Radio and television mirror (July-Dec 1948)

sweater and blue slacks come hurrying down the aisle of the car towards me. "Hiya," he said, grinning amiably and offering his hand. "I'm Harold Peck from Hollywood High and I think we ought to get acquainted because we're going to be roommates." IT turned out that Harold was a dancer and he had caught Mr. Heidt's eye during the Hollywood show. Harold is a little firecracker, always joking and always ready to go out on some illogical jaunt in the middle of the night, long after our shows are over. I don't think that there are many guys who would pull themselves out of bed at three a.m. to go down and eat spaghetti. But "Peppy" Peck and I get along fine. On the second broadcast, I had to compete against students from the University of Southern California before an all-USC audience. I didn't have much hope of winning against one of the school's favorite sons. If anything, those kids at USC leaned over backwards in their effort to give me a square deal. In spite of my extreme nervousness, once I got up to play, everything went smoothly and I won my second contest. The third and fourth shows were given in Van Nuys and Pasadena, California. To my continuing amazement I kept winning. The more shows I won, the more tense I became. It was getting harder and harder to face the everpresent prospect of losing. Our fifth show was scheduled for Omaha, Nebraska and all the wise-guys who had never been out of New York or Hollywood before, told me: "Omaha? You got nothing to worry about, kid. What possible talent can there be in Omaha? Probably they'll have to hunt high and low to find enough contestants for the show." I didn't say anything to the boys then, but I had my doubts. Sure enough, when the call for talent went out, Mr. Heidt received a flood of two thousand applicants, and of course he auditioned every single one of them. Out of that grouo came Harold Parr and Johnny Vanna. Johnny was a boy of fourteen who could play three instruments as well as I could play my accordion. Harold Parr, who has a deep, rich baritone voice was a graduate of the Nebraska School for the Blind. Both of them were so sensational that there was a split audience vote! It was mighty close, but the applause meter showed a small margin in my favor so I just squeaked through. After that Omaha show I called Fresno and found that fifty members of our family had gathered to yell their congratulations over the long distance wires. It made me realize all over again that my family was my first and best group of fans. They told me that my Uncle Dan had his garage business display window full of pictures and writeups about me. That kind of loyalty and family pride was true of every one of my relatives and I'll always be grateful for it. Aside from missing the folks, life on the road can sometimes be very trying. Most of my fans are wonderful friends who have helped me greatly in the success I have had so far. I'm especially proud of the fact that there are so many boys who write me letters and boost me in their home towns. But in one of the largest cities in the United States I ran across a girl who was more phony than fan and she almost got me into a lot of trouble. She first popped into my dressing k#! You'll love the soothing, caressing, kind-to-your-hair effect of the egg in Richard Hudnut Shampoo. Modern science has found that just the right amount of plain, old-fashioned egg in powder form makes this grand shampoo extra mild, extra gentle. It's a new kind of shampoo, created especially for the beautywise patrons of Hudnut's exclusive Fifth Avenue Salon. A New Kind of Hair Beauty from a World -Famous Cosmetic House UQUfP CfeEME -a joy to use Not a dulling, dry J|l|j| ing soap. Contains ^r—-^^ no wax or paste. Richard Hudnut Shampoo is a sm-o-p-o-th liquid creme. Beautybathes hair to "love-lighted" perfection. Rinses out quickly, leaving hair easy to manage, free of loose dandruff. At drug and department stores. \ Writhed ere « shampoo 09