Jean Shepherd: The Man Behind Ralphie And His Unforgettable Christmas

 

Mention "Ralphie" and "Red Ryder BB gun" in the same breath and I'd say most people could make an immediate connection with the film, A Christmas Story. On the other hand, most people probably know very little about the remarkable personality behind that story. His name is Jean Shepherd.

He was born on July 26, 1921, on Chicago's south side and raised in nearby Hammond, Indiana. After serving in World War II, Shepherd began a career in broadcasting that expanded into writing, film, and live performance. He was heard on late night radio for over twenty years - all unscripted - on New York's WOR where he entertained listeners with his humorous stories, interviews, and practical jokes. Shepherd hosted a television show for WOR as well, but he is best remembered in video narrating a number of productions based on his stories of growing up in the Midwest. Many of the scripts were so popular they later appeared in print. Here is the storyteller at his best on his traditional Christmas Eve broadcast on WOR in 1974. A Christmas Story would emerge from these broadcasts in 1983.

Psychology tells us that humorists often do not have the happiest of life stories. Shepherd was no exception. Although he surely had the talent to become a well-known national treasure, radio did not provide him coast-to-coast exposure available with the new medium of television. He was fiercely independent, a maverick, and one not to take life too seriously. I can imagine he was a threat to the ego of more than one radio executive. Furthermore, he was a "night owl" on radio, broadcasting to a dedicated but smaller audience, and in direct competition with televised local news and the likes of Johnny Carson and The Tonight Show. In fact this warm story by a fan notes that Shepherd likely was in line to take over The Tonight Show with Steve Allen's departure in 1957 but Jack Paar had the right of first refusal with the NBC network. Paar unexpectedly accepted thus denying Shepherd his big break on one of television's most popular shows. Finally, from my research, it seems Shepherd maligned his radio work when he moved into writing film for television in the '70s. Indeed, it apparently was a clean break - maybe the execs were happier without him - and he did go on to success with films, including The Phantom of the Open Hearth, The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters, and Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss. Still, I think the fates denied him the opportunity to become a big television star in the 1950's and much better well-known in his lifetime.

Without question, his best known contribution to American humor is A Christmas Story, a compilation of stories and characters drawn from his earlier work. It was originally produced as a feature film in 1983 and made the transition into a television classic thanks to the persistence of Ted Turner. Almost any man born before 1950 has lived some or all of Ralphie's/Shep's childhood. Each man's path to adulthood is his own, but the markers are identical. Jean Shepherd was a genius at capturing them. And his skills as a narrator made him a natural at weaving life's common threads into humorous and entertaining listening.

". . . the soft glow of electric sex gleaming in the window."

Shepherd died 26 years ago on Sanibel Island, Florida, remembered for one film produced in 1983 when he was 62. There's much more to him than that and I hope more people come to enjoy his work. The settings now and in the future will be different but the collected experiences from childhood and adolescence remain similar and often age into fine wine. Thanks to Shepherd we can laugh at past times and enjoy the harvest.

If you want to explore more of Shepherd's work, the made-for-television film, The Phantom of the Open Hearth, is the place to start. It premiered at Christmas 1976 on public television as a humorous glimpse of Ralphie's teen angst during his high school years in the Midwest. You'll see many of the characters and storylines - yes, the leg lamp is there - that appear in A Christmas Story. These days Phantom is a cult classic among Shepherd fans. If you want to join the cult you can watch the film for free on You Tube.

Jean Shepherd: Storyteller For All Of Us

Mention "Ralphie" and "Red Ryder BB gun" in the same breath and I'd say most people could make an immediate connection with the film, A Christmas Story. On the other hand, most people probably know very little about the remarkable personality behind that story. His name is Jean Shepherd.

He was born on July 26, 1921, on Chicago's south side and raised in nearby Hammond, Indiana. After serving in World War II, Shepherd began a career in broadcasting that expanded into writing, film, and live performance. He was heard on late night radio for over twenty years - all unscripted - on New York's WOR where he entertained listeners with his humorous stories, interviews, and practical jokes. Shepherd hosted a television show for WOR as well, but he is best remembered in video narrating a number of productions based on his stories of growing up in the Midwest. Many of the scripts were so popular they later appeared in print. Here is the storyteller at his best on his traditional Christmas Eve broadcast on WOR in 1974. A Christmas Story would emerge from these broadcasts in 1983.

Psychology tells us that humorists often do not have the happiest of life stories. Shepherd was no exception. Although he surely had the talent to become a well-known national treasure, radio did not provide him coast-to-coast exposure available with the new medium of television. He was fiercely independent, a maverick, and one not to take life too seriously. I can imagine he was a threat to the ego of more than one radio executive. Furthermore, he was a "night owl" on radio, broadcasting to a dedicated but smaller audience, and in direct competition with televised local news and the likes of Johnny Carson and The Tonight Show. In fact this warm story by a fan notes that Shepherd likely was in line to take over The Tonight Show with Steve Allen's departure in 1957 but Jack Paar had the right of first refusal with the NBC network. Paar unexpectedly accepted thus denying Shepherd his big break on one of television's most popular shows. Finally, from my research, it seems Shepherd maligned his radio work when he moved into writing film for television in the '70s. Indeed, it apparently was a clean break - maybe the execs were happier without him - and he did go on to success with films, including The Phantom of the Open Hearth, The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters, and Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss. Still, I think the fates denied him the opportunity to become a big television star in the 1950's and much better well-known in his lifetime.

Without question, his best known contribution to American humor is A Christmas Story, a compilation of stories and characters drawn from his earlier work. It was originally produced as a feature film in 1983 and made the transition into a television classic thanks to the persistence of Ted Turner. Almost any man born before 1950 has lived some or all of Ralphie's/Shep's childhood. Each man's path to adulthood is his own, but the markers are identical. Jean Shepherd was a genius at capturing them. And his skills as a narrator made him a natural at weaving life's common threads into humorous and entertaining listening.

". . . the soft glow of electric sex gleaming in the window."

Shepherd died 25 years ago on Sanibel Island, Florida, remembered for one film produced in 1983 when he was 62. There's much more to him than that and I hope more people come to enjoy his work. The settings now and in the future will be different but the collected experiences from childhood and adolescence remain similar and often age into fine wine. Thanks to Shepherd we can laugh at past times and enjoy the harvest.

If you want to explore more of Shepherd's work, the made-for-television film, The Phantom of the Open Hearth, is the place to start. It premiered at Christmas 1976 on public television as a humorous glimpse of Ralphie's teen angst during his high school years in the Midwest. You'll see many of the characters and storylines - yes, the leg lamp is there - that appear in A Christmas Story. These days Phantom is a cult classic among Shepherd fans. If you want to join the cult you can watch the film for free on You Tube.

Godfrey Defined The 20th Century Talk Show Host For Radio And Television

Arthur Godfrey was born in New York on this day in 1903. Few people under forty years old probably recognize the name "Arthur Godfrey" or have any idea of his celebrity during the middle decades of the last century. He was a star of stars on radio from coast to coast, an ambitious man with a folksy broadcast persona who in real life turned hubris into a tyranny that eventually destroyed his career. Despite his shortfalls, he remains one of the most influential shapers of radio and television entertainment in the U.S.

Godfrey at CBS Radio, 1948

Godfrey was introduced to radio during his Navy and Coast Guard careers. He broke into entertainment and civilian radio in Baltimore and Washington in the early 1930s. He also earned his pilot's license in 1931, an achievement that would lead to a distinguished role in military and civilian aviation. His Arthur Godfrey Time breakfast show was heard on radio coast-to-coast shortly after World War II. By 1952, it had joined his other program, Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, on television. Godfrey developed a wonderful easy going, friendly on-air style that captured American radio audiences as he chatted with his regulars - he called them his "little Godfreys" - and special guests and sang mostly novelty song while accompaying himself on his ukulele. That style, coupled with his big smile and his signature red hair made him a natural for television, and for print advertising.

Without question, he was television's first star, rising quickly, then falling almost as fast, a victim of the darker elements of fame and ego. By 1960, he disappeared from regularly scheduled television and began a brief career in film. By 1972, the radio programs ended and his television appearances dwindled as the decade closed. He died in New York in 1983.


Godfrey's voice and image had broad media exposure into my college years but I only recall listening to his program in morning hours during family vacations in Burlington, West Virginia. Actually the small airfield there provided a much stronger linkage to Godfrey who owned several planes that he flew either from his Leesburg, Virginia, farm or from the nearby airport about 55 air miles east of Burlington's Baker's Air Park. It was owned and operated by Georgia and David Baker, a wonderful couple I came to know early on as my adopted aunt and uncle. They lived next door to my summer place and across the road from the airfield. The flying stories were endless and I was a willing listener.

Although he wasn't a frequent visitor, Godfrey attended occasional fly-ins there in the '50s. It was quite an honor to have "your" airfield graced by radio and television's most famous celebrity. It reminds me of visiting small town museums where the treasured display shows an aging photograph of President Truman waving from his campaign train in 1948. Sometimes history comes at a slow pace. Nevertheless, Godfrey's visits were the talk of the town for Burlington folks. Late one afternoon, the little airfield may have saved his life. He and a passenger made a critical emergency landing at the airfield. With its mechanical issues resolved the plane continued on its final leg to Leesburg later in the week. I'll never understand how they got a twin engine aircraft out of that little dogleg of grass. They probably stripped it, released the brake, went balls to the wall, and sampled the tops of the old sycamores at the end of the field. Fifty or so years is a long time to remember, but it wouldn't surprise me if he didn't send the passenger home by car. For a pilot who at one time flew everything in the U.S. Air Force arsenal, "wheels up" at Burlington probably wasn't much of a challenge. It did, however, require a tempered ego to reduce the risk.

The video below is a fascinating look at aviation from the 1950's and a personal look at Godfrey the aviator.

We know for certain he had both a temper and an ego, not an unusual combination for super successful people. And Godfrey was surely super and successful. He knew how to transcend the airwaves and come into your house for breakfast, make you laugh, maybe even sell you something you didn't need. It was television in it's first real decade in the U.S. And Godfrey transitioned his leading radio talk show into the leading television talk show almost overnight. It was the equivalent of going from silent film to talkies twenty years earlier. He made it look easy. He put millions of listeners at ease, made good conversation, strummed the ukulele, sang a bit, made us laugh, then sent us off for the day. We had a good time. That's really because it was Arthur Godfrey's time.





Sources

Photos and Illustrations:
CBS photo, the Harris & Ewing Photo Collection, Library of Congress
Moffett Field photo, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)



Text:
Arthur Godfrey, Wikipedia

Jean Shepherd: American Storyteller

Mention "Ralphie" and "Red Ryder BB gun" in the same breath and I'd say most people could make an immediate connection with the film, A Christmas Story. On the other hand, most people probably know very little about the remarkable personality behind that story. His name is Jean Shepherd.

He was born on this day in 1921 on Chicago's south side and raised in nearby Hammond, Indiana. After serving in World War II, Shepherd began a career in broadcasting that expanded into writing, film, and live performance. He was heard on late night radio for over twenty years - all unscripted - on New York's WOR where he entertained listeners with his humorous stories, interviews, and practical jokes. Shepherd hosted a television show for WOR as well, but he is best remembered in video narrating a number of productions based on his stories of growing up in the Midwest. Many of the scripts were so popular they later appeared in print. Here is the storyteller at his best on his traditional Christmas Eve broadcast on WOR in 1974. A Christmas Story would emerge from these broadcasts in 1983.

Psychology tells us that humorists often do not have the happiest of life stories. Shepherd was no exception. Although he surely had the talent to become a well-known national treasure, radio did not provide him coast-to-coast exposure available with the new medium of television. He was fiercely independent, a maverick, and one not to take life too seriously. I can imagine he was a threat to the ego of more than one radio executive. Furthermore, he was a "night owl" on radio, broadcasting to a dedicated but smaller audience, and in direct competition with televised local news and the likes of Johnny Carson and The Tonight Show. In fact this warm story by a fan notes that Shepherd likely was in line to take over The Tonight Show with Steve Allen's departure in 1957 but Jack Paar had the right of first refusal with the NBC network. Paar unexpectedly accepted thus denying Shepherd his big break on one of television's most popular shows. Finally, from my research, it seems Shepherd maligned his radio work when he moved into writing film for television in the '70s. Indeed, it apparently was a clean break - maybe the execs were happier without him - and he did go on to success with films, including The Phantom of the Open Hearth, The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters, and Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss. Still, I think the fates denied him the opportunity to become a big television star in the 1950's and much better well-known in his lifetime.

Without question, his best known contribution to American humor is A Christmas Story, a compilation of stories and characters drawn from his earlier work. It was originally produced as a feature film in 1983 and made the transition into a television classic thanks to the persistence of Ted Turner. Almost any man born before 1950 has lived some or all of Ralphie's/Shep's childhood. Each man's path to adulthood is his own, but the markers are identical. Jean Shepherd was a genius at capturing them. And his skills as a narrator made him a natural at weaving life's common threads into humorous and entertaining listening.

". . . the soft glow of electric sex gleaming in the window."

Shepherd died 24 years ago on Sanibel Island, Florida, remembered for one film produced in 1983 when he was 62. There's much more to him than that and I hope more people come to enjoy his work. The settings now and in the future will be different but the collected experiences from childhood and adolescence remain similar and often age into fine wine. Thanks to Shepherd we can laugh at past times and enjoy the harvest.

If you want to explore more of Shepherd's work, the made-for-television film, The Phantom of the Open Hearth, is the place to start. It premiered at Christmas 1976 on public television as a humorous glimpse of Ralphie's teen angst during his high school years in the Midwest. You'll see many of the characters and storylines - yes, the leg lamp is there - that appear in A Christmas Story. These days Phantom is a cult classic among Shepherd fans. If you want to join the cult you can watch the film for free on You Tube.

The Troubled Genius Of Oscar Levant

 

Today we remember the American entertainer, Oscar Levant, who was born in 1906 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on December 27. It's been almost sixty years since his last appearances - he died in 1972 - on stage and film. He's likely unknown to a generation of Americans now but that doesn't mean his endearing role as a comedy genius is ready for history's dustbin.

Although Levant's presence on the entertainment spectrum is broad, his greatest impact was as a concert pianist, comedian, and author. He was trained in classical music in Pittsburgh and New York and divided his musical time between Hollywood and Broadway as a young performer and composer. He became a close friend and associate of George Gershwin and his extended family of stars and admirers. With Gershwin's early death in 1937, Levant would become known as the finest interpreter of his work for almost two decades until the end of his own career as a performer. Levant's Hollywood association not only led to his role as a composer but also as an actor. Although his filmography is short it contains a host of memorable, mostly comedic scenes involving song, dance and wit. Here are two clips of Levant at his best:

From the 1951 film, An American in Paris,

and from the 1953 film, The Band Wagon.

Finally, there is Levant, the writer. He wrote three memoirs, two of them best-sellers. His Memoirs of An Amnesiac (1965) is a recollection of his often weird and tattered life as well as a tour de force of wit and wisdom aimed at Hollywood's famous and infamous personalities beginning in the 1930's. It's no wonder he was a highly sought guest for society dinner parties amd other occasions from coast to coast. His second book, The Unimportance of Being Oscar, appeared in 1968. Although both books are a bit dated, readers with some knowledge of popular culture and politics from the Golden Age of Hollywood in the 1930's to the entertainment world of the 1960's would certainly find both books entertaining reads.

Levant's bitter humor in his later career came with the high cost of mental illness. It was a thread that moved throughout his life and a condition that eventually became the core of his stage persona. Odd as it may seem, Levant saw it as therapeutic and his self deprecating appearances brought laughter to millions. By the late 1960's Levant's mental and physical condition deteriorated significantly, his drug dependency increased, and he withdrew from public life.

If readers want to explore Levant's life in greater detail there is no finer source at hand than a 1994 biograph, A Talent For Genius: The Life and Times of Oscar Levant, by Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger. The book is also an outstanding exploration of the entertainment industry and its place in American culture in the first half of the 20th century.


There is a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line.

                                                         Oscar Levant, 1959

Indeed there will never be another like him.



Sources

ClassicalNet biography, Oscar Levant
wikipedia.org, Oscar Levant

In Arthur Godfrey's Time He Was At The Top

Arthur Godfrey was born in New York on this day in 1903. Few people under forty years old probably recognize the name "Arthur Godfrey" or have any idea of his celebrity during the middle decades of the last century. He was a star of stars on radio from coast to coast, an ambitious man with a folksy broadcast persona who in real life turned hubris into a tyranny that eventually destroyed his career. Despite his shortfalls, he remains one of the most influential shapers of radio and television entertainment in the U.S. 

Godfrey at CBS Radio, 1948

Godfrey was introduced to radio during his Navy and Coast Guard careers. He broke into entertainment and civilian radio in Baltimore and Washington in the early 1930s. He also earned his pilot's license in 1931, an achievement that would lead to a distinguished role in military and civilian aviation. His Arthur Godfrey Time breakfast show was heard on radio coast-to-coast shortly after World War II. By 1952, it had joined his other program, Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, on television. Godfrey developed a wonderful easy going, friendly on-air style that captured American radio audiences. That style, coupled with his big smile and his signature red hair made him a natural for television, and for print advertising.

Without question, he was television's first star, rising quickly, then falling almost as fast, a victim of the darker elements of fame and ego. By 1960, he disappeared from regularly scheduled television and began a brief career in film. By 1972, the radio programs ended and his television appearances dwindled as the decade closed. He died in New York in 1983.

Although Godfrey's voice and image had broad media exposure into my college years I only recall listening to his program in morning hours during family vacations in Burlington, West Virginia. Actually the small airfield there provided a much stronger linkage to Godfrey who owned several planes that he flew either from his Leesburg, Virginia, farm or from the nearby airport about 55 air miles east of Burlington's Baker's Air Park. It was owned and operated by Georgia and David Baker, a wonderful couple I came to know early on as my adopted aunt and uncle. They lived next door to my summer place and across the road from the airfield. The flying stories were endless and I was a willing listener.

 Although he wasn't a frequent visitor, Godfrey attended occasional fly-ins there in the '50s.
It was quite an honor to have "your" airfield graced by radio and television's most famous celebrity. It reminds me of visiting small town museums where the treasured display shows an aging photograph of President Truman waving from his campaign train in 1948. Sometimes history comes at a slow pace. Nevertheless, Godfrey's visits were the talk of the town for Burlington folks. Late one afternoon, the little airfield may have saved his life. He and a passenger made a critical emergency landing at the airfield. With its mechanical issues resolved the plane continued on its final leg to Leesburg later in the week. I'll never understand how they got a twin engine aircraft out of that little dogleg of grass. They probably stripped it, released the brake, went balls to the wall, and sampled the tops of the old sycamores at the end of the field. Fifty or so years is a long time to remember, but it wouldn't surprise me if he didn't send the passenger home by car. For a pilot who at one time flew everything in the U.S. Air Force arsenal, "wheels up" at Burlington probably wasn't much of a challenge. It did, however, require a tempered ego to reduce the risk.  

The video below is a fascinating look at aviation from the 1950's and a personal look at Godfrey the aviator.

We know for certain he had both a temper and an ego, not an unusual combination for super successful people. And Godfrey was surely super and successful. He knew how to transcend the airwaves and come into your house for breakfast, make you laugh, maybe even sell you something you didn't need. It was television in it's first real decade in the U.S. And Godfrey transitioned his leading radio talk show into the leading television talk show almost overnight. It was the equivalent of going from silent film to talkies twenty years earlier. He made it look easy. He put millions of listeners at ease, made good conversation, strummed the ukulele, sang a bit, made us laugh, then sent us off for the day. We had a good time. That's really because it was Arthur Godfrey's time.

Sources 

Photos and Illustrations:
CBS photo, the Harris & Ewing Photo Collection, Library of Congress
Moffett Field photo, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Text:

Arthur Godfrey, Wikipedia

Jean Shepherd: Our Christmas Storyteller

 

Mention "Ralphie" and "Red Ryder BB gun" in the same breath and I'd say most people could make an immediate connection with the film, A Christmas Story. On the other hand, most people probably know very little about the remarkable personality behind that story. His name is Jean Shepherd.

He was born on this day in 1921 on Chicago's south side and raised in nearby Hammond, Indiana. After serving in World War II, Shepherd began a career in broadcasting that expanded into writing, film, and live performance. He was heard on late night radio for over twenty years - all unscripted - on New York's WOR where he entertained listeners with his humorous stories, interviews, and practical jokes. Shepherd hosted a television show for WOR as well, but he is best remembered in video narrating a number of productions based on his stories of growing up in the Midwest. Many of the scripts were so popular they later appeared in print.

Psychology tells us that humorists often do not have the happiest of life stories. Shepherd was no exception. Although he surely had the talent to become a well-known national treasure, radio did not provide him coast-to-coast exposure available with the new medium of television. He was fiercely independent, a maverick, and one not to take life too seriously. I can imagine he was a threat to the ego of more than one radio executive. Furthermore, he was a "night owl" on radio, broadcasting to a dedicated but smaller audience, and in direct competition with televised local news and the likes of Johnny Carson and The Tonight Show. In fact this warm story by a fan notes that Shepherd likely was in line to take over The Tonight Show with Steve Allen's departure in 1957, but Jack Paar had the right of first refusal with the NBC network. Paar unexpectedly accepted, thus, denying Shepherd his big break on one of television's most popular shows. Finally, from my research, it seems Shepherd maligned his radio work when he moved into writing film for television in the '70s. Indeed, it apparently was a clean break - maybe the execs were happier without him - and he did go on to success with films, including The Phantom of the Open Hearth, The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters, and Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss. Still, I think the fates denied him the opportunity to become a big television star in the 1950's and much better well-known in his lifetime.

Without question, his best known contribution to American humor is A Christmas Story, a compilation of stories and characters drawn from his earlier work. It was originally produced as a feature film in 1983 and made the transition into a television classic thanks to the persistence of Ted Turner. Almost any man born before 1950 has lived some or all of Ralphie's/Shep's childhood. Each man's path to adulthood is his own, but the markers are identical. Jean Shepherd was a genius at capturing them. And his skills as a narrator made him a natural at weaving life's common threads into humorous and entertaining listening.

". . . the soft glow of electric sex gleaming in the window."

Shepherd died 23 years ago on Sanibel Island, Florida, remembered for one film produced in 1983 when he was 62. There's much more to him than that and I hope more people come to enjoy his work. The settings now and in the future will be different but the collected experiences from childhood and adolescence remain similar and often age into fine wine. Thanks to Shepherd we can laugh at past times and enjoy the harvest.

If you want to explore more of Shepherd's work, the made-for-television film, The Phantom of the Open Hearth, is the place to start. It premiered at Christmas 1976 on public television as a humorous glimpse of Ralphie's teen angst during his high school years in the Midwest. You'll see many of the characters and storylines - yes, the leg lamp is there - that appear in A Christmas Story. These days Phantom is a cult classic among Shepherd fans. If you want to join the cult you can watch the film for free on You Tube.

Atlanta's WSB Radio Celebrates 100 Years

In the early days of the 20th century the call sign "WSB" was assigned to a ship for communications with land-based stations and nearby ships. When that vessel sank, the letters were assigned to another ship that was quickly lost. Mariners are very superstitious about such happening and soon the marked call sign was reserved for land based operators. The year was 1919. Civilian radio use - almost exclusively with a crystal set - began a robust recovery from prohibitions in World War I. At that time there were around 8000 licensed amateur radio operators in the U.S. They shared the airways with fewer than half a dozen licensed radio stations broadcasting brief, intermittent programs featuring concerts, news, and special sports events, especially boxing.

By 1922 technological improvements led to a large expansion in the number of broadcast stations - commercial operations - including the landmarks established by Westinghouse (KDKA Pittsburgh, WJZ Newark, WBZ Springfield/Boston. and KYW Chicago) and American Telephone and Telegraph (WJY Hoboken/New York). It is in this wave of enthusiasm for radio that the owners of the Atlanta Journal established WSB, the oldest station in the Southeast. The first broadcast, eagerly awaited by the city's one thousand wireless radio enthusiasts, took place on March 15, 1922, at a power of 100 watts. They beat their competition, the Atlanta Constitution and WGST, by two days. In its first decades the station was known as "The Voice of the South" but in time management adopted the slogan, "Welcome South, Brother." It was a perfect fit for call letters that had been randomly selected and assigned by the Federal Radio Commission.

In its 100 years WSB has played significant roles in the American experience. They range from the popularizing of Southern gospel music to the advocacy for civil rights through a pioneering editorial policy faced by broad and often hostile opposition. Today, the WSB family serves its listeners as a national talk radio leader, the driving companion for millions of metro Atlanta commuters, and the University of Georgia flagship station for football and basketball.

In retirement I don't listen to local radio much these days unless the Bulldogs are on the gridiron and there's no video media at hand. At the same time, I'm never far removed from the magic of radio because my great uncle Charles's 1921 Westinghouse RC Regenerative Receiver sits in an honored place in our den next to my desk.

It was built by the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The radio was dated by its very low serial numbers (2239 and 4004). My uncle lived about 75 miles from KDKA in Pittsburgh and I know he enjoyed listening to that station on his radio because he told me so. There's written evidence on the radio manual as well. As for WSB, I can't say with certainty that he ever heard the station but he was an avid radio fan from the very beginning of its commercial era when it had thirty stations. With so few choices it's hard to imagine him missing Atlanta on the air and that warm greeting, "Welcome South, Brother!"


Happy birthday, WSB!



Sources

Photos and Illustrations:
logo, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WSB_NewsTalkLogo.jpg
radio, OTR photo collection

Text:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WSB_(AM)
eh.net/encyclopedia/the-history-of-the-radio-industry-in-the-united-states-to-1940
earlyradiohistory.us

Jean Shepherd: A Life Of Storytelling

Mention "Ralphie" and "Red Ryder BB gun" in the same breath and I'd say most people could make an immediate connection with the film, A Christmas Story. On the other hand, most people probably know very little about the remarkable personality behind that story. His name is Jean Shepherd.

He was born on this day in 1921 on Chicago's south side and raised in nearby Hammond, Indiana. After serving in World War II, Shepherd began a career in broadcasting that expanded into writing, film, and live performance. He was heard on late night radio for over twenty years - all unscripted - on New York's WOR where he entertained listeners with his humorous stories, interviews, and practical jokes. Shepherd hosted a television show for WOR as well, but he is best remembered in video narrating a number of productions based on his stories of growing up in the Midwest. Many of the scripts were so popular they later appeared in print.

Psychology tells us that humorists often do not have the happiest of life stories. Shepherd was no exception. Although he surely had the talent to become a well-known national treasure, radio did not provide him coast-to-coast exposure available with the new medium of television. He was fiercely independent, a maverick, and one not to take life too seriously. I can imagine he was a threat to the ego of more than one radio executive. Furthermore, he was a "night owl" on radio, broadcasting to a dedicated but smaller audience, and in direct competition with televised local news and the likes of Johnny Carson and The Tonight Show. In fact this warm story by a fan notes that Shepherd likely was in line to take over The Tonight Show with Steve Allen's departure in 1957, but Jack Paar had the right of first refusal with the NBC network. Paar unexpectedly accepted, thus, denying Shepherd his big break on one of television's most popular shows. Finally, from my research, it seems Shepherd maligned his radio work when he moved into writing film for television in the '70s. Indeed, it apparently was a clean break - maybe the execs were happier without him - and he did go on to success with films, including The Phantom of the Open Hearth, The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters, and Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss. Still, I think the fates denied him the opportunity to become a big television star in the 1950's and much better well-known in his lifetime.

Without question, his best known contribution to American humor is A Christmas Story, a compilation of stories and characters drawn from his earlier work. It was originally produced as a feature film in 1983 and made the transition into a television classic, thanks to the persistence of Ted Turner. Almost any man born before 1950 has lived some or all of Ralphie's/Shep's childhood. Each man's path to adulthood is his own, but the markers are identical. Jean Shepherd was a genius at capturing them. And his skills as a narrator made him a natural at weaving life's common threads into humorous and entertaining listening.

". . . the soft glow of electric sex gleaming in the window."

Shepherd died 22 years ago on Sanibel Island, Florida, remembered for one film produced in 1983 when he was 62. There's much more to him than that and I hope more people come to enjoy his work. The settings now and in the future may be different but the collected experiences from childhood and adolescence often age into fine wine. Thanks to Shepherd we can laugh at past times and enjoy the harvest.

If you want to  explore more of Shepherd's work the made-for-television film, The Phantom of the Open Hearth, is the place to start.  It premiered at Christmas 1976 on public television as a humorous glimpse of Ralphie's teen angst during his high school years in the Midwest.  You'll see many of the characters and storylines - yes, the leg lamp is there -  that appear in A Christmas Story. These days Phantom is a cult classic among Shepherd fans. If you want to join the cult you can watch the film for free on You Tube. 

Oscar Levant: Entertainment's Troubled Genius Of Mirth

 

Indeed there will never be another entertainer quite like Oscar Levant (1906-1972), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on December 27.  He was a classically trained concert pianist, composer, author, actor, dancer, and comedy genius. The one thread moving throughout his working life was mental illness, a condition that eventually became the core of his stage persona. It was an odd therapeutic for Levant and it brought laughter to millions. Today he's likely unknown to more than a generation of Americans but that doesn't mean he's ready for history's dustbin. Quite the contrary. There must be something important about Oscar Levant and his legacy if Hollywood insiders keep talking about a film based on the entertainer's life.

Although Levant's presence on the entertainment spectrum was broad, his greatest impact was as a concert pianist, comedian, and author. He trained in classical music in Pittsburgh and New York and divided his musical time between Hollywood and Broadway as a young performer and composer. He became a close friend and associate of George Gershwin and his extended family of stars and admirers. With Gershwin's early death in 1937, Levant would become known as the finest interpreter of his work for almost two decades until the end of his own career as a concert performer. Levant's Hollywood association not only led to his role as a composer but also as an actor. Although his filmography is short it contains a host of memorable, mostly comedic scenes involving song, dance and wit. Here are two clips of Levant at his best:

From the 1951 film, An American in Paris,

And from the 1953 musical-comedy film, The Band Wagon, inspired by the 1931 musical revue of the same name,

Next there is Levant, the radio and television personality. From the 1930's into the 1950's he was featured regularly on several radio programs and made frequent guest appearances on others. His knowledge of Hollywood personalities combined with his musical talent, quick wit and self-deprecating  posture made him a hit from coast to coast. That status also made for an easy transition to television. 

Finally, there is Levant, the writer. He produced three memoirs, two of them best-sellers. His Memoirs of An Amnesiac (1965) is a recollection of his often weird and tattered life as well as a tour de force of wit and wisdom aimed at Hollywood's famous and infamous personalities beginning in the 1930s. His The Unimportance of Being Oscar appeared in 1968. Although both books are a bit dated, readers with some knowledge of popular culture and politics from the Golden Age of Hollywood in the 1930's to the entertainment world of the 1960's would certainly find both books entertaining reads.

After hosting his own syndicated television program from Los Angeles in 1958-59 he made several noteworthy appearances on The Tonight Show with Jack Paar where he openly discussed his mental health issues. By the early '60's his mental and physical condition deteriorated significantly, his drug dependency increased, and he withdrew from public life. Here is one of his last television appearances:

There is a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased that line.

                                                                                  Oscar Levant, 1959

Sources

ClassicalNet biography, Oscar Levant
wikipedia.org, Oscar Levant

Oscar Levant: A Wit Like No Other

Today we remember the American entertainer, Oscar Levant (1906-1972), who was born on this day in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  It's been almost sixty years since his last appearances on stage and film. He's likely unknown to a generation of Americans now, but that doesn't mean his endearing role as a comedy genius is ready for history's dustbin. 

Although Levant's presence on the entertainment spectrum is broad, his greatest impact was as a concert pianist, comedian, and author. He was trained in classical music in Pittsburgh and New York and divided his musical time between Hollywood and Broadway as a young performer and composer. He became a close friend and associate of George Gershwin and his extended family of stars and admirers. With Gershwin's early death in 1937, Levant would become known as the finest interpreter of his work for almost two decades until the end of his own career as a performer. Levant's Hollywood association not only led to his role as a composer but also as an actor. Although his filmography is short it contains a host of memorable, mostly comedic scenes involving song, dance and wit. Here are two clips of Levant at his best:

From the 1951 film, An American in Paris,

/

and from the 1953 film, The Band Wagon.

Finally, there is Levant, the writer. He wrote three memoirs, two of them best-sellers. His Memoirs of An Amnesiac (1965) is a recollection of his often weird and tattered life as well as a tour de force of wit and wisdom aimed at Hollywood's famous and infamous personalities beginning in the 1930's. His The Unimportance of Being Oscar appeared in 1968. Although both books are a bit dated, readers with some knowledge of popular culture and politics from the Golden Age of Hollywood in the 1930's to the entertainment world of the 1960's would certainly find both books entertaining reads.

Levant's bitter humor in his later career came with the high cost of mental illness.  It was a thread that moved throughout his life and a condition that eventually became the core of his stage persona. Odd as it may seem, Levant saw it as therapeutic and his self deprecating appearances brought laughter to millions.

By the late 1960's Levant's mental and physical condition deteriorated significantly, his drug dependency increased, and he withdrew from public life.

There is a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line.

                                                                                                    Oscar Levant, 1959


Indeed there will never be another like him.

Sources

ClassicalNet biography, Oscar Levant
wikipedia.org, Oscar Levant

              

"Welcome South, Brother"- Atlanta's WSB-AM Celebrates 96 Years On The Air

In the early days of the 20th century the call sign "WSB" was assigned to a ship for communications with land-based stations and nearby ships. When that vessel sank, the letters were assigned to another ship that was quickly lost. Mariners are very superstitious about such happening and soon the marked call sign was reserved for land based operators. The year was 1919. Civilian radio use - almost exclusively with a crystal set - began a robust recovery from prohibitions in World War I. At that time there were around 8000 licensed amateur radio operators in the U.S. They shared the airways with fewer than half a dozen licensed radio stations broadcasting brief, intermittent programs featuring concerts, news, and special sports events, especially boxing.

By 1922 technological improvements led to a large expansion in the number of broadcast stations - commercial operations - including the landmarks established by Westinghouse (KDKA Pittsburgh, WJZ Newark, WBZ Springfield/Boston. and KYW Chicago) and American Telephone and Telegraph (WJY Hoboken/New York). It is in this wave of enthusiasm for radio that the owners of the Atlanta Journal established WSB, the oldest station in the Southeast, on March 15, 1922. They beat their competition, the Atlanta Constitution and WGST, by two days. In time the management adopted "Welcome South, Brother" as WSB's slogan. It was a perfect fit for call letters that had been randomly selected and assigned by the Federal Radio Commission.

In its 96 years WSB has played significant roles in the American experience. They range from the popularizing of Southern gospel music to the advocacy for civil rights through a pioneering editorial policy faced by broad and often hostile opposition.

Today, the WSB family serves its listeners as a national talk radio leader, the driving companion for millions of metro Atlanta commuters, and the University of Georgia flagship station for football and basketball.

In retirement I don't listen to local radio much these days unless the Bulldogs are on the gridiron and there's no video media at hand. At the same time, I'm never far removed from the magic of radio because my great uncle Charles's 1921 Westinghouse RC Regenerative Receiver sits in an honored place in our den next to my desk. It was built by the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The radio was dated by its very low serial numbers (2239 and 4004). My uncle lived about 75 miles from KDKA in Pittsburgh and I know he enjoyed listening to that station on his radio because he told me so. There's written evidence on the radio manual as well. As for WSB, I can't say with certainty but he was an avid fan from the very beginning of the commercial radio era when it had thirty stations. With so few choices it's hard to imagine him missing Atlanta on the air and that warm greeting, "Welcome South, Brother!"

Happy birthday, WSB!



Sources

Photos and Illustrations:
logo, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WSB_NewsTalkLogo.jpg
radio, OTR photo collection

Text:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WSB_(AM)
eh.net/encyclopedia/the-history-of-the-radio-industry-in-the-united-states-to-1940
earlyradiohistory.us

Oscar Levant: The Wit Who Danced With Madness

Happy Birthday, Oscar!

I doubt there will never be another entertainer quite like Oscar Levant (1906-1972). He was a classically trained concert pianist, composer, author, actor, dancer, comedy genius, and more. The one thread moving throughout his working life was mental illness, a condition that eventually became the core of his stage persona. It was an odd therapeutic for Levant and it brought laughter to millions. Today he's likely unknown to more than a generation of Americans but that doesn't mean he's ready for history's dustbin. Quite the contrary. There is still some talk in Hollywood about producing a film based on the entertainer's life.

Although Levant's presence on the entertainment spectrum is broad, his greatest impact was as a concert pianist, comedian, and author. He was trained in classical music in Pittsburgh and New York and divided his musical time between Hollywood and Broadway as a young performer and composer. He became a close friend and associate of George Gershwin and his extended family of stars and admirers. With Gershwin's early death in 1937, Levant would become known as the finest interpreter of his work for almost two decades until the end of his own career as a concert performer. Levant's Hollywood association not only led to his role as a composer but also as an actor. Although his filmography is short it contains a host of memorable, mostly comedic scenes involving song, dance and wit. Here are two clips of Levant at his best:

From the 1951 film, An American in Paris,

and from the 1953 film, The Band Wagon, often ranked with Singin' In The Rain as the finest musical ever to come out of Hollywood.

Next there is Levant, the radio and television personality. From the 1930's into the 1950's he was featured regularly on several radio programs and made frequent guest appearances on others. His knowledge of Hollywood personalities combined with his musical talent, quick wit and self-deprecating posture made him a hit from coast to coast. That status also made for an easy transition to television.

Finally, there is Levant, the writer. He produced three memoirs, two of them best-sellers. His Memoirs of An Amnesiac (1965) is a recollection of his often weird and tattered life as well as a tour de force of wit and wisdom aimed at Hollywood's famous and infamous personalities beginning in the 1930s. His The Unimportance of Being Oscar appeared in 1968. Although both books are a bit dated, readers with some knowledge of popular culture and politics from the Golden Age of Hollywood in the 1930's to the entertainment world of the 1960's would certainly find both books entertaining reads.

After hosting his own syndicated television program from Los Angeles in 1958-59 he made several noteworthy appearances on The Tonight Show with Jack Paar where he openly discussed his mental health issues. By the early '60's his mental and physical condition deteriorated significantly, his drug dependency increased, and he withdrew from public life. Here is one of his last television appearances:

There is a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line.

                                                                         Oscar Levant, 1959






Sources

ClassicalNet biography, Oscar Levant
wikipedia.org, Oscar Levant

He Brought Us "The Soft Glow Of Electric Sex Gleaming In The Window."

Today is the birthday of the American humorist, Jean Shepherd (1921-1999). His best known contribution to American humor is A Christmas Story, a compilation of stories and characters drawn from his earlier work. It was originally produced as a feature film in 1983 and made the transition into a television classic thanks to the persistence of Ted Turner. Almost any man born before 1950 has lived some or all of the "you'll shoot your eye out" childhood of Shepherd's semi-autobiographical character, Ralphie Parker. Each man's path to adulthood is his own, but the markers are identical. Jean Shepherd was a genius at capturing them. And his skills as a narrator made him a natural at weaving the common threads into humorous and entertaining listening.

Shepherd on the air in 1970

I find Shepherd's personal path in the American experience a most interesting one. Although he surely had the talent to become a well-known national treasure, radio did not provide him coast-to-coast exposure available with the new medium of television. He was fiercely independent, a maverick, and one not to take life too seriously. I can imagine he was a threat to the ego of more than one radio executive. Furthermore, he was a "night owl" on radio, broadcasting to a dedicated but smaller audience, and in direct competition with televised local news and the likes of Johnny Carson and The Tonight Show. In fact, an unverified Wikipedia entry notes that Shepherd was in line to take over The Tonight Show with Steve Allen's departure in 1957, but Jack Paar had the right of first refusal with the NBC network. Paar unexpectedly accepted, thus, denying Shepherd his big break on one of television's most popular shows. Finally, from my research, it seems Shepherd maligned his radio work when he moved into writing film for television in the '70's. Indeed, it apparently was a clean break - maybe the execs were happier without him - and he did go on to success with films, including The Phantom of the Open Hearth, The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters, and Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss. Still, I think the fates denied him the opportunity to become a big television star in the 1950's and much better well-known in his lifetime.

Jean Shepherd died in Florida sixteen years ago known primarily for one film produced in 1983 when he was 62. There's much more to him than that and I hope more people come to enjoy his work. The settings now and in the future may be different but the collected experiences from childhood and adolescence often age into fine wine. Thanks to Shepherd we can enjoy the harvest.

"...the soft glow of electric sex gleaming in the window."        

Oscar Levant: A Fine Blend Of Genius And Insanity

Indeed there will never be another entertainer quite like Oscar Levant (1906-1972).  He was a classically trained concert pianist, composer, author, actor, dancer, and comedy genius. The one thread moving throughout his working life was mental illness, a condition that eventually became the core of his stage persona. It was an odd therapeutic for Levant and it brought laughter to millions. Today he's likely unknown to more than a generation of Americans but that doesn't mean he's ready for history's dustbin. Quite the contrary. There must be something important about Oscar Levant if Hollywood director Ben Stiller may be developing a film based on the entertainer's life.

Although Levant's presence on the entertainment spectrum is broad, his greatest impact was as a concert pianist, comedian, and author. He was trained in classical music in Pittsburgh and New York and divided his musical time between Hollywood and Broadway as a young performer and composer. He became a close friend and associate of George Gershwin and his extended family of stars and admirers. With Gershwin's early death in 1937, Levant would become known as the finest interpreter of his work for almost two decades until the end of his own career as a concert performer. Levant's Hollywood association not only led to his role as a composer but also as an actor. Although his filmography is short it contains a host of memorable, mostly comedic scenes involving song, dance and wit. Here are two clips of Levant at his best:

From the 1951 film, An American in Paris,

Next there is Levant, the radio and television personality. From the 1930's into the 1950's he was featured regularly on several radio programs and made frequent guest appearances on others. His knowledge of Hollywood personalities combined with his musical talent, quick wit and self-deprecating  posture made him a hit from coast to coast. That status also made for an easy transition to television. 

Finally, there is Levant, the writer. He produced three memoirs, two of them best-sellers. His Memoirs of An Amnesiac (1965) is a recollection of his often weird and tattered life as well as a tour de force of wit and wisdom aimed at Hollywood's famous and infamous personalities beginning in the 1930s. His The Unimportance of Being Oscar appeared in 1968. Although both books are a bit dated, readers with some knowledge of popular culture and politics from the Golden Age of Hollywood in the 1930's to the entertainment world of the 1960's would certainly find both books entertaining reads.

After hosting his own syndicated television program from Los Angeles in 1958-59 he made several noteworthy appearances on The Tonight Show with Jack Paar where he openly discussed his mental health issues. By the early '60's his mental and physical condition deteriorated significantly, his drug dependency increased, and he withdrew from public life. Here is one of his last television appearances:

There is a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased that line.

                                                                                   Oscar Levant, 1959

Happy birthday, Oscar!

Sources

ClassicalNet biography, Oscar Levant

wikipedia.org, Oscar Levant

Jean Shepherd: Of BB Guns And The Gift Of Electric Sex

Mention "Ralphie" and "Red Ryder BB gun" in the same breath, I'd say most people could make an immediate connection with the film, A Christmas Story.  On the other hand, most people probably know very little about the remarkable personality behind that story. His name is Jean Shepherd.

He was born on this day in 1921 on Chicago's south side and raised in nearby Hammond, Indiana. After serving in World War II, Shepherd began a career in broadcasting that expanded into writing, film, and live performance. He was heard on late night radio for over twenty years - all unscripted - on New York's WOR where he entertained listeners with his humorous stories, interviews, and practical jokes. Shepherd hosted a television show for WOR as well, but he is best remembered in video narrating a number of productions based on his stories of growing up in the Midwest. Many of the scripts were so popular they later appeared in print.

Psychology tells us that humorists often do not have the happiest of life stories. Shepherd was no exception. Although he surely had the talent to become a well-known national treasure, radio did not provide him coast-to-coast exposure available with the new medium of television. He was fiercely independent, a maverick, and one not to take life too seriously. I can imagine he was a threat to the ego of more than one radio executive. Furthermore, he was a "night owl" on radio, broadcasting to a dedicated but smaller audience, and in direct competition with televised local news and the likes of Johnny Carson and The Tonight Show. In fact this warm story by a fan notes that Shepherd likely was in line to take over The Tonight Show with Steve Allen's departure in 1957, but Jack Paar had the right of first refusal with the NBC network. Paar unexpectedly accepted, thus, denying Shepherd his big break on one of television's most popular shows. Finally, from my research, it seems Shepherd maligned his radio work when he moved into writing film for television in the '70s. Indeed, it apparently was a clean break - maybe the execs were happier without him - and he did go on to success with films, including The Phantom of the Open Hearth, The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters, and Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss. Still, I think the fates denied him the opportunity to become a big television star in the 1950's and much better well-known in his lifetime.

Of course, his best known contribution to American humor is A Christmas Story, a compilation of stories and characters drawn from his earlier work. It was originally produced as a feature film in 1983 and made the transition into a television classic, thanks to the persistence of Ted Turner. Almost any man born before 1950 has lived some or all of Ralphie's/Shep's childhood. Each man's path to adulthood is his own, but the markers are identical. Jean Shepherd was a genius at capturing them. And his skills as a narrator made him a natural at weaving life's common threads into humorous and entertaining listening.

". . . the soft glow of electric sex gleaming in the window."

Shepherd died seventeen years ago on Sanibel Island, Florida, remembered for one film produced in 1983 when he was 62. There's much more to him than that and I hope more people come to enjoy his work. The settings now and in the future may be different but the collected experiences from childhood and adolescence often age into fine wine. Thanks to Shepherd we can laugh at past times and enjoy the harvest.