Category: Television
Helen Diller, Cincinnati’s first TV “star”
The first “star” of Cincinnati television died recently. I use quotation marks because Helen Diller Hinn would've gotten a big laugh from that opening sentence. Helen was 96 years young when she passed away quietly at her apartment in Lancaster, California on March 24, 2014. Born in Winnipeg in 1917,... Continue Reading »
Ruby Wright, Cincinnati Vocalist
It’s hard to believe that popular Cincinnati vocalist Ruby Wright passed away ten years ago this year. It’s perhaps even more difficult that today marks the centennial of her birth. One-hundred years ago, on January 8, 1914, Ruby Wright was born in Anderson, Indiana. Destined for a career in show... Continue Reading »
Quiz 9 – William Conrad
If you've just checked our blog, we're playing a game on our Facebook “Media Heritage, Inc.” and “Big Broadcast” pages. If you'd like to play, “like” one or both of those Facebook pages and on Mondays, we'll post a photo of an old radio “second banana”…a secondary or character actor... Continue Reading »
Quiz 8 – Joan Banks
Fans of the classic early-1950s radio drama Nightbeat know the lead character, Randy Stone, was played by actor Frank Lovejoy. However, fans might not know that the actress who often played the femme fatale on Nightbeat, Joan Banks, was Lovejoy's real-life wife. Joan Banks was born... Continue Reading »
Quiz 7 – Frank Nelson
One of the attributes that made The Jack Benny Program such a radio and TV tour de force was the wide range of its talented stock characters and “second bananas.” In addition to the principle cast-members, fans remember Mel Blanc and Artie Auerbach and the unique humor of actor Frank Nelson, among... Continue Reading »
Quiz 6 – Arthur Q Bryan
If you're a fan of classic radio or if you've watched those classic Warner Brothers cartoons, you'll certainly recognize the voice of Arthur Q. Bryan. Bryan was born (in 1899) and raised in New York City where he struggled to find steady work as an actor, so he moved to Hollywood in the early 1930s... Continue Reading »
Quiz 5 – Irene (and Tim) Ryan
Long before she achieved fame portraying “Granny” for nine seasons on television's Beverly Hillbillies, Irene Ryan enjoyed a solid career in film and on radio. Born in Texas in 1902, Irene Noblette grew up in San Francisco and performed in local theater there... Continue Reading »
Quiz 4 – Hans Conreid Jr.
Hans Conried, Jr. is our versatile “second banana” this week. Born in 1917 in Baltimore, Conried began his acting career on stage doing mostly classical roles. He did a little movie work in the 1930s before joining Orson Welles’ Mercury Theater Players in 1939. Hans was in... Continue Reading »
Quiz 3 – Agnes Moorehead
This week, our celebrity “second banana” is Agnes Moorehead....Agnes was born in 1900 in Massachusetts and she died in 1974 in Minnesota, however she's buried right up the road from Cincinnati in Dayton Memorial Park. She graduated from Muskingum College in Ohio with... Continue Reading »
Quiz 2 – Teddy Bergman
This week, our celebrity “second banana” is Teddy Bergman….born Herbert Theodore Bergman in New York City in 1907. Bergman was a master of dialects, at one time proclaiming he could speak in some 22-different voices. Because of this talent, he was a popular character actor on many... Continue Reading »
Quiz 1 – Elliott Lewis
This week, and for the next few weeks, we're playing a game on our Facebook “Media Heritage, Inc.” and “Big Broadcast” pages. If you'd like to play, “like” one or both of those Facebook pages and on Mondays, we'll post a photo of an old radio “second banana”…a secondary or... Continue Reading »
Bob and Ray: Keener Than Most Persons
Few radio personalities had as much success advancing, and making fun of, radio broadcasting in the 1950s than Bob and Ray. With an off-brand and completely unique style of humor, Bob Elliott and Ray Goulding inspired and influenced many—from Bob Newhart to Woody Allen. The story of Bob and Ray... Continue Reading »