Radio varieties (Sept 1940-June 1941)

A Star Is Made The Talent Scouts and Publicity Dep't of NBC Artist Service Build the Stars of Tomorrow "Old-fashioned! '.' said c;ne critic looking her over from head to toe. "Not enough poise," remarked a second sage. "She simply lacks that certain something," was the verdict of observer number three. Eyeing the pretty, raven-tressed lass who had just trilled the last notes of a stuffy operatic aria, the talent scout shook his head. "For the present", he replied, "You may be right. But I like that feeling in her voice. And her looks and figure aren't exactly to be GIRL IN UNIFORM During her radio days when Lillian Cornell posed for pictures, the Chicago Cubs were photographed the same day. Her managers dreamed up the Idea of Lillian posing as the mascot of the Chicago Cubs baseball team. As a result of these pictures Lillian gained national recognition. sneered atl No — we'll keep her. And just wait'll we put a warble in her voice and a spark into her personality! Wait'll the build-up begins! She'll wow 'em! Mark my words — someday Lillian Machuda will be a name known to every radio and movie fan in the U.S.A." Well, the talent scout's actual prophecy is impossible now, for the first action taken by Lillian's Page 14 managers, the NBC Artists Service, was to change her name trom Machuda to Cornell — the one we know her by today. And after deciding her voice was fashioned for popular music rather than the classics, the next step in their campaign to make Lillian Cornell famous was to dispatch her to a voice teacher experienced in light musical veins, who taught her the intricacies of popular rhythms. Soon the time arrived for her first real step up the ladder of success. Artists Service assigned Lillian to a few local radio spots where the songstress acquired the "mike technique" experience essential for a network debut. Then spots on two popular Chicago programs, the NBC Jamboree and Club Matinee, were obtained for her to display her talents. Meanwhile two powerful "buildup" forces were working for Lillian Cornell. The contract she. had signed with NBC Artists Service to manage her career covered more than mere business routines. Clothes, friendships and recreation all called for their knowing counsels. The right places had to be frequented and the right people met. Clothes had to be streamlined to her personality — all in all, everything designed to type her as a glamorous radio songstress was strenuously plugged. The piiblicity departments of Artists Service and NBC meanwhile had also swung into action. One of their first actions was to photograph their charge from every concievable angle and in scores of different costumes. Accompanied by fitting sheafs of publicity copy, photos of Lillian Cornell posing as the ideal tennis player, the typical mermaid, the college boy's dream, ad infinitum, flooded newspaper and magazine offices throughout the nation. Lillian's managers even arranged to have her picture taken as mascot (fully uniformed!) of the Chicago Cubs! While all this was going on, Lillian was appearing on more and more sustaining radio programs. As her fan mail rose and her personality became etched on the public mind, she began to receive top billing with greater frequency. Eventually her break came — in form of a bathing-suit picture, published in a radio fan magazine, which created quite a stir amongst HoUywoods movie producers, and led to urgent demands for auditions. A PRETTY GIRL— A BEAUTIFUL VOICE— A SARONG Dorothy Lamour, made famous by a scanty piece of colored cloth — the sarong. Since Lillian's radio commitments in Chicago prohibited a personal Hollywood appearance, her managers arranged a cocktail party in the movie mecca, at which an audition of Lillian's voice was heard by special wire from the Windy City . . . The rest is history. The large public following of the songstress plus her looks plus her figure plus her singing RADIO VARIETIES NOVEMBER