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When his name sings out on the air, and you hear his goofy laugh, what do you think of the man behind the famous name? This story describes a Joe Penner you never knew before.
Whiling away the time with ping-pong in his garden at Beverly Hills, Joe Penner hasn't forgotten his humble arrival in this country as a Hungarian immigrant. Last year he paid $48,000 income tax!
rhoto by Walling
Frances Langford is the singing heroine of Joe Penner's
latest film, "Collegiate," with Jack Oakie and Lynne
Overman also in the cast.
JOE PEN-NER!
BY WHITNEY WILLIAMS
WHEN Joe Penner — "Pinter, Joseph. Hungarian. En Route Detroit" — landed as a third-class passenger at Ellis Island a little more than twenty years ago, a boy of ten, his one thought, apart from one of marvel at the New York sky line, was to earn $20,000.
"Then I can retire and support my mother and father and travel and see the world," he told himself, eyes shining at the prospect of life in the new land.
Last year, Joe Penner, former immigrant lad, paid the United States Government $48,000 income tax!
Tis a far cry from that day Joe first sighted his home of the future from the lower decks of the "Carpathia," but in humanness and outlook upon life, the little Hungarian, now one of radio's foremost figures and at present starring in "Collegiate," remains the same. He is just as unpretentious and as kindly disposed toward the world as the evening he won first prize in an amateur contest for his imitation of Charlie Chaplin and instilled in himself forever a love for the footlights.
The afternoon I dropped by Joe's home in Beverly Hills,
I found him in a somber mood. A newspaper had printed a story to the effect that he had not paid any income tax last year.
Instead of railing at the charge, he was deeply and genuinely hurt.
"I'm very happy to pay the tax," he explained seriously. "It's the very least I can do to show my appreciation of the country that gave me my chance at success and contentment.
"I filed my income-tax report in New York, and this paper" — referring to the accusing sheet — "is a New Jersey journal. I can't understand why they should say such things. I suppose because they couldn't find any record of my payment of the tax in New Jersey, where I lived part of last year, they assumed I was trying to dodge the issue."
His eyes saddened as he contemplated the injustice done him. But this is not the first time he has felt the boot. His life, despite its triumphs during the past few years, has been a long succession of setbacks and unjust experiences. (Continued on page 90)