Speaking of Radio: the Jack Benny Program

[mackdaddyg]

I just noticed that, at the website archive.org (which is a treasure trove of radio shows that you can hear for free), somebody has posted a 12 part series on Jack Benny. Supposedly it contains clips and interviews.

I've never heard of Speaking of Radio, but 12 parts is pretty impressive. Does anybody know anything about this?

Here's the link (hopefully):

http://www.archive.org/details/SOR-Jack_Benny

[Yhtapmys]

I've never heard of Speaking of Radio, but 12 parts is pretty impressive. Does anybody know anything about this?

http://www.archive.org/details/SOR-Jack_Benny

I'm not familiar with Chuck Schaden, but isn't his show called "Speaking of Radio"?

Yhtapmys

[Yhtapmys]

I've never heard of Speaking of Radio, but 12 parts is pretty impressive. Does anybody know anything about this?

I'm curious about part 6. I've never heard it before. What show/date was the original show on?

I noticed Jack Lescoulie is doing his imitation of Jack in the portion I've got to so far.

Yhtapmys

[Maxwell]

I've never heard of Speaking of Radio, but 12 parts is pretty impressive. Does anybody know anything about this?

http://www.archive.org/details/SOR-Jack_Benny

I'm not familiar with Chuck Schaden, but isn't his show called "Speaking of Radio"?

Yhtapmys

Chuck Schaden has been doing an OTR show in Chicago for the past 39 years (he celebrated his 39th birthday on the air on May 2. He will be retiring after his show the last Saturday in June.

Schaden is a member of the IJBFC and has a "Jack Benny Month" every February. He has interviewed many writers, actors, etc. who worked in OTR and has published his interviews in a book titled "Speaking of Radio." The shows on the Internet Archive also had that title and were first aired in the 1970s. The book is on sale at www.nostalgiadigest.com . Schaden is the former publisher of Nostalgia Digest Magazine and former owner of a store called Metro Golden Memories in Chicago.

Schaden's weekly Saturday show "Those Were the Days" features OTR and occasional big band shows and runs four hours every Saturday. For many years he hosted a nightly half-hour OTR show on WBBM radio. He succeeded Stan Freberg as host of "When Radio Was" and held down that post for a year before being succeeded by Greg Bell.

Bell and Carl Amari grew up listening to Schaden on the radio.

On May 3, Schaden rented the Portage Theater in Chicago and hosted Eddie Carroll's show.

[mackdaddyg]

I've finally made my way through almost all of this series. It was a fun listen! I particularly enjoyed the interviews with the likes of Phil, Don, and Dennis, as well as the writers.

One thing that struck me...there wasn't any sort of interview with Mary. Aside from the book she co-wrote about Jack, it doesn't seem like there's much out there from her. Was she reluctant to give interviews? I understand she had some serious mic fright issues, but I figured an interview wouldn't be too bad.

It's a pity. I'm sure she could have provided a lot of interesting anecdotes about Jack and the show.

[LLeff]

One thing that struck me...there wasn't any sort of interview with Mary. Aside from the book she co-wrote about Jack, it doesn't seem like there's much out there from her. Was she reluctant to give interviews? I understand she had some serious mic fright issues, but I figured an interview wouldn't be too bad.

Mary gave very, very few interviews on her own, and didn't even go out a lot later in life. So appearances like The Tonight Show were rare, as endorsement for the book (which, you'll note, has even very little interview with her, other than the story of her getting together with Jack). She was considered something of a recluse after Jack's passing.

In going through some random files of hers from the late 70s and 80s, I found many invitations to various events which had simply been filed. Fan letters too. She was invited to Ronald Reagan's inauguration (Reagan had been one of Jack's pallbearers, and Nancy is said to have visited Mary the day before her death), but she politely declined. I got a one-page, very brief note from her in 1982 after hounding her with letters (as only a 13-year-old can do) via Fred deCordova. I'm sure Freddy probably said something to her like, "Come on, Mary, give her a break. Write a note."

It was strange to see some broad-market coupon books that had been sent to her, and just happened to get swept up in the file. I guess no one is immune from junk mail.