Radio doings (Dec 1930-Jun1932)

From This Studio and That ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ forefinger of his right hand ... is nervous when someone else is driving . . . when he is driving everyone is nervous . . . can (pause for breath) memorize music and lyrics of a song at a glance ... is very ticklish . . . loves Irish jokes . . . calls the waiter with a loud "pstpst" continually jingles coins in his pockets . . . Whoa! That's Morton Downey. • The Three Doctors — Pratt, Sherman, and Rudolph, never rehearse a program. Everything they say is actually impromptu, and they never know until a few minutes before they go on what they will talk about. They are probably the most famous trio of "ad-libbers" on the air. Pratt and Sherman grew up together in Appleton, Wis.. Rudolph joined them in Chicago. • Clarence Talbot ,diminutive six foot, four inch KGA announcer, in addition to working on the studio staff is completing his senior year in high school, and acts as drum major in the high school band. In full regalia, with threefoot hat, "Little Clarence" towers over the rest of the organization. Wonder what he's going to do when he grows up? Visiting KFWI recently, a typical old-timer demanded to see "this here Al Cook and his Oklahoma Cowboys." He said he was convinced that Al was a buddy of his in the old days on the plains. When the curtains were drawn so the artists could be seen from the guest lobby, the old codger nearly had a stroke, for the average age of Al and the boys, despite their convincing drawls and mannerisms, is exactly 19 years, three months, and eight days! • The collection of tin cans, empty barrels, broken dishes, pieces of glass, beads, whistles, auto horns and even large wooden spools used by the telephone companies for winding cables, occupy about 20 per cent of the daily life of Anna Maude Morath of the KFOX players and she is continually on the look-out for anything that might make a good sound effect. About 20 per cent more of her time is taken up in preparing and filing the scripts of the plays used, another 20 per cent in Adele Burian and Virginia Spencer, KYA artists, croon a little lullaby to a baby airplane at the Curtiss-W right airport, near San Mateo. playing the leading parts in plays, 20 per cent is devoted to doing secretarial work for Hal Nichols, and what there is left of her time the young lady has to care for her earthly needs. How she retains that striking beauty, the sparkle in those black eyes and the gloss to her lovely long black hair, is a mystery. • These baby carriage effects that some of these sporty phaetons effect are all right in some cases, but take Paul Whiteman, for instance. Paul has one of these phaetons and uses it to ride back and forth from the Edgewater Beach hotel to the NBC studios for his broadcasts. One observing member of the staff noticed that Paul always rode in the front seat, riding grandly along beside his chauffeur. One day he asked. "Paul, ivhy do you always ride in the front seat?" "Well, it's this way." And the genial King of Jazz got into the back seat of his gorgeous car, sat down, and began to pull the lid down, which makes the back of the car look like an Eskimo Kyack. And with Paul in the seat, it just wouldn't go down! "There, do you see now'?" asked the maestro with a grin. Jacques Renard, the rotund director of the Camel Quarter Hour orchestra, tips the scales at 275 pounds. He once melted away 64 pounds at Hot Springs, Ark., in two months — but gained it back in one month. Wears horn-rimmed specs, easily wilts in hot weather, prefers airplanes to railroads, raw prunes are his favorite fruit, vegetable and meat (he usually carries a box around with him), is married and has three daughters and a son, never keeps appointments on time, welcomes criticism of his musical programs, is sentimental and generous. Get the picture? [Next Page] RADIO DOINGS Page Twenty-nine