➦In 1890...Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx born in New York City (Died – August 19, 1977). He was a comedian, writer, stage, film, radio, and television star. A master of quick wit, he is widely considered one of America's greatest comedians.
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| Groucho Marx |
You Bet Your Life debuted in October 1947 on ABC radio (which aired it from 1947 to 1949), and then on CBS (1949–50), and finally NBC. The show was on radio only from 1947 to 1950; on both radio and television from 1950 to 1960; and on television only, from 1960 to 1961. The show proved a huge hit, being one of the most popular on television by the mid-1950s. With George Fenneman as his announcer and straight man, Marx entertained his audiences with improvised conversation with his guests.
Since You Bet Your Life was mostly ad-libbed and unscripted—although writers did pre-interview the guests and feed Marx ready-made lines in advance—the producers insisted that the network pre-record it instead of it being broadcast live. There were two reasons for this: pre-recording provided Marx with time to fish around for funny exchanges and any intervening dead spots to be edited out; and secondly to protect the network, since Marx was a notorious loose cannon and known to say almost anything. The television show ran for 11 seasons until it was canceled in 1961.
He died from pneumonia Aug 19, 1977 at age 86.
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| Bud Abbott |
➦In 1896...William Alexander "Bud" Abbott born (Died – April 24, 1974). He was an actor, best known for his film comedy double act, as straight man to comedian Lou Costello.
Groucho Marx declared Abbott "the greatest straight man ever." Bud outlived his partner by 15 years, succumbing to cancer Apr 24, 1974 at age 77.
➦In 1900...Radio actor William Barton Yarborough born (Died – December 19, 1951). He had worked rked extensively in radio drama, primarily on the NBC Radio Network. He is famous for his roles in the Carlton E. Morse productions I Love a Mystery, where he played Doc Long, and One Man's Family, where he spent 19 years portraying Clifford Barbour. In addition, Yarborough spent three years as Sgt. Ben Romero on Jack Webb's Dragnet.
He started work on the Dragnet TV series in 1951, but the day after he filmed the second episode, he suffered a heart attack and died four days later Dec. 19, 1951 at age 51.
➦In 1928...DeFord Bailey made the first professional recordings in Nashville at the Victor Records studios.
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| DeFord Bailey |
Bailey also had several records issued in 1927-1928, all of them harmonica solos. In 1927 he recorded for Brunswick records in New York City, while in 1928 he recorded eight sides for Victor in Nashville, of which three were issued on several labels, including Victor, Bluebird and RCA. Emblematic of the ambiguity of Bailey's position as a recording artist is the fact his arguably greatest recording, John Henry, was released separately in both RCA's 'race' and 'hillbilly' series.
He was a pioneer member of the WSM Grand Ole Opry, and one of its most popular performers, appearing on the program from 1927 to 1941. During this period he toured with many major country stars, including Uncle Dave Macon, Bill Monroe, and Roy Acuff. Like other black stars of his day traveling in the South and West, he faced many difficulties in finding food and accommodation because of the discriminatory Jim Crow laws.
Bailey was fired by WSM in 1941 because of a licensing conflict with BMI-ASCAP, which prevented him from playing his best known tunes on the radio. This effectively ended his performance career, and he spent the rest of his life shining shoes and renting out rooms in his home to make a living. Though he continued to play the harp, he almost never performed publicly. One of his rare appearances occurred in 1974, when he agreed to make one more appearance on the Opry. This became the occasion for the Opry's first annual Old Timers' Show.
He died on July 2, 1982 in Nashville and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery.
➦In 1930...The Lutheran Hour, a U.S. Christian radio program in North America, first aired as an outreach ministry of Lutheran Hour Ministries. Beginning in 2018, Rev. Dr. Michael Zeigler became the Speaker of The Lutheran Hour.
The Lutheran Hour is the flagship program for Lutheran Hour Ministries (LHM), which is a Christian outreach ministry supporting churches. It is the longest running Christian broadcast in the world.
➦In 1933...“Red Adams” was heard for the first time on NBC radio. Later, the program was retitled, “Red Davis” (starring Burgess Meredith), “Forever Young,” and, finally, in 1936, “Pepper Young’s Family” (starring Mason Adams, who would later find TV fame as Lou Grant’s boss, and the voice of Smucker’s Jams.) Pepper Young’s Family kept daytime radio listeners tuning in for another 23 years.
Pepper Young's Family was one of radio's more popular daytime drama series, with various format and title changes during its long run from 1932 to 1959. It was created and written by short story author and playwright Elaine Sterne Carrington. With Burgess Meredith in the title role, the program began as Red Adams, about high school athlete Red Adams, his family and friends.
The 30-minute series was broadcast on the Blue Network, airing on Sunday nights at 10:30pm. When Beech-Nut Gum signed as a sponsor, they wanted no mention of their competition, Adams gum, so the title changed to Red Davis, a 15-minute series heard three times a week from 1933 to 1935. The series was again retitled, and the 15-minute Forever Young was heard on NBC weekdays at 3pm from January 13 to June 26, 1936. Three days later, on June 29, it became Pepper Young's Family, continuing on NBC for the next 23 years with Procter & Gamble's Camay as the sponsor.
➦In 1939...the most celebrated portrayal of Sherlock Holmes came to the US airwaves, as Basil Rathbone debuted in the title role on The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes on the NBC Blue network. As in the movies, Nigel Bruce played the bumbling Dr. Watson.
The show first aired on the Blue Network but later moved to the Mutual Broadcasting System. The series was originally broadcast from Hollywood. During World War II, the show was also broadcast overseas through the Armed Forces Radio Service.
➦In 1942...the juvenile western radio drama The Cisco Kid starring Jackson Beck debuted on Mutual. After the network run ended in 1946 another cast headed by Jack Mather was syndicated 1947 thru 1956. Yet another cast featuring Duncan Renaldo produced a 156-episode syndicated TV run beginning in 1950.
➦In 1949...the popular family comedy, The Aldrich Family, became one of TV’s first hits, as the longtime radio show appeared on NBC-TV for the first episode in a 4-year run. It thus earned the distinction of being the very first TV sitcom.
After finding an audience with Kate Smith's radio listeners, The Aldrich Family was launched in its own series as a summer replacement program for Jack Benny in NBC's Sunday night lineup, July 2, 1939, and it stayed there until October 1, 1939, when it moved to Tuesday nights at 8 p.m., sponsored by Jell-O, which also sponsored Jack Benny at the time. The Aldriches ran in that slot from October 10, 1939 until May 28, 1940, moving to Thursdays, from July 4, 1940 until July 20, 1944. After a brief hiatus, the show moved to CBS, running on Fridays from September 1, 1944 until August 30, 1946 with sponsors Grape Nuts and Jell-O before moving back to NBC from September 5, 1946 to June 28, 1951 on Thursdays and, then, as a Sustaining program in its final run of September 21, 1952 to April 19, 1953 on Sundays.
Beginning on July 5, 1946, the program ran for 10 weeks on Friday nights as a summer replacement for Kate Smith Sings. The sponsor, General Foods, used the time to "promote its salt product ... instead of Grape Nuts".
The show was a top-ten ratings hit within two years of its birth (in 1941, the show carried a 33.4 Crossley rating, landing it solidly alongside Jack Benny and Bob Hope).
➦In 1998...Radio actor Lon Clark died at age 87. He had the title role in Nick Carter, Master Detective on the Mutual Broadcasting System from 1943 to 1955. He was also a familiar voice on such programs as the weekday serial Mommie and the Men, the frontier serial adventure Wilderness Road, the World War II dramas Words at War (1943–45) and Soldiers of the Press (1942–45), the quiz show Quick as a Flash, the soap opera Bright Horizon, the science fiction series 2000 Plus and Exploring Tomorrow, Lights Out, The Mysterious Traveler, The Kate Smith Hour, The March of Time, The Adventures of the Thin Man and Norman Corwin Presents, playing opposite such performers as Fred Allen, Art Carney, Helen Hayes and Orson Welles.
➦In 1998…'The Singing Cowboy' Gene Autry died of lymphoma at the age of 91. Autry was a singer, songwriter, actor, musician and rodeo performer who gained fame largely by singing in a crooning style on radio, in films, and on television for more than three decades beginning in the early 1930s.
Autry was the owner of a television station, several radio stations in Southern California, and the Los Angeles/California/Anaheim Angels Major League Baseball team from 1961 to 1997.
From 1934 to 1953, Autry appeared in 93 films, and between 1950 and 1956 hosted The Gene Autry Show television series. During the 1930s and 1940s, he personified the straight-shooting hero—honest, brave, and true—and profoundly touched the lives of millions of Americans. Autry was also one of the most important pioneering figures in the history of country music, considered the second major influential artist of the genre's development after Jimmie Rodgers. His singing cowboy films were the first vehicle to carry country music to a national audience.
In addition to his signature song, "Back in the Saddle Again", and his hit "At Mail Call Today", Autry is still remembered for his Christmas holiday songs, most especially his biggest hit "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" as well as "Frosty the Snowman", "Here Comes Santa Claus", and "Up on the House Top".
Autry is a member of both the Country Music Hall of Fame and Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and is the only person to be awarded stars in all five categories on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, for film, television, music, radio, and live performance. The town of Gene Autry, Oklahoma, was named in his honor.
➦In 2014...CBS Radio, Beasley Media agreed to swap stations. Beasley announced that it entered into an asset exchange agreement with CBS Radio, whereby Beasley will exchange five stations in Philadelphia and Miami for fourteen CBS Radio stations in Tampa-St. Petersburg, Charlotte and Philadelphia.
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| Don McLean is 79 |
- Critic Rex Reed is 86.
- Singer Don McLean is 79.
- Actor Avery Brooks (“Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” “Spenser: For Hire”) is 76.
- Celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz is 75.
- Guitarist Mike Rutherford of Genesis and Mike and the Mechanics is 74.
- Musician Sting is 73.
- Actor Robin Riker (“General Hospital,” ″The Bold and the Beautiful”) is 72.
- Actor Lorraine Bracco (“The Sopranos”) is 70.
- Guitarist Greg Jennings of Restless Heart is 70.
- Singer Phil Oakey of Human League is 69.
- Singer Freddie Jackson is 69.
- Singer-producer Robbie Nevil is 66.
- Drummer Bud Gaugh of Sublime and Long Beach Dub All-Stars is 57.
- Musician Gillian Welch is 57.
- Actor Joey Slotnick (“Boston Public,” ″The Single Guy”) is 56.
- Country singer Kelly Willis is 56.
- Singer Dion Allen of Az Yet is 54.
- Actor-talk show host Kelly Ripa (“Live With Kelly and Mark,” ″All My Children”) is 54.
- Guitarist Jim Root of Slipknot is 53.
- Singer Tiffany is 53.
- Singer LaTocha Scott of Xscape is 52.
- Singer Lene Nystrom (Aqua) is 51.
- Actor Efren Ramirez (“Napoleon Dynamite”) is 51.
- Bassist Mike Rodden of Hinder is 42.
- Singer Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes is 36.
- Actor Samantha Barks (“Les Miserables”) is 34.
- Actor Elizabeth McLaughlin (“Hand of God,” “Pretty Little Liars”) is 31.
- In 1803..Samuel Adams, American revolutionary (Boston Massacre-Tea Party) and politician (Lt Gov-Mass, 1789-94), dies at 81
- In 1985..Rock Hudson, American actor (Pillow Talk, A Farewell to Arms, Ice Station Zebra), dies of AIDS-related complications at 59
- In 1993..Henry Ringling North, circus owner (Ringling Bros Circus), dies at 83
- In 2005..Nipsey Russell, American comedian (Car 54, Where Are You?), dies at 87
- In 2017..Tom Petty, American classic rock singer and songwriter (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - "American Girl"; Traveling Wilburys - "Last Night"; solo -"I Won't Back Down"), dies of an accidental overdose at 66
- In 2018..Jamal Khashoggi, Saudi Arabian dissident, author, Washington Post columnist and editor in chief (Al-Arab News Channel), assassinated in the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul at 59, reportedly on the orders of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
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