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Radio wasn’t always kind to Julius Marx.

Better known to the world as Groucho, Julius and his brothers were pushed into show business by their mother, Minnie Marx, who hoped her sons would find their fortune like their uncle Al Shean of Gallagher and Shean. The brothers began their vaudeville careers as a singing group, and were incredibly mediocre. During a particularly dispiriting performance in Nacodogches, TX, the boys began exchanging wise cracks on stage to entertain each other. Like many vaudeville comedians, they found the audiences had a great deal more appreciation for the jokes than the songs.

The Marx Brothers comedy team had great success in vaudeville and the movies. Julius, now much better known as Groucho, wanted to make a splash on radio as well, but never found the right vehicle. An early effort, Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel(1932) was scuttled by a poor time slot and the brother’s movie commitments. In the mid-40′s Groucho starred in the Pabst sponsored Blue Ribbon Town, but the show never really took off. The concept that would eventually become Life of Riley was initially developed with Groucho in mind, but the sponsor couldn’t accept the wise cracking Groucho as a family man, and the role was turned over to William Bendix.

Groucho was invited to guest on Bob Hope‘s radio show in March of 1947. Hope’s writers put together a nice interchange between Bob and Groucho, but didn’t realize that Groucho would be upset about being forced to wait forty minutes before going on the live program. Bob finally greeted him him with “Why it’s Groucho Marx, ladies and gentlemen. Groucho, what brings you out to the hot desert?” Bob Hope was one of radio’s great ad-lib artists, but Groucho completely took over the live broadcast, beginning with “Hot desert my foot! I’ve been standing in the cold dressing room for forty minutes!”

One of those who laughed the hardest was the show’s producer, show had a brainstorm of putting Groucho in the role of a game show host and turning him loose. Groucho took some convincing, noting that quiz shows were the refuge of washed-up actors. However he was also aware that with the state of his radio career, he had little to lose.

The program, You Bet Your Life, became a success by any measure. The show premiered on ABC in 1947, then moved to CBS for the 49-50 season, and finally landing on NBC radio in 1950 and lasting for the next ten years. NBC realized that the show was simple enough that it could easily be shown on both TV and radio, and the TV version ran until 1961. It later became the first TV game show to make money in syndication.

You Bet Your Life was supposedly a quiz show, but the real appeal was simply allowing Groucho to play Groucho. Although insults were a big part of his routine, Groucho was ultimately kind to his guests, often employing a “give away” question like “What color is the White House” for contestants who hadn’t won very much.

The show was prerecorded for two reasons. First of all, not every joke worked, so by prerecording the producers were able to select the best laughs. But most of all, Groucho was a well known loose cannon who could and would say almost anything on the air.

An urban legend has grown from this, known as the “Cigar Incident”. Groucho was interviewing and contestant who had 11 children. He asked why she chose to have such a large family and she replied “Well, I love my husband”. Groucho supposedly came back with “I love my cigar, but I take it out of my mouth once in a while!” Groucho denied ever saying it, and if it happened, there is not recording of it. However, according to the legend, whenever an NBC program needed explosive laughter on a laugh track, the Cigar Incident laughter was used.

See also: You Bet Your Life from Old Radio Cat

Skipping down Christmas Nostaliga Lane we return to our favorite old time radio comedy, Fibber McGee and Molly:

On Christmas Eve 1946 becomes special; it is one of the few times the show is broadcast on Christmas Eve.  Teeny, the young girl that Marian plays in addition to Molly has convinced Fibberto fix some broken toys for less fortunate children. Of course toys that are broken become toys that are destroyed when Fibber tries to fix them! To be sure the kids have a good Christmas Fibber spends all of the McGee’s Christmas money on new toys. Teeny, with the help of the King’s Men finishes the show with a lovely rendition of Clement C. Moore’s The Night Before Christmas.  Enjoy the following Christmas Radio Show:

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This episode is from Old Time Radio’s Fibber McGee’s Christmas Collection.

In our continuing journey down Christmas Nostaliga Lane from last year with our favorite old time radio comedy, Fibber McGee and Molly:

In Christmas Radio Show episode from 1941, Fibber is determined not to spend money on a Christmas tree, so on Dec 16 he goes into the woods to cut his own. Of course it turns out that he avoids spending a couple dollars on a tree by losing his watch and hatchet in the snow, plus having to fix the tire on the family car! At this time America has been fighting WWII for less than two weeks, and the changes the war brings is on everyone’s mind.

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This episode is from Old Time Radio’s Fibber McGee’s Christmas Collection.

The Great Gildersleeve was one of the first households in broadcasting to feature a nontraditional family- two children being raised by an uncle with no father of mother. This doesn’t make Christmas any less special.

Christmas Day, 1946 would fall on a Wednesday, the night The Great Gildersleeve was broadcast. And it is going to be a wonderful traditional family Christmas, Except that Gildy has convinced himself that the Bullard’s across the street are having marital problems. Worse, Leroy’s friend Craig Bullard will be forced to spend the holiday alone. Of course Gildersleeve would never spread rumors unless he was absolutely sure, would he?

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The 1948 season is special with the addition of the “Mystery Baby” plot arc. Christmas that year is going to be extra special with a baby in the house. The Christmas season begins with a mystery as Christmas presents and other treasures begin to disappear from the house. There is fright and confusion, even the Summerfield police department becomes involved. Everyone has forgotten that there is a curious baby in the house…

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Two week later the family is happily making preparations for the baby’s first Christmas Eve. That is when Judge Hooker presents the baby’s missing father. There won’t be a dry eye around the radio as we hear Gildersleeve say good bye to the Baby that has brought so much joy to his world.

The genuine love and happiness we hear in the Gildersleeve Christmas Radio Shows household makes the holidays even more special for the rest of us.

Beulah first appears at 79 Wistful Vista on Jan 25, 1944. At her first utterances there are peals of laughter from the studio audience, almost before she has said anything funny. Fibber McGee and Molly hire Beulah for one day a week. On Tuesdays Beulah will cook, clean, wash, and respond to Fibber’s wise cracks. The McGee’s are so pleased with Beulah’s services that they intend to do more entertaining on Tuesdays. Tuesday is of course the night that they are on the air.

The new domestic help is in her 30s, perhaps a little over fond of her own cooking, a little bit man crazy, and tends towards short skirts and high heels. When she speaks for the first time during an episode, she gets more than her share of laughs. When she is called she replies with “Somebody bawl fo’ Beulah?” and answers McGee’s witticisms with “Love that Man!”

Beulah deserves most of the laughter for her comic lines and delivery. Many of the laughs are the studio audience’s surprise at seeing Beulah in the flesh for the first time. This black lady is played by a white male actor, Marlin Hurt.

Beulah became popular enough to be spun off to her own program, The Marlin Hurt and Beulah Show in 1945. Hattie McDaniel was the first black actress to play the part on the renamed Beulah Show beginning Nov 24, 1947. The NAACP praised the selection of McDaniel. When McDaniel became ill in 1952 she was replaced by Lillian Randolph, who would in turn be replaced the next season by her sister, Amanda Randolph.

Beulah was adapted for TV in 1950 for three seasons. Along with the TV version of Amos ‘n’ Andy, the program was criticized for perpetuating stereotypical black characters. Actress Lillian Randolph, who along with Beulah played Birdie Lee Coggins, the cook for The Great Gildersleeve, replied to the criticism in the pages of Ebony magazine. It was Randolph’s contention that the roles were not harmful to the image or opportunities of African Americans; the roles themselves would not go away, but the ethnicity of those in them would eventually change.

Enjoy this episode of the first appearance of Beulah on Fibber McGee and Molly:

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Eddy Bracken was one of those actors who never seemed to have a huge success, but had an enjoyable life and career.

Born in 1915, by age 9 he was appearing in Vaudeville. He appeared in “Kiddie Troupers”, a series of movies trying to follow on the success of “Our Gang”. He made the move to Broadway and landed a starring role in the 1936 military drama So Proudly We Hail. The show opened to great fanfare and acclaim and closed after 14 performances. In 39 he appeared in the musical Too Many Girls, and got his “big break’ when the show was made into a movie starring Lucille Ball. During the 40s he starred in two comedies by Preston Sturges, one of the pioneers of Screwball Comedy. These films The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek and Hail the Conquering Hero were popular enough that Eddy Bracken became a household name. He also had considerable radio success during this period, notably The Eddy Bracken Show, a teenage comedy, and several appearances on Dorothy Lamour’s Seal Test Variety Show. He also appeared on Suspense and Academy Award Theater.

In 1953 Eddy left Hollywood to concentrate on stage work. He replaced Tom Ewell in the road company of “The Seven Year Itch”, in the 60′s he took over Art Carney’s role in “The Odd Couple”, he joined the road company of “Hello Dolly” during the 70s and replaced Ray Walston as the Devil in “Damn Yankees”. Eddy would later quip “I’m the theater’s No. 1 takeover guy for everybody.” He claimed to not mind the long tours on the road; “I’m only tired until the curtain goes up.” After 30 years away from Hollywood he returned to perform in a few character roles, including theme-park owner Roy Walley in National Lampoon’s Vacation.

Old Time Radio believes it appeals to a “Nostalgia Market”, which sadly often means that the market will dry up once the generation that remembers when the programs were broadcast moves on. Fortunately, a growing number of enthusiasts are joining the ranks of old time radio fans who are discovering these shows and what a treasure they are.

Some have no recollection of Jack Benny as a Radio or even a Television personality. But we did know him as a small rodent from the Merrie Melodies cartoon, “The Mouse That Jack Built”.

“Merrie Melodies” and “Looney Tunes” were the cornerstones of Warner Brothers animation from the 1930s onwards. Most of the short films were originally released in theaters as companions to Warner Brother’ feature films. Many of us grew to love the cartoons and the great characters when they were released to TV syndication during the 1950s and 1960s. They were also a staple of Saturday mornings on all three networks at different times.

“The Mouse That Jack Built” was released in 1959, directed by Robert McKimson. The plot was a parody of The Jack Benny Program. Most of the references in the cartoon were to the TV show rather than the radio program, but the program was such a close outgrowth of the Radio that most of the gags are familiar to Radio fans.

The story is a dream sequence of a mouse living in the walls of Jack Benny’s house. This mouse is of course Jack himself, and the cartoon hits a number of the running gags from The Jack Benny Program. These include “Jack as a Miser”, “The Vault”, “Jack’s Violin” and “The Maxwell”.

The sound effect for the Maxwell jalopy had been voiced by Mel Blanc since its radio introduction, so it wasn’t much of a stretch to add it to the cartoon. “The Mouse” would be only the second time that on-screen acting credit would be given to someone besides Mel Blanc.

There is a rumor that the only payment Jack Benny asked for the project was a copy of the cartoon.

August 6^th, 2011, will be comedienne Lucille Ball’s 100^th birthday and we had to celebrate this auspicious anniversary. For decades, when ever the term “comedienne” comes up, the first image that comes to mind is Lucy.

Born Lucille Desiree Ball to Henry and Desiree “Dee Dee” Ball in Jamestown, NY, Lucille learned about tragedy at an early age. Henry was a telephone lineman for Anaconda Copper, and when Lucille was three the family was moved to Anaconda, MT, and then to Wyandotte, MI. In 1915 Henry came down with scarlet fever and died. Dee Dee eventually remarried to Edward Peterson, who was less than enthusiastic about young children. As a result Lucille’s younger brother was sent to live with Dee Dee’s parents, and Lucy for a time stayed with Ed’s parents. The elder Peterson’s were a stern Swedish couple who took a low view of any type of frivolity. Lucy would later recall that all of the mirrors were removed from the house, except the one over the bathroom sink, and she was punished if she spent too much time admiring herself.

The one shiny spot for Lucille in Ed and Dee Dee’s marriage was Ed’s membership in the Shriners. The Lodge needed female entertainers for an upcoming show, and ed encouraged his step-daughter to audition. Lucille, who had been desperate for attention and approval, realized it could be found on stage.

At the Age of 15 Lucy convinced her mother to allow her to attend Drama School in New York. She was found to be a “tongue-tied teenager” who nearly disappeared in the shadow of her class-mate, Bette Davis. Eventually the school wrote to Dee Dee that “Lucy’s wasting her time and ours.” Determined to prove her teachers wrong, Lucy stayed on in New York, and by 1927, using the stage name “Diane Belmont”, she found some success as a model, first for fashion designer Hattie Carnegie, and later with Chesterfield Cigarettes.

By the early 1930′s she had dyed her chestnut hair blond and moved to Hollywood. In Tinsel-Town she picked up a reputation as “Queen of the B’s” for her many roles in less than serious movies. She did appear in a couple of Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers film, and was eventually cast with Rogers, who was a distant cousin, in 1937′s Stage Door, along with Katherine Hepburn.

Like amny starlets, Lucy did some radio work to help make ends meet. In 1937 she was a regular on The Phil Baker Show, and during the 1938 season she appeared many times on The Wonder Show, starring Jack Haley. It was on The Wonder Show that she struck up a life long friendship with the programs announcer, Gale Gordon.

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Lucille appeared in a couple of less than memorable films in 1940, including Dance, Girl, Dance and Too Many Girls. What made the films memorable for Lucy were the small parts in each for a Cuban Band leader, Desi Arnaz. The couple eloped in 1940.

Desi was drafted in 1942, but classified for limited service because of a knee injury. That meant he spent most of the war in LA, organizing and performing USO Shows. Lucy was a favorite guest on AFRS’s Mail Call, Command Performance, and GI Journal.

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In 1948 Lucy began work on the radio series My Favorite Husband, costarring Richard Denning. Early in the run the stories were about a prominent banker and his socially prominent wife, but as the series evolved they evolved into a middle-class couple who would appeal to a more diverse audience.

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My Favorite Husband was a big neough success that CBS was sure it would work on television. The problem was that Lucy refused to work on a Husband and Wife TV show without her real husband, and CBS was sure American audiences would never accept a Cuban-American couple coming into their living rooms. So Lucy and Desi took the concept on the road; Lucy playing the part of a housewife trying to perform with Desi’s band. Audiences loved the concept, and CBS welcomed I Love Lucy into their line-up. (The program also help to salvage the marriage, which had been strained by two show-biz careers with wildly divergent schedules.)

Lucille Ball is honored with a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6436 Hollywood Blvd for her work in Motion Pictures, and another for her Television Work at 6100 Hollywood Blvd.

Happy Birthday Lucille Ball!

Ventriloquism is an old and respected form of stagecraft, closely related to stage magic. And like magic, which depends on simple misdirection, ventriloquism is a skill that can be learned. One of the great vaudeville ventriloquists, The Great Lester, was also known as a great teacher of ventriloquism. In fact, it was probably one of The Great Lester’s pamphlets that Edgar Bergen used to begin learning the art.
Like stage magic, ventriloquism, or more precisely, the disbelief in ventriloquism, is a popular plot device for mystery and thriller writers. The device goes something like this: there is no way the ventriloquist can be as talented as he appears, so instead of a wooden dummy he must have the assistance of a midget or dwarf. This device is one that probably wouldn’t work in live action movies or TV. It would just be too hard for a midget to make a convincing ventriloquist’s dummy. So this is another example of the power of radio drama in an audience’s suspension of disbelief.

As dark as these stories are, they really are only a reflection of the real fun of ventriloquism on the radio. Comic ventriloquism depends on the wit of the ventriloquist as much as his skill at speaking without moving his lips.

Charlie: May I have a kiss good-bye?
Pretty Girl: Well, I can’t see any harm in that!
Charlie: Oh, I wish you could. A harmless kiss doesn’t sound very thrilling!

Before the sexual revolution of the 1960’s, there was Mae West. The entertaining, sometimes mischievous, always provocative and controversial Broadway performer and film star began her career in vaudeville. Born Mary Jane West in Brooklyn, New York on August 17, 1893, West made her professional debut in 1907 at the age of fourteen. In 1911, she landed a role in a Broadway play and by 1918; she was the cover girl for the Ev’rybody Shimmies Now sheet music.

Shortly after her Broadway success, West began to write and direct her own plays. Her sexually charged and sexually themed plays captivated audiences. In 1927, she was arrested for the production of her play entitled, Sex. Community leaders were outraged by her sexual openness and the content of the play. She was charged with corrupting morals and sentenced to 10 days in jail. However, she never allowed the jail sentence to interfere with or silence her views on sexuality.

Mae West later found success in films, where she appeared alongside such notable actors as Cary Grant, W.C. Fields, George Raft and Jimmy Stewart.

Mae West’s playful sexual attitude hit the old time radio airwaves in a 1937 Chase and Sanborn Hour broadcast. She participated in a skit with Edgar Bergen and in another that featured Don Ameche. Unfortunately, her use of sexual innuendo led to a national uproar. Religious groups, political organizations and individual listeners accused the Chase and Sanborn Coffee company of promoting obscenity. Mae West was held responsible and banned from radio.

Twelve years passed, before West returned to the air in a 1950 broadcast of The Chesterfield Supper Club. Throughout her life, Mae West continued to write, act and promote sexual openness. West was well known for numerous much younger suitors and her vocal support of gay rights. Mae West died on November 22, 1980 at the age of 87.