Radio stars (Oct 1934-Sept 1935)

RADIO STARS You Gotta Trust Somebody (Continued from page 6) critic is Mary Livingstone who does the iumb daisy on Jack Benny's program. In private life she is Mrs. Jack Benny. She joesn't say anything about Jack's art. In :his she is like the rest of us in thinking lim a grand performer. Her job is keepng him from making mistakes in business for Jack knows little and cares less about noney. Once long ago an agent for the Palace n New York offered Jack a billing. Jack, vithout asking how much, was about to ay "yes" when cup came the old wifely ludge. "Ask him how much he will pay," vliispered Mary. He did. Zup, went the lbow. "Ask twice as much," said Mary, 'ie did. The agent said "no," and delarted. [ Left alone Jack lost his temper, raged, bre telephone books into confetti. And len the phone rang. It was the Palace, aying that the management had reconsidred and would take Jack on at the figure e demanded. But once he got obstinate and insisted n doing a movie over the wifely veto. He as a flop. He learned his lesson from tat. Now he takes no business step withut her. Mary in turn has those to whom she in turn for true talk about herself. Sunay evening when the broadcast is over, lere is sure to be a telegram from Caliirnia, from her sister, giving a detailed 'action to her performance. Sometimes ley talk it over on the long-distance telelone. Eddie Cantor locks himself in a booth hen the broadcast is over and asks none her than Margie, aged eighteen, his oldest mghter. Young enough to respond as a lild, wise enough to understand as an 4ult, Margie tells him if and where ;■ fell down, discusses the work of the her members of the company, and gives ► >m a summary of her general reaction to e performance. You'd never think it of Portland Hoffa ■ lit she is probably the severest critic of !em all. For which reason, no doubt, ed Allen, her husband, treasures the femory of the evening on which she comi merited him in the presence of the en e company. (Portland has a bit at the beginning of p Town Hall show and when it is over, [e slips out and goes into the control bin to listen. On the evening of our little e Fred was doing a skit in which he »*s captain of a ship. Accidents will hap 'l and this night a musician dropped his •nbals. They fell with with an awful ' tter to the floor. 'Who dropped that funnel?"' cried Fred io the mike, quick as a cat can wink his Portland kissed him after the show tellhim he was wonderful in saving the s lation that way. i'ou al! probably know the story of •ward Barlow who went on the air J ling so ill he could barely lift the baton. the average listener it was the same '■ward Barlow, leading an orchestra giv ing it high grade music. Not so to Mrs. Barlow, who was listening in Denver. She telegraphed a question : ' Are you ill ?" To spare her, he replied : "Feeling swell, how are you?" She came East and found Howard in bed. Gladys Swarthout turns to her husband, Frank Chapman, when she is weary of the waves of raves that engulf her wherever she goes. And Frank reads her the affectionate riot act. His criticism covers everything from clothes to cosmetics. Recently, 'tis said, he redesigned the collar of her coat because he thought the one that went with it, although made by a famous designer, was not becoming to Gladys. Lanny Ross looks to his mother, Mrs. Douglas Ross, a lady who was a pianist for Pavlowa. It is she who detects signs of swelling of the head and knows the trick of bringing it back to normal. She is an important item in the life of this young hero of radio. Another Showboat star who's gotta have somebody to talk to is Muriel Wilson. Once it was her music teacher but now that he is dead, she talks things over with her parents. Pa and ma dote on Muriel but they are strangers when the Boat is on the waves. Her partner, Rosaline Greene, once crowned radio's most perfect voice, talks it over with her two elocution professors. She also has a shut-in, a man in New England, whom she has never seen, who tells her via U. S. mail what he thinks of her broadcast. Mother Lane doesn't risk offending her two gifted daughters. She pays eight dollars and has a record made of each broadcast. The record enables them to criticize themselves. And they listen and laugh — or weep ! The three singing Pickens go into a huddle with their mother after each broadcast. Grace, who also does the arrangements and the orchestration, asks most questions. "Was I too loud?" she asks. "How was the blend? . . . How was the solo? . . . Did I stand back far enough? . . . Tell us, how did it sound?" And Mother Patti tells them. Sometimes it is a hickory switch, sometimes a plate of cookies. She tells them if they flatted, if they lacked in enthusiasm, when they failed to come in together. Roxy is one of the few we can think of who is impervious to criticsm and asks it of no man. Due no doubt to the fact that people don't rave about him — they call him names. He is one star who is not glutted with "Yes." Which reminds us of the story of the young woman who called up the studio and wanted to know if the operator would take a message to Roxy. "Now would this message be sure to reach Roxy?" she asked. "Would it reach Roxy — the same Roxy who conducts the radio program ? And would it be given to him personally? All right then. My name is Beebe Gunn. This is the mes(Continued on page 105) Night Just a bite to eat before going to bed? By all means! But be sure you make your late snack a bowl of Kellogg's Corn Flakes ami milk. Corn Flakes because they're light, easy to digest, a real aid to restful sleep. Kclloggs because no substitute can equal their oven-fresh flavor and crispness. Sold by all grocers. Served in restaurants, hotels, dining-cars. 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