TV Radio Mirror (Jan - Jun 1955)

"Q" Is For Quality (Continued from page 73) who had picked her at that audition and exposed her to a nation-wide audience on the CBS Radio and TV Network. And it was Bob who gave Jaye her chance to do more than just vocalize. He encouraged her to be herself, so that Jaye's personality belted out as happily as her songs — and everyone loved her. A year ago, when she flew to Hollywood to marry Michael Baiano, Bob had talked about it so much on the air that the private little ceremony was practically a national event. As Jaye's popularity grew, however, she began receiving offers for outside engagements. Bob gave her time off from the show. He was trying to further her career, not monopolize it. But this year, when too many offers came pouring in — and all too attractive to resist — Lewis encouraged Jaye to further her career to the fullest, even though it meant losing her services. Her appearances on his radio and TV programs, all emanating from New York, prevented her from accepting vaudeville and supper-club engagements in Hollywood, Las Vegas, and Chicago. And she goes with Bob's blessings. He may have built up a star attraction, only to lose her. But any regrets on his part are personal, Bob's family is very real to him, and he will miss Jaye very much. Professionally, however, he is delighted. "It proves I've got good talent," he says. His early faith in Jaye is more than justified, and the kick he gets out of seeing one of his "family" get ahead is very genuine. But there's more to it than that. You can tell by the look of happy excitement, like a kid let loose in a toy shop. Now Bob could go out and discover a brand-new singer, and maybe make a star out of her .... In spite of the many stars Bob has discovered, he doesn't think of himself as a scout for talent. Actually, he is a developer of talent. He helps bring it out. "I guess I've got a Pygmalion complex," he admits. According to legend, however, Pygmalion was a king of Old Cyprus who created a statue, fell in love with it and made it come to life. Or, in the popular play — later a movie — by George Bernard Shaw, "Pygmalion" is the man who takes a Cockney flower girl and makes her into a lady of high fashion — and also falls in love with her. Bob, too, has brought performers to life, and sometimes he has made them over. The one difference is — Bob doesn't fall in love with his discoveries after they'-re transformed. He's in love with them to begin with — with a deep respect for their talent, and a feeling for their real personalities as opposed to the "stage manner" they may have picked up along the way. That's why, on Bob's show, everyone is "allowed to express himself." He tells the cast: "If you feel like saying something on the show, say it." And so Lois Hunt and Earl Wrightson have had a chance to exhibit their warm, friendly personalities as well as their appealing voices. Lee Vines has been transformed from a straight announcer to a singer, dancer, comedian, and impersonator of Liberace. As for Ray Bloch — "Well, it's an old tradition in show business," Bob says, "to poke fun at the orchestra leader. We do that, too, but I think we've shown people more of Ray than they've ever seen before — not only his singing, dancing and clowning, but his serious side, too." In the case of Don Liberto, who had previously been known only as a dancer, Bob was equally impressed by his singing. "He has some of the same quality Eddie Fisher has." So Don sings as well as dances on the TV show. Bob even used him as a singer on the Saturday morning radio show to replace Jaye P. during some of her absences. Since appearing on The Robert Q. Lewis Show, the Chordettes have come up with their fabulously successful recording of "Mr. Sandman," and Lois Hunt has realized her ambition to be an opera star. When she was invited to sing "La Traviata" in Philadelphia, Bob plugged her appearance so faithfully on his programs that the Philadelphia Opera House found itself sold out for the first time in years. And, when this engagement led to her appearance at the City Center Opera Company in New York, Bob started in plugging as soon as he heard the news. If Bob has a special talent for developing other people's talent, it lies in his uncanny ability to make the public see what he sees and share his enthusiasm. He can not only stir up excitement about a promising newcomer but revive interest in an oldtimer he feels shouldn't be neglected. Even in his early days on radio, back on Station WHN, Bob was able to keep plugging an old record — Ted Weem's "Heartaches" — until it became a national best-seller. And several years ago, CBS built a special program — The Show Goes On — around Bob's special abilities to develop other people's abilities. Tony Bennett, the singer, got his start on this show. Other performers who have been boosted on the way to stardom by "exposure" on Bob's radio and TV shows include Rosemary Clooney, the Ames Brothers and, just recently, Norman Brooks ("he sings similar to Jolson") who is now under contract to Twentieth Century-Fox. According to Bob: "The public is always ready to accept something new — something fresh and different. There aren't enough people in show business ready to give this young talent a break." If Bob is so particularly ready, it's because he genuinely enjoys it. This is his idea of fun — helping others to succeed in the business he likes best — show business! And, though Bob would be the last one to point out a moral in all this, it's there nonetheless. Something about the man who cast his bread upon the waters and had it returned to him. . . . By helping others, Bob has found himself with a steadily mounting popularity, the most loyal fans in the business, a full schedule of sponsors, and your votes for the best daytime comedy shows on both radio and TV! ROBERT'S SO RIGHT! about Wrightson, that is . . . read all about the elegant Earl of the Robert Q. Lewis shows in the next month's big issue . . . the same issue with all those colorful pictures and anecdotes about Sid Caesar and his comedy crew . . . June TV RADIO MIRROR • on sale May 5 get /F YOU SUFFER OJtIAf of HEADACHE mnmmw NEURALGIA NEURITIS with the way thousands of physicians and dentists recommend. HERB'S WHY . . . Anacin is like a doctor's prescription. That is, Anacin contains not just one but a combination of medically proved active ingredients. No other product gives faster, longer-lasting relief from pain of headache, neuralgia, neuritis than Anacin tablet;. 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