GI Jill was Martha Wilkerson, co-producer and wife of producer Robert M.Warner Mort Werner, who played the part of Jack. The series began in San Francisco and was called "Hi Neighbour". SSD took over production in May 1943 for 56 shows. It was revamped a few months later. It appears to have lasted until at least Nov 1949. This according to McKenzie, and that's how he spelled "Neighbour".
With G.I.s overseas, the biggest attraction on radio is a pretty, breezy blonde with a high-school-fresh voice named Martha Wilkerson. Most U.S. civilians never heard of her-but from Kodiak to Canberra, Martha is a top G.I. favorite. Last week, with her 870th broadcast, Martha Wilkerson could boast of receiving one-fourth of all the fan mail inspired by the Armed Forces Radio Service's 122 air shows.
Her husband, Mort Wener began his career in the mid-1930s as an entertainer, singing and accompanying himself on the piano on Radio Station KFRC in San Francisco. (At the time, part of the Don Lee-Columbia Network. KFRC's General Manager at the time was one Sylvester "Pat" Weaver.) In the 1960s and 1970s, Mort Werner was NBC-TV's Vice President in charge of Programming.
Mort worked in Hollywood and when WWII started he ran the Office of War Information which was located in the Taft Building, on the corner of Hollywood and Vine, and which produced "GI Jill's" radio program.
Every week Mort visited the largest record store in Hollywood, Wallichs' Music City (at the corner of Sunset and Vine) where he picked out a bunch of the latest hit records for "Jill" to play that week.
Recording six days a week in Los Angeles, Martha Wilkerson uses the aeronym, "G.I. Jill." Her transcriptions, flown out in six-day batches by A.F.R.S., are tenderly passed from one mosquito network to the next
Martha attempted to answer every letter received and sent a pic out with each response.
With G.I.s overseas, the biggest attraction on radio is a pretty, breezy blonde with a high-school-fresh voice named Martha Wilkerson. Most U.S. civilians never heard of her-but from Kodiak to Canberra, Martha is a top G.I. favorite. Last week, with her 870th broadcast, Martha Wilkerson could boast of receiving one-fourth of all the fan mail inspired by the Armed Forces Radio Service's 122 air shows.Her husband, Mort Wener began his career in the mid-1930s as an entertainer, singing and accompanying himself on the piano on Radio Station KFRC in San Francisco. (At the time, part of the Don Lee-Columbia Network. KFRC's General Manager at the time was one Sylvester "Pat" Weaver.) In the 1960s and 1970s, Mort Werner was NBC-TV's Vice President in charge of Programming.
Mort worked in Hollywood and when WWII started he ran the Office of War Information which was located in the Taft Building, on the corner of Hollywood and Vine, and which produced "GI Jill's" radio program.
Every week Mort visited the largest record store in Hollywood, Wallichs' Music City (at the corner of Sunset and Vine) where he picked out a bunch of the latest hit records for "Jill" to play that week.
Recording six days a week in Los Angeles, Martha Wilkerson uses the aeronym, "G.I. Jill." Her transcriptions, flown out in six-day batches by A.F.R.S., are tenderly passed from one mosquito network to the next
Martha attempted to answer every letter received and sent a pic out with each response.
Martha was the best!!! She had such a wonderful voice and easy manner that I'm sure that every American serviceman back then fell in love with her.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the great work you did back then, Martha. You'll never be forgotten.
I guess the Vietnam War era counterpart would have been Chris Noel. Both were great for the service personnel.
ReplyDelete