Golden Age of Radio

The Milwaukee Journal- May 2, 1943      Browse this newspaper>>           Browse all newspapers>> Is Sinatra the Next Bing Crosby ? Ladies Swoon in Squads When They Hear Frank’s Dulcet Baritone Voice By Willa gray Martin NEW YORK N . Y . -(AP ) - If there’s a radio or teen age girl in your home you’ve heard of him. If there’s an Andy Hardy around, as well as a junior miss, you have more than heard of him. Undoubtedly a few impassioned arguments about him have burst about your innocent head. For Frank Sinatra , lanky 25 year old Hoboken (N. J.) boy , son of a city fireman, suddenly has become the singing idol of a large part of young America. Recently Frank finished an eight week run at the Paramount theater in New York City, the first time any one performer had stayed so long since Rudy Vallee was the nation’s vagabond lover, and that was ‘way back in ’29. Before this engag...

The Milwaukee Journal – Jun 20, 1943   A Star Who Mows His Own Lawn! By J. D. Spiro IT IS plainly written in the established Hollywood tradition that an actor cannot be a genuine 19 carat star unless he can list among his assets—or perhaps it’s his liabilities—at least one swimming pool and a butler who answer to the name of Jeeves. By these standards it would appear that Jack Carson , who still calls Milwaukee home, is unable to qualify, for Jack is not only without the pool and Jeeves but he actually admits, even boasts, that he mows his own lawn and gets the baby’s breakfast. Nonetheless, in the heartbreak town of Hollywood , where hundreds fail for every one who succeeds, this former Milwaukee boy, whose parents, Mr. and Mrs. E. L. Carson, live at 2009 N. Prospect av., Milwaukee, has at last definitely arrived at stardom both on the air and on the screen. Almost at the same moment several weeks ago, when he got his biggest break in radio as the top...

THE MILWAUKEE JOURNAL - SCREEN and RADIO Sunday, February 6, 1938 Exploding Those Popular Myths About Bing Crooner Crosby Is Pegged as a Lazy Chap Who Sings by Ear and Buys His Clothes on Impulse. This Chat With His Mother Shows What a Poor Characterization That Is for a Busy, Canny and Highly Energetic Person By Lucie Neville HOLLYWOOD says Bing Crosby is a lazy guy who gets all the breaks if you were to accuse Bing himself, he’d only grin and amiably agree. But there aren’t any four-leaf clovers in the Crosby shamrock patch, according to his mother. She says he hasn’t a lazy bone in his body and what people call hick is hard work. She would correct a number of other popular misconception about her son: That he doesn’t know anything about music, that he prefers noisy clothes, that he’s happy-go-lucky, how he got his nickname. It’s Bing’s business of course, if he wants to let people keep on thinking such things she lets you understand. Bing’s and Larry’s...

  HOW BING CROSBY WILL LIVE ON $ 25,000 A YEAR WHEN the President urged a wartime $25,000 limit on incomes, he sent shudders along many famous Hollywood spines. Pencils squeaked far into the night as name stars tried to squeeze six-figure budgets under the $25,000 ceiling. But Bing Crosby can take the cut without a whimper. His huge income has never turned his head. He’s a regular fellow with a sincere love of things. Bing’s non-working life centers around his family, his home, his horses and his wide range of sports interests. He lives well and owns two comfortable houses. Wife Dixie Lee manages them with very few servants, for home to the Crosbys is not a cross between Grand Hotel and Buckingham Palace. Bing and Dixie are home bodies , and the bright spots see them seldom. Bing wants his four boys to be real kids. He may splurge in such matters as playground equipment for them, but he keeps them in public school. Bing’s strictly an “old hat and slack...

The Milwaukee Journal – Oct 13, 1940    Browse this newspaper>>            Browse all newspapers>> 'Sh! I Can't Tell That One on the Air' By Edgar A. Thompson Of The Journal Staff THE funny little guy in “soup and fish” pointed his funny nose at the buffet luncheon and plowed through the movie and radio stars at the “Knute Rockne” premiere at South Bend, Ind. “Oh! There’s Mrs. Hope!” screamed a woman and she rushed up to him with a friend. “Look, George! Here’s Bob Hope ! Ha, ha, ha, isn’t he funny for us Bob – we enjoy your broadcasts so much but do he funny for us now!” Hope gave her that “I just missed a three inch putt” look and said, “I’m sorry, lady, but I’m only human and right now I’m hungry and interested in my stomach and not my belly to beans, ham, potato salad, bread, olives celery and a fork. I caught him between the bread and olives. We shook hands and I got the buttered, s...

The Milwaukee Journal – Jun 5, 1938 Bob Hope is scheduled to be radio’s next topline comedian. Following successes on “Your Hollywood Parade,” Bob is set to take the place of the “Mickey Mouse” show next fall. He will get one of NBC ’s top Sunday night periods. The Milwaukee Journal – Jun 5, 1938 Bob Hope Is Radio’s Newest Comedy Star BOB HOPE , comedian heard last on Dick Powell ’s “Your Hollywood Parade,” will be back in the fall—with a program of his own, according to west coast reports. Arrangements now are being made for Bob to replace the “Mickey Mouse” program on NBC next October. So—radio gets another new topline comedian. Actually, Bob Hope is no beginner. He is just about the last of the top row vaudeville and musical comedy stars to come over to radio. He has played in shows with Bea Lillie, Jimmie Durante , Ethel Merman, George Murphy, Fannie Brice, Bing Crosby and Eddie Cantor, all of whom preceded him to Hollywood and most of whom ...

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The Deseret News – May 1, 1965 Spike Jones  Dies InBeverly Hills BEVERLY HILLS CALIF. (UPI)— Spike Jones , a madcap bandleader who made a fortune with his zany music, died Saturday at the age of 53 in his home here. Jones died shortly after midnight. A family spokesman said Jones died in his sleep. His wife, singer Helen Grayco, and a nurse were at his bedside. Miss Grayco said he complained of a headache Friday morning and his physician ordered him to take some medication. The nurse who lived at Jones’ residence summoned the doctor shortly before midnight when she noticed his pulse was irregular Jones died before the doctor arrived. TAKES RIDE Jones’ sister-in-law, Mrs. Teresa Digioia, said Jones was out for a car ride Friday afternoon and “was feeling fine at that time.” First reports indicated Jones died of a heard condition. He had been home from the Santa Monica Hospital three weeks. He was hospitalized March 30 with complication following an asthmatic...

The Milwaukee Journal – Jan 28, 1945 Unveiling  DUFFY’S TAVERN “ DUFFY’S TAVERN , where the elite meet to eat, Archie the manager speaking . . .” That’s Ed Gardner, Archie himself, who has got himself and his tavern into the movies after winning nation-wide laughter as a radio comedian (7:30 p. m. Fridays, WTMJ) Gardner is a former WPA worker who mangled English so intelligently that the radio industry figured he really was worth $5,000 a week. Hollywood raised the ante so the tavern, with its characters and free lunch, is now before the cameras at Paramount. Everybody from the radio show is there except Duffy himself, the disembodied voice who calls Archie on the phone. And it includes Clifton Finnegan, the well known moron; Eddie, the waiter, and the enchanting Miss Duffy herself. To give the hangout a little style, Paramount has chipped in with Bing Crosby and the four Crosby kids, Dorothy Lamour , Veronica Lake, Eddie Bracken , Victor Moore, Barry...

You see, every once in a while I suddenly find myself dancing. - Fred Astaire as Jerry Travers for the movie Top Hat Frederic Austerlitz , more popularly known as Fred Astaire , was an American choreographer, dancer, singer, and actor who became popular during the period known as the “silver screen” era of films. Getting Those Dancing Shoes On Fred was born on May 10, 1899 in Omaha, Nebraska. He was the younger child of Frederic and Johanna Austerlitz, with their daughter Adele as the older one. The family had their name anglicized to Astaire following the beginning of the First World War. They moved to the city of New York in 1904, so that Adele, who was a very passionate dancer, can pursue her education as a dancer.   While in New York, Fred came to know his true passions, one for dancing and other for horses. According to his mother, during those times when Fred just disappeared, he went to visit places that are important to horses. He knew every little thing...