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Showing posts with the label Dennis Day

VERNA FELTON

  Say Hello To- VERNA FELTON—whose specialty on the air is playing mothers. You’ve heard her as Dennis Day ’s mother on the JackBenny program and as the mother of practically every famous personality dramatized by Hedda Hopper . Verna’s own mother, Clara Allen, was a noted actress, and Verna herself began acting when she was six. In 1923 she married Lee Millar, stage and radio star in his own right, and now they are one of Hollywood ’s ideally happy couples. They own right, and now they are one of Hollywood ’s ideally happy couples. They own a home with a garden composed entirely of old-fashioned flowers, where Verna spends most of her time when she’s not on the air, and they have one son, Lee, Jr., whose nickname is Spuddy . PLENTY PROUD is the mother of tenor Dennis Day , singing star of the Jack Benny program. Dennis Keeps busy while Benny’s show vacations for the summer months, makes an appearance Sunday on “Pause That Refreshes”

Dennis Day Predicts Sex Out For TV

The Tuscaloosa News – Feb 8, 1952 Dennis Day Predicts Sex Out For TV By BOB THOMAS HOLLYWOOD —(AP)— Dennis, Day , whose television show makes its debut tonight, predicts home viewers will be getting less plunging necklines and racy stories in the future. “Sex has got to go, as far as TV in concerned,” he remarked as he paused between strenuous rehearsals. “Sex was exploited during the early days, when TV was trying to gain attention. You still see quite a bit of it; I hear some comedians telling stories that make me blush. “But I think the industry is growing up. It doesn’t need sex any more. Furthermore, if the shows aren’t cleaned up, TV will be inviting censorship from outside sources, which would be bad. “So far, the only censoring has been done by the individual performers and packagers of shows. I think they and the networks now realize that they will have to avoid any criticism about program material.” Day has stuck by these theories in his selecti

JACK BENNY’S RADIO GANG

St. Joseph News-Press – Nov 2, 1947 -Associated Press JACK BENNY ’S RADIO GANG . . . Jack Benny , one of radio’s top performers has just signed a three-year contract, after 15 consecutive years before the microphone. During that time Jack and his program co-workers, Mary Livingston (his wife, Sadye Marks) , Dennis Day , PhilHarris and Rochester have become households words. In above sketch, AP News-feature Artist Milt Morris pictures the radio comedian and his aids looking over a script. They are (left to right), back row, Don Wilson, Rochester and DennisDay . Front row (left to right), Mary Livingston, Phil Harris and Jack Benny . Jack Benny at Times Becomes Fed Up With Roles He Has Created By RALPH DIGHTON HOLLYWOOD, Nov. 1 (AP)— Jack Benny as not bald. Jack Benny is not stingy. Jack Benny does not make Dennis Day mow his lawn. That is, Jack is not completely bald, he is not as stingy as he pretends on his radio program, and he doesn’t e

Larry Stevens

February 1945 Radio find of the year is Jack Benny ’s new singer, Larry Stevens. The baritone was completely unknown, and had never performed commercially, until he participated in a Freddy Martin bond rally at Los Angeles’ Cocoanut Grove . Spotted by a scout immediately, Larry soon tried out for Mary Livingstone —and was signed up for the place vacated by Dennis Day on the NBC show.

Don Wilson

St. Joseph Gazette- Apr 27, 1982 Don Wilson, radio – TV figure, dies -AP Don Wilson dead PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (AP)—Don Wilson, the rotund foll of Jack Benny ’s comedy routines on radio and television for more than 30 years, has died at the age of 81. Wilson was found unconscious Sunday at his home in Cathedral City and was taken to Eisenhower Medical Center. Doctors at the hospital were unable to revive him and he was pronounced dead at 6:51 p.m. The cause of death was listed as a cerebral vascular accident or stroke. He joined the Jack Benny radio show in 1933 after working as a sports announcer for NBC . He was initially only the program’s announcer, but Benny soon worked him into the show as a regular character. His wife, Lois Corbet, also eventually became a character on the radio and television shows, along with Eddie “Rochester” Anderson. Dennis Day , Phil Harris , Mary Livingston , Artie “Mr. Kitzel” Auerbach, Mel Blanc , Bea Benaderet , Verna Felton, Fran