IJBFC Chat - June 14, 2009
(Name of message originator in [] brackets at the beginning of each line)
[yhtapmys] Oh, geez, I've never tried that before.
[Brad from Georgia] Hi, Laura.
[yhtapmys] Hi Laura
[Laura Leff] Hi Brad, Yht!
[Laura Leff] How are you doing this evening?
[yhtapmys] I'm sitting here waiting for Stop the Music to call.
[Brad from Georgia] So-so. My daughter's been
sick, a little worried about her.
[Laura Leff] Brad - Hopefully nothing too serious
[yhtapmys]
[Laura Leff] (Been watching "La Vie en Rose", so I've
seen some bad stuff...)
[Laura Leff] Hopefully she's doing better than Edith Piaf was.
[Brad from Georgia] May be a food allergy, may be
panic attacks--my mom and sister get them sometimes, and it's hereditary. When I
was in my 30s I had a few, mainly hyperventillation.
[Laura Leff] I know how that can be. I've never had very serious
physical symptoms, but I know people who do.
User
steve *shimp* has entered this room.
[Laura Leff] Hey Steve!
[Brad from Georgia] Hi, Steve!
[steve *shimp*] Hey all!
[yhtapmys] Hi, Steve.
[Laura Leff] Hoping she's doing better soon!
[Brad from Georgia] Thanks!
[Brad
from Georgia] My daughter, Steve--she's been sick.
[steve *shimp*] Oh, sorry to hear that Brad. Hope she's up to
speed soon.
[Brad from Georgia] Sounds like anxiety attacks,
but could be a food allergy. Eating seems to trigger the episodes.
[Laura Leff] Brad - I've noticed a lot more people turning up
with food allergies in the past 10 or so years.
[Laura Leff] I thought it was just because I live in San
Francisco and people like to claim a lot of things (e.g., "I'm allergic to
gluten") which may or may not be true
[Brad from Georgia] I've never had any that I
know of. My son's allergic to lobster and alcohol, though.
[steve *shimp*] separately or en masse Brad?
[Brad from Georgia] Separately. Lobster gives him
hives!
[Laura Leff] Wow...we had a New Year's Eve celebration a few
years ago that would have given him conniption fits
[Brad from Georgia] He discovered his allergy on
a cruise ship...unfortunately. Being put in the sick bay cost him about six
hundred dollars.
[steve *shimp*] Ack!
[Laura Leff] I went back to my home town last weekend for an
arts festival. I ate an elephant ear and got a headache. I've been cleansing for
a while and I'm too pure to handle that sort of stuff any more.
[yhtapmys] Elephant ear?
[steve *shimp*] mmmm. fried dough.
[Laura Leff] Big piece of fried dough with sugar and cinnamon
[Laura Leff] Yht - Have you ever seen a funnel cake?
[steve *shimp*] It's like a funnel cake but less abstract.
[yhtapmys] No, but if you could play a few bars....
[Laura Leff] It's a little like that but flatter and no funnel
[Brad from Georgia] Old Red Skelton joke:
"If you order anything we don't have, we pay you a hundred bucks!"
"Bring me an elephant ear on a bun!" Ten minutes later: "Here's
your $100. We're out of buns."
[steve *shimp*] no funnel at all!
[Laura Leff] Spike Jones probably could
[Laura Leff] Now I've got to go down to my 78s and see what Edit
Piaf I've got (not this second, just in general).
[Brad from Georgia] Earlier this evening I
brushed our dog's teeth. That's an adventure in itself.
[Laura Leff] Brad - Any particular reason, or just for the life
experience?
[steve *shimp*] LOL. Did you floss 'im too?
[Brad from Georgia] He had bad doggy breath. We
have little fingertip doggy toothbrushes, but he isn't too sure about them. We
also have a dog-specific toothpaste (human ones are bad for dogs).
[Laura Leff] YOu should just have him use Listerine.
[yhtapmys] Dogpana?
[steve *shimp*] doggie, have you tried sen-sen?
[Laura Leff] Good one, Yht
[Laura Leff] Terriermint Gum
[Brad from Georgia] We have some mint in our herb
garden. I should get him to eat that instead of grass.
[Brad
from Georgia] No, he's a grazer. Likes to munch our lawn, then come
inside and hack it up.
[steve *shimp*] grass munchies beget munchies...
[yhtapmys] Actually, Laura we're kinda shy on people today.
[Laura Leff] I noticed that.
[Brad from Georgia] Our rescue kitty, Cola, is
doing fine, btw.
[Laura Leff] That's good.
[yhtapmys] I'm used to this being on the first Sunday.
[steve *shimp*] You have quite the menagerie going Brad!
[Laura Leff] And I wanted to say that I'd like to take a break
in July and do the next chat in August.
[Brad from Georgia] How's work, Laura?
[Laura Leff] Brad - 60 hours this week.
[Brad from Georgia] I guess you just answered my
question!
[yhtapmys] Yeesh
[steve *shimp*] Ugh...
[Laura Leff] Yeah...I was hoping this might be a short chat.
[Laura Leff] I've still got so much to do/catch up on and so
little weekend left.
[Brad from Georgia] We can take a break in July.
. . just like Jack used to do.
[steve *shimp*] Sure.
[Laura Leff] Thanks for that.
[Brad from Georgia] Maybe we could all go to
Texas and make a personal appearance.
[steve *shimp*] I'll be up to my ears moving as well.
[yhtapmys] Yeah, Brad, but he came back in Oct.
[yhtapmys] I'm back to covering baseball over the summer as of
next week.
[Laura Leff] So let's put it to a vote...would you like to
discuss the show for this month and then stop, or
[Brad from Georgia] We'll go him two months
better.
[Laura Leff] shall we leave the show up and discuss in August?
[Brad from Georgia] We can probably talk about
the Allen show fairly quickly.
[steve *shimp*] Ah, I think a new one for august would be fun...
[Laura Leff] I'll also have to delay in August, because the
first weekend is our production go-live weekend.
[Laura Leff] OK...I only listened to the JB part of it. What did you think?
[Brad from Georgia] We could listen to one of the
season openers for August.
[yhtapmys] Hmm. That's the part I haven't gotten to.
[steve *shimp*] Pretty funny one.
[Laura Leff] Yht - You tell me about the first half, I'll tell
you about Jack's half.
[steve *shimp*] Jack and Fred play off each other well as usual.
[Brad from Georgia] I thought it was better than
some of the other Benny guest shots--funnier. But that's because the Allen show
is funny, too.
[yhtapmys] Well, it starts with Fred being bitter about Stop the
Music
[Laura Leff] Really snappy banter between the two of
them...faster timing than Jack's usual pacing.
[Brad from Georgia] As in other guest shots, very
one-note characterization of Jack, but well done.
[steve *shimp*] Oh, I've got a what's that reference question
about the opening ...
[steve *shimp*] "Nature Boy" ... I've heard this come
up as a reference here and there. What's the context on that?
[yhtapmys] He ad-libbed a Jack Eigan joke.
[Laura Leff] K...
[yhtapmys] Nature Boy was a big song.
[Laura Leff] Nature Boy was a hit for Nat King Cole
[Laura Leff] Dennis sang it on a Benny show once. Nice job of it
too.
[Laura Leff] There was a boy...a very strange enchanted boy...
[steve *shimp*] So why call Jack or Fred "Nature Boy"?
[yhtapmys] But it seems to me it originated with someone in the
late 40s claiming to be "Nature Boy".
[Laura Leff] What was the context of the line?
[Brad from Georgia] One of the Ellery Queen
Hollywood mysteries has a "Nature Boy" in it--a guy trying to break
into the movies. He lives like Tarzan, hoping to be written up in the
newspapers.
[Laura Leff] BRB
[steve *shimp*] It was the intro - can't recall now if it was
Fred or Jack being introduced as "Nature Boy".
[Brad from Georgia] Maybe it was Serutan Boy
spelled backward.
[yhtapmys] No, Brad's got it.
[yhtapmys] Then a wrestler took on the name.
[yhtapmys] And various others have since.
[steve *shimp*] Evva-BODY'S nature boy, sounds like!
[yhtapmys] Bugs Bunny did a "nature boy" joke in a
McKimson cartoon.
[steve *shimp*] Yeah, I've heard it several places but couldn't
quite connect the dots. Gracias.
[Laura Leff] So what's the answer?
[Laura Leff] Nature boy in Bugs Bunny was, IIRC, about a cave
man or something...
[Brad from Georgia] Buddy Rogers was an old-time
wrestler who used the moniker "Nature Boy."
[Laura Leff] Aha...got it.
[yhtapmys] Yeah, he used it after the song came out, Brad.
[yhtapmys] And the Queen book came out before that.
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Josef has entered this room.
[yhtapmys] I think that's the time-line.
[steve *shimp*] Rasslin, cartoons, mysteries - seems like it was
a pop-culture meme of the time.
[Laura Leff] So maybe they both point to someone who's sort of a
Tarzan caveman simpleton sort of thing.
[Laura Leff] Hi Josef
[Josef]
Hello
[steve *shimp*] Hi Josef.
[Brad from Georgia] Hi, Josef
[yhtapmys] Hi Josef
[Josef]
Hi Laura, Steve, Brad, ad yhtapmys
[Laura Leff] Josef - It's probably going to be a short one
tonight...so don't take it personally!
[Josef]
no i won't
[Laura Leff] What else about the appearance? Think it was
co-written by Jack's writers?
[Laura Leff] And what about Fred being so helpful to Jack, vs
the feud?
[steve *shimp*] I always wondered about that.
[yhtapmys] "Where they plan to spend their vacations this
summer?" is Fred's question. This was the last Allen's Alley wasn't it?
[Laura Leff] Yht - Did I miss anything good in the first half?
[steve *shimp*] Because sometimes the guest shots use Benny show
material wholesale. You'd think the writers would want credit if not payment!
[yhtapmys] Well, I like Fred Allen, so I may not be objective.
[steve *shimp*] Mrs Nussbaum had a bouquet with "nasty
urchins" = nasturtiums. That made me chuckle.
[yhtapmys] He got in a clever Petrillo joke.
[steve *shimp*] And the Petrillo joke was good too.
[Laura Leff] A few months ago, I was waited on by a woman in a
Nodstrom's who I could have sworn was Pansy Nussbaum.
[steve *shimp*] Oh, funny!
[yhtapmys] And the Senator admits he's going to do what all
politicians do all summer.. lie.
[steve *shimp*] Probably would be rude to point it out to her
though!
[yhtapmys] Around, that is.
[Josef]
yeah, I enjoyed it
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Maxwell has entered this room.
[yhtapmys] Hello, Maxwell.
[Laura Leff] Steve - I'm sure she wouldn't have had the
slightest notion what I was talking about
[Laura Leff] Hi Maxwell
[steve *shimp*] Hi Maxwell! Speed chat tonite.
[Maxwell] Hello everybody
[Josef]
Hi Maxwell
[Laura Leff] Maxwell - So jump in and chat ASAP!
(Some loss…request for information on Shirley Herman)
[Laura Leff] So what I know of her is pretty much there.
[yhtapmys] Was she on the Benny show?
[steve *shimp*] But did she really play Mrs. Schlepperman?
[steve *shimp*] (this is a forum topic)
[Maxwell] Brad, pretty much. Anybody who was on his show kept
coming back.
[Laura Leff] I've looked for the part in the cast listings I put
together for 39F, but haven't found her.
[yhtapmys] Neither have I. That's why I ask.
[Laura Leff] So I think she was only doing it on stage.
[Laura Leff] Well, hang out a second and let me grab her
scrapbook.
[Laura Leff] BRB
[steve *shimp*] So did she work with Sam Hearn?
[yhtapmys] OK, but the newspaper clippings I've found mention
Benny specifically.
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Josef2 has entered this room.
[steve *shimp*] welcome back Josef2
[Laura Leff] OK, let's see what we've got here. She lived in
Encino.
[Josef2]
thanks steve, computer keeps going funky
[Laura Leff] First clippings are of her in October 1950,
credited as "The "Mrs. Schlepperman" of the Jack Benny Show"
[Brad from Georgia] In the last show of the
season for, I think, 1954, Hearn's farmer from Calabasas ("Hiya,
Rube") meets Jack in the train station and Jack meets his wife--a very sexy
voice! "I ain't as big a rube as ya thought, am I?"
[Laura Leff] Yeah, wasn't Verna Felton his wife?
[yhtapmys] If it's a sexy voice, it's probably Veola Vonn.
[steve *shimp*] Was Sam Hearn part of her stage shows?
[Laura Leff] She's playing nightclubs, and there's a photo of
her at the Great Lakes Naval Hospital
[Josef2]
.
[yhtapmys] Laura, the clippings I spotted were from WW2.
[Brad from Georgia] They have a hospital just for
belly buttons?
[Laura Leff] Joe Penner and his Orchestra (of ducks?)
[Maxwell] Brad, that would be Great Lakes Navel Hospital.
[yhtapmys] And I found her name on some NYC radio shows in the
early 30s.
[Brad from Georgia] Ooooohhhhh...NAVEL!
[steve *shimp*] We were wondering if she had ANY connection to
the Benny show at all or was just profiting off the name.
[Laura Leff] All these clippings have her performing in shows
[Laura Leff] Not seeing Sam Hearn's name anywhere.
[steve *shimp*] Whatever meager profit might be obtained from
performing as "Mrs. Schlepperman".
[Laura Leff] I mean, here's a caption under her photo:
[yhtapmys] I didn't check your book to see if there was a Mrs.
Schlep and a ? next to the actor.
[Laura Leff] "Shirley Herman, better known as Mrs.
Schlepperman, a name familiar to Jack Benny fans, who will be featured in the
"Red Hot and Blue Revue" at the Gayety next week"
[yhtapmys] I wondered if she might have done Mrs. Schlep on
another show.
[steve *shimp*] I find this to be very weird.
[yhtapmys] But I cant find her in the Goldindex either.
[Maxwell] Well, it doesn't really say the name Mrs. Schlepperman
is familiar to Benny fans.
[Laura Leff] Slap-Happy Schlepperman Recent Ace Comedienne with
Jack Benny's Radio Program
[steve *shimp*] Like some strange con artist thing.
[Laura Leff] This is why I bought the scrapbook...trying to make
sense of it.
[steve *shimp*] It is a fun little mystery, but all roads seem
to lead nowhere.
[Brad from Georgia] I can't even remember it now,
but just recently I saw on TV or in the movies a Jack Benny moment. Something
odd happens and a character observes "Now THAT I don't understand at
ALL!" in Jack's familiar cadence.
[Laura Leff] Thing is, Schlepp was dropped somewhere in WWII.
[steve *shimp*] Exactly, even the dates don't match.
[Maxwell] LL By parachute I hope.
[Laura Leff] She got her drivers' license on 1/18/54
[Laura Leff] She's clearly Jewish, almost a Fanny Brice look
about her
[Laura Leff] Oh, and look...she was doing a Fanny Brice
impersonation in her act.
[steve *shimp*] Anything to indicate she had a name change in
her career?
[Laura Leff] Comic sensation of the Jack Benny Program
[steve *shimp*] I don't know why you'd change your name TO
"Shirley Herman" though, pretty proletarian.
[Laura Leff] There is a listing from Youngtown that has her as
Shirley Sherman, but I think that's a typo
[Brad from Georgia] Back to a much earlier
question: Portland was not only irritating (don't like her voice--the Fran
Drescher of her generation) on the show, but she muffed a punch line, too.
[Laura Leff] 10/49 at B'nai B'rith
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[Laura Leff] Let me tune out a moment and see if I can find
anything really material
[Maxwell] Brad But she was married to the star, and that's
always a plus.
[steve *shimp*] OK, we'll discuss Portland for a moment.
[Brad from Georgia] I liked her better as the
cement than as the character.
[yhtapmys] I've spotten a newspaper (NEA) photo of her
performing at Ft. Dix in 1944.
[steve *shimp*] I don't find her THAT irritating, but there's a
certain artifice about her.
[steve *shimp*] That wears thin.
[Maxwell] steve, I think for me it's the sing-songy voice.
[yhtapmys] Steve, I wonder if they overlooked that in the 30s
and 40s.
[Brad from Georgia] I can take Mary's microphone
voice much more easily than Portland's. That fluty quality gets old fast.
[Laura Leff] 1/5/46 at the Knights of Pythias using the moniker
[steve *shimp*] Yeah, it's one of those things that sounds very
"thirties" that should probably have modulated a bit with time.
[Brad from Georgia] Barbara's watching "Hellboy
2" as I'm typing. Distracting thing to have on.
[steve *shimp*] Is that one of your pets Brad?
[yhtapmys] Laura, I guess her obit isn't there.
[Brad from Georgia] Oddly enough, when Portland's
voice is imitated in cartoons it's LESS cartoony than her "real"
voice.
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Josef has entered this room.
[steve *shimp*] Mary did a funny imitation of Portland.
[Brad from Georgia] Barbara is a big Ron Perlman
fan. Odd that he looks better with monster makeup on than with no makeup at all.
[steve *shimp*] That's never a good thing.
[Josef]
no its not
[Brad from Georgia] Jack did a good Fred Allen,
too. Wonder if he really put a clothespin on his nose?
[Laura Leff] A letter from the War Finance Treasury Department
dated 1/10/43 thanking her for her help in putting on shows to sell War Bonds,
and a certificate of appreciation
[steve *shimp*] I bet he might have for the studio audience.
[steve *shimp*] But that kinda hurts after a few seconds!
[Maxwell] That's the one thing I remember after more than 40
years from that Eigen interview: Benny imitating Allen.
[Josef]
yeah, I sometimes wonder about that too, Brad. was listening to Jack's Alley the
other day
[Brad from Georgia] Jack deprecated his mimetic
abilities, but on the TV show, he did a darn good Jacklie Gleason as Joe the
Bartender to Dennis Day's dynamite Crazy Guggenheim.
[Laura Leff] Several 1880s rotogravures...
[Brad from Georgia] In an easter bonnet?
[steve *shimp*] And a good Ralph Kramden to an amazing Dennis
Norton, too.
[Josef]
steve, yes
[Maxwell] With all the frills upon it?
[Laura Leff] And the engravings are it.
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[Brad from Georgia] Saw a Biography show on Benny
Hill. . . who took his first name from Jack Benny. In the very early days his
delivery was a bit like Jack's.
[Brad from Georgia] I think later on he was
channeling Red Skelton....
[Laura Leff] Several comments about "Formerly of the Benny
program"...but I swear I looked it up when I first got this and I think
Mrs. Schlepperman had a speaking part maybe once and it wasn't her.
[steve *shimp*] Yht tagged Blanche Stewart as playing Mrs.
Schlep in one show.
[Brad from Georgia] Maybe she was a tech adviser
telling the actress how to sound like Mrs. S.
[Laura Leff] Steve - OK, then that was it.
[Maxwell] I just looked at that today in 39 Forever, and it was
Blanche Stewart listed.
[steve *shimp*] So, I think this woman is a POSEUR!
[Laura Leff] Yeah, that's the extent of what I know about her.
Plenty of nightclub clippings from all over.
[Brad from Georgia] I'm upstairs with the laptop
and my 39 Forever books are down in my office.
[Maxwell] Steve or maybe even an imposter!
[Laura Leff] Well, she certainly got plenty of bookings on it.
[Josef]
wow
[steve *shimp*] That is just crazy.
[Laura Leff] I know. I was left shrugging my shoulders as well
when I went over the scrapbook a couple years ago.
[yhtapmys] There's a 1937 reference I have to look up in the LA
Times.
[yhtapmys] If I can search it,
[steve *shimp*] You'd think she'd at least claim to be a more
notable character - but I guess that's the upshot of it. No one to contradict
her.
[yhtapmys] I see the Benny programme that followed had Schlep
and his son but no Mrs. Schelp.
[Laura Leff] Well, she's got the face of a Mrs. Schlepperman
[Brad from Georgia] Maybe she had the role of a
character like Gladys in "December Bride."
[Laura Leff] Unfortunately I found out about her by her
scrapbook going up after she died, so a bit of a timing miss.
[Laura Leff] Blast how many times I've found out people were
still alive by finding out that they're dead.
[yhtapmys] Well, thanks, Laura. It's going to be a mystery for a
bit.
[Brad from Georgia] Nice paradox, LL.
[Josef]
yeah
[Laura Leff] If anyone can come up with better info, I'd be
grateful!
[steve *shimp*] That would've been one nutty interview. Like a
60 minutes kind of confrontation!
[Laura Leff] OK, now you *claim* to be Mrs. Schlepperman. What
dates were you on the show?
[steve *shimp*] I was just typing that same line Laura, spooky.
[Laura Leff] And were you called Mrs. Schlepperman on the
program?
[steve *shimp*] When did you stop beating your dog?
[Laura Leff] Do you have any of your scripts?
[steve *shimp*] What's a cimmeron roll?
[Laura Leff] We talked to Sam Hearn and he says he doesn't know
you. Can you explain that?
[Brad from Georgia] "Mrs. Schlepperman--if
that is your real name--are you now or have you ever been a character on the
Jack Benny Program? Point of order, Mr. Chairman!
[steve *shimp*] How much did Don Wilson weigh?
[Laura Leff] What role did she play and when did she play it
[Laura Leff] Was Rochester really African American?
[steve *shimp*] ROFLMAO
[Laura Leff] Was Mary really a woman?
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[steve *shimp*] Cavity Search of Shirley Herman!
[Laura Leff] Come now, Ms. Herman, if that really is your
name...you really weren't there, were you?
[Brad from Georgia] In the '53-'54 shows, there
were occasionally references to Joe McCarthy, but never by name. Once Rochester,
on the spot, asked Jack, "Is that a question, or just apoint of
order?"
[Laura Leff] Were you drinking heavily at the time?
[Laura Leff] This was really all just for publicity, wasn't it?
[yhtapmys] The 1944 NEA photo I've got says "Shirley
Herman, Jack Benny's swing-singing comedienne"
[Brad from Georgia] Don: I once spent a summer in
Texas on my cousin's ranch. When I left he had 10,000 head of cattle. Jack:
That's wonderful! Don: Not really. He just had the heads. I ate the rest.
[Maxwell] And if you were Mrs. Schlepperman as you claim, what
was your mother's maiden name?
[steve *shimp*] How low of a hustle is that to go through life
impersonating MRS SCHLEPPERMAN?? I am laughing with tears coming out of my eyes
here.
[yhtapmys] I just can't see it, Steve.
[steve *shimp*] It's pathetic and hilarious at the same time.
[Laura Leff] Well, and like years after the character dropped
off the show.
[yhtapmys] I just can't see it, Steve.
[steve *shimp*] Yeah!
[Brad from Georgia] I dunno. Kinda touching in a
way. Hitching a ride on Jack's coattails at least shows how popular HE was.
[Laura Leff] Hey, I'm Mrs. Ted Baxter!
[Laura Leff] (Mary Tyler Moore reference)
[yhtapmys] If someone was written up by national wire services
as a character and was making it up, someone would have noticed.
[Brad from Georgia] LL--Got it.
[steve *shimp*] Yeah, but would they care? Would Jack chase down
and sue this woman?
[yhtapmys] All I can think of is she did the character on
another show.
[Laura Leff] That's it...I'd think they would have quashed that
in a hurry. Or someone would have said, "Really? I never heard you on the
show..."
[steve *shimp*] It was a different time with intellectual
property then.
[yhtapmys] Sue? Si.
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[Brad from Georgia] Well, Schlepperman did appear
on other shows.
[Laura Leff] Oh, got a name for you...
[steve *shimp*] Not as much as Kitzel did though.
[Laura Leff] Shirley (Herman) Kleinman
[yhtapmys] Ah.
[Laura Leff] "Reward if returned"
[Laura Leff] She wrote it in the front.
[Laura Leff] 17655 Burbank Boulevard, Encino
[Josef]
steve thats true. was listening to an Abbott & Costello show and was
surprised to hear Kitzel
[Laura Leff] Artie was on A&C before Jack, I think
[Josef]
oh okay, i was won dering about that
[Brad from Georgia] Kitzel cut a pilot for his
own show...not terribly good, though. Though not terrible.
[Laura Leff] Oh, and a couple loose sheets for Gaiety Burlesque
in South Fallsburg, NY (Adults only!)
[Maxwell] Brad, you call that not terrible?
[Laura Leff] Admission from $1.90
[Brad from Georgia] I thought it was just "meh."
[steve *shimp*] Did "Mrs. Schlepperman" keep her
clothes on?
[steve *shimp*] This story just gets better, now she's a
stripper!
[Laura Leff] Apparently someone in the show didn't...can't say
if it was her.
[Brad from Georgia] Listen, my wife, when she
goes on stage...the men yell "Put it on! Put it on!"
[Laura Leff] I wonder what Schlepperman thought about that.
[Maxwell] A singing comedienne stripper!
[Laura Leff] Jewish strippers only take half off...
[Josef]
still, that is funny
[Brad from Georgia] And if they're only
half-Jewish, they can go in the pool up to their waists.
[steve *shimp*] Oh, please, let more of the Shirley Herman story
be told.
[Maxwell] A swing singing comedienne stripper.
[Josef]
maxwell
[steve *shimp*] This is Jack Benny bizarro-world.
[Laura Leff] The photo of her looks like she's got a reasonable
figure, although hard to say for sure. Though not Veola Vonn
[Brad from Georgia] A swng-singing ethnic
comedienne stripper.
[steve *shimp*] Was she impersonating Fanny Brice as Snooks
while stripping? Creepy!
[Josef]
that would be creepy
[steve *shimp*] Snooks Schlepperman
[Maxwell] I don't even want to approach going there.
[Laura Leff] Aren't you glad I got her scrapbook?
[steve *shimp*] YES!
[Josef] definitely
[Brad from Georgia] "I was readin'
Schopenhauer last night....(zip!)...an' I think Schopenhauer was right . . .
(zip!)"
[Maxwell] Aren't you glad you use Dial? Don't youwish everybody
did?
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[steve *shimp*] BeeeeeeeYOOOOOOOOH
[yhtapmys] 39 has a Vi Klein. That's the closest.
[Laura Leff] Otherwise we'd be sitting here with me saying,
"I have no idea...never heard of her. Someone must have been
smoking..."
[Brad from Georgia] I wish our dog did. And I
wish he brushed his own teeth.
[Maxwell] Maybe Vi was short for Shirley.
[Laura Leff] These are not big name clubs she's playing...
[Brad from Georgia] Vi is short for anything. I
mean, two letters?
[Laura Leff] the Blue Crystal in Youngstown Ohio
[steve *shimp*] Swain's Cats and Rats, with a special guest
appearance by Shirley Herman!
[Maxwell] She killed 'em in Youngstown.
[Laura Leff] "The Stopping Place of the Stars"
[Maxwell] They stop there on the way down.
[Brad from Georgia] The last rung on the ladder,
eh?
[yhtapmys] No, Laura, but she was entertaining troops during the
war.
[Laura Leff] Max - To use the bathroom
[Brad from Georgia] BTW, we saw "Jersey
Boys" recently on its tour.
[yhtapmys] And she was using "Shirley Herman" as a
stage name in the early 30s.
[Josef]
hmm
[Maxwell] Maybe she used Vi Klein because she didn't want to
sully her name as a stripper.
[steve *shimp*] What other shows do we know Sam Hearn played
Schlep on? I only saw one "Glamour Manor" and that was WITH Jack
guesting too.
[Brad from Georgia] He was on The Great
Gildersleeve at least a time or two.
[Laura Leff] That army captain who was ringsideing at Don Metz'
the other evening won't forget for a long time the friendly ribbing he got from
Shirley (Mrs. Schlepperman) Herman, who can dish it out. The gal's a clever
eccentric comedienne along Fannie Brice lines.
[Laura Leff] The Gayety in Montreal Canada
[Brad from Georgia] Oh, and he was in one of the
movies--"Big Broadcast of 37"?
[Laura Leff] Club Frolic in Pittsburg, PA
[Maxwell] Maybe she did a character Mrs. Schepperman and used
the Jack Benny show just to reference her character's name. (She portrays the
wife of the character on the Benny show.)
[Maxwell] I mean maybe she did the character on stage.
[Laura Leff] Borough beauty Shirley Herman was chosen "Miss
Appetizer of 1949" and presented a load of lox, natch"
[Josef]
could be
[steve *shimp*] It's probably something like that Max, still
sounds close to an infringement/impersonation thing though.
[yhtapmys] Not elephant ears?
[Laura Leff] See, some clippings specifically reference the
RADIO program. I was also wondering if she might have been in Jack's war stage
show.
[steve *shimp*] Oh, man! Miss Appetizer 1949!
[yhtapmys] Well, that could be it.
[Laura Leff] Peel-and-eat shrimp = stripper?
[Josef]
there have been stranger things....I think
[Laura Leff] For supreme entertainment and food--it's THE NEW
FAIRWAY in Bridgeport Connecticut
[Brad from Georgia] I suppose "Mrs. Hors
d'Oeuvre" would have been too racy for '49.
[Josef]
probably
[Maxwell] Yeah, the old Fairway has too many golf balls hitting
the diners on the head.
[steve *shimp*] Horse Doovers.
[Laura Leff] We are starting our fall season with a STAR STUDDED
SHOW!
[Laura Leff] Featuring
[Laura Leff] IRVING BERKE - International Singing Star
[Laura Leff] and
[steve *shimp*] Rubber chicken, mushy peas and MRS SCHLEPPERMAN
[Laura Leff] SHIRLEY HERMAN - Mrs. Schlepperman of Radio Fame
[Brad from Georgia] There used to be a company in
our home town that called itself "The Stripper Sisters." They
refinished furniture....
[Maxwell] Irving Berke? THE Irving Berke?????
[steve *shimp*] Are they related to the Chicken Sisters Brad?
[Laura Leff] OK, here's a little something...
[Laura Leff] The Laugh Sensation of 1945 direct from Jack Benny
Radio Show
[Maxwell] Time to get our Volume 2.
[Josef]
yeah
[steve *shimp*] Maybe she sat in the audience once!
[yhtapmys] "The first edition of the Midnight Follies,
starring Miss Shirley Herman, better knows as Mrs. Schlepperman of the Jack
Benny program,"
[Laura Leff] Maybe she's one of those lines with no name
[Josef]
could be
[Brad from Georgia] But that one line...it got a
sensational laugh!
[steve *shimp*] Even so, this was a one- or two-shot appearance
AT BEST.
[steve *shimp*] I'm doubting even that.
[yhtapmys] I didn;t see her in Vol. 2 either.
[Brad from Georgia] I suspect it's resume
padding.
[Josef]
yeah, I mean, I haven't heard a show with her on it
[Brad from Georgia] "You mean your resume
wears falsies?"
[Laura Leff] Great China Chop Suey House - Montreal
[Maxwell] Silicone for the resume.
[steve *shimp*] That violates the Miss Peel and Eat contract.
[steve *shimp*] She'll lose her crown.
[Laura Leff] Oh!
[Josef]
terrible
[Laura Leff] I was thumbing a program from Montreal
[Brad from Georgia] I lost a crown once. Taffy.
[Laura Leff] And the last page has a (not her, pretty sure)
[Brad from Georgia] It was on my pivot tooth,
too.
[Laura Leff] picture of a ridiculously proportioned naked woman
with strategically placed flowers...
[Josef]
that's crazy
[Laura Leff] Right across from an ad for "The store that
features friendly service"
[Josef]
funny
[Maxwell] How friendly is it?
[Laura Leff] I'll say
[steve *shimp*] Is that near the Great China Chop Suey House?
[Brad from Georgia] Well, maybe it sells weed
killer, LL.
[Laura Leff] Pretty darned friendly from the look of it
[Laura Leff] Brad - I don't even want to think about how it's
applied
[Maxwell] Intravenously.
[Brad from Georgia] So the Great China Chop Suey
House had entertainers? Who danced to the Flower Drum Song?
[steve *shimp*] You know, at this moment I'd give almost
anything to be sitting in the Great China Chop Suey House in 1949 watching
Shirley Herman perform.
[Laura Leff] Knickerbocker Lodge No. 510 Knights of Pythias
1/5/46
[Laura Leff] Red Button as Master of Ceremonies?
[Brad from Georgia] And on racy nights, off come
the knickers.
[Laura Leff] Red Button [sic]
[yhtapmys] Found her doing a cabaret show in Chicago in 1937.
[Josef]
steve, same here
[Maxwell] LL I"m not touching that with an 11-foot
Lithuanian.
[Brad from Georgia] You'd be sic too if you were
MC at a joint like that.
[steve *shimp*] What kind of horrible act would it be? Mrs.
Schlep stripping and eating Chop Suey?
[steve *shimp*] Who would pay to see that?
[yhtapmys] And she did one movie under her other name.
[Maxwell] While the band plays chopsticks.
[steve *shimp*] Max
[Josef]
pretty horrible
[Laura Leff] You'll laugh yourself to tears at the wit and
hilarious antics of
[Maxwell] Not the song...they just play chopsticks.
[Brad from Georgia] To the tune of "Chop---AWWWWW
MAX!
[Laura Leff] SHIRLEY HERMAN better known to millions of radio
listeners as JACK BENNY'S FAMOUS
[steve *shimp*] Is this one of those acts that people laughed
AT, and brought vegetables to throw?
[Laura Leff] MRS. SCHLEPPERMAN
[steve *shimp*] Bean sprouts and bamboo shoots in this case?
[Josef]
famous?
[Laura Leff] ably assisted by DANNY KLINE..musical impressions
[Laura Leff] appearing at the THURSDAY APRIL 14 MEETING
[Laura Leff] of the MEN'S CLUB
[Maxwell] Danny Kline? THE Danny Kline?????
[Laura Leff] OXFORD CIRCLE JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTRE
[Laura Leff] At 1009 Unruh Avenue
[steve *shimp*] LOL. This makes some of those dumps George Burns
claims to have played in seem like the Palace.
[Laura Leff] Important Notice!!
[yhtapmys] Blue Tooth, Wyoming.
[Josef]
[yhtapmys] Steve, she started at the Palace *first*.
[yhtapmys] Danny, you hear that? We're WORKING again!
[Josef]
talk about a decline
[Laura Leff] The election of the NOMINATING COMMITTEE will take
place at this meeting. Nominations will be made from the floor. Here's your
opportunity to help select candidates YOU feel will be suited to lead the
organization through another successful year.
[Maxwell] D. Kline...Danny Kline.
[Laura Leff] COME ON OUT
[yhtapmys] Come on out? Is that at the Gayety?
[Laura Leff] IF ITS A FREE HUMIDIFIER OF A DANCE YOU WANT SEE
THE OTHER NOTICE.
[Laura Leff] (I swear, I'm not making this up.)
[steve *shimp*] Mrs. Schlep, please take the minutes of the
nominating committee meeting. Then you may have some Chop Suey and strip while
using a goofy yiddish accent.
[Josef]
it's too far out to be made up, Laura
[Laura Leff] That's just it...it's way funnier to just
transcribe from what's in the book.
[Brad from Georgia] There's a novel in this. And
a movie. A real cheap movie. What are the guys who made "Angels with
Angles" doing these days?
[yhtapmys] Well, I wonder if she's Vi "Kline" then.
Those scripts don't exactly have accurate spellings all the time.
[steve *shimp*] Brad
[Laura Leff] OK, here's an interesting note...
[Maxwell] B flat.
[yhtapmys] Max, and you thought this would be a short chat.
[Laura Leff] Flint Athletic Club...This week dancing and show
every night
[Maxwell] That's okay. I'm on my summer vacation now.
[Laura Leff] IN PERSON Mrs. Schlepperman from Jack Benny Jello
Hour
[steve *shimp*] Hour?
[Laura Leff] Jello Hour???????
[Brad from Georgia] B sharp. Look sharp. Feel
sharp! Use Gillette guillotine blades! Lose ten pounds of ugly fat fast.
[Josef]
wow
[Laura Leff] If you are not a member be one, it's only a Dollar
[yhtapmys] Some of the shows may have feld that long.
[steve *shimp*] She must've been on the half hour that wasn't
broadcast!
[yhtapmys] Feld = felt.
[Josef]
steve
[Brad from Georgia] Ah, that's it...she was on
the secret Jack Benny radio show.
[Laura Leff] February 22 to 28 Fats Waller
[yhtapmys] I'm speaking Yiddish now.
[steve *shimp*] They cut the mikes and then the second half was
all Mrs. Schlep, starring SHIRLEY HERMAN.
[Brad from Georgia] The blue one that was
broadcast from midnight to one a.m.
[Maxwell] She appeared only in the second half hour of the
Jell-o Hour.
[yhtapmys] Just like Dennis was on Jack all summer.
[Laura Leff] OK, here's something else...
[Brad from Georgia] So she appeared in the L-O
part?
[Laura Leff] Broadway to Hollywood Revue of 1941
[yhtapmys] She was the seventh delicious flavour.
[Josef]
yeah
[Laura Leff] Shirley Herman featured on Jack Benny Program as
Mrs. Schlepperman and also with Larry Clinton & His Orchestra
[Josef]
ritzy
[Maxwell] Singing The Dipsy Doodle.
[Laura Leff] These clippings aren't in date order...and most of
them don't have dates.
[Maxwell] That's okay, I prefer plums.
[steve *shimp*] You know, as weird as this is, I have to say
Shirley had a certain chutzpah.
[Brad from Georgia] Larry Clinton! His hits
included "You Are My Density," "Rhapsody in Mauve,"
"Take the B-Train," and "In the Nude."
[Josef]
she had to have
[steve *shimp*] Gotta admire at least that showmanship spirit.
[Josef]
yeah
[yhtapmys] Bea Wain was his singer.
[Brad from Georgia] Wonder what Jack thought of
all that...if he even knew.
[yhtapmys] He died in 1985.
[steve *shimp*] Jeez, I'd say she was "under the
radar"
[Maxwell] From the joints she was playing, I'm guessing that she
wasn't even a blip on his radar.
[Laura Leff] Next comes the feature of the current bill, Shirley
Herman, who gained radio fame with Jack Benny in the character of Mrs.
Schlepperman
[yhtapmys] Also had a radio orchestra in 1940.
[Josef]
radio fame?
[Maxwell] Larry Clinton actually had a pretty famous band.
[Laura Leff] She gets close to the soldiers when singing the
hostess song "I'm Queen of the Old Canteen" and she even knows how to
handle a uniformed heckler as was witnessed Monday evening."
[Brad from Georgia] Oh, I was sayin'--at one
point in "Jersey Boys," Frankie Valli tells the gang, "I wanna do
things with our sound. I wanna add horns. Strings!" I thought it would be
great if Eddie Carroll walked out with a violin at that point....
[Brad from Georgia] Hecklers wear uniforms?
[Maxwell] And I love the Benny connection, Bea Wain was married
to Andre Baruch, who did Luckies commercials on the Benny show.
[Laura Leff] Hydraulic Dance Floor
[Laura Leff] Pneumatic dancers...
[Brad from Georgia] They had one of those in
"It's a Wonderful Life."
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[Laura Leff] I'm not sure if it makes me bang my head on the
table more having written 39 Forever and knowing I can't find her, or if I
hadn't written it and wondering what I was missing.
[Maxwell] Time to go back over every script from the time
Schlepperman became a character.
[Josef2]
yeah
[Laura Leff] Wild turkey with tiny chicks!
[steve *shimp*] tiny chicks shouldn't drink too much wild
turkey!
[yhtapmys] Maybe she did Mrs. Schlep on Larry Clinton's radio
show.
[yhtapmys] This is just really bizarre.
[Laura Leff] Sorry...that has nothing to do with Shirley Herman.
One just walked by the window with five chicks, each small enough to hold in
your hand.
[steve *shimp*] nuggets!
[Maxwell] Chick McNuggets.
[Josef2]
yummy
[Laura Leff] I swear...every listing of her mentions this pretty
much.
[Laura Leff] Maybe one or two don't, but 99+% of them do.
[Josef2]
that's crazy
[Laura Leff] this = Mrs. Schlepperman on Jack Benny's program
[Maxwell] She made a career of a character she didn't even play.
[Brad from Georgia] When we were in Yosemite, we
rented a house. A mama quail or partridge or something lived in the yard with
her little brood. The cutest little fuzzballs!
[steve *shimp*] I'd say she was pulling a fast one, or GREATLY
exaggerating something.
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[Brad from Georgia] I get the same feeling,
Steve.
[Laura Leff] Lived in Philadelphia before CA
[Josef2]
.
[Maxwell] Maybe she played Mrs. Fields in Philadelphia.
[yhtapmys] I found a couple of newspaper stories about Laura. No
mystery there.
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[Laura Leff] Yht - About me?
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[yhtapmys] Yeah, the stamp stuff.
[Laura Leff] Ah yes. Publicity.
[Brad from Georgia] Now everyone be SURE to go to
your bookstores on June 23 and buy LOTS and LOTS of copies of "Wicked
Will" by Bailey Macdonald. Please. I could use the royalties.
[yhtapmys] You must have hired Dick Lane.
[Laura Leff] You're Bailey Macdonald?
[Brad from Georgia] Yep.
[yhtapmys] Is that your stripper name?
[Laura Leff] Wasn't Wicked Willy a dirty comic strip by a
British artist?
[Brad from Georgia] My regular publisher didn't
want me writing mysteries for another publisher under my own name.
[Brad from Georgia] No, Laura. It was a clean
strip by a dirty artist. Sheesh!
[Laura Leff] Brad - You'd better document yourself darned well
so you don't end up like Shirley Herman.
[Maxwell] And Raymond Chandler was already taken.
[yhtapmys] Geez, *you* could have been Mrs. Schlepperman.
[Brad from Georgia] I do, Laura. I list myself as
"Bailey Macdonald, mystery writer and actress who portrayed Mrs.
Schlepperman."
[yhtapmys] Anyone can use that name, it seems.
[Josef]
sure does
[Laura Leff] formerly of the Jack Benny Radio Program
[yhtapmys] The Jell-O Hour!
[Laura Leff] on the Grape Nuts Variety Hours
[Laura Leff] Yeah that
[yhtapmys] Big enough for Don Wilson.
[Maxwell] You missed a golden opportunity, Brad....
[Brad from Georgia] Our dog is being so darn
cute. He jumped on the bed and is lying next to Barbara, hugging her with his
front paws. Looking at her with those big puppy eyes.
[Maxwell] You're from Georgia.
[Josef]
also known as the Jell-O hour
[yhtapmys] Brad, and his teeth are their whitest!
[Maxwell] Use the first name George and the last name Bailey.
[yhtapmys] Thanks to Dogpana!
[yhtapmys] For the Smile of Woof!
[Brad from Georgia] Merry Christmas, you old
Maxwell!
[Maxwell] You could have been George Bailey!!
[Laura Leff] I'm formerly Mrs. Myron Proudfoot
[yhtapmys] Does that make you Queen for a Day?
[Maxwell] Wife of Chester Proudfoot.
[steve *shimp*] Whisked by bicycle to Orange, New Jersey to see
Shirley Herman perform at the Chop Suey Palace
[Brad from Georgia] So was Bilbo right? Is it
Proudfoots or Proudfeet
[Laura Leff] Take it off...take it all off...
[Maxwell] Siss...Boom...Bah!
[Laura Leff] Or on second thought...
[Laura Leff] Well, on that note...
[Maxwell] A#
[Brad from Georgia] Yeh, it's late. Goodnight,
all.
[Maxwell] Same as Bb.
[Laura Leff] Shall we call it good for this month? We may have
had too much fun this month...
[Brad from Georgia] Small group, big laughs.
[Laura Leff] But I've enjoyed it.
[Maxwell] We were too on topic this month. This seriousness must
cease!
[Josef]
probably, Laura. I enjoyed the chat that's for sure
[Josef]
amen Maxwell
[steve *shimp*] Yeah, good chat. See you all in August!
[Laura Leff] Didn't realize that Shirley's dirty scrapbook would
come in handy.
[Maxwell] Kay will be kicking herself for not being here.
[Laura Leff] Yeah...whatta transcript.
[Brad from Georgia] See you then!
[Laura Leff] Thanks for stopping folks! See you in August!