Skip to main content

January 17: Happy Birthday, Betty White

January 17: Happy Birthday, Betty White

Recently made re-famous by a facebook campaign which 125,000 urged Saturday Night Live to have her as a host, Betty White is now on television ads and a ninety-one-year-old pop culture phenom. Many think of her as Rose Nylund in the popular 1980's television sitcom Golden Girls.

However, this Emmy-winning actress and former model also lent her charm to oldtime radio.
Casual fans may not remember, but Ms. White appeared on two known episodes of This Is Your FBI and three of Empire Builders.

The Empire Builder was a show chronicling adventures on a train by that name that traveled the nation. One of White's appearances was on Dec. 22, 1930, when she played a ten-year-old crippled orphan girl, Ann, who meets a wealthy bachelor.

She appeared on the "Big Buildup" episode of This Is Your FBI on Aug. 15, 1947, and on "Larcenous Bride" on Aug. 12, 1949. One wonders if she herself remembers these long-ago gigs. Let's do our part to keep the memory alive!

Comments

  1. One of the all time greats!!! I remember Life With Elizabeth!!!! A very valuable "Golden Girl." Here's to 91 more Hot years

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

1946 Great Crepitation Fart Contest

Not for the faint of heart, here is the remarkable 1946 Crepitation (Fart) Contest (part of the 1946 News Broadcasts Collection ). You'll enjoy the fart-off between champion Englishman Lord Windsmear, and  challenger, Australian Paul Boomer who had stowed aboard a cabbage freighter. The hilarious comedy recording was apparently created a spoof by two Canadian radio sportscasters in 1946, but this 15 minute recording definitely has some gems in it.  Apparently they made several copies, but it was not for distribution. The recording was copied again and again on disc and reel to reel tape. It was distributed underground and played in dark rooms and back alleys around the world. If you cannot see the audio controls, your browser does not support the audio element This recording is available with many other delightful treats on Random Rarities #7 available on   MP3 CD ,  Audio CD , and  instant download .

October 14, 1906 Benita Hume was born

On this day in 1906, Benita Hume was born.

February 10: Happy Birthday, Jimmy Durante

February 10: Happy Birthday, Jimmy Durante Actor, personality, voice-over expert and owner of a famous "schnozzola," Jimmy Durante was born on this day in 1893. Jimmy's calling card was his raspy, urbane voice. He hosted the Durante-Moore Show with partner Garry Moore and went solo with The Jimmy Durante Show in 1947. "Dat's my boy dat said dat!" was a catchphrase on the first iteration of the program. Like many shows of the era, The Jimmy Durante Show featured comedy and music. Do you remember guest appearances by: Lucille Ball , Victor Moore, Bing Crosby , and Al Jolson ? After his radio career, Durante voiced the Narrator of the 1969 cartoon special "Frosty the Snowman." He died in Santa Monica on Jan. 29, 1980.