IJBFC Chat - September 13, 2009
(Name of message originator in [] brackets at the beginning of each line)
[Brad from Georgia] The flu flies here...wish I
could flee. Our college has a good number out with H1N1.
[steve :shimp:] Oh, I didn't even think of that. There could be
a JB strain of the swine flu H1N39
[Laura Leff] Hi folks
[steve :shimp:] Hi Laura
[ed]
hey ll
[Brad from Georgia] Hi, Laura!
[Laura Leff] Sorry...I was looking at a clock that I just
discovered is slow
[Brad from Georgia] I was wondering if you chose
tonights episode because of the flu.
[Brad from Georgia] Or maybe because Mrs.
Bufforpington is in it!
[Laura Leff] Well, I chose it because we were talking about that
in the last chat!
[Laura Leff] Brad - Oh how funny...I meant to look up who played
the nurse, but forgot to do so!
[steve :shimp:] Elvia Allman certainly got around ... her
credits must be a mile long
[Brad from Georgia] Elvia.
[Laura Leff] Yeah, that's what I thought.
[Brad from Georgia] And the singer on the
radio...Blanche Stewart?
[Laura Leff] Knew it wasn't Iris Adrian
[Laura Leff] Is it? OK, I've just got to pull V2
[Brad from Georgia] I remember "My Heart
Cries for You" because my aunt loved that song. She had a 78 rpm record of
Dinah Shore singing it and wore it out.
[steve :shimp:] I haven't looked at the 39 Forever entry...
didn't sound like Sara Berner either
[Brad from Georgia] Hang on, I've got the books
here.
[steve :shimp:] I could get up off the couch but you all are
doing it for me, heheheheh
[Brad from Georgia] Show was St. Paddy's day
1951?
[Laura Leff] Yeah, it's Blanche Stewart. Go figure!
[steve :shimp:] I am enjoying furniture for this chat, which I
didn't have yet last month.
[steve :shimp:] I didn't realize Blanche Stewart continued on
that late
[Brad from Georgia] Yep, Blanche. Just checked.
[steve :shimp:] Did she ever do any of the TV shows?
[Laura Leff] Steve - I was just looking that up...she continued
until mid-1952. Thought the same thing.
[Laura Leff] Steve - Ask me that in a few months.
[steve :shimp:] I'd be interested to see her perform.
[steve :shimp:] Oooh, is that a hint on volume 3
[Laura Leff] Steve - I think she passed away about that time,
which may be why she stopped doing the show.
[Laura Leff] Steve - Mneh...could be.
[steve :shimp:] Well, that kind of cramps your performing
ability.
[ed]
steve ouch
[steve :shimp:] (thinking of the Monty Python Marilyn Monroe
skit)
[Brad from Georgia] LL-Told the others, but my
next novel (still unpublished) won an award.. the SCBWI Work-In-Progress award
for Literary Excellence. That's Society of Children's Book Writers and
Illustrators.
[Laura Leff] Mazel tov! That's great!
[Brad from Georgia] "The Witch of Water
Street." What gets me is that it's one I did under a pen name, Bailey
Macdonald....
[steve :shimp:] Bailey would be a great name for a canoe.
[Laura Leff] FWIW, I've got cast lists up to 10/5/52 and she's
not on them. So if she died in mid-1952, then I guess not.
[Laura Leff] It would be a great name for a Frank Capra
character.
[Brad from Georgia] It's "Bailey" 'cuz
that's gender-ambiguous, and "Macdonald" because Ross Macdonald, the
mystery writer, encouraged me when I was first trying to write.
[Laura Leff] Thank you IMDB...she died July 25, 1952.
[Brad from Georgia] I have just been looking up
"My Heart Cries for You." No wonder Jack was making fun of it! About
ten people recorded it between January and March of '51. It was a big hit for
Mitch Miller, of all people. Back in late '50.
[steve :shimp:] Hmm. Did she do anything on-screen with Jack?
[Laura Leff] Last Benny appearance: 3/23/52.
[Brad from Georgia] It was "The Little White
Cloud that Cried" of its era....
[steve :shimp:] How did she die?
[Laura Leff] Looks like not...just four video credits and none
of them Jack.
[Laura Leff] Doesn't say how she died. She was only 49.
[Laura Leff] Brad - Or Come On'a My House
[steve :shimp:] Too young.
[Laura Leff] Then again, I think that was mainly a hit for Rosie
Clooney and no one else.
[Laura Leff] Too young and too talented...
User
yhtapmys has entered this room.
[Laura Leff] Hi Yht!
[Brad from Georgia] Hiya yht!
[ed]
yht hi
[yhtapmys] Hi Laura.
[Laura Leff] What other thoughts on tonight's show?
[steve :shimp:] greetings yht
[yhtapmys] And all.
[Brad from Georgia] Dennis was delightful. I
laughed out loud at the Hadacol gag.
[steve :shimp:] Pacing seemed off at times...
[steve :shimp:] There was an unusually awkward exit for Frank
Nelson
[Laura Leff] I clicked the link to listen to this show the other
night and didn't look at the date, but you can tell just from the pacing and
dynamic that this is pure golden-age Benny.
[steve :shimp:] the bit didn't have a strong finish and they
just ... leave
[Laura Leff] Steve - Yeah, I noticed that.
[Laura Leff] It was two lines too long.
[steve :shimp:] Yep
[Brad from Georgia] I think I heard Don's corny
"shamrock" gag once before on a very early Benny show.
[steve :shimp:] I would've loved to see Dennis doing the
radio-station-changing singing
[Laura Leff] I think Jack tells it another time
[Laura Leff] Mel Blanc can speak real Spanish other than simply
"Si"
[yhtapmys] I think Brad's right. It was on one of the pre-Jello
ones.
[Brad from Georgia] I assume Mary was really
still sick and not just having a case of microphone vapors
[Laura Leff] Brad - Hard to tell. Chicken and egg.
[Brad from Georgia] Yht--I think it was really
early, back in the early to mid thirties, and yes, I think it might have been
Jack.
[Laura Leff] Let's see if I can find "sham rock"...
[yhtapmys] Frank Black is coming to mind. This is going to bug
me now.
[Brad from Georgia] Sportsmen had a nice funny
bit. Their awful singing shows they were good sports.
[steve :shimp:] Maybe Harry Conn needed a buck that year ....
[Laura Leff] 3/17/35, but you wouldn't have heard that one
because the show doesn't exist in audio
[Laura Leff] Looks like Mary told it that time...saying that her
diamond ring is like the Irish national emblem because it's a sham rock.
[Brad from Georgia] I just looked at the
book...I'd read it there! That's where I remembered it.
[steve :shimp:] Laura is now responsible for repressed false
memory syndrome...
[Laura Leff] Oh thanks...
[steve :shimp:] Remember that time when we were all at that
satanic sacrifice?
[Laura Leff] Oh yeah, that was hot.
[Brad from Georgia] Most people's memory gets
worse as they get older. Mine is getting so much better I can recall all sorts
of stuff that never happened.
[ed]
good one LL
[Brad from Georgia] "Les Miserables" is
on TV right now with Michael Rennie as a skinny Jean Valjean and Long John
Silver as Javert.
[Laura Leff] Just scanned V1 and 2...looks like those are the
only hits.
[Laura Leff] A little scary that I was able to make that
connection...
[steve :shimp:] How did Hadacol become a pop-culture gag? Was it
just the sham-wow of its era, or something more specific I don't know about
[yhtapmys] The Day France Stood Still.
[Brad from Georgia] Hadacol was largely alcohol
and became a huge seller during Prohibition.
[Brad from Georgia] It was medicine, yeah, that's
the ticket....
[Laura Leff] I'd walk a mile for a Hadacol
[steve :shimp:] OK, that makes sense
[Laura Leff] Medicinal purposes
[steve :shimp:] I was wondering if it was a sponsor of some
program as well
[Brad from Georgia] I can remember ads for
Hadacol on radio when I was a kid. My uncle Neal said it was a better drink than
most hair tonics.
[Laura Leff] And I'd think that much alcohol would slow you
down, not speed you up.
[Laura Leff] Move over, Bay Rum.
[Laura Leff] Then again, look at Phil running through the
parking lot to the other network...
[Laura Leff] (which he probably did during this show)
[steve :shimp:] I had a 80-something year old barber in Virginia
who'd still slap Bay Rum on me. Loved it.
[Brad from Georgia] Hadacol had "a dozen
health-giving vitamins," but it was about 30 proof....
[ed]
there is a big article at www.sj-r.com a local
story about "Guiding Light' i have my copy from today's paper
[Laura Leff] That's almost 3 proofs per vitamin...
[ed]
i am in the springfield mentionee
[Laura Leff] Ed - Were you on "Guiding Light"?
[ed]
Not!!!
[ed]
no i meant to say iam not in their springfield bad typewriter
[Laura Leff] Was Guiding Light sponsored by Hadacol?
[steve :shimp:] Pretty amazing that a show that started five
years after Jack did on radio lasted so long!
[Brad from Georgia] "The Guiding Light"
started out when the new minister of Springfield put a candle in the window so
the spiritually troubled could find their way to the church.
[ed]
no procter and gamble
[steve :shimp:] Can't say I ever watched it though.
[Brad from Georgia] Imagine his disgust when
Flanders showed up.
[Laura Leff] Aha...never knew that, Brad!
[yhtapmys] How did they show that on radio?
[Laura Leff] We recently watched the first six episodes of
Coronation Street. Sounds a little like that.
[ed]
actually the show begins in the fictional town of five points near chicago
[Laura Leff] "I'm going to put a light in the window so
that the spiritually troubled can find their way here to the church."
[Brad from Georgia] It had a long run on radio.
How'd they show it? "I want people to know the church is here...I
know...I'll put this lighted candle in the window. Oh, damn, there go the
curtains.
[Laura Leff] (Sound effect of candlestick being put on shelf)
[ed]
then to springfield like father knows best and the simpsons
[Brad from Georgia] You know about "The Edge
of Night," don't you? It started out as a radio show, too.
[Laura Leff] After all, 'tis better to light one candle than to
curse the darkness.
[ed]
yes perry mason
[Brad from Georgia] Yup.
[Laura Leff] But 'tis better to not light one candle than to
burn the place down...
[Brad from Georgia] Ah, memories...the religious
show "Lamp Unto My Feet." I always wondered if it would blister my
toes.
[Laura Leff] Edge of Night wasn't that long-running though, was
it?
[ed]
i will tape it friday and will put in the OTR tape collection
[Brad from Georgia] LL--Dunno. My mom always
watched it when I was a nipper. Nipping Hadacol, nacherlly.
[ed]
edge of night ABC &CBS was on i think until 1975
[Laura Leff] Sometimes it's hard to know whether I heard about
something, even though it happened before I was born.
[Brad from Georgia] It was one of her programs.
[Laura Leff] Brad - Mental image of you with a baby bottle
filled with Hadacol
[ed]
imagination what radio is all about
[Laura Leff] So what else about tonight's show?
[Brad from Georgia] I mentioned my uncle Neal,
who did have a drinking problem. But what I remember him for was he loved to set
fire to truck tires in his back yard....
[Brad from Georgia] Tonight's show, tonight's
show...nice little turn for Mr. Kitzel!
[Laura Leff] Any particular reason?
[Brad from Georgia] A green matzoh!
[steve :shimp:] one matzo ball
[Brad from Georgia] For the tire fires? He just
liked to watch tires burn.
[ed]
matzo matzo
[Laura Leff] So he was a pyro
[steve :shimp:] burning tires make for a nice air freshener
[steve :shimp:] ack
[Brad from Georgia] He was real redneck. When the
tires burned, they'd leave big coils of rusty wire behind.
[Laura Leff] How one makes a matzo ball in the shape of a
shamrock, I'll never know.
[Brad from Georgia] One day he told me,
"Boy, go in th' yard an' clean up that tahr fahr wahr."
[ed]
the same way you make a shamrock into a matzo
[Brad from Georgia] He got SO mad when I imitated
him.
[Laura Leff] Brad - BUHHHHHHHHHHH
[Brad from Georgia] Anyway, a green matzoh for
St. Paddy's day!
[Brad from Georgia] I wondered--was the book Don
was "reading" from a takeoff on a real book?
[Laura Leff] I guess Mrs. Shlepperman could cook as well as
strip...
[Laura Leff] Brad - Considering the laughter from the band, the
names had to be references to real people they knew, so I'd say it was invented.
[Laura Leff] Just a take-off on the romance novels of the day.
[Brad from Georgia] Don's "And he says he's
39!" gag was good, one of the good "age" gags of that period of
the show.
[steve :shimp:] Wasn't there a reference to "Burt" --
I'm guessing Jack's secretary we learned about in the big photo puzzle?
[Brad from Georgia] Nice little call-back gag too
about Don's causing the freeway tie-up.
[yhtapmys] Yeah, Steve, Burt and Ann.
[Laura Leff] Steve - Yeah...I didn't stop long enough to catch
the names.
[Laura Leff] I'm trying to remember Bert's wife's name...
[steve :shimp:] Who might Ann refer to?
[Laura Leff] I don't know of anyone in Phil's band named Bert...
[steve :shimp:] Or, to whom might "Ann" refer?
[Brad from Georgia] Or whom might Ann prefer?
[Laura Leff] OK, now you've got me curious. I'm going to see if
I can quickly grab one of Bert's letters that might have a reference to his
wife.
[steve
:shimp:] Don't ask me, this house is guaranteed.
[steve
:shimp:] Or quarantined.
[yhtapmys]
I agree with Laura, though. It sounds like an inside joke.
(some loss)
[Brad from Georgia] Written by Jack all by
himself without his writers?
[Laura Leff] Just haven't looked at them in a while.
[steve :shimp:] The letters or the article?
[Laura Leff] Oh yeah, Jack wrote plenty of funny stuff on his
own. I wish we had more of his dirty song lyric reworks.
[steve :shimp:] I like hearing bits from the letters Laura, so
if you find bits, pass them along!
[Laura Leff] OK...scanning longer letters from Bert to Julius
[Brad from Georgia] I don't suppose there's any
chance of our seeing Jack's song parodies in the Times....?
[steve :shimp:] Nice issue of the TIMES, btw, Laura
[steve :shimp:] As usual.
[Laura Leff] Brad - Alas no, for a couple reasons...
[Laura Leff] One because they're off-color, and I try to make
sure we're running a "family friendly" show
[Laura Leff] (Notice that I was even trying to figure out how to
relate Jack's arguing with the owner of the Sahara about his act...)
[Laura Leff] And also because most of what I have are in the
Remley letters, and Joan's not OK with those being published.
[Brad from Georgia] Ah, well.
[Laura Leff] Yes, I know Irving included some of them in his
book.
[Laura Leff] But, well, that's a story for another time.
Probably involving Hadacol.
[Brad from Georgia] Maybe at the next 39 Forever
convention we can get together the Quartsmen Sportet and sing a few of them.
[Laura Leff] Hey, here's his wife's name..."Mrs.
Scott" 4/13/51. Thanks,Bert...that was edifying.
[steve :shimp:] It'd be funnier if he was married to Mr. Scott.
[yhtapmys] Found his LA Times obit.
User
KayLhota has entered this room.
[Laura Leff] Fascinating that Jack's and Bert's letters to
Julius are equally emotionally effusive...
[KayLhota] Hi Folks.
[yhtapmys] Hi Kay
[Brad from Georgia] Hello, Kay
[steve :shimp:] Hi Kay!
[KayLhota] My apologies. I totally forgot about the chat.
[steve :shimp:] How did Bert know Julius? Was Bert from Waukegan
too?
[Laura Leff] "It doesn't take a letter from you to make me
think of you. Truthfully I think of you very, very often and with the longing of
wanting to come East with Jack and either seeing you in Chicago or Waukegan.
[yhtapmys] Bingo!
[yhtapmys] Found it, Laura.
[yhtapmys] "addition to his son, he leaves his wife, Ann;
daughter, Mrs. Valerie..."
[Laura Leff] The fond memories of our last visit there will
always be a bright spot in my memories, never to be forgotten. The only kick I
have to make Julius is--that our visits are too damn far apart."
[Laura Leff] Hi Kay!
[KayLhota] Hi Laura
[yhtapmys] So that's Bert Scott's wife and daughter in the
story.
[steve :shimp:] Another JB reference nailed down!
[Laura Leff] Yht - Good job, Yht!!!!
[yhtapmys] Now if I can find Mrs. Schlepp...
[Laura Leff] When did he die?
[KayLhota] I'll have to read the log to get the beginning of the
story. It sounds good.
[yhtapmys]
Funeral mass at St. Timothy's in LA was on July 9, 1971.
[yhtapmys] Let me get a calendar. Hang on.
[Laura Leff] Yeah, I thought he predeceased Jack.
[Laura Leff] Does it say how old he was?
[KayLhota] That was my birthday. It was on a Saturday.
[steve :shimp:] Hey Kay, we have the same birthday, that's mine
too.
[steve :shimp:] spooky.
[Laura Leff] I guess I need to tear myself away from reviewing
these letters...
[KayLhota] NO! Really?
[Laura Leff] BRB
[steve :shimp:] Yep. Course, I wasn't born until 2 years later
in 1973
[KayLhota] I NEVER find people that share my birthday
[steve :shimp:] I have another friend that shares that b-day.
[Brad from Georgia] Mrs. from Georgia's birthday
is Tuesday. So is Stephen King's.
[KayLhota] Oops, wait. 1971 July 9 fell on a Friday
[yhtapmys] Scott died July 6, 1971.
[KayLhota] Steve, you were born on a Monday
[steve :shimp:] Start of the work week, heheheh.
[Brad from Georgia] I think I was a Monday kid,
too. Oct. 27 1947.
[Laura Leff] Does it say how old he was?
[steve :shimp:] Monday's child is full of ... what? Wednesday is
woe.
[KayLhota] I couldn't tell you why I remember stuff like this,
but days of the week sometimes stand out for me
[Laura Leff] Face, Tuesday's child is full of grace
[steve :shimp:] I know what I'm full of.
[Laura Leff] Fair of face
[KayLhota] Monday's child is full of face, Tuesday's child is
full of Grace
[steve :shimp:] Full of face? Weak.
[Laura Leff] I guess that means Monday's child suffers from
childhood obesity
[Brad from Georgia] Monday's child is fairly
glazed, Tuesday's child will soon be razed....
[yhtapmys] Hmm. His son was Milton B. Scott, advertising
executive and vice president. of the Los Angeles Municipal Arts Commission.
[KayLhota] Wednesday's child is full of woe, Thursday's child
has far to go,
[Laura Leff] Friday's child is loving and giving
[KayLhota] Friday's child is loving and giving, Saturday's child
works hard for a living
[Laura Leff] Saturday's child works hard for a living
[Laura Leff] But the child that is born on the Sabbath day
[Brad from Georgia] Wednesday's child just won't
say "no," Thursday's child's like "go, man, go."
[Laura Leff] Is bonny and blith and good and gay
[KayLhota] Thank you, Laura!
[Laura Leff] I didn't know that Sunday's child needed to be
outed, but I didn't write it.
[steve :shimp:] I don't know what full of face means. Like I ate
a lot of faces, or I'm a little chubby-cheeked?
[Brad from Georgia] Friday's child gives lots of
lovin', Saturday's child cooks with an oven....
[Laura Leff] FAIR of face
[steve :shimp:] OK. My face is very unfair though.
[Laura Leff] And that's what I like about the South
[Brad from Georgia] But the child that's born on
Sunday is so lucky, 'cause that's the one day that he can hear Benny's show and
learn recipes for Jell-O.
[Laura Leff] (Saturday's child cooks ham hocks and turnip greens
on an oven)
User
ed has entered this room.
[Brad from Georgia] ed's back
[KayLhota] my son Daniel and I are both Tuesday's children
[KayLhota] Hi Ed
[Laura Leff] WB Ed
[ed]
i am back
[ed]
hi kay
[steve :shimp:] What day of the week was Jack born?
[Laura Leff] I was born on a Friday
[Laura Leff] Why do I want to say Wednesday...
[Laura Leff] for Jack...
[KayLhota] Frank won't be in the chat tonight. He's given up
trying on that laptop.
[Brad from Georgia] I wasn't born in a hospital.
I was born at home. I wanted to be near my mother.
[Laura Leff] Get a perpetual calendar...
[ed]
myself and my twin are tuesday kids
[Brad from Georgia] What are the odds?
[yhtapmys] Laura, I can't view the whole story, so I can't see
his age.
[Laura Leff] Yht - Aha..thanks. I was just going to pester you
again for that.
[Laura Leff] I'm pretty sure he was younger than Jack.
[KayLhota] Does anybody get the Retro channel on TV?
[yhtapmys] You could call his son Milton B. Scott.
[Brad from Georgia] I do.
[Laura Leff] If he had a baby in 1947, then it's a safe bet.
[steve :shimp:] Jack was a Wednesday.
[Laura Leff] Only when Mad Men is on.
[Brad from Georgia] I'm givin' my wife a Tivo for
her birthday...so I can record Jack's show while I'm teaching school.
[Laura Leff] Steve - AHA! *High fiving with myself*
[steve :shimp:] That is some font of knowledge in that noggin of
yours, Laura!
[Laura Leff] Steve - It scares me more than I care to
admit...the crap I carry around in my head...
[KayLhota] Jack Benny was born on a Wednesday. That's amazing. I
would not call him, "Full of Woe" nohow!
[Laura Leff] Kay - Oh I don't know...he was moody.
[steve :shimp:] Jack was full of Whoa! (as Buck Benny)
[yhtapmys]
Gee, I found a story I wish I could read. A prowler broke into Jack's home in
1956.
[Brad
from Georgia] He was always yelling "Now cut that out!" In the
South he'd be yelling "Whoa!
[KayLhota] Moody, yes-- but he was changeable. He didn't stay
down long.
[steve :shimp:] Were there wacky burglar-proofing devices, and
he slept through it?
[Laura Leff] I remember when someone broke into Mary's hotel
room, IIRC
[Laura Leff] Kay - Point taken.
[steve :shimp:] Was the prowler Mel Blanc?
[Brad from Georgia] What made Jack mad, Laura?
[Laura Leff] Brad - Tell me more about what inspires the
question so I can give you the right answer...
[KayLhota] I always imagined him to be so focused on his work,
and the show
[Brad from Georgia] Just thinking of Jack's
persona--he flies off the handle so often as a character--and his laid-back real
personality. But he must have blown up a few times in his life.
[yhtapmys] I didn't know Jack had a home in Palm Springs.
[Laura Leff] Brad - Oh more than a few times!
[Laura Leff] Yht - Sure did. I've got a postcard of it.
[Laura Leff] Well, let's see. Rochester being late to rehearsal
made Jack mad.
[yhtapmys] That's where this break in was. But I can only read
the first line.
[Laura Leff] Or not showing up, or being unreliable.
[Brad from Georgia] I know he got very angry once
when Eddie Anderson was denied a room in the hotel where Jack was staying.
[KayLhota] Was he the angry quick and blow up loud, but cool
down fast, type?
[Laura Leff] Jack fired Fred deCordova (and other staff members)
on several occasions because of what can best be summed up as "artistic
differences".
[Laura Leff] Kay - Yes, he would then turn around and send
lavish gifts with apologies.
[Laura Leff] When I interviewed him, Fred still had a giant wine
barrel with an engraved plaque that said, "KMIT - Jack" on it that
contained all sorts of gifts after firing him.
[KayLhota] wow
[Laura Leff] Jack got a little grumpier as he got older...Milt
talks about that a little in his book.
[Brad from Georgia] Ah, a Yiddish insult and a
great gift all in one.
[yhtapmys] Hey, Laura, here's something else...
[Laura Leff] I have a letter where he fires George Balzer, and
it's pretty scathing.
[yhtapmys] There's a 1957 story about a show Jack was doing.
[yhtapmys] A club show.
[Laura Leff] Yht - OK...
[Laura Leff] Cool...you've got my attention.
[yhtapmys] And it talks about the "appearance of a cute
11-year-old girl named Valeria Scott who won terrific..."
[Laura Leff] Oh hillarious!
[yhtapmys] " audience reponse with her dead-pan reaction to
Benny's violin playing."
[yhtapmys] So I guess that's Bert's daughter.
[Laura Leff] Let me flip to the 1957 letters and see if Bert
mentions it.
[Laura Leff] Last one I have is 1/2/57, and that's it.
[yhtapmys] June 22, 1957 LA Times.
[yhtapmys] "Jack Benny, who has won fame in every phase of
show business but one--night clubs--made his debut in the bistro medium a highly
successful one Thursday"
[steve :shimp:] You might not want to look at the wikipedia
entry for "Valerie Scott" as I just found out
[KayLhota] I was born on July 9, 1957
[Laura Leff] OK, now you've got me overly curious...
[yhtapmys] "night at the Flamingo in Las Vegas"
[steve :shimp:] I hope that's not Bert's daughter ...
[Laura Leff] Um...probably not.
[yhtapmys] I suspect it is, Laura.
[Laura Leff] Yht - Oh, I think your clipping is Bert's daughter.
I'm hoping the Wikipedia entry is not.
[yhtapmys] Wikipedia? Pfft.
[Laura Leff] "My little girl" indeed...
[Laura Leff] Here's something fun... a letter from Mary to
Julius from June 1928.
[yhtapmys] I can't read the whole thing, sorry. It mentions Jack
got off to a nervous start.
[Brad from Georgia] Well, if the Wikipedia gal IS
her...THERE'S an interview we won't see in the Times....
[yhtapmys] Hal Belfer produced and directed the show. Lou Basil
and orchestra backed the principals in fine fashion.
[Laura Leff] Brad - One of these days I've got to transcribe my
Rusty Warren interview.
[KayLhota] I just did a little chart, June 22, 1957 was a
Saturday
[yhtapmys] I saw Rusty Warren on stage.
[yhtapmys] Really corny but lots of fun.
[Laura Leff] Yht - Recently?
[yhtapmys] No, this was ... hmm.. 1984.
[yhtapmys] 1983, sorry.
[Laura Leff] Still recently compared to the era of her records.
[KayLhota] Laura, what about this letter that fired George
Balzer?
[Brad from Georgia] My college roommate had Rusty
Warren's records. I never thought they were all that funny.
[yhtapmys] Oh, sorry, Kay, I'm distracting everyone.
[Laura Leff] Kay - What would you like to know?
[KayLhota] I'm just curious as to what set Jack off, and was it
fair to George?
[KayLhota] If I don't need to know, I'll back off.
[Laura Leff] Kay - Well, it sounds like he and Jack were
incresingly at odds for some time before that. There's a comment about George
throwing scripts and making strong statements, and a lot of it centers around
the increasing use of Hickey as a writer.
[yhtapmys] Hmm. I can see that.
[Laura Leff] Sounds like George thought he wrote the
roller-skating penguin bit, and Jack says it was all Hickey. Also issues around
writing billing.
[Laura Leff] From Jack's perspective, George was being very
unprofessional. I wasn't there, so I can't say what really happened.
[KayLhota] It sounds like the sort of stuff that can happen in a
close professional relationship
[yhtapmys] We can probably read between the lines anyway, Laura.
[Laura Leff] Let's see if I can extract out just a little
without besmirching George too much...
[Laura Leff] 1/18/69
[yhtapmys] I know if I were a top comedy writer, and someone's
brother-in-law came in and started "improving" my stuff, I'd probably
light into someone.
[KayLhota] Sure, even if Hickey was doing a good job.
[yhtapmys] Even if.
[yhtapmys] I work with people who are VERY protective of their
writing.
[yhtapmys] Even if it's bad.
[Brad from Georgia] If I were a comedy writer,
I'd put the penguin on ice skates. Ice skates are funnier than roller skates.
[yhtapmys] I'd use chickens. Chicken is a funny woid.
[yhtapmys] test
[KayLhota] Well, the penguins wandering across that stage was
funny, and I remember it over 40 years later.
[Laura Leff] "First of all the idea of someone else taking
my place when Jack Benny was introduced --was my idea. Lawrence Welk doing it
was Fred DeCordova's idea. Then you and Sam wrote half of the monologue--and
Hickie and I wrote the other half. The new talk
[Laura Leff] between Welk and me about the imitations was
written by Hickie and me."
[Brad from Georgia] Ah, the birthday special....
[Laura Leff] A lot of examples of bits from the show, whose idea
it was...
[Laura Leff] "Having the penguins on the show was Hickie's
idea and Hickie's alone. He even made two trips to San Diego--(one of them with
Freddie) to make sure that it would work out. If it does work out to our
satisfaction--it will be the most talked of thing in
[Laura Leff] our whole show--and maybe comparable to the
monkeys. I'm not sure--but I hope so. Hickie even worked out all the bits with
the trainer."
[KayLhota] Wow, you I think he was right about the penguins!
[Laura Leff] Considering the number of people who still write
and ask me if I've got the show with the penguins, I think Jack was right.
[yhtapmys] Jack knows comedy.
[Brad from Georgia] I once got to pet a penguin
named Dirty Harry at Sea World. He was...sleek. And smelled of fish.
[yhtapmys] Better than petting a skunk, Brad.
[Brad from Georgia] Penguins, by the way, hate to
be picked up. Something to do with a fear of flying.
[yhtapmys] It sounds like something had been stewing with George
for awhile.
[KayLhota] Penguins are more sea creatures. They fly underwater.
[yhtapmys] And it just erupted.
[Laura Leff] It goes on. You get the gist.
[Laura Leff] So Brad...did I answer your question?
[Brad from Georgia] (Oh my gosh. "Family
Guy" is doing an Ed joke with a tunnel beneath Stan's house!) Yes, thanks,
LL.
[steve :shimp:] wow, interesting stuff!
[KayLhota] Yes, and I respect the information that you have
shared with us.
[yhtapmys] Jack certains sounds fair and reasonable.
[yhtapmys] But George obviously resented something.
[Laura Leff] It sounds like the real flash point was a
combination of Hickey's increasingly central role in the writing and the billing
question.
[Laura Leff] And on the flip side...George got this letter and
returned it to Jack unopened, saying something like, "I know you don't mean
anything you say in this letter."
[KayLhota] Interesting.
[Brad from Georgia] Billing is often important to
writers. When I've had cowriters, I never particularly cared about the billing,
though.
[KayLhota] George Balzer know that Jack Benny would cool down,
and always respected the talent and skill of his writers.
[steve :shimp:] Was Hickey credited as a writer on the specials,
or just a producer?
[Brad from Georgia] That's because I'm the
typist, so I always put mine first anyway.
[yhtapmys] Brad, if it sells, no one worries about the billing.
[Laura Leff] Steve - Good question...I can't remember and
haven't compiled the credits of the specials yet.
[yhtapmys] If it doesn't sell, then they don't want ANY billing.
[Brad from Georgia] I did once have a writer I
know ask me to list him as a cowriter on one of my books because he just wanted
the credit to show around in Hollywood when he was trying to write movies.
[Laura Leff] Alan Smithee
[Laura Leff] Brad - Sounds like Al Jolson being credited as
co-writer on many songs
[Brad from Georgia] I didn't agree, though. It
didn't make sense to me.
[Laura Leff] I'm always a little mixed about that letter because
I think it can be taken out of context easily and makes George look really bad.
I'm not out to trash anyone.
[KayLhota] you are not trashing anybody.
[Laura Leff] Which makes Mary an interesting situation.
[yhtapmys] Are there trashy letters about her?
[Brad from Georgia] I dunno. Jack's flares of
anger and almost instant remorse seems well-established, so I'm not sure anyone
would take his letter too seriously.
[Laura Leff] Say, as long as I'm transcribing letters, may I
share this 1928 letter from her?
[KayLhota] Mostly, I feel sorry for Mary.
[steve :shimp:] Please do
[Brad from Georgia] Sure, please do.
[Laura Leff] Thanks. I think for all the things that happened
later in life, this is an interesting lens into who she was just a year after
marrying Jack, when she was still "talking with the nobodies".
[Laura Leff] (If anyone doesn't get that reference, let me
know.)
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[Laura Leff] Darling Julius, (remember Jack and Mary got married
in his apartment)
[KayLhota] the nobodies, I take are the unimportant people
[yhtapmys] Oh, like us!
[KayLhota] such as those that are not in show business, or in a
field that can help out
[KayLhota] am I on the right track, Laura?
[Laura Leff] Alright so I'm late in writing and your sore at me
and you think I'm an egg. But I love you. So there you are and there's no room
for an argument. How are you and the gang? Have you had a customer yet [Julius
worked the men's garment dept. at a store
[Laura Leff] called The Hub]
[yhtapmys] Egg?
[KayLhota] egg is slang, like "you're a good egg"
[Laura Leff] Kay - It's the reason Mary wanted to move out of
Century City, because she didn't like "riding in the elevator with the
nobodies"
[KayLhota] Mary at her more queenly
[Laura Leff] (back to letter) or are you still playing cards?
We're all fine here [letter is on Hotel St. Francis stationery in San Francisco]
[Brad from Georgia] Like the apocryphal tale of
Lucille Ball on an airliner refusing to speak to the flight attendant because
"Miss Ball doesn't talk to the help."
[Laura Leff] Jack looks great and he's as black as a n*****. He
has that real California sunburn. Do you see anything of Bebe and Al. [Mary's
sister, Babe, and then husband Al Bernovici]
[steve :shimp:] Sheesh. I wonder if Mary and Lucy got along...
[Laura Leff] If you see Bebe give her a big kiss for me that's a
good one too but I mean when Al's not looking.
[KayLhota] actually, Lucy and Mary did. They were neighbors.
[Laura Leff] Well old dear we're here in San Francisco for a
week then back to Los Angeles, but it looks like we'll see you real soon now so
get that apricot brandy ready. Well Julius that's about all. Write me a long
letter to 1119 1/2 W. Santa Barbara Ave. Los
[Laura Leff] Angeles CAl. All my love, love to Sid, Boots
[steve :shimp:] "Boots?"
[Brad from Georgia] {The "doesn't speak to
the help" tale is an old canard, told about many people. Most recently
about our current First Lady}
[Laura Leff] Brad - Really...I didn't know it was apocryphal.
[Laura Leff] Yup. Boots.
[Laura Leff] The stuff you find in these letters.
[Brad from Georgia] According to snopes, it is.
He cited Lucille Ball and a couple of others whom I can't remember; Michelle
Obama is the most recent victim of the story.
[Laura Leff] Remember, she wasn't Mary yet either. Still Sadye.
A name she hated.
[KayLhota] Lucille Ball could be queenly, but I read that she
would get her hands in and really get down in work
[Laura Leff] Brad - Michelle Obama doesn't even seem like the
type.
[Brad from Georgia] Only to Republicans, I
suppose.
[Laura Leff] Kay - I'm sure you know the story about Jack saying
he couldn't work with her anymore because she was such a taskmaster.
[steve :shimp:] I'm thinking a "Whatever Happened to Baby
Jane" with Mary and Lucy would have been cool.
[Laura Leff] Steve - Oooh...but who plays which role?
[steve :shimp:] Lucy as Joan Crawford, I think.
[KayLhota] I've read stuff about Lucille Ball that seems
balanced enough about her diva stuff, but she was loving and loyal to people
[Brad from Georgia] LL-I read somewhere that Jack
returned home after rehearsing for an appearance with Lucille Ball and said to
Mary, "That woman needs therapy!"
[Laura Leff] Brad - Funny that Jack was such a perfectionist,
but Lucy was above and beyond that!
[steve :shimp:] Watching that rehearsal footage with Jack
and Lucy on
the Here's Lucy DVD is informative.
[Laura Leff] Well, thanks folks for being open to me sharing that
letter. I've loved it since I first found it.
[Brad from Georgia] Yes, but all Jack asked for was one rehearsal. ONE
lousy rehearsal.
[Laura Leff] Steve - Interesting...I've not seen that.
[Brad from Georgia] Now, penguins on ice skates with kumquats and
pickles...That's funny.
[steve :shimp:] Oh, you should check it out. It has Jack talking to
Milt for help with the script. Really neat stuff.
[Laura Leff] Brad - Nah...no "k" in penguins.
[Laura Leff] Steve - Cool!
[steve :shimp:] And seriously, Lucy runs the show. I don't know why
she paid for a director.
[Laura Leff] So we're at the 2-hour mark almost...what else Benny-wise
is on everyone's mind tonight?
[KayLhota] It's on the "Hear's Lucy" DVD set, and it is very telling
[yhtapmys] I have a question, Laura.
[Laura Leff] Go for it, Yht.
[yhtapmys] Speaking of scripts and writers and such...
[Laura Leff] How old was Bert Scott when he died?
[yhtapmys] I noticed this show had a long tag at the end.
[yhtapmys] Did they generally write those with a bunch of lines to be
used to fill time?
[Laura Leff] Let me listen to it again...
[Brad from Georgia] Jack flubs a line at the end, too.
[yhtapmys] Well, this one, it sounds like they've got a gag. But
they've still got extra time, so they go to a kind of weaker line.
[steve :shimp:] I remember George Burns saying he'd always have a
15-second, 30-second, and a minute gag all on hand in case his show
ran short.
[yhtapmys] It's like they structured the tag where it could be cut off
at any given point for time.
[yhtapmys] I was wondering if they did that with all the shows, the
later ones anyway.
[yhtapmys] I ask because you've had a glance at the scripts.
[steve :shimp:] yht, I don't know if you know, but you can see all the
Lucky Strike era scripts on tobaccodocuments.org
[steve :shimp:] scanned from the original copies.
[steve :shimp:] Cool stuff.
[yhtapmys] OK. Does that include stuff that didn't make it to air?
[steve :shimp:] yes, usually with handwritten corrections to
"as-broadcast"
User Laura Leff has logged out.
[KayLhota] I have to duck out to take a call.
[steve :shimp:] We lost Laura...
[KayLhota] Say goodnight to Laura for me!
[yhtapmys] OK, K.
[steve :shimp:] Bye Kay!
User KayLhota has logged out.
User Laura Leff has entered this room.
[Brad from Georgia] Laura, Kay says goodnight.
[Laura Leff] Can someone send me what I missed since
[Laura Leff] Brad - Funny that Jack was such a perfectionist,
but Lucy was above and beyond that!
[Laura Leff] Ah, sorry I missed her.
[yhtapmys] Just listening to this one makes me think they didn't
get all the laughs they wanted. They used up the tag material and still had 58
seconds at the end.
[yhtapmys] Don even fit in an extra PSA over the music.
[Laura Leff] Yht - Yeah, that's what I think too. Manages the
spread.
[Laura Leff] Don even sounds like he's stretching for time.
[steve :shimp:] I'll send the text Laura
[Brad from Georgia] Yht, if you want to MANAGE
the spread...Don's the wrong guy for the job.
[Laura Leff] Slow reading of the lines with long breaks in
between, trying to hit the last notes with "This is the Columbia
Broadcasting System"
[Laura Leff] Thanks, Steve
[yhtapmys] That being the case, I imagine there weren't a lot of
happy writers on Monday.
[Laura Leff] The funny thing is, I think it's a good show.
[Brad from Georgia] Yet I thought it was a solid
show. Maybe Jack's
[Brad from Georgia] Aw, Laura--maybe Jack's
illness threw his timing off a bit, but lots of good parts.
[Laura Leff] Maybe. This is also not terribly long after Jack
started in television, so I'm sure that kept everyone busy.
[Laura Leff] And they normally did the promos for the other
shows.
[yhtapmys] Well, I can hear the usual structure in the show but
not a lot of really strong jokes.
[yhtapmys] There are some good anticipatory bits, though.
[Brad from Georgia] If they had time at the end,
they COULD have had Dennis come out and sing "My Heart Cries for You."
[Laura Leff] It wasn't until later that Hal and Al came on
staff, or I'd wonder if they were still getting their feet wet.
[yhtapmys] Was that Blanche Stewart doing the opera singer?
[Brad from Georgia] Yes, it was.
[Laura Leff] Yht - Sure was.
[Laura Leff] I was expecting the Sara Berner bit as well. I'm
delighted to find that even though I've heard all these shows, I'm able to enjoy
them again without remembering every detail.
[yhtapmys] I just kind of get the impression the show was
written a little late, that's all.
[yhtapmys] I don't know what it is.
[Laura Leff] I'm sure we can all easily imagine Sara Berner
doing her nasal songstress bit with that song.
[Laura Leff] Well, let's see...this was 3/18/51
[yhtapmys] I was listening to her on a couple of Tex Avery
cartoons the other day.
[Laura Leff] The next show on TV would be 4/8/51
[Brad from Georgia] I thought the letter's
smelling of hamburger was a good gag.
[Laura Leff] 4/5/51...sorry
[Brad from Georgia] Maybe the writers thought
Jack would still be sick and just goofed off...
[yhtapmys] I wonder Brad if they weren't sure if he was going to
be doing the show.
[Laura Leff] And that had Claudette Colbert, Basil Rathbone,
Robert Montgomery...BIG production.
[Brad from Georgia] Dennis had an
uncharacteristically ghoulish little line: "If you don't get up soon, you
won't get up at all."
[Brad from Georgia] You know, that might not even
have BEEN Jack. His cousin Booboo sounded a lot like him.
[Laura Leff] So I can imagine a lot more of people's attention
was focused on doing that show right.
[steve :shimp:] OK folks, I need to head on out. Up early
tomorrow! Great chatting with you all as usual.
[yhtapmys] Jack's was focused on Gisele MacKenzie.
[Brad from Georgia] Now "The Hunchback of
Notre Dame" is coming on the air. Must be Victor Hugo night.
[yhtapmys] Does Don play the cathedral?
[Laura Leff] Take care, Steve!
[steve :shimp:] Night!
[Brad from Georgia] It's the Charles Laughton
version.
User
steve :shimp: has logged out.
[Laura Leff] Yht - Indeed...or that really was more 1952
[Brad from Georgia] I'd better go too. School
tomorrow, early.
[Laura Leff] Well, shall we call it good for tonight?
[Brad from Georgia] Goodnight, all.
[Laura Leff] OK...take care and I'll see you next month!
[yhtapmys] Yeah, I'm transcribing this story for the forum.
[Laura Leff] Thanks Yht! Much appreciated...