Who remembers the Fibber McGee and Molly radio shows?
Jan 26, 2018 22:21:11 #
Fibber McGee and Molly was an American radio comedy series. A staple of the NBC Red Network for the show's entire run and one of the most popular and enduring radio series of its time, the prime time situation comedy ran as a standalone series from 1935 to 1956, then continued as a short-form series as part of the weekend Monitor from 1957 to 1959. The title characters were created and portrayed by Jim and Marian Jordan, a real-life husband and wife team that had been working in radio since the 1920s.
Recurring characters
The other cast members circa 1939.
Fibber McGee and Molly was one of the earliest radio comedies to use regular characters, nearly all of whom had recurring phrases and running gags. These included:
Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve (Harold Peary) as the pompous next-door neighbor with whom Fibber enjoyed twitting and arguing. Introduced in 1939. Harold Peary actually portrayed several Gildersleeve characters before the appearance of Throckmorton. On March 21, 1939 (episode #197), he portrayed Frank, the barber. In the 25 April 1939 episode (#202), Fibber visits an optometrist ("oculist") named Dr. Donald Gildersleeve. In the 20 June 1939 episode, Fibber Has a Toothache, their dentist is Dr. Gildersleeve; although Molly calls him Wilbur, McGee calls him "Wilberforce", and he once had a "thing" for Molly, so it might be a relative to Throckmorton? In the episode "Gildersleeve's Diary" (10/22/40), it is revealed that his middle name is Philharmonic. Many of his interactions with Fibber include the catchphrase "You're a hard man, McGee", in response to a harsh or critical statement from Fibber. Throckmortons's wife is frequently mentioned, never heard, and dropped when Peary moved on to his own show. However, the wife of Homer Gildersleeve (again played by Peary) was briefly heard from in one episode.
The Old-Timer (Bill Thompson) as a hard-of-hearing senior citizen with a penchant for distorting jokes, prefacing each one by saying, "That ain't the way I heer'd it!" For no apparent reason, he refers to Fibber as "Johnny" and Molly as "Daughter". A recurring joke is that he refuses to tell his real name. In the 1940 episode "Mailing Christmas Packages", he is referred to by another character as "Roy", while in one episode (01/29/1946 and reiterated in the episode a week later) he claims his name is "Rupert Blasingame". In the 3/25/41 episode, "Fibber Changes His Name", he appears as Mr. Fumble, a lawyer. Also, in the 3/14/39 episode, Fibber calls him Mr. Sims, but he's having trouble with his memory in this episode, so this may be just an error in remembering, as he also calls Mr. Wilcox "Harpo" for perhaps the first time instead of Harlow, due to poor memory tricks. The Old-Timer's girlfriend is named Bessie, and she usually refers to him as "O.T." In a 15-minute episode near the end of the series, Mcgee and Molly spend the day trying to find one mysterious "Adleton P. Bagshaw," only to discover him to be the Old-Timer. At the Mcgees' surprise the Old-Timer says, "You mean to stand there with your bare face hanging out in the wind and tell me you don't know my name. . . pretty discouragin' when folks you consider your friends for nigh on twenty years don't even know."
Teeny, also known as "Little Girl" and "Sis" (Marian Jordan) as a precocious youngster who frequently tried to cadge loose change from Fibber (often in cahoots with her rarely heard best friend Willie Toops). She often ended her sentences with "I betcha!", and when someone mentioned food, or a word that sounded like a food, she usually responded "I'm hungry." Teeny was also known to lose track of her own conversations. When Fibber showed interest in what she was saying, she would forget all about it, and her conversation would switch from telling to asking. After Fibber repeated everything she had been telling him, Teeny would reply "I know!" or "I know it!" in a condescending way. Her appearances were sometimes foreshadowed by Molly excusing herself to the kitchen or to have a nap. Fibber would wistfully deliver a compliment to her, saying, "Ah, there goes a good kid," upon which the doorbell would ring and Teeny would appear, usually greeting Fibber with "Hi, mister!" On rare occasions Molly and Teeny would interact.[9] In the December 21, 1948 broadcast Fibber learned that her real name was "Elizabeth" from a Christmas card she had sent him. She was perpetually a child, and her permanent youth was only mentioned once; Fibber asked her how old she was, to which she responded, "Five". Then he asked how long she'd been coming over to visit him and Molly. "Nine years," she answered. Then, after a pause, she asked, "Ain't it a wonderful world, mister?"
Mayor La Trivia (Gale Gordon) as the mayor of Wistful Vista, whose name was inspired by New York City's famous mayor Fiorello La Guardia. In later episodes, Fibber occasionally addresses the mayor as "Homer", although it is unclear whether this is his actual first name, or just another of the show's random unexplained naming gags, as The Old Timer's calling Fibber "Johnny". In one episode, we learn that Fifi Tremaine's pet name for the mayor is "Chuckie". The McGees' regular routine with La Trivia entailed Fibber and Molly misunderstanding a figure of speech, in much the same vein as Abbott & Costello's Who's On First? routine. La Trivia would slowly progress from attempting patient explanation to tongue-tied rage, in Gale Gordon's classic slow-burn. Occasionally, after La Trivia exited a scene, Fibber and Molly's dialogue makes it clear that they were deliberately winding him up.
Foggy Williams (Gordon) as local weatherman and next-door neighbor who tells fanciful stories, lets Fibber borrow his tools, and takes credit or blame for the present weather conditions. He is known for his extensive use of tentative language and usually exits with the line "Good day... probably."
Billy Mills as wisecracking leader of Billy Mills and the Orchestra, who led the show's ensemble through musical numbers in each episode. In addition to standards and popular tunes, Mills occasionally showcased his own original compositions, including "I'm In Love With The Sound Effects Man" (in the episode "Amusement Park" (06/17/41) and later covered by Spike Jones), and "The Cocky Cuckoo" (in the episode "Businessmen's Symphony", (06/12/51)). Mills also was the composer of the longest-running theme song on radio beginning around 1940, also used for the later TV series â he named his composition "Wing To Wing".
Dr. George Gamble (Arthur Q. Bryan) as a local physician and surgeon with whom Fibber had a long-standing rivalry and friendship. The two often come up with creative insults for each other's excessive weight. Before Bryan joined the cast, Gale Gordon played the part of the town doctor in several episodes.
Ole Swenson (Richard LeGrand, who also played Mr. Peavey on The Great Gildersleeve) as a Swedish-born janitor at the Elks Club, often complaining that he was "joost donatin' my time!" His wife's name is Helga, and their children include Kristina, Sven, Lars, and Ole.
Mrs. Abigail Uppington (Isabel Randolph) as a snooty society matron whose pretensions Fibber delighted in deflating. Fibber often addressed her as "Uppy". In the episode "Fibber Hires A Surveyor" (3/26/40) it is revealed that she is having a romantic relationship with orchestra leader Billy Mills, and in the episode "Gildersleeve's Diary" (10/22/40), we learn that she also has a romantic past with Gildersleeve. She also has a relationship with Horation K. Boomer in a few episodes, and the McGees assume he is using her for her money. In several episodes, there are references to the fact that Mrs. Uppington wasn't always rich. In the episode "The Circus Comes to Town" (5/28/40), it is revealed that she met the wealthy Mr. Uppington when she was a circus bareback rider known as Mademoiselle Tootsie Latour. Her horse got scared during a trick, and she accidentally did a double back flip into Mr. Uppington's lap, and he proposed on the spot.
Mrs. Millicent Carstairs (Bea Benaderet) as another of Wistful Vista's high society matrons, known to Fibber as "Carsty". Like Mrs. Uppington, Mrs. Carstairs doesn't come from a wealthy lineage. In "Fibber Thinks He's the Governor's Pal" (12/11/45), she lets slip that before she met Mr. Carstairs she was a blackjack dealer in a gambling joint.
Wallace Wimple (Thompson, using a voice he later employed for the MGM-animated Droopy) Wimple was a soft-spoken man in the Caspar Milquetoast vein. He would enter the episode uttering his mush-mouth catchphrase, "Hello, folks!" Wimple might recite a verse he'd written but more often would recount the latest incident in his ongoing battle with Sweetie-Face, his "big old wife who had the physique and demeanor of a drill sergeant on a bad day. Sweetie-Face was a regular unseen character (actually of course, this being radio, unheard character), appearing in the show only from Wallace's perspective.Wimp, as Fibber called him, often reported provoking an overreaction from Sweetie-Face, followed by his attempt at revenge in a way that could be prankish, painful, or in some stories potentially fatal. One day (03/09/48) when he asked Sweetie-Face what she was doing, Wallace said she told him she was "practicing her weight-lifting." Wallace said he told Sweetie-Face, "My goodness, you do that every time you get up out of a chair. Uh oh, fretted Molly. And then when I regained consciousness, continued Wimple, as she'd left the room. With a typically evil chuckle, Wallace said that he got even by bolting her 200-pound barbell to the floor, causing her to strain so hard the next time she lifted weights that she popped her girdle. Passive-aggressive behavior edging well over the line into domestic violence characterized Wimple's stories. Radio network censors in the 1940s blocked any reference to certain subjects including sex, but the dark humor about domestic violence that was allowed here and in The Honeymooners would likely not be written into a network-TV sitcom today. Though the term wimp was used to describe a weak-willed person predated Fibber McGee and Molly, the Wimple character and Fibber's nickname for him may have contributed to a surge in popular use.
Alice Darling (Shirley Mitchell) as a ditzy and boy-crazy young aircraft-plant worker who boarded with the McGees during the war.
Horatio K. Boomer (Thompson) as a con artist with a W. C. Fields-like voice and delivery.[9] His appearances typically included him rummaging through a pocket or bag or other container and listing the things inside, usually ending with "a check for a short beer".
Nick Depopulis (Thompson) as a Greek-born restaurateur with a tendency toward verbal malapropisms.[9] He normally refers to Fibber and Molly as "Fizzer and Kewpie".
Milt Spilkt as the nephew of Kramer from Kramer's Drugstore.
The Toops Family as Mort and Mabel Toops, and their son Willie, live in the McGees' neighborhood next door to Dr. Gamble. They are rarely heard on the show, but have occasional lines (for example, Mabel has several lines during "Fibber Cooks Dinner for Molly's Birthday" (10/23/51), Mort has some lines in "Halloween Party" (10/28/35), and Willie is heard in "Soapbox Derby Racer for Teeny" (4/24/51)). Willie Toops is most often mentioned in conjunction with Teeny, who sometimes refers to him as her boyfriend or future husband. The character of Beulah first appeared when she stopped at the McGees' on her way to her first day of work at the Toops' house.
Myrtle, also known as "Myrt" as an almost-never-heard-from telephone operator (she makes a brief appearance in the June 22, 1943 episode) that Fibber is friends with. A typical Myrt sketch started with Fibber picking up the phone and demanding, "Operator, give me number 32Oooh, is that you, Myrt? How's every little thing, Myrt? What say, Myrt?" Commonly, this was followed with Fibber relaying what Myrt was telling him to Molly, usually news about Myrt's family, and always ending with a bad pun. Myrtle made one brief on-air appearance on June 22, 1943, when she visited the McGees to wish them a good summer asthe McGees did not recognize her in person.
Fred Nitney as another never-heard character, until episode 715, which aired Jan 6, 1953. They meet and chat briefly at the train station. Fibber's old vaudeville partner from Starved Rock, Illinois.
Aunt Sarah as Molly's rich aunt who always sends useless gifts for Christmas, a silent character.
Fifi Tremaine as another never-heard-from character, Fifi was an actress and was courted by both Doc Gamble and Mayor La Trivia, and Fibber enjoyed pitting the two against each other in their competition for Fifi's affections.
Herbert Appel as a stock boy at the hardware store, his character is distinguished by his odd speech patterns. By putting non-standard emphasis on syllables and sounds, his sentences can be confusing and/or humorous (what would now be considered mondegreen). For example, "I had to get up at eight o'clock" is heard by Fibber and Molly as "I had to get a potato clock", "I got up too early" comes out as "I got up twirly", and his own name sounds like "Herber Tapple" (in "Fibber Puts Up Christmas Lights", 12/20/49).
Beulah as the McGees' black maid and possibly the series' most unusual character. Unlike the situation on The Jack Benny Program, where black actor Eddie Anderson played "Rochester", Beulah was voiced by a Caucasian male, Marlin Hurt. The character's usual opening line, "Somebody bawl fo' Beulah??", often provoked a stunned, screeching sort of laughter among the live studio audience; many of them, seeing the show performed for the first time in person, did not know that the actor voicing Beulah was neither black nor female, and expressed their surprise when Hurt delivered his line. Her other catchphrase, typically delivered after a fit of laughter over a Fibber gag, was, "Love that man!" Hurt had created the Beulah character independently and had portrayed her occasionally on other shows prior to his joining the Fibber McGee and Molly cast.
Lena as the McGees' second maid during the series, she replaced Beulah after the character was spun off into her own show. Like Beulah, Lena was played by male actor Gene Carroll.
Uncle Dennis (Ransom Sherman) as Molly's hard-drinking uncle, Dennis Driscoll, who was the subject of a running gag and was generally never heard. He did appear in a few episodes in 1943, 1944, including "Renting Spare Room" (October 5, 1943), "Fibber Makes His Own Chili Sauce" (November 9, 1943), and "Dinner Out to Celebrate" (January 25, 1944).
Sigmund "Sig" Wellington (Sherman) as the manager of the Bijou Theater
Recurring characters
The other cast members circa 1939.
Fibber McGee and Molly was one of the earliest radio comedies to use regular characters, nearly all of whom had recurring phrases and running gags. These included:
Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve (Harold Peary) as the pompous next-door neighbor with whom Fibber enjoyed twitting and arguing. Introduced in 1939. Harold Peary actually portrayed several Gildersleeve characters before the appearance of Throckmorton. On March 21, 1939 (episode #197), he portrayed Frank, the barber. In the 25 April 1939 episode (#202), Fibber visits an optometrist ("oculist") named Dr. Donald Gildersleeve. In the 20 June 1939 episode, Fibber Has a Toothache, their dentist is Dr. Gildersleeve; although Molly calls him Wilbur, McGee calls him "Wilberforce", and he once had a "thing" for Molly, so it might be a relative to Throckmorton? In the episode "Gildersleeve's Diary" (10/22/40), it is revealed that his middle name is Philharmonic. Many of his interactions with Fibber include the catchphrase "You're a hard man, McGee", in response to a harsh or critical statement from Fibber. Throckmortons's wife is frequently mentioned, never heard, and dropped when Peary moved on to his own show. However, the wife of Homer Gildersleeve (again played by Peary) was briefly heard from in one episode.
The Old-Timer (Bill Thompson) as a hard-of-hearing senior citizen with a penchant for distorting jokes, prefacing each one by saying, "That ain't the way I heer'd it!" For no apparent reason, he refers to Fibber as "Johnny" and Molly as "Daughter". A recurring joke is that he refuses to tell his real name. In the 1940 episode "Mailing Christmas Packages", he is referred to by another character as "Roy", while in one episode (01/29/1946 and reiterated in the episode a week later) he claims his name is "Rupert Blasingame". In the 3/25/41 episode, "Fibber Changes His Name", he appears as Mr. Fumble, a lawyer. Also, in the 3/14/39 episode, Fibber calls him Mr. Sims, but he's having trouble with his memory in this episode, so this may be just an error in remembering, as he also calls Mr. Wilcox "Harpo" for perhaps the first time instead of Harlow, due to poor memory tricks. The Old-Timer's girlfriend is named Bessie, and she usually refers to him as "O.T." In a 15-minute episode near the end of the series, Mcgee and Molly spend the day trying to find one mysterious "Adleton P. Bagshaw," only to discover him to be the Old-Timer. At the Mcgees' surprise the Old-Timer says, "You mean to stand there with your bare face hanging out in the wind and tell me you don't know my name. . . pretty discouragin' when folks you consider your friends for nigh on twenty years don't even know."
Teeny, also known as "Little Girl" and "Sis" (Marian Jordan) as a precocious youngster who frequently tried to cadge loose change from Fibber (often in cahoots with her rarely heard best friend Willie Toops). She often ended her sentences with "I betcha!", and when someone mentioned food, or a word that sounded like a food, she usually responded "I'm hungry." Teeny was also known to lose track of her own conversations. When Fibber showed interest in what she was saying, she would forget all about it, and her conversation would switch from telling to asking. After Fibber repeated everything she had been telling him, Teeny would reply "I know!" or "I know it!" in a condescending way. Her appearances were sometimes foreshadowed by Molly excusing herself to the kitchen or to have a nap. Fibber would wistfully deliver a compliment to her, saying, "Ah, there goes a good kid," upon which the doorbell would ring and Teeny would appear, usually greeting Fibber with "Hi, mister!" On rare occasions Molly and Teeny would interact.[9] In the December 21, 1948 broadcast Fibber learned that her real name was "Elizabeth" from a Christmas card she had sent him. She was perpetually a child, and her permanent youth was only mentioned once; Fibber asked her how old she was, to which she responded, "Five". Then he asked how long she'd been coming over to visit him and Molly. "Nine years," she answered. Then, after a pause, she asked, "Ain't it a wonderful world, mister?"
Mayor La Trivia (Gale Gordon) as the mayor of Wistful Vista, whose name was inspired by New York City's famous mayor Fiorello La Guardia. In later episodes, Fibber occasionally addresses the mayor as "Homer", although it is unclear whether this is his actual first name, or just another of the show's random unexplained naming gags, as The Old Timer's calling Fibber "Johnny". In one episode, we learn that Fifi Tremaine's pet name for the mayor is "Chuckie". The McGees' regular routine with La Trivia entailed Fibber and Molly misunderstanding a figure of speech, in much the same vein as Abbott & Costello's Who's On First? routine. La Trivia would slowly progress from attempting patient explanation to tongue-tied rage, in Gale Gordon's classic slow-burn. Occasionally, after La Trivia exited a scene, Fibber and Molly's dialogue makes it clear that they were deliberately winding him up.
Foggy Williams (Gordon) as local weatherman and next-door neighbor who tells fanciful stories, lets Fibber borrow his tools, and takes credit or blame for the present weather conditions. He is known for his extensive use of tentative language and usually exits with the line "Good day... probably."
Billy Mills as wisecracking leader of Billy Mills and the Orchestra, who led the show's ensemble through musical numbers in each episode. In addition to standards and popular tunes, Mills occasionally showcased his own original compositions, including "I'm In Love With The Sound Effects Man" (in the episode "Amusement Park" (06/17/41) and later covered by Spike Jones), and "The Cocky Cuckoo" (in the episode "Businessmen's Symphony", (06/12/51)). Mills also was the composer of the longest-running theme song on radio beginning around 1940, also used for the later TV series â he named his composition "Wing To Wing".
Dr. George Gamble (Arthur Q. Bryan) as a local physician and surgeon with whom Fibber had a long-standing rivalry and friendship. The two often come up with creative insults for each other's excessive weight. Before Bryan joined the cast, Gale Gordon played the part of the town doctor in several episodes.
Ole Swenson (Richard LeGrand, who also played Mr. Peavey on The Great Gildersleeve) as a Swedish-born janitor at the Elks Club, often complaining that he was "joost donatin' my time!" His wife's name is Helga, and their children include Kristina, Sven, Lars, and Ole.
Mrs. Abigail Uppington (Isabel Randolph) as a snooty society matron whose pretensions Fibber delighted in deflating. Fibber often addressed her as "Uppy". In the episode "Fibber Hires A Surveyor" (3/26/40) it is revealed that she is having a romantic relationship with orchestra leader Billy Mills, and in the episode "Gildersleeve's Diary" (10/22/40), we learn that she also has a romantic past with Gildersleeve. She also has a relationship with Horation K. Boomer in a few episodes, and the McGees assume he is using her for her money. In several episodes, there are references to the fact that Mrs. Uppington wasn't always rich. In the episode "The Circus Comes to Town" (5/28/40), it is revealed that she met the wealthy Mr. Uppington when she was a circus bareback rider known as Mademoiselle Tootsie Latour. Her horse got scared during a trick, and she accidentally did a double back flip into Mr. Uppington's lap, and he proposed on the spot.
Mrs. Millicent Carstairs (Bea Benaderet) as another of Wistful Vista's high society matrons, known to Fibber as "Carsty". Like Mrs. Uppington, Mrs. Carstairs doesn't come from a wealthy lineage. In "Fibber Thinks He's the Governor's Pal" (12/11/45), she lets slip that before she met Mr. Carstairs she was a blackjack dealer in a gambling joint.
Wallace Wimple (Thompson, using a voice he later employed for the MGM-animated Droopy) Wimple was a soft-spoken man in the Caspar Milquetoast vein. He would enter the episode uttering his mush-mouth catchphrase, "Hello, folks!" Wimple might recite a verse he'd written but more often would recount the latest incident in his ongoing battle with Sweetie-Face, his "big old wife who had the physique and demeanor of a drill sergeant on a bad day. Sweetie-Face was a regular unseen character (actually of course, this being radio, unheard character), appearing in the show only from Wallace's perspective.Wimp, as Fibber called him, often reported provoking an overreaction from Sweetie-Face, followed by his attempt at revenge in a way that could be prankish, painful, or in some stories potentially fatal. One day (03/09/48) when he asked Sweetie-Face what she was doing, Wallace said she told him she was "practicing her weight-lifting." Wallace said he told Sweetie-Face, "My goodness, you do that every time you get up out of a chair. Uh oh, fretted Molly. And then when I regained consciousness, continued Wimple, as she'd left the room. With a typically evil chuckle, Wallace said that he got even by bolting her 200-pound barbell to the floor, causing her to strain so hard the next time she lifted weights that she popped her girdle. Passive-aggressive behavior edging well over the line into domestic violence characterized Wimple's stories. Radio network censors in the 1940s blocked any reference to certain subjects including sex, but the dark humor about domestic violence that was allowed here and in The Honeymooners would likely not be written into a network-TV sitcom today. Though the term wimp was used to describe a weak-willed person predated Fibber McGee and Molly, the Wimple character and Fibber's nickname for him may have contributed to a surge in popular use.
Alice Darling (Shirley Mitchell) as a ditzy and boy-crazy young aircraft-plant worker who boarded with the McGees during the war.
Horatio K. Boomer (Thompson) as a con artist with a W. C. Fields-like voice and delivery.[9] His appearances typically included him rummaging through a pocket or bag or other container and listing the things inside, usually ending with "a check for a short beer".
Nick Depopulis (Thompson) as a Greek-born restaurateur with a tendency toward verbal malapropisms.[9] He normally refers to Fibber and Molly as "Fizzer and Kewpie".
Milt Spilkt as the nephew of Kramer from Kramer's Drugstore.
The Toops Family as Mort and Mabel Toops, and their son Willie, live in the McGees' neighborhood next door to Dr. Gamble. They are rarely heard on the show, but have occasional lines (for example, Mabel has several lines during "Fibber Cooks Dinner for Molly's Birthday" (10/23/51), Mort has some lines in "Halloween Party" (10/28/35), and Willie is heard in "Soapbox Derby Racer for Teeny" (4/24/51)). Willie Toops is most often mentioned in conjunction with Teeny, who sometimes refers to him as her boyfriend or future husband. The character of Beulah first appeared when she stopped at the McGees' on her way to her first day of work at the Toops' house.
Myrtle, also known as "Myrt" as an almost-never-heard-from telephone operator (she makes a brief appearance in the June 22, 1943 episode) that Fibber is friends with. A typical Myrt sketch started with Fibber picking up the phone and demanding, "Operator, give me number 32Oooh, is that you, Myrt? How's every little thing, Myrt? What say, Myrt?" Commonly, this was followed with Fibber relaying what Myrt was telling him to Molly, usually news about Myrt's family, and always ending with a bad pun. Myrtle made one brief on-air appearance on June 22, 1943, when she visited the McGees to wish them a good summer asthe McGees did not recognize her in person.
Fred Nitney as another never-heard character, until episode 715, which aired Jan 6, 1953. They meet and chat briefly at the train station. Fibber's old vaudeville partner from Starved Rock, Illinois.
Aunt Sarah as Molly's rich aunt who always sends useless gifts for Christmas, a silent character.
Fifi Tremaine as another never-heard-from character, Fifi was an actress and was courted by both Doc Gamble and Mayor La Trivia, and Fibber enjoyed pitting the two against each other in their competition for Fifi's affections.
Herbert Appel as a stock boy at the hardware store, his character is distinguished by his odd speech patterns. By putting non-standard emphasis on syllables and sounds, his sentences can be confusing and/or humorous (what would now be considered mondegreen). For example, "I had to get up at eight o'clock" is heard by Fibber and Molly as "I had to get a potato clock", "I got up too early" comes out as "I got up twirly", and his own name sounds like "Herber Tapple" (in "Fibber Puts Up Christmas Lights", 12/20/49).
Beulah as the McGees' black maid and possibly the series' most unusual character. Unlike the situation on The Jack Benny Program, where black actor Eddie Anderson played "Rochester", Beulah was voiced by a Caucasian male, Marlin Hurt. The character's usual opening line, "Somebody bawl fo' Beulah??", often provoked a stunned, screeching sort of laughter among the live studio audience; many of them, seeing the show performed for the first time in person, did not know that the actor voicing Beulah was neither black nor female, and expressed their surprise when Hurt delivered his line. Her other catchphrase, typically delivered after a fit of laughter over a Fibber gag, was, "Love that man!" Hurt had created the Beulah character independently and had portrayed her occasionally on other shows prior to his joining the Fibber McGee and Molly cast.
Lena as the McGees' second maid during the series, she replaced Beulah after the character was spun off into her own show. Like Beulah, Lena was played by male actor Gene Carroll.
Uncle Dennis (Ransom Sherman) as Molly's hard-drinking uncle, Dennis Driscoll, who was the subject of a running gag and was generally never heard. He did appear in a few episodes in 1943, 1944, including "Renting Spare Room" (October 5, 1943), "Fibber Makes His Own Chili Sauce" (November 9, 1943), and "Dinner Out to Celebrate" (January 25, 1944).
Sigmund "Sig" Wellington (Sherman) as the manager of the Bijou Theater
Jan 26, 2018 22:24:39 #
Here is the second of the Fibber McGee and Molly radio show series about welcoming home Mayor LaTrivia home from his Pacific trip.
Jan 26, 2018 22:28:08 #
Jan 27, 2018 06:03:53 #
I remember being a sick kid on occasion and spending the day listening to the radio. Great memories.
Jan 27, 2018 06:45:34 #
Jan 27, 2018 07:48:54 #
Jan 27, 2018 08:55:46 #
Jan 27, 2018 09:13:52 #
Sure do!! I remember most of the past radio shows including, Superman, Quiz Kids, Answer Man, Nick Carter, The Green Hornet, Gang Busters, Sargent Preston, Jack Benny, Jack Armstrong and others. I loved radio shows.
Thanks for posting!
Mark
Thanks for posting!
Mark
Jan 27, 2018 09:37:43 #
Jan 27, 2018 10:05:00 #
Markngolf, I remember them all to. Days when people ask what is TV or if your family had one it was a one channel deal.
Jan 27, 2018 11:10:35 #
Jan 27, 2018 11:41:28 #
Jan 27, 2018 11:51:00 #
I remember just about all of these, they played over AFRTS (Armed Forces Radio & Television Service) when I was overseas. At least the radio portion. I rather enjoyed listening to them.
Jan 27, 2018 12:02:26 #
My five grandchildren ages 6-12 love it as well as other old radio shows. Of course, their mother enjoyed them as a child as well - they're great to listen to on car trips.
Jan 27, 2018 12:04:00 #
Very good Jackel!
I always looked forward to the opening of Fibber McGee's closet.
What great memories!
Thanks for bringing them back!
I always looked forward to the opening of Fibber McGee's closet.
What great memories!
Thanks for bringing them back!
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