Radio-TV mirror (July-Dec 1954)

Information Booth Elephants V Stuff Dear Editor: We enjoy the NBC program Today very much and particularly like jack Lescoulie. We would like to know something about his background. M.K., Toledo, 0. Personable Jack Lescoulie, who handles most of Today's sports features, got his first big break in show business when, fresh out of the Pasadena Playhouse, he was cast as the off-stage voice of an elephant in "Achilles Had a Heel." Jack had more cues than the star, Walter Hampden, and ran the gamut of elephant emotions in the short-lived Broadway production. After a period of odd jobs, Jack landed in other Broadway shows and then returned to his home state of California to create The Grouch Club for NBC's Pacific Coast network. He spent the war as a combat reporter with the Army Air Forces, then made his way back to New York to team up with Gene Rayburn for the Jack And Gene Show. In 1950 he joined CBS as a television producer, then moved over to NBC-TV and Today in 1952. Jack, born in Sacramento in 1917. has been on-stage since the age of seven when he debuted in a vaudeville music-and-dance act with his sister and brother. Jack, who also announces on the Jackie Gleason and Milton Berle shows, lives with his wife and daughter in Hollis, L. I. Sweeney's World Dear Editor: Could you give us some background on Charlie Ruggles, who plays Mr. Sweeney on NBC-TV's The World Of Mr. Sweeney? Where can we write to him? D.J., Conneaut, 0. 9fi Jack Lescoulie Charlie Ruggles Los Angeles born Charlie Ruggles was lured from his original medical ambitions by the promise of a higher salary for walkon parts than he was getting as an apprentice in his father's wholesale drug firm. He debuted in the movies in 1915, then re-entered films fourteen years later to score a great personal triumph in "Gentlemen of the Press." He has appeared in dozens of films since, notably "Our Hearts Were Young and Gay," "Charley's Aunt." "Ruggles of Red Gap," "Alice in Wonderland." and "The Lovable Cheat." More recently, he appeared in a network radio show Barrel Of Fun and then in the family-comedy series The Ruggles, now being syndicated to local TV stations. His characterization of the lovable Mr. Sweeney, originally part of the Kate Smith Hour, was received so enthusiastically that it was scheduled as a regular program. Charlie and his wife Marian live on an Encino, California, ranch where Charlie runs a prize orange grove. Charlie once owned and operated kennels for about 100 canines, and. in his younger days, was an outstanding handball player and champ for several years at the Los Angeles Athletic Club. You can write to him c/o NBC-TV, Sunset and Vine, Hollywood, Calif. Award Winner Dear Editor: I would like some information on the wonderful actress ivho plays Bonnie TVithers on CBS-TV's Valiant Lady. B.G., Swartz Creek, Mich. Bonnie Withers on Valiant Lady is played by Joan Lorring. a pert, blonde, talented actress who is also heard as Grace Seargent on CBS Radio's This Is Nora Drake. Born in Hong Kong to a SpanishArabian father and a German-Russian mother, Joan came to the West Coast at the age of eleven and debuted in radio when she was thirteen. Ever since, she has been winning plaudits for her versatility and fine acting — and the knack with dialects gained in multi-lingual Hong Kong. Her role as the Cockney girl in the film. "The Corn Is Green." won Joan an Academy Award nomination. In 1950, Joan received the Donaldson Award for "the best debut performance on Broadway" for her role in "Come Back, Little Sheba," with Shirley Booth. And for her role in another Broadway success, "Autumn Garden," Joan won the Drama Critics Award. Familiar to radio and TV audiences for her top performances in many popular dramatic programs, Joan starred recently on Broadway in "Dead Pigeon" and on the screen opposite Paul Muni in "Stranger on the Prowl." Joan shares her New York apartment with a poodle she acquired on a recent trip to Venice and which she has named Bursche, which means rascal in German. FOR YOUR INFORMATION— If there's something you want to know about radio and television, write to Information Booth, TV Radio Mirror, 205 East 42 St., New York 17, N. Y. We'll answer, if we can, provided your question is of general interest. Answers will appear in this column — but be sure to attach this box to your letter, and specify whether your question concerns radio or TV. Joan Lorring