Variety (September 1960)

Wedne8tlay, Septemlier 14, I960 P'A-RIETY 63 JIMMY SAVO Jimmy. Savo, 64, pantomimist and comediait,. died Sept. 6-.while on vacation , in Terii, italv. ,His death is believed; to have been caused, bv a - heart attack. He had gone to Italy on vacation and to look at som of his properties in that country. . $avo was best known as a panto- limist who ..obtained tremendous eloquence in his wordless st^e. Ini later years; he .used this talent to heighten the comic effects . of songs such, i “One Meatball,” ’•Black Magic.”i and his best known effort,.‘"River Stay Away .from My poor.”; He cbnibined 7 the . comiT traged'y in hIs characterization..of the downtrodden, and . inarticulate van trying to fight his Way out- of a pathetic situation. Savo, born in the Bronx, N.Y,, started, as a juggler, and went the route through; amateur nights and . finally work on the smalltime; He troiiped in burlesque and. later segued into legit musicals. His first show was "Listen, Lester,” . which . he appeared for : . two weeks before being drafted in World War I. During the .’20s, he played , the Palace, N,Y. regularly. He did . his., best work, oh ; the variety circuits, since it was - his misfortune to appear in miisicals which didn't get too much adula¬ tion.. The. major, .exception was “The Bovs .Prom Syracuse/’ At One time, he staged an .eyenng of pantomime which he called. “Mum’s the Word.” This ’show lasted a week. He appeared in two films; In 1946, his right leg was am-. | from that city as'his headquarters, ! he: toured Europe, j Born of Negro and Indian de- : | scent,, on a;. rescf.vatibh ’ in. Okla- ; ho.ma, he became well kiiown. for j'his . mastery of the bass and. his ■ pizzicato solos on the cello. He • w as also.a composer of such-origi¬ nal jazz numbers as “The Gentle Art of Love,” “Swingin’ Till the Girls Come Home,” and “Beat Me,\ Dimitri/’ He- played with Charlie^ Barnet, Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Herman and Duke Enington,’ among others. He organized his ow\ outfit in 1944. It .broke Up the. following year and he shifted abound the U.S, arid Europe with Errpll Garner and Woolly Herman, among others; In recent years, he toured 1 Europe with Bud Powell,. Stan Gbtz and Kenny . Clarke. His. wife and son survive. VINCENT RIGGIO .. Vincent Riggio, 82, retired presi¬ dent . and board chairman of the American Tobacco Co. died Sept. 6 in Mount Kisco, N;Y. It was Riggio who succeeded, the late George Washington Hili. under whom he’d Worked some .40 years,; as head Of American Tobacco, one Of the big-; gest firms of its kind in the U.S; In 1947, Riggio was. the second highest paid exec, in the country, ear ing $484,000 in salary; and bonuses. He and Hill .had worked hand in hand, developing advertis-: ing patterns fpr -American Tobacco (Lucky Strike) in radio... Between ! the two men, they made American Sports Lodge B’ni? B’ritli Rf>.sords with Sorrow the Death 'of JIMMY SAVO A. Gent'eftiart y/hose;Mamor.y We Shall Always Hold-in'High Regard IEO KRAUS, Sec’y, Treas. MARTIN L. COHEN, Pres. putated because of malignant i Tobacco company,/ with .$800- growth; However, this didn't ham-.j OCO.OOO in annual sales by 1949. per him in his work. Following [ Riggio, in . 1917; introduced the amputation, he appeared at; Lucky Strikes, in Buffalo and put the Persian Room of the Plaza , over the Cig - there bv coming up Hotel, N.Y. .He changed his modus ! with the slogan, “It's- Toasted.” It operandi with the loss of his. limb ] was this Arid similar short punch and learned; to rely more on songs . hne s for which -the. Riggio-Hill and., chatter rather on physical later/b.ecgme ; fambu. 5 ;- movement. SaVo .was a famih'ar figure near Central Park. He fre¬ quently. distributed Ipli.ypops to youngsters, and. passed o'iit : .sweets to. neighbors at various shows he attended; He also did it with show, people^—it was a . personal trade¬ mark. Survived by his wife.. jussi bjoerung; Jussi Bjoerl i ng, 49. famed Svved- He ' survived ; by hi rdaughtei;-.and tvvo sons. FRECKLES LYONS Francis Lunakiaki Lyons, 51, known professionally as Freckles Lyons, cried ! Sept. 1 in Honolulu. Member of a prominent musically* talented family, he started his, Ha¬ waiian music career in the. 1920s and first, played the Royal Hawai¬ ian hotel-in the 1930s when the late f t .his summer home op the island ac ros S the nation, and to Europe, of Siaro, in. the Stockholm Archi- i .helpingpopularize Hawaiian music., pelago. ^ f He also spent much time in Hollyv He was born , in the viilage„ pf |wood, where he played with Ha- Ife. St ora Tuna in the pfovince of Balarha, central Sweden. When he was five .years old, he and. two Of liis brothers and father made a two-year singing four pf the Swcd- i.-h-American ^communities. in, the U.S. The four, Bjoerlirigs continued to sing in churches and parks on their return to Sweden.. When, he was 17 years old. he auditioned for John Fbrsell, then , head of the Royal Opera in Stockholm, who. arranged .for. his admission;, into the Royal Academy rof : Music. Bjoerling made his first, appear- waiian combos ini niteries and mu¬ sical films. Wife, three . children and six brothers survive; BEN STOLOFF Ben^ StblofL..64, vet producer* director, died after long illness in Holly wood Sept. 7. Starting.as a short comedy director for. Fox Films , he becariie a feature direc¬ tor in 1.926 and helmed Such west¬ ern stars., as Tom Mix and Buck Jones. . _ ... Later he entered indie produe- ance at the Stockholm Opera, in tion arid for a time was associated 3920, singing the role of Don Oe- ;• with EagleLibrL ..In recent yeairs tavio in Mozart’s “Don Giovanni/’ j h e had been in tv,, wliere hb pro- From that time his reputation duced and directed ‘ Home Run grew rapidly. He made his first'; Derby/’ ... Metropolitan Opera appearance.in4 Surviving are his wife, mother .1938 as . Rodolfo, in Puccini’s “La . and brother Morris, Columbia Pic- Boheni .” Among his outstanding tures musical director. opera, roles were those of the Duke ^ ~- in '‘Rigoletto/’. the title role in PAUL RUSSELL “Faust,” Romeo in “Romeo etL Paul Russell, 45, a vice-presi- Juliette,” that of; Manrico" in “II dent cf Batten. Barton, Durstine Trovatore” and Rhadames in. & Osborn, Inc., advertising agency; > Aida.” These roles lie sang in all died Aug. 29 in New Canaan, of the major, opera houses Of Conn. He was in the outdoor ad- Europe as well: as the U.S. His - vertising; business before joining final appbararice at the Met was [the 7 San -Francisco office of last December jn a performance of , B,B.D.&0»'In; 1943; Russell was. in “Cavalieria Rusticana ”: /the agency's Los Angeles and IHs wife;, singer Arina-I/isar^offices ; before his Bjoerling, son and daugliter sur- OSCAR PETTIFORD Oscar Petti ford, 37. jazz bassist, died Sept: 8 in Copenhagen^ Den- nicirk; after, a brief iliriess; He went to Copenhagen ;.l5. months ago and electipri as veepee in. 1954 and transfer to the. N.Y,. office in f956. His wife, soil*' daughter;' mother, grandmother, tw ; o brothers and : a. siste : r. survive. WULL1E LINUS AY Wulli.. (William) Lindsay, 67, oldtime Scot cbmedian arid scripterf died in Glasgow,. Scotland, Sept. 1. A popular act in his heyday, -lie appeared in a major pantomime at Glasgow Empire with, the late Flor- fie Forde at. a time, when Flanagan & Alien (then a struggling pair of. performprs). were unknown; they later rose to be one of the U.K.’s top comedy duos., Lindsay topped bills in his. time, and was also stooge to. Sirdani, il¬ lusionist.’. 'Latterly,-; he. had been ■doing odd scripts fbr his old col¬ leagues. ... ..Survived by CARLOS CARIOLA /.Carlos Cariolai, 65, Chilean Na¬ tional Drama Award winner for 1954, died Aug. 20. in Santiago, Chile. A writer, dramatist, jour-, nalist, radio program director /and onetime president of the Chileari Football Assn., he was a former city councillor of Santiago. /He founded the Chilean Authors Society and sparked the driye that resulted' in the building of the dramatists’ own theatre, the SATCH, ip . Santiago.. He wrote 40 comedies and plays! Norfolk, Va. With the. film com¬ pany since 1953, he was a former exhibitor, having been general manager of the Rome Circuit in Baltimore and. the Wilder Circuit in Norfolk. Survived by his, wife, two son. 1 and a daughter; VICTOR D. SILVA Victor Domingo S.ilya, : 78, Chil¬ ean writer, dramatist, novelist, poet and journalist, died Aug. 20 in Santiago, Chile, after .a long, illness. A former; deputy arid diplo¬ mat; he won the National Literary Prize in .1954 and the. National Drama Award in 1960. Among his plays; were “La Rifaga," “El Grito de la Sangre” and “El Hombre de la Casa.”. He wrote, such noyels as “Pampa Tragica,” ‘‘Cplondrina de.Inyierrio” and “Papelucho.” JACQUES UIRER Jacques Liber, 78, music pub¬ lisher, died Aug. 28 in London. He \vas, a director of Liber-South¬ ern Music, a subsidiaiy -of South¬ er Music. He came to England from Russia 50 years ago, when he founded his firm. Among songs Liber discovered were “Fascination” and “Under the Bridges of Paris.” He also pub¬ lished much of the gypsy music, featured by Albert Sandler. -..Survived by a daughter. ALEXANDER GAUGE . Alexander Gauge, 46,. actor, died in. Woking, Surrey, Eiig. Gauge, who weighed 253 pounds, was play¬ ing, in “The Man For All Seasons”; at the .Queen's Theatre. He had appeared in feature roles in iii'any pix, but achieved his greatest fame as Friar Tuck, in the “Robin Hood”, tv series. He had played that i*ole for. over four years, Survived by liis wife. LILLY M. DAVIS Lilly Marie “Baby” Davis, 34, singing comedienne, died in Hol¬ lywood Sept. 1. She had travelled on three continents with her act. to Europe and the Orient. At time of her. death she had been at the Lake, Ciub, Bellflower, Cal., for four years. Her husband,. Luke Jones, Los Angeles musician, survives. an accident at the Madison County Fair* Brookfield, N.Y. He sus¬ tained, a fractured skull and broken neck when his Go Kart went out of control on a ramp. He was a native of Quebec. BERT SOMSON Bert 'Somson, b*5. founder of Premier Radio Enterpris. s, St. Louis, died of a heart attack Aug. 29 in Hollywood. Prior to his re¬ cent retirement, he had been y.p. of Crosley in charge of country and western music. His wife and brother. Dave Ward* formerly in radio, survive. CARL C. GRAY Carl C. Gray. 72, longtime musi¬ cal director, died Sept. 2 at the Will Rogers Memorial Hospital* Saranac Lake, N.Y. Born in Mid¬ land, Mich, he was a former ar¬ ranger on Kate Smith's staff; Surviving are a nephew an'd niece. JENNIE MOURHESS Mrs. Jennie Mourhess, 45, “fat lady” with the Janes E. Strates Shows, died of a heart attack Aug. 28.in Batavia, N.Y. She was strick¬ en following her final performance at the Genesee County Fair. With a billed Weight of 586 pounds, she had appeared with .the World of Mirth and Mark’s Shows before, joining Strates. WALTER H. BRAMAN William H. Braman, €4. former Sari Bernardino, Cal., exhibitor* died in Long Beach, Cal., Aug. 25. He had operated the Temple and Studio Theatres in SB. Wife, brother and sister survive. 1 JACOB SILVERSTEIN j Jacob Silverstein. 73. onetime : radio actor on the erstwhile WEDC “Jewish Hour” in Chicago, died Aug. 23 in that city. fWife and two daughters surviv PERCY ABBOTT Percy Abbott, 74, magician , and a manufacturer of magicians equipment,, died Aug. 26 in Colon. Mich. He toured the world as a magician. In 1934, Abbott estab¬ lished a magic : equipment manu¬ facturing business which grew to be one of the largest in the world. His wife,- two sons and two daughters survive. Mrs. Madelin Frawley, 65, former vaudeville performer, known professionally as Muriel Thomas, died Aug. 15 in Meadow- brook. Long Island, N.Y. She ap- i peared with L er husband in a i comedy act called “Sully <8c I Thomas,” which played ail the ! major vaude circuits. Her husband fJohn Sully and a brother survive. CLARENCE EASLEY Clarence Easley, 74, for 60 years a performer on the classic guitar, died in San Fraricisco Aug.. 29, A native of Nebraska, he supported himself as. an accountant and later as a court reporter. But through the years he Iran* scribed : more than 600 works for guitar, viola and Violin. He be¬ came a friend ; of Andres Segovia and. a .decade ago, turned pro¬ fessional musician. Wife survives. ROBERT KERR Robert (Bob) Kerr, 65, silent comedy director, died of a. heart attack Sept. . 5 in Porterville, Cal. He vvorked on Mack Senriett, “Chrisfie” and other early-day com¬ edies, arid also was Tav Garnett’s assistant on “Trade Winds.” /Surviving are his wife. Edna Barnes, former drama critic for. London. Daily Mail; daughter, feririer actress Ardell Kerr; a brother and three sisters. CARL W. MATTISON Carl W. Mattisoh. 47. fonner Albany area radio station announc¬ er and executive, died Sept, 2 in Gleiis Falls, N. Y. He had served as general manager of WGLN and WWSC, Glens Falls,. He also had been with WHAZ in Troy, and WABY arid WOKO in Albany. His wife, three. «ons and a broth¬ er survive. Calum Maclean, .44, a British au¬ thority on folklore, died Aug. 16 in Daliburgh, South Uist, north¬ west Scotland. A native of Raasay. on island of South Uist, he was for a time on staff of the Irish Folk¬ lore Commission and lias travelled widely on lecture tours. WILBUR C. SUTHERLAND Wilbur. C.. ‘Bill» Sutherland. 53, v.p; of Smith,.Taylor & Jenlcins ad agency* died Sept. 5 in Pittsburgh. Previously lie had been a radio and. tv sports broadcaster in Pitt and.also w.th NBC. He was a past prexy of. the Pitts’burgh Radio and Tclevisron Club. Surviving are his wife .arid three sons'. Raymond R. Lara, 28, Oahu-born guitarist, died Sept. 1 in Honolulu. His most recent nitery engagement was at the Backstreet. Honohiru. Wife, three sons, ^parents and si brothers and sisters survive. Claude A. F. Banks. 59, who I performed as “The Great Cin I Galee,” a Chinese illusionist, died ; Aug. 19 in Blackpool, Eng. Ernest Victor W’olff, 70. harpsi¬ chordist and head of the Michigan State piano department, died Aug. 21 in East Lansing, Mich. Abraham bernstein A braham Bernstein.. 63, publici- cist, died Sept, 5 in Lawrenc®; Long Island; He worked as : a publicist "for many of the leading film, companies, including United Artists,; Columbia and Universal.. He also served at one time., as .a reporter for Variety./ The Holly¬ wood Reporter and The .Morning. Telegraph.,^ •;• His . \yife/. daughter and’ three, brothers survive/; WILLIAM J. BARKLOW William J. Barklow, 63, pianist and conductor -of the Bill Barklow orchestra, died of a heart attack Aug. 13 near Toledo, while playing : piano With the dance band. He had played, piano Willi the Verne Kalt Green. Mill orchestra and other Toledo bands. His wife and .three, sisters sur¬ vive. j James G. MacDcrmid, 82. com- * poser, died Aug. 16 in Brooklyn, 1 New York. He was best known for • his scriptural music. j Peter Maker, €5, projectionist member of Local 110, Chicago, ■ died Sept. 6 in Wilmette, III. Wife and daughter survive. FREDERICK A. KUGEL Frederick A. .Kugel, 45, editor and publisher of Television, died of a heart ailment Sept: 7 in Bay Shore. L;i. He began ..the magazine i%:1944, afteiy a stint ori another industry, trade magazine/ Tele¬ vision was one. of the first publica¬ tions in the video industry... coming nearly four years, before tv became a commercial reality, His wife, two daughters and. a brother survive. FRED J. LEONARD . Fred J, .Leonard, .65, agent, died of a heart condition, in Hollyw’ood Aug; 27. Prior to opening his Coast office, he w’as with the Shu* berts in N.Y. Wife^ brother arid sister 'survive. HARRY VALENTINE . Harry Valentine; 54, ; salesman with 20th Century-Fox in the Washington, branch, died Sept. 3 In WALLACE V. CLARK tValiace Vincent Clark, 63, who was the original cartoon voice of Popeye the Sailor and Betty Boop, died AUg, 24 in Old Lyme, Conn. He was also the voice for the old “bouncing ball” community sings in films. Clark, retired from vaude¬ ville in 3935. His wife, son and sister survive. j Erhard Buschbeck, 71, dramatur¬ gist of thei^Burg Theatre, Vienna, /for 42 years, died Sept. 2 in Vienna. ART BELL .Al t Bell, 50, vet film editor, died of a hemoiThaged, punctured lung in; Hollywood. Aug. 29, after an ill¬ ness of several months/ He last had vvorked; for various indie pro¬ ducers. Surviving are liis wife and a brother, Clifford, Warner Bios, •film' editor. Mother^-67, of director-writer John R. Roberts, died of cancer iri Hollyw’ood Sept. 1. Gene Risher, NBC-TV make-up man, died of a heart attack Sept. 3 in Burbank, Cal. Frank Dudka, bandleader and ra¬ dio announcer, died Aug. 22 in Manchester, N.H. Mother, 75. of Molly Weir, tv and radio actress, died Aug. 18 in ’Glasgow. ! Wife, of assistant director Jack Murphy, died Sept. 3 in Holly¬ wood. CARMEN ROSAIRE . Carmen Rosaire, 18, trapeze art¬ iste, died Aug. 29 in Kingston, Eng. She fell about 25’ feet from her trapeze the previous day while re¬ hearsing for a BBC tv broadcast of Chipperfield’s Circus; The accident was watched by her parents;; who are sitars of the Mos¬ cow State Circus. ROGER BOURDEAU Roger Bourdeau, a meriiber of the “Lucky Hell. Drivers” automobile thrill show, was killed Aug. 23 in Father, 61, of actor Jim Sheldon, died Sept. 4 in Hollywood. Gooding’s New Slot Raleigh, N.C., Sept. 13. David Gooding, conductor-pianist from Cleveland, Ohio, will join the National Opera Company as mus¬ ical director in early September. National Opera, formerly Grass Roots Opera, makes its headquar¬ ters here. This summer he was the assistant director of the Cleveland institute of Music Opera Workshop.