can't spend any more time at the boys trying awfully hard. And the Mills Brothers were made-as typewriter. Isn't this the night the But they had something. A nd, pretty far as rad io success goes. ?vl ill s B rothers are on the , rad io?

Backstage with Edd ie Cantor

(C onlil1l1 ed fr 0111, page 8) looking at thin air. Not in the wings. "Turned it on the way to the studio," this spring.) Musicians get up wearil y. I'll tell you where Rubinoff is. He's in she says. "It's swelling." Rosalind Green limps away to find a that litt le g reen room over there, sitting Swelling! It's already puffed way doctor. in a chair. He and his fiddle. That's out to there. But she limps up to her Going· out, we catch a few scattered Why Rubinoff never answers back, never mike and laughs as if life hadn't a hurt gli mpses. H.ubinoff, polished leather pays any attention to Cantor's digs. He in it. A nd limps away. Not until after violin case under hi s a rm, talks to a never hears them. But on the air, the the program can she go to a doctor. platinum-haired princess. Probably she show sounds swell. Funny thing about all these broad­ sings blue songs and wants a job. Can­ Music breaks the spell of Cantor's casts. The last few minutes seem to tor bends over a lady's hand and ki sses cOinedy. Rubinoff invokes memories generate a furious so rt of nervousness. it. "Darling, 1"m glad to see yo u," he and heart pangs with hi s magic melody. Spencer .dashes through looking at his say. The lady is really a lady. Lady Then Cantor steps back and cracks our split-second watch. Cantor scans the Peel of E ngland, but Beatrice Lillie to shell s with a seri es of gags. clock and hurls himself into a fl yi ng you and me. VV~ take an elevator to Now he is helped by A rlene Adait·e, fini sh. Wallington gets hi s commercial the street. Snow pil es against the curb. a girl in evening dress. She takes the announcement ready. Rubinoff has de­ The foot ing is tracherous. There's part of a telephone ,operator. Just about serted the side room fo r the rostrum vVallington with a girl" trying to reach a dozen lines. She's come a long way before hi s orchestra. hi s car. A drift li es between. He bends to say them and she goes a long way The program I·eaches its peak . . . over and scoops her into · his arms, to get home. She doesn't mind, though. like a short story building to a climax. wades across the drift and deposits her Then, abruptly, it is over. The little in the seat. C ANTOR'S last scene introduces an- scarlet light just inside the prescenium The audience swarms across the side­ other actress, Rosalind Green, one arch turns black. We are off the air. walk after us. Their chatter says they of the best. She pl ays two parts tonight, Cantor makes a face at the mike, sticks liked the show. Savs thev liked Can­ Cantor's wife, and hi s nurse. Look! out hi s tongue. ·Wallington does a soft­ tor's bantam rooster· walk, ·h is owl eyes. She's limping. shoe dance. (And by the way, the two his cuckoo clowning. Says they're go­ " Rosalind, how come?" of them may go into a show together ing home and going to bed.

Don't mi ss the grand story on Father Coughlin-Next Iss ue 48 RADIO STAR S

Those Mad Marx Brothers What a Strange Paradox Their Love Was! (COH/iJlIlCd trUJI/ pllqr 37 ) another man. so they call ed upon Zeppo. dUCLOr came breath less to Mrs. ;Vfarx Zeppo seemed to be their lucky star, and told her that he saw one of her for no sooner did he join them when l ittle darlings-Groucho- smoking a the three brothers got thei r fir st book­ cigar. whil e th e other-Chico-was ing. They were moderately successful sha\'ing I -that is. thel' were not hi ssed off the Thosc were the days when. having stage-and so, it was not long before dec ided to produce a show of th eir o·oI'n. they received other bookings. It was they posted a hugc picture of Theda at this time, that the fourth of the Bara outside th e theatre, under which brothers joined the team-Haq)o. A nd thev IITote "Admission 25c"-tll erehy the four brothers-hilled a s "The F our tenipting some $28 of business into the Nightingales-A Serious Entertain­ theatrc I Those were the da v,; when ment"- began to tour the small vaude­ thev dreamt of the time ,,,hen the v \'il k and movie houses in the small \Vo~ld make an entire Broadw

(Continued from page 19) his contracts and attends to all business day he hopes to play drama. Nothing "I work hard at being funny," Jack affairs. If it were not for her I wonder would delight him so much as t.o do Pead says. "It may sound as if it were what would happen to Jack's money? some of the successes of David War­ all done on the spur of the moment. It He would probably give it all away to field, notably "The Music Master" and isn't. Few people know how hard a beggars on the stt'eet! it seems to me that in this the full funny man works to get that way. But Winifred looks out for Jack and talents of Jack Pearl would be realized. Every intonation of the voice, every for his best interests. He never tours But will they let him? turn of phrase must be carefully thought the country without her and she is in out beforehand." the audience every night that he broad­ y ET when he is on a stage or before And Jack even uses his hands and casts. a microphone the business of being makes funny faces in front of the micro­ It was an accident that he happened funny is all that counts. As you perhaps phone. Every gag is painstakingly into comedy roles. When he was just know, the Lucky Strike hour is broad­ executed. a youngster he got a job in the show cast from the New Amsterdam Theatre Off stage (or rather off air ) Jack "School Days" (at the magnificent sum and the place is always packed with a Pearl is far from being a funny man. of $15 a week) and so ambitious was real and most demonstrati ve audience. He has no deft non-profession,!l patter he, he understudied every role-the This is a swell idea for it gives the per­ -no line that he passes out indiscrim­ Jewish, Italian and German characters. formers something to work to. It is inately. He is sel'ious, earnest, eager One night Danny Murphy, the German not like speaking into a cold . dead and sympathetic. The we ight of the comedian, was taken ill and Jack went microphone. world rests upon his slim shoulders. And on in his place. He has been playing Pearl, like Ed Wynn, does his act in that's no gag. German comedy roles ever since. And full make-up, wearing the funny baggy And I'll bet if it were not for that probably always will. clothes and breast-full of medals that wise and calm wife he wouldn't have a But, in spite of the fact that he is an he uses on the stage. He makes two dime. For his heart goes out to suffer­ excellent comedian and his fame has separate appearances before the mike ing and di stress. By being funny he grown by leaps, comedy is not his real and makes a practice of changing his thinks he can, perhaps, make the world forte. And Jack Pearl knows it. Some costume for both of these. forget some of its woes.

Take My Advice

(Coll tinlled from page 9) but the keyboard pyrotechnics put me surely it is not nece,sary to select those more of Ethel Shutta's singing; ancl all in a dither. You are pianists, not which are merely synthetically, tritely won't you talk a little more, please? I acrobats. More melody, please, and philosophical and, in addition, not very like your announcements ~ rhythm. ' good verse. Fn Manchu.. Elegant creepers, I eat Rise of the Goldbergs. I hear you Hollywood Newsboy. This newsboys' them up. But what is wrong with the have gone .on a new coast to coast net­ voice isn't newsboy and it isn't Holly­ sound effects . . . or are they vocal work. Please don't change your act. wood. The program idea is good but cross word puzzles? What makes it real and vital and worth the selected material is merely daily Ja.ck Pearl. The clialect is funny but listening to night after night is its 11U­ paper, fan magazine rehash. over the mike it is sometimes hard to man heart interest. You've built up N oY'man Brol?enshire. It isn't neces­ understand. Go easy when you come to such a big following that way, stick tn sary to tell us how good the Boswell the point of your jokes. it, and you'll make more' friends. Don't Sisters, the Street Singer and Miss Et­ , Eddie Ca.ntor. What's the idea of the go highbrow. • ting are. We know they' re good or we prrrt-prrrt-prrt business? I can't spell Morton Downey. I do like your wouldn't li sten so religiously. We don't it but I am tired of hearing it. And singing, Mr. Downey. But mHst you like to be told things we already know the gags could be newer. whistle? or to be congratul ated on our good luck, Bunts and Allen. I couldn't com­ Walter O'Keefe. That's a very thanks to Mr. Chesterfield. Let your plain if I tried and Lombardo's orchestra snappy act, but please, Mr. O'Keefe, fine stars speak-or rather sing-for is elegant but I could, after all , do with don't sing. I like you better without themselves. . less music and more of this gaga gal music. Ben Bernie. Please forget Walter Gracie and her bewildered paJ. . - Kate Smith. Not so many mammy Winchell and your mutual conversations. In general, who are we to kick? But songs, for this chile, not so many hot And don't plug for your sponsors so I am getting pretty Wea ry of blues and songs. There is too much of that on much. This sort of thing detracts from torch songs and t he dear old Southland the radio already. Lovely melody, the a good program. (as never was) and of old gags and memory songs, give us lots of this. But Ed Wynn. A little freshness, or else older situati ons. Surely we rate better oh, Miss Smith, can't you greet the you'll be slipping. The opera stunt is music and more of it, and more cOln­ li stening multitude a little more nor­ beginning to pall, as are the planted pact drama and less hi-de-ho. Am! mally? Sweetness and li ght is all very letters which conclude your period. when will Colliers be back .on the air ? well in its place but a little of it goes L eo Reisllw11,. Play all you want, we Or do I ask too much of mv loud a long way. And speaking for myself eat it up ; and lead your orchestra speaker; and _have I become a loud and, perhaps othel's, less loud-pedaling through the tunes that you alone can speaker myself? on your friends in hospitals would be playas they shoulcl be presented , but Also, for those making charity ap­ welcome. please omit the cla -de-o-dumming as peals I vote for five minutes, no more Major Bowes, of the Capitol Famil:y. you play. We get enough of that. I and no less. F ive minutes is plenty, I do like your program and your an­ am beginning to see pink gi raffes when you can say all you have to in that nouncements and introductions but I the cla-de-clo, vo-de-dow starts on any time and most people in this fevered do not like the poems which conclude program. And this is said with a hey age will not listen to more. So take my your program. There are so many nonny nonny and a couple of hotchas. advice ... lovely poems in the world, which con­ Too much is enough. But I don't suppose anyone will. I've tain real and enduring beauty that George Olsen. Can't we have a little never been able to take it myself. 50 Printed in the U. oS. A. by Art Color Printing Company, Dunellen. N. J. BROADCASTING offers you these and more

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