Variety (Oct 1936)

62 VARIETY Wednesday, October 7, 1936 OBITUARIES .. HERB WILLIAMS . , Herb Williams, 52i born Herbert Schussler Billerbeck in Philadelphia, died Oct. 1 of internal hemorrhages at bis home in Freeport, L. I. He. was ill. three days and an autopsy was necessary to determine, the cause of death. .' At first the cause was re- ported as pneumonia. • Williams* rose from the position of pit pianist in a ShamOkin,,Pa, the- atre to the top comedy acts in show business in a span' of 35 years. His initial ambitions were for the con-' cert stage, yet'none of his. intimates, are' cognizant of why or How he turned to comedy after graduating from the Philadelphia Conservatory ^pf Music. ' From' Shamokin Williams moved to Philadelphia for another pit or- chestra position. He teamed with Hulda Wolf us, married her, and shortly . afterwards >moved in the strata of vaudeville headliner with an act. thai became ■ internationally known as Williams and Wolf us. The combination was ruptured for a short time. 21 years ago whiles Miss Wolf us was bearing their first child, Doris. Bart McHtigh, late Philadel- phia vaudeville producer, learned. Williams with Tom.' Kennedy' for. a year or so. Kennedy is now a vaude- ville producer* -Reteamed with Miss Wolfus, Wil- liams again v moved upwfifrds, head- lined from" coast to coast; oh the ' Keith and Qrpheum. time as well as fn Europe. That a man with, con- cert ambitions should have turned to hoke comedy was incongruous enough, but stranger yet was the fact that he never played the piano seriously on the stage. He ]used- a prop jftano, which, disgorge^ beet and fell apart and became widely known. : Domestic difficulties about 10 . years ago finally split the Williams and Wolfus- team for good, the pair agreeing to a divorce with a 50-50 'property split; Williams, then surrounded himself with a four-people act; retaining , most of the Williams, and Wolfus ma- terial, and eventually married his nyv' femme assist Jean Halpin. She . also bore him a daughter, Diana, now . eight. Up till this time the comedian had appeared in only one '-.. Broadway - musical,- a • John -.Murray Anderson, production -in .1924!-But .in 1930 lie scored, in. that-year-'s edition of Earl .Carroli'sv.iVanities'; . then he moved into. a- straight play, Marc CorinellyrExank-. • B,; • .Elser's Th^ Farmer Takes -a .Wtfe,'- His last legit appearance.was4ast-year-with Be atrice; Lillie. in. /At .Home-Abroad.' In the.last .year--ploture9'took no. tice tif WJlHamV. -talent -and- he was featured. /by-. Paramount--in two • films, 'Rose c*the.Ranoho,-'-with*Wil- lie Howard , being-one of them/ " Williams' • friands in and out of .show business were legion; he was a qUietr unassuming personality off the stage and was known for his un- ■ publicized-charities ia performers in need. His chief hobby-'was his home, adding- to- it yearly until how it is one Of the showpieces of. Freeport. "Surviving. Williams, besides his two daughters, and his first' and sec- ond wives, are,, his father, .Henry . Billerbeck; a brother, Milton, and a sister, Mrs. Edna Ebenbeck, Funeral services were held jn Freeport; Oct. 2, with, burial Opt 3 in Philadelphia. HARRY FITZGERALD Harry Fitzgerald, 55,. one of . the leading ..talent agents for , more than .. 20. years, died Oct. 4 in Los Angeles after a year's illness. He gave up his agency business in New York two. years; ago when. Winfleld Shee- han engaged him as; a talent' scout for Fox, but retired when stricken. Fitzgerald started as an agent about 25 years ago. in partnership . with Louis Westley, later going on his own. While chiefly a Keith and RKQ : franchise holder, he. covered the field, including pictures, and was ...always recognized as a pioneer in launching hew styles, in. acts and en- tertainment, . ' Fitzgerald was credited with .in- troducing jazz to New York when booking a ^mall jazz band into the - Pekin restaurant on Broadway. 18 years ago. He found Paul White- man, then an unknown, in Atlantic City in 1619 and sold .the band .to the Palais Royal, .then to the Palace. He booked Will.Rogers in his first job for Ziegfeld, in the 'Midnight Frolic' at $350 a week. One of Fitz- gerald's, stunts for the then Keith- Albee circuit was the importing of the 30-piece Mexican Tipica ma- rimba orchestra, -the first aggregation ot its kind to appear In,this country. Among the'name acts represented by Fitzgerald were'W.C. Fields, Bill Robinson, Ted t Healy and -Allan Dinehart, • Widow, a brother, Leo, also an agent, and one child survive. Remains were shipped east for interment in New York Friday (9). BERNARD GRANVILLE Bernard Granville, 20 years ago one of the'most popular leading men in Broadway musical comedies and father of Bonita .Granville, - child film star, was found dead by friends the night of Oct.' 5 in his Hollywood apartment, which he had occupied since his arrival from New York three weeks ago. Although death was from natural causes, an autopsy took place Oct. «. Granville's first success of conse- quence was in Chicago. Subse- quently he ■ appeared"- in several Ziegfeld 'Follies* productions at the Whiter (Garden,, and - in 'No, No, Nanette.' He' Was- extremely' versa- tile, an excellent dancer, one of the first of the eccentric type, arid had a good tenor voice. He retired from the theatre about, five years ago to enter the - insurance: business. His daughter and widow,' Rosina Timponi, formerly ■ a ' professional, survive. . JOHN LYNCH John Lynch, 66, writer under con- tract to Metro studios, died in Los Angeles Oct. 3 following/heart at- tack. Lynch, born in New York City,' started into the theatrical business after being educated; at .Cornell and Georgetown .universities. He started as an- exhibitor in Syra- cuse, Rochester, Albany and. Utica, N. Y. Later he worked with Lewis J. Selznick and Jesse L. Lasky and the Shuberts. .He went.to the Coast' in 1916. He adapted 'Grand Duchess and the Waiter,' 'Woman of the World,' 'The Ne'er Do Well' and ^Volcano.' . Widow survives. Because of de- ceased's wishes no funeral was held. IRVING HAYWARD Irving Hayward, 48, professionally known as Alan Brooks, died at the NVA sanatorium, Saranac, last' week, after a lingering illness of two- years. •'. F.Qr. .years he. .was' recognized' as a producer. , in. .both the legit and vaudeville, field,, starred in his own vaudeville, act. and. a headliner for many years. .He was in moving pictures about two .months, that being his first real break,, when he -had his break-down that. sent.him to the- mountains. for many years associated with the Musical Publishing Co. of Cleveland, was killed Sept.- 24 when he was. thrown from his automobile while en route home. His widow, two sons and a daugh- ter survive. Interment at Perry. R. C. NICHOLLS Captain R. C. Nicholls, 56, a one- time assistant manager at the now defunct Capetown music Tiall, the Tivoli, and recently an air pilot, crashed Sept. 8 near the Aerodrome, Durban (Natal). He died whilst on the way to the hospital. Widow and one child survive. ' BOOTH HOWARD Booth Howard; 47, film actor, was killed Oct.. 4 In Los Angeles,'being run down by an auto as he was re- turning from a birthday party. He played in many pictures after, a long career in stock: JAMES M. MORDOFF James M. Mordoff, 81, died Sept. 30 in Corona* Call., after a brief illness. He was for 15 years associated with Southern Poster Co. in Los Angeles. A daughter survives. '. JIMMY ADAMS Jimmy Adams, for several years manager of Loew's, Montreal, and for the past year, at the Metropoli- tan, Regina, died in. the latter city Oct. 5; WILMA SHUESLER Wilma Shuesler, 24, picture script writer, killed in plane crash in Chi- cago on Sept. 29. he was not mar- ried. Burial in Chicago. , HOWARD ADAMS Howard Adams, 27,' motion picture director, former actor and radio an-, nouhcer, killed in plane crash-with three others' in Chicago'on Sept. 29. Burial in Detroit.- Mrs. J.. A. Tlillnphast,, mother of Greenville. (S. C.) Piedmont sport editor and WFBC aircaster David Tillinghast, died Oct. 2. • CHARLES S. KLINE Charles 5. Kline, for more than 30 years a prominent figure on Broad- way, died pet, 5 in New York. • He.was for a time associated> 6 wlth Capt. James Churchill- in the restau- rant business, one time proprietor of the Tokio cabaret and • in recent years the owner ol the Strand hil- liard rooms, home of , most of the important matches. News From the Dailies Air News .- ■ 1TBOR RAMBAUER . . ' Tibor-Rambauer, 45, for the last 12'yeaTS- general.manager for Brazil of-Paramount,, died in "Rio". Sept. 8 after '.ah appendicitis "(operation. . ■ He was a member of a dis-. tinguished Hungarian family and entered the moving picture field in Brazil in its early.stages! He was first associated' with Ger- man-picture concerns but soon asso- ciated himself with the American picture industry. , '.'■'. JOHN F. O'CONNELL John F. O'Cpnnell, 50, who had been with various circuses since boyhood", died in Tyler, Tex., Sept. 29, of a heart attack; At the time of his death he was one of the 24-hour men on the Ringling-Barnurh & Bailey circus. His home was in Lynn, Mass. His widow and two sisters sur- vive. ' ALEXANDER DUNCAN Alexander Duncan, aged ■ 56, Rhodesian branch manager of African Consolidated Theatres, died suddenly in his office in Bulawayo, Sept. 7. His wife found him lying on the floor, and when aid was obtained, he was dead. Widow survives. CHARLES T. HAFER Charles Tr (Shorty) Hafer, 52, stage electrician for many years identified, with Cambridge, O., the- atres, died 1 there Sept. 26 after a brief illness. Funeral services and burial there. RALPH BIDDY - Ralph Biddy, 36, veteran motion picture camera man, newsreel pho- tographer and free lance producer* Willed in plane-crash on Sept. 29 while taking commercial film' for Wilding company in Chicago. Burial in Detroit. LEWIS J. CURRIER . Lewis J. Currier, 65, of Perry, O., northeastern Ohio band leader and (Continued from page 1) ter-hour news • periods six days a weekand'52 weeks by. the; latter .con- tingent of merchandiser was no un- common thing. Among ,the petrol refiners the big underwriters of news broadcasts were' the various Stand- ard , Oil entities and the Tidewater Co. (Tydol). $100,000 for Hearst Yankee and Colonial networks rate as the-biggest single . source of. in- come for the distributors, of broad- cast news, it is figured that the con- tract which International News Service and Universal Service has with John Shepard, 3d, will bring the Hearst- organizations over $100,000 for 1936. Arrangement with Shepard obligates him to pay extra for everything which is not included in the regular service. In a checkup of its clients about a month ago, Transradio News Service found that every one of the stations had at-least one sponsor of news bulletins and that a goodly ' per- centage of them had all their avail- able news periods sold for the sea- son. The' check also disclosed that a 100-watt station in a city of 250,000 population - was averaging - $2,800 a month from the sale of news. Rated as the No. 1 station of the country in the overturn of news facilities is WOR, Newark. This 50,000-watter, if it continues its present gait, will derive $385,000 this year from the sale alone of news broadcasting time. Transradio continues to head by a wide margin the roster -of news services catering to radio. On Oct. 1 Transradio had 284 stations on its list, 58 of which were taken on as clients during the past summer. Dur- ing this latter period Transradio added two leased teletype circuits. Combined Hearst news services, claim a connection with 185 broad- casting -outlets,' while the United Press roll of station clients- is fig- ured at around 100. In, many in- stances stations, obtain. their news from two-' or more services. . . . (Continued from page 61) front pages la§t week when' she broke her engagement- to Count de Montaigu. Split after- three- weeks said to have been occasioned by his request for a marriage settlement of around $200,000; • Daniel Frohman spoke on his 'Reminiscences of the Stage' at the Town Hall Club Sunday (4). Open letter sent Toscanlnl. ap- plauding his refusal to permit broad- casts of his Salzburg music to Ger- many. Signed by 76 members of the N. Y. Philharmonic-Symphony and about 9p0 .other musicians, most of whom have played under the leader. • Ohio joins Michigan and Pennsyl- vania in barring pictures of Santa. Claus from holiday liquor bottlings and packages. Feels Santa and'likker do not blend well in the infant mind; .Tyson & Co. suing Gene Buck for theatre tickets allegedly sold him six years ago. Buck has no recollection of haying-ordered any.- . Chauffeurs' Union in N. Y. plans to picket funerals if on strike to- morrow (Thursday). Columbia Broadcasting has com.- missiohetf six writers to pen original music scripts for: broadcasting. Sym- phonies and operatic forms' limited to-40 mins., suites to 20 and single movements to. run between 8 and 14 mins. Composers are Aaron Cope-, land, Louis. Gruehberg, • Howard Hanson, Roy Harris, Walter Piston, William Grant Sill. To be given air premiers by CBS some time after June 1. • A. G. Andrews, of *Love from a Stranger,' celebrated the 75th anni- versary of his stage debut Monday; He began when he was only four in 'Masks and Faces' with Fanny Ster- ling..: • Radio, manufacturers now building sqts for farm tractors. Companies planning to broadcast 'Coming Through the Rye.' Second half of the Phila symp broadcast last Sunday with Stokow- ski shaking the stick and John Mc- Cormack as . soloist. Erno Rapee batoned .the first half. Danbury (Conn.') fair on this week. One of the most elaborate in the east. s . -. ■ " In spite of a boasted political pull, Michael Schuster, local-dance band director, took five days in the bastile for starting • something he couldn't finish in a saloon. .England's Lord Chamberlain has okayed a. modified script of-'Idiot's Delight,' and Lunt and Fontanne will play it in London. Officials of General Motors, Ford, Chrysler and. Standard Oil to 'take a stag ride on the Hindenberg next Friday. Combined fortunes will rep- resent about $50,000,000,000. Guggenheim Foundation slips $20,- 000'to "Clark University'to permit continuance of work on rocket ships. Speculators in warehouse whiskey receipts warned to' go careful. Re- serve stocks are piling up and no 'danger -of any shortage. - Buyers liable to get stuck. Federal men find biggest ever marihuana farm on outskirts of Bal- timore. ' Could - be . worked. into 41,000,000 -worth of cigarettes at re- tail prices. National Committee on Education by Radio visited Federal. Communi- cations yesterday (Tuesday) to de- mand that more time be given the educational angle by broadcasters. S. Howard'Evans accused the commis- sion'of bias. Cafe owners told to hereafter con- spicuously post notice of all extra charges on pain of losing license. Re- sult of the recent French Casino case. Adelaide Gloria, dancer, in court Monday to press her three-year-old suit against Francis X. Xiques for alleged assault. Her mother raised such an outcry court was adjourned. She claims he never came across with a promised $5,000.' Two scribes on their way from Denmark to cover Carl Brisson's debut in .'Forbidden Melody.' Home town boy. Coast Divorce granted Mrs. Irene Flor- ence Curtis, mother of Helen and Maryon Curtis, screen actresses, in L. A. from Edward C. Curtis. Although -attendance ax boxing and wrestling matches dropped from 323,127 to 307,758 during August, California Athletic Commission an- nounced 20% increase in taxes due to higher admissions. Irene Taylor, torch singer, was saved from drowning by Richard Wheeler in Santa Monica.. L. A. court sentenced Frank T. Showdaw to 18 months in prison for sending obscene letters to Madelyn Fields, Carole Lombard's secretary. Suit for divorce in L. A. by Mrs. Blanche McDonald, formerly 'Miss California,' against William C. Her- man, gas station attendant. ' Suit for ,$250,000 damages filed in L. A. by Cara Aldini, opera singer, against manufacturers of wave lotion which' she claims ruined her hair. . Mrs. Lionel Atwill's suit against life insurance company for $10,000 was removed from L. A. court rec- ords. Wife of .actor claimed com- pany failed.io pay after, her Malibu house burned down. Company al- leged Atwill took policy While brush fire' was raging in - Malibu district without company's knowledge. / Petition filed in L- A. court by Carole Lombard to have .her name legalized from Jane Peters. Court granted . Bob Burns' request to change from-Robin Burn. After securing divorce in L. A. from Hugh Buckler, screen -actor; Violet Buckner. appeared in court and asked jump in alimony., from $65 to $100 weekly. ■ - . Son of Gene Stratton Porter taken for .$1,250 by sharper, he reported to L. A. police. Man interested him in-finance business by flashing wad of-fake bills and scrammed.' Hollywood police arrested Earl K. Smith, composer of 'Down' by ' the Old Mill Stream/ for drunk driving. Harry- O. Jones, -assistant motion picture director, filed divorce suit against Ninette, Faro, actress, in'LA. Suit, seeking $10,000 damages from Elaine Barrie, instituted in L.A. by Herbert-.Seerman, 15, .allegedly in* jured-when nn-auto-driven 1 by Miss Barrie's chauffeur was in collision with that in -which the lad was riding. John BarrynjOre's suit against Henry Hotchener and Emmet D. Camomile, actor's former .business managers, wiped, from LA, court records, along with. Camomile's, and- Hotchener's counter suit by a settle- ment out of court. Barrymore claimed former aides were with- holding $100,000- in securities and private documents. ., L.A. court fight for custody of her two children won by Dixie Mason, radio warbler. Her former husband, Lay ton Waterman, claimed she was unfit. Divorce granted to Mrs. Martha Somerville,' wife of Slim Summer- ville, in. L.A. • She also was granted $100 monthly alimony and custody of son, four. . Divorce. granted Mrs. Elda Vokel Keighley, wife of William Keighley, screen director. She will receive $45,000 in monthly payments. • '. Refugees 9 Agcy (Continued from page 1) , tried very frequently before because platters are cheap, and a lot of-them' can ; be obtained • cuffo' from Ger- many-by merely requesting them; and local Yprkville (German sec-, tion) gramaphone shops loan them out gratis for .occasional reciprocal plugs. Germania refugee group is. "banking on meeting this situation with reasonably priced live talent,' sold directly to sponsor or agency, and not to the station. Cost td Alka- Seltzer for its series—a daily 15- minute musical stint—comes to about $150 per week. . - Talent roster includes'. Charlie Brock, comedian from the Metrbpol (Berlin); Elsa Br'aun, soprano, from the Liebig (Breslau); Heinz Heller, bass • baritone,, from' the Staat The- atre '(Mannheim); Johannes Trunk, • pianist; and -Leo Kuscher, one-time orchestra leader for UFA. ' Blase Times (Continued from page 1) to start on Sept. 30. Times itself withheld the announcement, how- ever, figuring on a Sunday splash on Sept. 27. But the World-Tele- gram, on noting the preliminary an- nouncement and release, decided, to count itself in, assigned H. R. Ekins and splashed it on Sept. 26, beating the Times on the'announcement by a full day on the Times' own story. World-Telegram's instructions to Ekihs are to try to beat Kieran into ■ New York, and it has called the thing a race from the first. On that premise, the Hearst papers, via the N. Y. Journal, jumped in, assigning Dorothy Kilgallen to race it out with the two men. This decision was made day before the start of the trip, which had to be the same day due to necessity of using, the Zeppe- lin for the hop-off. But the Times is stting back on its dignity as regards a race. Wants its man in first 1 , if possible,, on the origi- nal premise, but the Times, without saying anything in so many words, isn't playing. games with its compe- tition. None of its. stories have mentioned the other two racers, though both other papers constantly refer to all three reporters: Times' reporter's yarn envisions a globe-girdling tourist service much as . the. current sea cruises, in the near future. . , '. .