Radio and television mirror (Nov 1939-Apr 1940)

The action of Ex-Lax is thorough, yet gentle! No shock. No strain. No weakening after-effects. Just an easy, comfortable bowel movement that brings blessed relief. Try Ex-Lax next time you need a laxative. It's good for every member of the family. 10< and 25< From a one-time spot to a regular feature on the Kate Smith Hour — meet funnymen Abbott and Costello. y OU'LL always see them together — a short, fattish one with a large cigar, and a tall, slender one with a penchant for green suits. They're' Abbott and Costello, comedians on the Kate Smith Hour, heard every Friday night at 8:00 o'clock over the Columbia Broadcasting System. They breeze into the studio with a "hi'ya neighbor" to everyone, go on the air for five or six minutes, never using a script because they prefer to memorize their lines, and then they dash back to the musical show, "The Streets of Paris", in which the boys play the comedy leads. This, not seeming to keep them quite busy enough, the Messrs. Abbott and Costello are playing an engagement at the Versailles, one of New York's fashionable supper clubs. This three-ring stardom climaxes a hectic career in burlesque and vaudeville, but Bud Abbott (the straight man) and Lou Costello (the fall guy) attribute it largely to Ted Collins, who gave them their first big-time chance on the Kate Smith show. Ted spotted them in a New York vaudeville house and booked them for a one-time spot, which led to another — and finally, they were signed as a regular feature. Bud Abbott was born in a circus tent at Coney Island and comes from a family long identified with show business. Lou Costello won a scholarship at a prep school for being a crack baseball player; wearied of that and hitch-hiked to Hollywood, where he appeared in about sixty silent pictures, playing every conceivable type of part. When talkies arrived, Lou returned to New York and went into vaudeville. When the straight-man in his act fell sick, Abbott volunteered to step in . . . and so the team of Abbott and Costello was formed. Both Lou and Bud married stage girls whom they met in Washington just ten years ago — the first year they started working as a permanent team . . . and from all the indications, their zany kind of humor, which seems so made for each other, will keep them together a long time to come. 5fl Mrs. R. I. Richards, Antigo, Wisconsin — Ken Griffin, who plays the leading role in Road of Life and Backstage Wife is a strapping six-footer, who was born in Enid, Oklahoma, thirty years ago. He arrived in Chicago six years ago, a helper on a motor truck with a single dollar in his pocket, and without any previous dramatic experience, he secured a $15.00 a week job as an actor at the Century of Progress Exposition. Later, he took a radio audition which brought him to the air. Ken's one extravagance is his motor boat "Revenge". Some day, when Ken retires from the radio, he'll be found building bigger and better boats. Miss Shirley Dawson, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada — The cast of the radio drama Big Sister is as follows: Ruth Evans Brewster Alice Frost David Brewster. Alexander Kirkland Dr. John Wayne Martin Gabel Sue Evans Miller Haila Stoddard Jerry Miller Ned Weaver Ned Evans Junior O'Day Harriet Durant Elizabeth Love Wellington Durant. Charles Webster Asa Griffin Teddy Bergman FAN CLUB SECTION Miss Dorothy O'Brien of 343 Lakeview Park, Rochester, New York, is president of a newly formed Alice Reinhart Fan Club and is most anxious to enlist a lot of new members. Miss Reinhart plays the role of Chichi Conrad in Life Can Be Beautiful. Cute little Donna Dae of Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians now has a fan club in her honor. If you'd like to join it and receive a personally autographed picture of Donna, write to Miss Alice Robertson, 47 No. Bleeker Street, Mount Vernon, New York. If you would like to join the Jeanette MacDonald International Fan Club, you can do it by writing to Miss Marie Waddy, 567 Smith Street, Buffalo, New York. Incidentally, the club reports that there's a fine prize for the member who brings in the greatest number of new members. BADIO AND TELEVISION MIRROR