Variety (May 1952)

71 M»r l4»JL95i WILLIAM VOX William Fox, 73, motion picture Dioneer and founder-*! Fox films and Fox Theatres, died ip. New York, May 8, Further details; in Picture sec- tion. RICHARD HAYS Richard E. Hays, 70? retired mu- sic and drama -critic for the Seattle Times, died in Seattle. May 9.. Hays, who joined the Times staff in 1917 after nine years as marine editor of the Tacoma Ledger, be- came drama editor in 1919 and served in that capacity for the rest of his careeV except for a brief stint as city editor fn 193ft Hays was- one of the best known figures on film and theatre.'row. When he retired, exhibitor?, ex- change managers and others in the industry sponsored a banquet in his honor. Just.last Week, the Seattle Free -Lancers, an organiza- tion of professional’, writers,' had made Hays, its first honorary memr her. ’' Hpys was . bom in Haysvllle, Kan., a town named, after his father. When the stars of that day, played Wichita bn four; H4ys was one of the program boys; He 1920s as publicist for Nicholas and Joseph Schenck.. at Palisades Amusement. Park, N. J„ in the summer (which they owned until the mid ’30s and sold to the Rosen- thal Bros, in 1935) and for Loew’s Theatres publicity department during the winter. With the build- ing of WHN, N. Y, (now WMGM), he became a radio announcer and commentator. During his tenure, he originated what later grew into the Major Bo.ves Original Ama- teur Hour. He later was contact- man for Metro's publicity depart- ment, personal rep for Frank Sina- tra, and a director-of a chain of midwestem radio stations. Re- cently he had been a freelance radio and TV writer, and had. been employed in the Earle Ferris Co., radio publicity outfit. His wife and daughter survive. LULU VASS Lnju Vass (Mrs. Curtis Burnley Railing), 75, former stage, screen and radio actress, died in Haver- straw, N. Y., May 6. Miss Vass .began her career as a child im- personator. -..She originated' the- character of Mammy Lou in the Vass Family radio shows: In 1936, she played on Broadway in Fond Remembrance H. STEIN CO-FOUNDER OF M.C.A. MAY 14, 1943 started his newspaper career as a critic on the Wichita Eagle, and later became dlty editor qf that paper. Hays was also a pianist and composed music as a "hobby. In his early days in Seattle he wrote the music for a show which toured the Pantages- circuit. Survived by his wife. in “Brother Rat." She also ap- peared,in character sketches at the same theatre, the Biltmore, on Sunday evenings. Later that year she was heard on programs of the British Broadcasting Co. From 1941 to 1946, she appeared in films* produced by Universal. Surviving are a daughter, a brother and a sister. CANADA LEE Canada Lee (ne Leonard Lionel Cornelius Caneggta), 45, Negro stage and screen actor, died of a heart attack iq■ New York May,8. He also had-been an orch leader, •jockey and boxer and had appeared in TV and radio shows. His last film appearance was in “Cry, The Beloved Country," which was filmed, in Africa? and he was scheduled to leave for Italy’ at the end of May for another film. He; had appeared at. the Village Van- guard, Greenwich Village nitery, last month in a series of dramatic readings. Lee scored his biggest success on Broadway in 1941 in the dramatiza- tion of “Native Son." He. played in the Theatre . Union revival of Stevedore" and the Federal TJhe- jitres Negro production of “Mac- beth, He also appeared on Broad- way in “The Duchess of Malfi” and The Tempest.". Among his other screen credits Were "‘Lifeboat" and Body and Soul." After several years as a jockey, Lee turned to the zing and fought biore than 200 professional bout's, of which he lost only 25. He later led a jazz band ahd at one time - WNEW-' N./Y?"* lotkw show on Surviving are .his wife, a son, rh Vincent, an ■ actor,- and • a FRANCIS Li HARLEY Francis L. Harley 57, vice-presi afht of 20th-Fox International died in New York, May 10. Hi T 5®® n with Fox for 26 years j * n ,f®36, 20thi named him manag director for Great Britain. Tei years later, he. became 'the com s - 0 mai *aging director for Eu Scandinavia and the Neai Last with headquarter* in Paris ater that year he returned to thi v U t> ‘ „ to , a 55ume the, position. o] nient°^ toteriiatlonal • depart World Wars hi l_5y e d with the American Ambu C ^ s ** ,$r«**ce. He re lowing 4r e .fro** de Guerre fol iowing World War I.' ms e *nd a’ daughter .survive > 1 | II mm p OTM . FERRY CHARLES trp c h*ries, 56, veteran thea ’ ^dio and motion pic publicist hS JW dead in his suite at tin Dailnt? el y edere - N ' Y., M*y «^ Ap he had suffered a hear previous. Sunday 14). harles began his career in thi VICTOR BARNOWSKY Victor Bamowsky, 76, former legit producer-director and theatre manager in Berlin, died May 8 in New York. At one time he op- erated five Berlin theatres. He presented the works of Shakespeare, Henrik Ibsen, Ber- nard' Shaw, August Strindberg, Gerhart ^Hauptmann. and Frank Wedekind, ! He also produced Georg Buechner’* “Wozzeck.” He left Germany in 1933, living in several European countries before coming to the U, S. in 1937. He did film script rewriting in Holly- wood for a,time and later taught drama at Fordham U. and Hunter College; N. Y. He fettled last year. LEONARD R. JOHNSTONE Leohard R. 'Johnstone, .radio pioneer, died in Halifax, N. S., la Manorlaii #f MORRIS GESf Mo, H, 1,4* SIMM* Cast May 6. Johnstone Was Guglielmo Marconi's radio operator in- the latter's early trans-Atlantic wire- less experiments. When a station was installed at Glace Bay, N. S., he handled the first trans-Atlantic radio message? He managed the Marconi radio station there and in Sidney," N. S., ahd the Dartmouth station from 1926 until it closed in 1942. • During* World War II he worked 'for Press Wireless in Los Angeles. He retired’in 1945. Surviving are two daughters' and a son.- ’ ■ RICHARD EICHBERG Richard Eichberg, 64, German Im director, died May 8. in Mun- h. He emigrated to the U. S. if ore World War II but returned i Germany three years*ago. He first came to the attention l American pic audience* in 1928 >r his work on “Song,” starring nna. May .Wong. The next year, ichberg directed Miss Wong m Wasted Land,’.' produced by Brit- h International. He also made ich films as “Queen of the Un- erworld," “My. Life Is At Stake ad “The Whirl of Life." THOMAS S. COYNE Thomas S., Coyne, 76, former burlesque comedian, died recently, in Baldwin, L.I. For many years Coyne was principal comic with the Columbia Wheel. He appeared with. Harry Hastings’ Productions for more’ than 15 seasons and later was associated with * Max Spiegel's shows and the Lewis 8c Gordon vaude act, “Thank You, Doctor.” He had been working for g Long Island real estate company since his retirement from show biz sev- eral years ggo r Surviving are his wife, Florence, one.of the original Tiller Girls of England, and a daughter. ALAN J. WILLIAMSON Alad J. Williamson, pioneer of the British film industry, died in Sydney May 3, For over 20* years he was the representative' of Gau- mont-British in Australia v later becoming rep of the J. Arthur Rank Organization up to the time of his retirement about two" years ago. He was a founder Of the British Cinema Benevolent Fund, the New South Wales Film * Industry Bene*- volent Society, the* Australian Cin- ema Pioneers’ Club, and was a. past president of Sydney Legacy. Survived by three daughters. ELIZABETH ROBINS Elizabeth Robins, 86, actress- novelist, died in Brighton, England, May 8. He pen name was. C. E. Raimond. As an actress she .was known principally for-her roles in Henrik Ibsen dramas. Her books include “George Mandeville's Husband” “The New Moon,” “Below the Salt” and “The Open Question all written before 1900. “Both Sides of the Curtain" < was written in 1940. . BERNARD BRINK Bernard Brink, 67, manager of the Lookout House nitery in Cov- ington, Ky., opposite- Cincinnati, was killed May 10 when an auto crashed into his. car,. Causing, the deaths of three others; Survived by wife and sod, Jimmy, owner of the*'cafe, two sisters and two brothers. * » «; "EDWARD WHITE Edward White, 49, pianist, sing-*- er and ex-bandleader, died May 5 in Cleveland. ■„He; had played a long engagement in Hotel Cleve- land’s Bronze Room", doubling- at Cleveland Athletic Clvib, and sev- eral niteries. He disbanded his unit a number of years ago. LITTLE BCfZO Little Bozo (ne John F. Pizza), 45, midget clown, died of a heart ailment in Los Angeles May-9. He had appeared with the Ring- ling Bros, and Bamum & Bailey and A1 Barnes* circuses. He had also been in several films, includ- ing “Sign of the Cross” and “Freaks.” HELEN GUEST Helen Guest, former legit ac- tress, died in New York, May 8. She appeared in companies of Charles Frohman. A sister survives.. Louts Schenck, 82, brother of Loew's, Inc.-president, Nicholas M. Schenck; Joseph M. Schenck, 20th- Fox board "chairman; Sarah Berger and Anna Nayfack, died’in New York, May 6. Also surviving are two sons, Marvin H. Schenck, Loew’s veepee, and Dr. Samuel B. Schenck. Nicholas S. Kronyak, 74, chief of electrical maintenance at the Music Hall, N: Y., since it opened 19 years ago, died in Passaic, N. J.,. May 12. Before the Music Hall post, he had served 10 years in , a similar capacity at the Winter Gar- den, N. Y. Dr. Harry G. Thomas,. 82, father ofLowell Thomas, radio com- mentator, author and" explorer, died in New York, May 6. In ad- dition to his son, a daughter and two grandchildren survive, one of the latter being photographer- writer Lowell Thomas, Jr. Fred »C. Anderson, .56, who played with Tom Kiefer’s orch for years at Proctor’s Theatre, Troy, N. Y., during the- vaude era, died May 6 in that city. His mother and a brother survive. Harry O. LaPlante, 42, former manager of the Pine Grove dance pavilion, Claremont, N. EU and for the past 10 years circulation man- ager of the Claremont Daily Eagle, died in Claremont May 2. Norman Murphy, 59, property master at Royal Alexandra, ^Toron- to, for nearly 20 years, died In that city, May 6. Survived by wife and three sons. Joseph Levin, 65, former owner with his late brother,' Gene, of the .Wagon Wheel nitery, Akron, died May 5 in that . city.; Two-, other •brothers survive; Knetle Kelley, British Broad- casting Corp. conductor of early Savoy Hill days,, and one-time lefcder of BBC Variety orch, died in Eastbourne, Scotland, May 3. Arnes C. Gurney, 60, ticket broker, died in Chicago May 9. She was partner with her sister, who survives her, in the United theatre ticket office. * K ■ --■i f - ■ m Joe Smith, 52, screen actor and stuntman, died of a heart attack May 5o in Yuma, Ariz., where he was on location with Warners’ “Desert Song" troupe. Mrs. Telma Gaza, 29, showgirl and former vocalist with the Ted Lewis orch, was found dead in her apartment in Quincy, Mass., May 9. Wife, 73, of William I. Galbraith,' former New r ork theatre mana- ger, died in Amityville, L. I., May 6. Mr*. Madge Herman, 58, wife of vaudevillian A1 Herman and for?* merly on the stage, died May. 9 in Hollywood. Joseph M. Farrell, 61, assistant manager of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, N. Y., died May 3 in New York. Louis K. Harper. Jr,, 61, tech- nician in the- film industry for 37 years, died May 4 in Hollywood. Max Lachmuth, 76, retired mem- ber of the* Philadelphia Orchestra, died May 9 in Philadelphia. Father, • 75, of Thomas Robert Murphy, technician at KPRC, Houston, died May 4 in Houston. Albert Lallb'erte, 70, pianist- arranger, died In Montreal, May 7, Probe Networks ■ Continued from page 1 ■— a handful of properties riding the i commercial channels. The package boys, too, have been' lamenting their* fate, with the,networks mak- ing more and more inroads In their J dealings with agencies or direct negotiations with the client. House Package Plethora - Practically all the major shows on the NBC and CBS video rosters today are houSe-pwned properties. NBC’s “Show of Shows,” “Colgate Comedy Hour,” “All-Star Revue” -r-this is the NBC formula parlayed into’, riches, which shuts out the packagers and agencies (except for the commercial blurbs)—and that's the way. NBC wants it. Similarly, “I Loye Lucy,” “Our Miss Brooks,” “My Friend Irma,” the Arthur Godfrey multiple spread, “Toast of the Town” — these are but a few of the CBS “owned and operated” properties that dominate the Columbia air- •What disturbs the D. C, “ask- ance” boys Is the fact that the trend toward monopolizing the tal- ent, as well as shows, is on the ascendancy. Vested with these val- uable personality and program- ming entities, the networks are in the- position to proffer their better time segments to those clients who Will also buy their shows. It. Isn’t easy today to bring aft outside property into the network. Not if you want desirable ■ time. Hornblow Continued from pace 1 T'" - walks off with a reasonable' amount of coin. Concerning the past Broadway season, said .Hornblow, seven shows have been definitely established as hits out of the ap- proximately 50 presented. . In book publishing, observed Hornblow, it’s clear that the, same titles appear bn the bestseller lists over, .perhaps, a .six-month span. His conclusion from this is that the great balance of other published works can be only moderately suc- cessful or a commercial failure. . There’s no way of gauging radio and television in the absence of a boxoffice of any kind. But Horn- blow asserts if comparisons could be made it’s a safe bet that pix would come out on top. Producer made it clear that it was not his intention to downbeat the other art f ortns. He * simply wants to stress that Hollywood pro- ducers collectively are turning out a good average of clicksVbut the film capital -remains as the main .target of public’ criticism. Continue* from p*i« % with the score of “Victory at Sea,” NBC television series for the Navy, due In the fall. -When the book is finished, Hammerstein will turn to the lyrics, for which Rodgers will then supply the music. The two are said to be in no hurry on the project, not only be- cause they like to taka their time with their creations, but because Mary Martin, reportedly in mind for a leading role, is currently starring in the London edition of their “South Pacific” and will pre- sumably not be available” uhtjl the fall of 1953; Rodgers $ Hammer- stein will produce/ the new show themselves, as. they did with their “King and I," currently in its 6fith week on Broadway, * * The new venture, will be the see-* ond original for ,the iram. Their previous one, “Allegro;” was pro- duced by the Theatre Guild and is their only creative- effort that failed to pay off. Their clicks have included “Oklahoma,” based on Lynn Rlfgp’ play, “Green Grow the Lilacs,” and’ produced by th* Guild;. “Carousel," based oft !Mol- nar’s “LUiom"* and -also produced by the Guild; and. “South Pacific;” based on James, Michener’s “Tales of the South Pacific,” •produced in partnership with Joshua' - Login (who collaborated with Hammett- stein on {he book) and Lelaiid Hayward. ' “S. P./’ still cleaning up, is in its 161st week on Broad- way and lOtth Week on tour. Continue*-from p«*f 1 any noticeable 'inroads. Except for a.few border cities, there . 1s no " video in Canada. The lack of tele, ’ however, is only a minott factor contributing to the good biz., With the government maintaining credit controls, there has been ho ex- " tremes in spending, leaving a healthy portion of the weekly pay?' check for entertainment purposes. With industrial plants operating at peak levels because, "of defense orders, the, employment situation is highly satisfactory. In addition, there has been a considerable in- flux of capital” for the- develop- ment of newly*discovered oil prop- erties in western Canada. and nickel mines* in Ontario, resulting in the building of new communities. Furthermore, the Canadian govern- ment has- eased up on its immigra- tion lkws . and displaced persons and . others from western Europe have been.coming- in to the coun- try at an accelerated pace. MARRIAGES Ines Solitf Saporta to NOrbert Alien Auerbach, Paris, May 8. He's with Columbia Pictures’ Paris of- fice, and son of film producer Jo- sef Auerbach. Flevur All Khan to Paul Valen- tine, Jersey City, N. J.; May 6. Groom is a stage and screen thesp. Jackie Dorn to’Boris Yakovleff, Chicago, April ,26. Bride is pro- duction assistant on NBC-TV’s “Hawkins Falls” in Chicago; groom Is a commercial film pro- ducer, Lois Braun to Thomas- J> Ken- nedy, New York,-May 11.. Bride is program assistant with NBOTV. BIRTHS Mr. and Mrs. Ted Kudelko, daughter, Chicago, May 5. Father is a Chi CBS soynd effects tech- nician. * Mr, and Mrs. James Lawrence, son, New York, May 3. Mother is Carol Skydell, formerly of. “Tales of Tomorrow" TV production staff; father is export traffic manager of Cinefot International Corp. Capt. and Mrs. Dennis Lilley* man, son, ' Woolrich, Ehgland, April 25. Mother is TrisS Hender- son, of the former British act, the Henderson Twins. Dr, and Mrs. Alfred Mekelburg, son, Hollywood, May 8, Mother is the former Frances Stearns; TV actress. Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Durwood, son, May 7, Kansas City. Father is • v.p. ’ and general manager of the Durwopd theatre circuit In Mis- souri and Kansas, Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Mills, son, May 12, New York. Father is pro- 1 fessipnal manager of Mills Music and son of Irving Mills*; publishing 1 firm’s v.p. It’s the latter’s 12th grandchild.