query: who played the little girl on fibber mcgee and molly

pos: Fibber McGee and Molly Wistful Vista. Marlin Hurt's "Beulah" was also spun off, leading to both a radio and television show that would eventually star Hattie McDaniel and Ethel Waters. Jim and Marian Jordan themselves occasionally appeared on other programs, away from their Fibber and Molly characters. One memorable episode of "Suspense" ("Backseat Driver", 02-03-1949) cast the Jordans as victims of a car-jacking; Jim Jordan's tense, interior monologues were especially dramatic. The Jordans portrayed their characters in four movies. In the early years of the radio show, they were supporting characters in the 1937 Paramount film "This Way Please", starring Charles "Buddy" Rogers and

pos: Fibber McGee and Molly it". Marian Jordan portrayed both a lady named Marian and a little girl named Teeny, as well as accompanying the program on piano. During the show's run, Marian Jordan voiced a total of 69 different characters. "Smackout" was picked up by NBC in April 1933 and broadcast nationally until August 1935. One of the S. C. Johnson company's owners, Henrietta Johnson Lewis, recommended that her husband, John, Johnson Wax's advertising manager, try the show out on a national network. The terms of the agreement between S. C. Johnson and the Jordans awarded the company ownership of the names "Fibber McGee"

pos: Marian Driscoll Jordan was head writer, was the Jordans' first nationwide success. It was also one of the first situation comedies (sitcoms). "Smackout" ended in 1935 after its sponsorship was taken over by the Johnson Wax Company. The Jordans and Don Quinn collaborated on the creation of a new show for Johnson Wax, "Fibber McGee and Molly". On April 16, 1935, Marian Jordan, her husband Jim, and writer Don Quinn, began broadcasting "Fibber McGee and Molly", on the NBC Blue Network Chicago radio affiliate WMAQ. The series was a big hit. Marian played the role of Molly McGee, the patient and intelligent wife

pos: Fibber McGee and Molly Fibber McGee and Molly 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. "Fibber McGee and Molly",

pos: Lux Radio Theatre movie's actual stars, Myrna Loy and William Powell. Though the show focused on film and its performers, several classic radio regulars appeared in "Lux Radio Theatre" productions. Jim and Marian Jordan, better known as Fibber McGee and Molly, appeared on the show twice and also built an episode of their own radio comedy series around one of those appearances. Their longtime costar, Arthur Q. Bryan (wisecracking Doc Gamble on "Fibber McGee and Molly"), made a few "Lux" appearances as well. Bandleader Phil Harris, a longtime regular on Jack Benny's radio program and his wife Alice Faye, who became radio stars

pos: Fibber McGee and Molly Molly was the name of Marian Jordan's radio character. Jordan was then able to resume his "Goodnight, Molly" signoff. In January 1939, the show moved from NBC Chicago to the new West Coast Radio City in Hollywood. "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: The radio show was run on a tight schedule. It was considered to be one of the best organized broadcasts on the networks. Jim Jordan insisted that after the Tuesday broadcast everyone affiliated with the program

pos: Fibber McGee and Molly (like digging an oil well in the back yard), antagonizing as many people as possible, and patient Molly indulging his foibles and providing loving support, not to mention a tireless parade of neighbors and friends in and out of the quiet home, "Fibber McGee and Molly" built its audience steadily, but once it found the full volume of that audience in 1940, they rarely let go of it. Marian Jordan took a protracted absence from the show from November 1937 to April 1939 to deal with a lifelong battle with alcoholism, although this was attributed to "fatigue" in public statements

pos: Harlow Wilcox (announcer) eventually decided to try radio and met Jim and Marian Jordan at a station in Chicago. An April 1944 article in Radio Mirror magazine reported:Jim and Marion [sic] Jordan were just getting a toehold in radio in Chicago then and Wilcox helped them cut some records. When the pair landed their own radio show, they asked for Wilcox as their announcer. The future triumphs of the trio are well known to all Fibber McGee and Molly fans. When the Jordans moved out to Hollywood in 1939, Wilcox went with them and now, even when Fibber McGee and Molly leave the

pos: Fibber McGee and Molly character, on the radio version of "My Friend Irma". Bill Davenport served as head writer for this series. The only radio alumnus to appear as a regular cast member was Harold Peary, who took the role of Mayor La Trivia. The television show was unable to recreate the flavor and humor of the radio version and did not survive its first season, ending its run in January 1960. A pilot episode and at least three episodes of the television series have lapsed into the public domain. In 1953, Marian Jordan's periodic health problems necessitated the shortening of "Fibber McGee and

pos: Jittery Jester near the tree where Woody's located. Dooley, knowing that his job's at stake, has no desire to take Woody to the king, and he uses all kinds of tricks and devices to try to eliminate the competition. Woody outwits the jester; some of Dooley's tactics end up harming the king, who uses the line "Tain't funny, Dooley (a parody of a catchphrase from "Fibber McGee and Molly", when Molly {Marian Jordan} sometimes tells McGee {Jim Jordan}, "Tain't funny, McGee"), and we finally see Woody, in the jester's costume, before the king, with Dooley clapped in the stocks. (In the previous

pos: Marian Driscoll Jordan a radio show in Chicago entitled "Luke and Mirandy". She played the role of Mirandy with her husband Jim as Luke. It was a farm-report program in which Luke told tall tales and face-saving lies for comedic effect. Marian Jordan also appeared as Molly in six movies based on "Fibber McGee and Molly." Marian married Jim Jordan on August 31, 1918 in Peoria. They were married for almost 43 years until her death on April 7, 1961. They had two children: Kathryn Therese Jordan, (1920–2007) and James Carroll "Jim" Jordan, (1923–December 23, 1998). She was a Roman Catholic. The deterioration

pos: The Great Gildersleeve a carnival barker in "Practice What You Preach" (1955). After joining Jim and Marian Jordan (as Fibber McGee and Molly) and fellow radio favorite Edgar Bergen in "Look Who's Laughing" (1941) and "Here We Go Again" (1942), Peary received top billing for a brief series of RKO films. "The Great Gildersleeve" (1942) also carried Randolph from the radio cast to the screen, with Nancy Gates as Marjorie and Freddie Mercer as Leroy. Walter Tetley, who played Leroy on radio, could not appear on screen as Leroy because he was actually an adult playing a child character. "Gildersleeve's Bad Day" (1943)

pos: Marian Driscoll Jordan alone from Joliet, Illinois to Pasadena, California in March 1939. She was able to return to the character of "Molly," and some listeners considered her better than before. The show received high ratings, from season three in 1938 until the end of its run. It also gave birth to a spin-off. In 1941, a recurring character, Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve, (played by Harold Peary), began a new show called "The Great Gildersleeve". The radio and television series "Beulah" was also a spin-off of "Fibber McGee and Molly". (Beulah was the housekeeper.) Marian Jordan's health began to deteriorate in the 1950s. This

pos: Fibber McGee and Molly must take a two-day rest. Nothing is done about the following Tuesday's show until Friday morning. Then Jim and Marian Jordan get together with writer Don Quinn and agency producer Cecil Underwood to talk the next script into shape. They work in a business office because they're convinced that the businesslike and efficient atmosphere helps them to get the work done in two hours. By Saturday morning, Quinn had the first draft of the script ready, and "Fibber" reads it, after which Quinn goes ahead to write the final, working script. He does this Sunday night, working all night and

pos: Jim Jordan (actor) nor Don Quinn (nor Quinn's successor as head writer of the radio show, Phil Leslie) transitioned to the new series; new writers were brought in, and both the McGees were recast. The television version of "Fibber McGee and Molly", with Bob Sweeney as Fibber, was a critical and commercial failure. Marian Jordan died in April 1961. Jim Jordan married Gretchen Stewart (1909-1998), the widow of radio comic Harry Stewart (Yogi Yorgesson) in 1962; they remained married for the rest of his life, and he remained in semi-retirement, other than a brief comeback in the mid-1970s when Jordan appeared in an

neg: Fibber McGee and Molly Warner Brothers Looney Tunes cartoons, which also borrowed lines from "Fibber McGee and Molly" from time to time), Isabel Randolph (as Mrs. Uppington), Marlin Hurt (a white male who played in dialect the McGee's maid, Beulah), and others. They were also expert at their own running gags and catchphrases, many of which entered the American vernacular: "That ain't the way "I" heeard it!"; "'T'ain't funny, McGee!" and "Heavenly days!" were the three best known. "Fibber McGee and Molly" spun two supporting characters off into their own shows. By far the most successful and popular was Harold Peary's Gildersleeve, spun into

neg: Fibber McGee and Molly Finally, after the last of the "Just Molly and Me" shorts ceased production, an attempt at getting the McGees onto television came in September 1959. The "Fibber McGee and Molly" TV series was produced by William Asher for NBC (and co-sponsored by Singer Corporation and Standard Brands). Neither of the Jordans, nor Phil Leslie (the head writer by the end of the radio series), took part in the series. The decision was made to recast both roles, with younger actors Bob Sweeney and Cathy Lewis as Fibber and Molly respectively; Lewis had previously played Jane Stacy, a very similar straight-woman

neg: Fibber McGee and Molly McGee and Molly" to Chicago's Museum of Broadcast Communications after his death in 1988. Perhaps fittingly for his longtime radio alter ego, Jordan died on April Fool's Day. The show has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame next to the NBC studios where the show was performed. The S.C. Johnson Company has preserved more than 700 shows it sponsored for fifteen years. Fibber McGee and Molly 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

neg: Fibber McGee and Molly "It's Hillary Horton". Gale Gordon played Otis Cadwalader, Molly's ex-boyfriend in "Here We Go Again". Arthur Q. Bryan played the Mayor's aide in "Look Who's Laughing". The Jordans' participation in "Look Who's Laughing" was set up in the Fibber McGee & Molly episode "Amusement Park" (6/17/41), in which Gale Gordon played an RKO pictures representative who followed the McGees around the amusement park and chose the McGees as a representative American couple to star in a movie with Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy. The day before the film's real-life premiere in San Francisco, the movie had its fictional opening in

neg: The Great Gildersleeve its transition from the parent show into the spin-off and later in four feature films released at the height of the show's popularity. In "Fibber McGee and Molly", Peary's Gildersleeve had been a pompous windbag and antagonist of Fibber McGee. "You're a "haa-aa-aa-aard" man, McGee!" became a Gildersleeve catchphrase. The character went by several aliases on "Fibber McGee and Molly"; his middle name was revealed to be "Philharmonic" in "Fibber Discovers Gildersleeve's Locked Diary" episode #258 on October 22, 1940. "Gildy" grew so popular that Kraft Foods—promoting its Parkay margarine—sponsored a new series featuring Peary's somewhat mellowed and always befuddled

neg: Fibber McGee and Molly recalling an interesting nickname he picked up over the years. Each one of these nicknames is, as usual with Fibber, a bad pun. When someone told a man named Addison that McGee was a glib talker, McGee became known as "Ad Glib McGee". Or, when Fibber made expressions with his eyes, he was nicknamed "Eyes-a-muggin' McGee" (a play on the popular Stuff Smith swing tune "I'se A-muggin'"). From there Fibber jumps headfirst into a long, breathless and boastful description of his nickname, using an admirable amount of alliteration. Mentioned for a time on the program was Otis Cadwallader, who was

neg: Fibber McGee and Molly "Fibber McGee and Molly" originated when the small-time husband-and-wife vaudevillians began their third year as Chicago-area radio performers. Two of the shows they did for station WENR beginning in 1927, both written by Harry Lawrence, bore traces of what was to come and rank as one of the earliest forms of situation comedy. In their "Luke and Mirandy" farm-report program, Jim played a farmer who was given to tall tales and face-saving lies for comic effect. In a weekly comedy, "The Smith Family", Marian's character was an Irish wife of an American police officer. These characterizations, plus the Jordans' change

neg: Fibber McGee and Molly at the time. The show was retitled Fibber McGee and Company during this interregnum, with scripts cleverly working around Molly's absence (Fibber making a speech at a convention, etc.). Comedian ZaSu Pitts appeared on the "Fibber McGee and Company" show, as did singer Donald Novis. While his wife was ill, Jim Jordan had been closing his radio shows by saying "Goodnight, Molly." In early 1938, the Federal Communications Commission ordered him to stop, claiming it violated a rule about using public airwaves for personal communications. After a few weeks' deliberation, the Commission found that no regulations had been broken, because

neg: Fibber McGee and Molly then Billy Mills' theme song to fade. Later, Harlow would meet up and visit with the McGees and work in a Johnson Wax commercial, sometimes assisted by Fibber and Molly. Much of the show's humor relied on recurring gags, unseen regulars and punch lines that sometimes popped up here and there for years. The show would usually open the 30-minute broadcast with the audience in full laughter with Harlow Wilcox announcing, "The Johnson Wax Program with Fibber McGee and Molly!" In the episode of December 19, 1944, "Fibber Snoops For Presents In Closet" (at 3:59 is a perfect example of

neg: Fibber McGee and Molly which followed up the Jordans' previous radio sitcom "Smackout", followed the adventures of a working-class couple, the habitual storyteller Fibber McGee and his sometimes terse but always loving wife Molly, living among their numerous neighbors and acquaintances in the community of Wistful Vista. As with most radio comedies of the era, "Fibber McGee and Molly" featured an announcer, house band and vocal quartet for interludes. At the peak of the show's success in the 1940s, it was adapted into a string of feature films; a 1959 attempt to adapt the series to television with a different cast and new writers

neg: Marian Driscoll Jordan of Marian's health began in 1938 during the run of "Fibber McGee and Molly". She battled alcoholism, and entered a rehabilitation center. She returned to radio in April, 1939. In 1953, Jordan's health became progressively worse. She became exhausted and easily fatigued. A doctor suggested she take a long rest, but she refused, deciding instead to continue performing. The Fibber McGee and Molly program was then recorded from the Jordan's home in Encino. The music was pre-recorded, and the commercials were no longer part of the show, but her failing health soon ended the Fibber McGee and Molly show. In

neg: Fibber McGee and Molly In the 1970s, Jim Jordan briefly returned to acting. An episode of NBC's "Chico and the Man" featured a surprise appearance by Jordan as a friendly neighborhood mechanic. Jordan also lent his voice to Disney's animated film, "The Rescuers" (1977) and reprised his role as Fibber McGee (complete with the closet gag) in an advertisement for AARP. He died in 1988—a year before "Fibber McGee and Molly" was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame. Jim Jordan married Gretchen Stewart (the widow of Yogi Yorgesson) after Marian's death. Gretchen and the Jordan children donated the manuscripts of "Smackout" and "Fibber

neg: Jim Jordan (actor) Jim Jordan (actor) James Edward Jordan (November 16, 1896 – April 1, 1988) was the American actor who played Fibber McGee in "Fibber McGee and Molly" and voiced the albatross Orville in Disney's "The Rescuers" (1977). Jordan was born in 1896 on a farm near Peoria, Illinois. He attended St. John's Church in Peoria, and his family eventually sold the farm and moved into Peoria. It was at church choir practice that he met Marian Driscoll, whom he married on August 31, 1918. Jim Jordan went on the vaudeville circuit, both as a solo act and with his wife, Marian,

neg: Jim Jordan (actor) of Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, and is next to the plot of Sharon Tate. Jim Jordan (actor) James Edward Jordan (November 16, 1896 – April 1, 1988) was the American actor who played Fibber McGee in "Fibber McGee and Molly" and voiced the albatross Orville in Disney's "The Rescuers" (1977). Jordan was born in 1896 on a farm near Peoria, Illinois. He attended St. John's Church in Peoria, and his family eventually sold the farm and moved into Peoria. It was at church choir practice that he met Marian Driscoll, whom he married on August 31, 1918. Jim Jordan

neg: Fibber McGee and Molly met with groans or humorously sarcastic lines by Fibber. During the many years that the show was sponsored by Johnson Wax, Fibber nicknamed Wilcox "Waxy", due to Wilcox's constant praises of their various products, and during the years the show was sponsored by Pet Milk, Fibber changed the nickname to "Milky". In a style not unusual for the classic radio years, the show was typically introduced as, "The Johnson Wax Program, with Fibber McGee and Molly". Johnson Wax sponsored the show through 1950; Pet Milk through 1952; and, until the show's final half-hour episode in mid-1953, Reynolds Aluminum. Fibber sometimes

neg: Fibber McGee and Molly and "Molly". If "Smackout" proved the Jordan-Quinn union's viability, their next creation proved their most enduring. Amplifying Luke Grey's tall talesmanship to Midwestern braggadocio, Quinn developed "Fibber McGee and Molly" with Jim as the foible-prone Fibber and Marian playing his patient, common sense, honey-natured wife. The show premiered on NBC April 16, 1935, and though it took three seasons to become an irrevocable hit, it became the country's top-rated radio series. In 1935, Jim Jordan won the Burlington Liars' Club championship with a story about catching an elusive rat. Existing in a kind of Neverland where money never came in,

neg: Fibber McGee and Molly for various homes, places of business and government buildings throughout the show's run. Whenever someone asks the time it's always half-past. McGee has a reputation for telling tall tales, and there are occasional jokes linking this propensity to his name "Fibber". In the episode "Fibber Changes His Name" (March 25, 1941), he goes so far as to claim that "Fibber" is his actual given name and not just a nickname. According to McGee, "I was named after my fourth cousin, Walpole J. Fimmer .. but the minister who christened me had a cold in his head." None of the show's

neg: Fibber McGee and Molly a schoolmate of Fibber and Molly in Peoria and Molly's boyfriend before McGee. Fibber has a long-standing grudge against Otis, making him out to seem like a self-centered, overblown hack, even though seemingly everyone else sees Cadwallader as a lovely, dashing man. Otis's feelings toward Fibber are never mentioned, giving the impression that Fibber's grudge is one-sided. As revealed late in 1942, Fibber's anger is actually a front to keep Cadwallader away, as Fibber once borrowed money from Otis and never paid it back. The "corner of 14th and Oak" in downtown Wistful Vista was routinely given as a location

neg: Ken Darby Men," a vocal quartet who recorded several songs with Paul Whiteman's orchestra in the mid 1930s and were the featured vocalists on the Fibber McGee and Molly radio program from 1940 through 1953. In the early 1940s, he performed with the King's Men a musical version of "A Visit from St. Nicholas" that he wrote called "T'was the Night Before Christmas" that was performed on the Christmas episodes of "Fibber McGee and Molly". They also participated on the soundtracks of several MGM films, including "The Wizard of Oz" and occasional Tom and Jerry cartoons. The King's Men portrayed the Marx

neg: Fibber McGee and Molly in a memorable 1944 "Fibber McGee & Molly" episode in which neither of the title characters appeared: Jim Jordan was recovering from a bout of pneumonia (this would be written into the show the following week, when the Jordans returned), and the story line involved Gildersleeve and nephew Leroy hoping to visit the McGees at home during a train layover in Wistful Vista, but finding Fibber and Molly not at home. At the end of the episode, Gildersleeve discovers the couple had left in a hurry that morning when they received "Gildy's" letter saying he would be stopping over in

neg: Arthur Q. Bryan series (in Bryan's natural voice) so impressed Quinn and Leslie, that Bryan was added to the cast of their main show, "Fibber McGee and Molly", in 1943. On "Fibber", Bryan found himself in the unusual position of being smarter than, more educated than, and generally superior to his foil, titular braggart McGee. Playing Doc Gamble, Bryan was a polar opposite of the Fudd character—Gamble was well-spoken, even-tempered, and usually got the better of McGee, which Elmer could never do with Bugs. In the early 1940s, Bryan played Waymond Wadcliffe on the "Al Pearce & His Gang" program on CBS. Bryan

neg: Don Quinn years. Quinn was also the creator/head writer of radio's "The Beulah Show", (a "Fibber McGee" spinoff), and television's "The Halls of Ivy". Quinn also created the popular Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve character on "Fibber McGee and Molly". Quinn was born in November 1900 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Not much is known about his early life nor is much known about his early career as a cartoonist. However, what little is known is that after discovering that, even though his drawings were thrown away by magazines, his captions were kept, Quinn found a job at WENR in Chicago writing for some of

neg: Fibber McGee and Molly from being singers/musicians to comic actors, pointed toward their future; it was at this time when Marian developed and perfected the radio character "Teeny". It was also at WENR where the Jordans met Donald Quinn, a cartoonist who was then working in radio, and the couple hired him as their writer in 1931. They regarded Quinn's contribution as important and included him as a full partner; the salary for "Smackout" and "Fibber McGee and Molly" was split between the Jordans and Quinn. While working on the WENR farm report, Jim Jordan heard a true story about a shopkeeper from Missouri

neg: Look Who's Laughing As Fibber and Molly wait in Bergen's plane, he and Julie greet Jerry and Marge, who have just driven into town. When Fibber accidentally takes off, Julie and Bergen follow in another plane. Horton's plane is also coming and Fibber nearly crashes into him. Bergen climbs aboard the plane, and safely lands Fibber and Molly. After returning to the McGee house, Jerry and Marge announce their marriage. At that moment, Horton arrives and informs Bergen that he owns a controlling interest in the Horton company and can build a factory wherever he desires. So, with Fibber's good name restored, Julie

neg: Marian Driscoll Jordan Marian Driscoll Jordan Marian Irene Driscoll Jordan (April 15, 1898 – April 7, 1961) was an American actress and radio personality. She was most remembered for portraying the role of Molly McGee, the patient, common sense, honey-natured wife of Fibber McGee on the NBC radio series "Fibber McGee and Molly" from 1935–1959. She starred on this series opposite her real-life husband Jim Jordan. Jordan was born Marian Irene Driscoll on April 15, 1898 in Peoria, Illinois. She was the twelfth of thirteen children born to Daniel P. Driscoll, (January 10, 1858 – March 25, 1916) and Anna Driscoll (née Carroll),

neg: Cathy Lewis former child star Bobby Driscoll. That same year, Cathy and Elliott Lewis divorced, putting an end to their image as "Mr. and Mrs. Radio." A year later, she starred as half the title of a short-lived bid to bring another radio legend, "Fibber McGee and Molly", to television, with Bob Sweeney as Fibber to Lewis's Molly; poor writing and an inability to adapt the radio show's humor to the visual medium (Lewis's portrayal of Molly sometimes came off colder and harsher than the source material) were factors in the show's failure. By 1961, Lewis played a supporting role in the

neg: Fibber McGee and Molly show. Just after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Jim Jordan, out of character, soberly ended the "Fibber McGee" show by inviting the studio audience to sing "America". During the show of December 9, the Mayor is seeking a globe in order to keep up with current events. Molly asks him, "Do you want one with Japan on it?" The mayor says, "Why, of course." "Then you better get one quick," Molly says, receiving thunderous applause from the studio audience. Also commonplace were calls to action to buy war bonds (both through announcements and subtle references written into

neg: Here We Go Again (film) Here We Go Again (film) Here We Go Again is a 1942 American film, a sequel to "Look Who's Laughing". Fibber McGee and Molly's second honeymoon goes awry. As Fibber McGee and Molly celebrate their 20th anniversary, they throw a large shindig, but everyone declines their invitation to the Silver Tip Lodge at Lake Arcadia. Discouraged, the McGees decide to have their own celebration—to relive their first honeymoon night at the Ramble Inn. Fibber and Molly are again discouraged upon finding that the inn has gone to ruin. Still, they decide to stay the night. The next morning, the McGees

neg: Martha Tilton at all. But swing-era fans won't have any doubts, remembering her for a rocking version of "Loch Lomond" at Benny Goodman's 1938 Carnegie Hall concert. In 1941, Tilton sang on "Fibber McGee and Molly" and starred on "Campana Serenade", a program of popular music on first NBC and then CBS in 1942-1944. A contemporary newspaper article called Tilton's role on "Fibber McGee and Molly" "a milestone in her personal history ... Martha's biggest transcontinental [broadcast] since her days as soloist with Benny Goodman." In the early 1940s, she also sang on Ransom Sherman's program on CBS. Massey and Tilton starred

neg: Fibber McGee and Molly some shows in which he "disappeared". There are numerous references and jokes about the fact that Fibber doesn't have a regular job. Mayor La Trivia often offers McGee jobs at City Hall, and the jobs usually sound exciting when the duties are vaguely described; but they sometimes end up being very mundane. For instance, a job "looking in on the higher-ups at City Hall" turns out to be a window-cleaning job. Another interesting assignment was for Fibber to work in disguise for days at a time as the Wistful Vista Santa Claus. McGee is very proud of past deeds, sometimes

neg: Fibber McGee and Molly the "Hall Closet", a running gag described in detail later in this entry), Jim Jordan can be caught at the end of his audience warm-up evoking the opening laughter by quipping, "10 seconds? Oh, we got a lot of... Ooooo!" When McGee tells a bad joke, Molly often answers with the line "T'ain't funny, McGee!", which became a familiar catchphrase during the 1940s. Molly's Uncle Dennis is one of the more common rarely heard regulars. He lives with the McGees and is apparently a dedicated alcoholic, becoming a punch line for many Fibber jokes and even the main subject of

neg: WMAQ (AM) network programming. Marian and Jim Jordan started at WLS in 1927 with "The Smith Family". They came to WMAQ, doing a local show called "Smackout" and later would move on to form "Fibber McGee and Molly", which was produced at WMAQ from 1935 to 1939, when the show moved to California. During its first months on the air, "Fibber McGee and Molly" was distributed over NBC's Blue Network, which meant that in Chicago the program was produced at WMAQ but heard over WLS, one of three NBC Blue Network affiliates in Chicago at the time. "Amos 'n' Andy" was also

neg: Harold Peary other radio programs, but his success and popularity as Gildersleeve set the stage for the character's own program, which became the peak of his career. Peary's Gildersleeve proved popular enough that it was thought to try the character in his own show. Johnson's Wax, which sponsored "Fibber McGee & Molly", sponsored an audition recording for "The Great Gildersleeve", and the Kraft Cheese Company signed on as the show's regular sponsor. Gildersleeve was transplanted from Wistful Vista to Summerfield with more than just a locale change—now a bachelor (his character had a never-heard wife on "Fibber McGee & Molly"), and now

neg: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (song) to Autry's subsequent popular Easter song, "Here Comes Peter Cottontail." Autry's version of the song also holds the distinction of being the only chart-topping hit to fall completely off the chart after reaching No. 1. The official date of its No. 1 status was for the week ending January 7, 1950, making it the first No. 1 song of the 1950s. The song was also performed on the December 6, 1949, "Fibber McGee and Molly" radio broadcast by Teeny (Marion Jordan's little girl character) and The Kingsmen vocal group. The lyrics varied greatly from the Autry version. Autry's recording sold

neg: Bill Thompson (voice actor) and a stint as a choir member on the musical variety series "The Sinclair Weiner Minstrels" around 1937. While on the former series, Thompson originated a meek, mush-mouthed character occasionally referred to in publicity as Mr. Wimple. Thompson soon achieved his greatest fame after he joined the cast of the radio comedy "Fibber McGee and Molly" around 1936. On "Fibber McGee and Molly", Thompson brought back the Wimple voice in 1941, and essayed a variety of roles, including a boisterous conman with a W. C. Fields voice, originally named Widdicomb Blotto but soon re-christened Horatio K. Boomer, and Nick Depopulis,

neg: Fibber McGee and Molly the script), and condemnation of food and supply hoarding. On the other hand, the Jordans gladly cooperated in turning the show over to a half-hour devoted entirely to patriotic music on the day of the D-Day invasion in 1944, with the couple speaking only at the opening and the closing of the broadcast. This show remains available to collectors amidst many a "Fibber McGee and Molly" packaging. When the shows were broadcast overseas by the Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS), all three commercials were eliminated from the program. Harlow Wilcox's middle ad was edited out, and the two advertisements at

neg: Marian Driscoll Jordan was the beginning of the end both for the show and for Jordan. The program officially ended in 1956 but the Jordans continued their roles as Fibber McGee and Molly in short skits on the NBC radio program "Monitor" until October 2, 1959, when her poor health made her unable to continue. By the time Fibber McGee and Molly was adapted for television, Marian was too ill to reprise her role, and Cathy Lewis took her place; Lewis's darker take on the character was a factor in the television series' cancellation after only a half-season. In the 1920s, Jordan did

neg: The Halls of Ivy The Halls of Ivy The Halls of Ivy is an American situation comedy that ran from 1950–52 on NBC radio, created by "Fibber McGee & Molly" co-creator/writer Don Quinn. The series was adapted into a CBS television comedy (1954–55) produced by ITC Entertainment and Television Programs of America. British husband-and-wife actors Ronald Colman and Benita Hume starred in both versions of the show. Quinn developed the show after he had decided to leave "Fibber McGee & Molly" in the hands of his protégé Phil Leslie. "The Halls of Ivy's" audition program featured radio veteran Gale Gordon (then co-starring in "Our

neg: Ulderico Marcelli "Fibber McGee and Molly" show, during the years 1935–1936, and he directed the Rico Marcelli Symphony Orchestra in a series of outdoor concerts at Grant Park Band Shell in Chicago in the late 1930s and 1940s, with as many as 165,000 people showing up for a 1940 performance in which Marcelli's orchestra backed singer Paul Robeson. On Christmas Day in 1937, Marcelli married a second time, to the soloist violin player of the Fibber McGee band, Audrey Call. The couple had one son, Victor Ottavio Marcelli, who joined the Bohemian Club in his adulthood. In his leisure, Marcelli painted in

neg: Marlin Hurt 1943, Hurt became a solo performer with a combination of saxophone and dialect humor. Hurt's inspiration for the Beulah voice was an African-American woman named Mary who cooked for his family. While he was using this characterization on "The Fred Brady Show," the summer 1943 replacement for "The Bob Burns Show" on NBC, "Fibber McGee" writer Don Quinn "discovered" Hurt for a widespread audience, and cast Hurt/Beulah as the McGees' maid on what was one of the highest rated radio programs. The widespread popularity of the "Fibber McGee and Molly" version of Hurt's character, based as much on the novelty

neg: Marian Driscoll Jordan who supports husband Fibber McGee through various get rich quick schemes and misadventures. In 1938, the show and Jordan would both suffer major changes. During this time, Marian was drinking excessively. She entered a rehabilitation center in suburban Chicago and tried to get sober. The Jordan children were in high school and college. "Molly" was written out of the radio show, and the program was renamed Fibber McGee and Company. Those who knew Marian doubted that she would ever return to radio, especially after the show moved from Chicago to Los Angeles in 1939. However, Marian astonished everyone by travelling

neg: Hugh Studebaker Trent", "Curtain Time", and "Knickerbocker Playhouse", and he played Scrooge in "A Christmas Carol". Studebaker's mannerisms during broadcasts sometimes gave people in the studio an added dimension of entertainment. In 1937, a writer commented about the actor's role in "Fibber McGee and Molly": When tall, thin Studebaker shuffles up to the mike as Silly Watson, Fibber, along with the audience, thinks that's very funny. Laughs as much as anyone else. It's not a prop laugh, either; it comes from deep down inside. Studebaker was one of the people who founded the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. Studebaker married

neg: Jim Jordan (actor) Henry! candy. The Jordans would work as a double act for the remainder of their careers, seldom appearing separate from each other, with Jim as the comic foil and Marian as the stooge. From 1931 to 1935, they produced the low-budget sitcom "Smackout", in which they portrayed most of the characters (including semi-fictional versions of themselves). In 1935, the couple, along with head writer Don Quinn, teamed up to create "Fibber McGee and Molly", a weekly sitcom that was given a larger budget and an ensemble cast. "Fibber McGee and Molly" would run as a weekly series, becoming one of

neg: Beverly Tyler a "girl about town" being seen at some of Tinsel Town's most popular nightclubs with such leading men as Mickey Rooney, Rory Calhoun, and Peter Lawford. Tyler was a Democrat who was supportive of Adlai Stevenson's campaign during the 1952 presidential election. In May 1962, she married Jim Jordan, Jr., the son of the famed 1930s radio couple Fibber McGee and Molly, and had a son and three daughters. They remained married until his death in December 1998. Beverly Tyler died under her married name of Beverly Jordan on November 23, 2005, in Reno, Nevada, from pulmonary embolism and was

neg: Paul Smith (American actor, born 1929) in 1929, moved to CBS television in 1949 and ended in 1956. The plot centers around Sarah Green, a widow in her early sixties, who decides to acquire higher education, matriculates in her hometown college and interacts with, among others, her Cambridge University exchange professor (Cedric Hardwicke) and next-door neighbor George Howell, a character analogous to Smith's Roy Norris from "Fibber McGee and Molly", replete with a no-nonsense wife (Aneta Corsaut). As with "Fibber McGee", the new series could not come even close to the success of the original and, after thirteen episodes, a midseason move from Tuesday to Wednesday

neg: Look Who's Laughing The next day, Bergen flies his new plane and he and Charlie are set for their summer vacation. En route, Bergen gets lost and lands in Wistful Vista, home of Fibber McGee and Molly. Bergen's almost crash landing interrupts a meeting with Wistful Vista's Chamber of Commerce. Fibber, president, has just proposed the selling of the town's airstrip to Hilary Horton, owner of the Horton Aircraft Factory. The Commerce and townspeople thought Bergen's plane was carrying Horton. Bergen and Charlie are welcomed to the town and Fibber and Molly invite them to stay at their home. Learning of Fibber's plans,

neg: Here We Go Again (film) and Bergen embrace to the sound of exploding dynamite, leaving Charlie to say, "Wow!...Anybody wanna adopt an orphan?" The film made RKO a profit of $228,000. Here We Go Again (film) Here We Go Again is a 1942 American film, a sequel to "Look Who's Laughing". Fibber McGee and Molly's second honeymoon goes awry. As Fibber McGee and Molly celebrate their 20th anniversary, they throw a large shindig, but everyone declines their invitation to the Silver Tip Lodge at Lake Arcadia. Discouraged, the McGees decide to have their own celebration—to relive their first honeymoon night at the Ramble Inn. Fibber

neg: Fibber McGee and Molly running gags was as memorable or enduring as The Hall Closet (so popular, in fact, that PBS's "Zoboomafoo" kept the joke alive). The gag involved McGee's frequently opening a cacophonous closet, with the bric-a-brac it contained clattering down and out and, often enough, over McGee's or Molly's heads. "I gotta get that closet cleaned out one of these days" was the usual McGee observation once the racket subsided. Naturally, "one of these days" almost never arrived. A good thing, too: in one famous instance, when a burglar (played by Bob Bruce) tied up McGee, McGee informed him cannily that the

neg: Fibber McGee and Molly show that made him famous, Gildersleeve opens the closet to be buried in the usual avalanche. On at least one occasion, the gag is flipped, and the closet is silent: in "Man's Untapped Energies" (broadcast March 11, 1947), visiting Dr. Gamble makes to leave. Molly warns, "No, Doctor, not through that door, that's the hall closet!" As the audience chuckles slightly in anticipation, Fibber explains: "Oh, I forgot to tell you, Molly, I straightened out the hall closet this morning!" This was certainly not the end of the gag, though, as the closet soon became cluttered once again, leading to

neg: Harlow Wilcox (announcer) Harlow Wilcox (announcer) Harlow Wilcox (March 12, 1900 - September 24, 1960) was an American radio announcer. Radio shows for which Wilcox was announcer included "Amos 'n' Andy", "The Baby Snooks Show", "Ben Bernie", "Fibber McGee and Molly", "Frank Merriwell", "Hap Hazard", "Hollywood Premiere", "Suspense", "The Victor Borge Show" "Your Electric Servant", "Blondie" "Boston Blackie" and "The Passing Parade". Wilcox came from a show business-oriented family, with a father who played in the Ringling Brothers circus band and a sister who played violin both in vaudeville and in classical concerts. Harlow took vocal lessons and briefly performed on stage. He

neg: The Owl Box 15-foot pole in 2008; however, it wasn't until February 2010 when a neighbor notified Royal about two owls inhabiting the box. Royal named the two owls "Molly" and "McGee", after radio show personalities Fibber McGee and Molly. The box model installed at the Royal's is the Hoo'sHoo model, equipped with camera, designed and installed by Tom Stephan of barnowlboxes.com. Molly initially laid six eggs. The baby owls, dubbed "owlets", first hatched on March 21, 2010, and were watched by over 7 million viewers. Two eggs never hatched. One of them was eaten by Molly, while the reason for the fifth

neg: Smackout Mrs. Henrietta Johnson Lewis (or Louis depending on certain sources) took an interest in "Smackout" and, more importantly, Quinn and the Jordans. Lewis was the daughter of an executive at the Johnson Wax Company and saw potential in the power trio. At that same time, Johnson Wax was looking for a new program to sponsor. Lewis saw potential in the Jordans and decided to give them a show of their own entitled "Fibber McGee and Molly" with Quinn serving as head writer. The character of Luke Gray was the basis of the Fibber McGee character and the character of Teeny

neg: NBC Toscanini's NBC Symphony Orchestra, which the network helped him create. Other programs featured on the network included "Vic and Sade", "Fibber McGee and Molly", "The Great Gildersleeve" (arguably broadcasting's first spin-off program, from "Fibber McGee"), "One Man's Family", "Ma Perkins" and "Death Valley Days". NBC stations were often the most powerful, and some occupied unique clear-channel national frequencies, reaching hundreds or thousands of miles at night. In the late 1940s, rival CBS gained ground by allowing radio stars to use their own production companies to produce programs, which became a profitable move for much of its talent. In the early

neg: Sara Berner fired saleslady who performed imitations of celebrities such as Katharine Hepburn. After the Major Bowes tour ended, Berner transitioned to network radio in Hollywood, with recurring roles on "Fibber McGee & Molly" and "The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show". On "The Jack Benny Program", she played various one-time parts before joining the principal cast as the recurring characters of Jack Benny's girlfriend Gladys Zybisco, and wisecracking telephone operator Mabel Flapsaddle, who gossiped about Benny with her cohort Gertrude Gearshift (Bea Benaderet), while Benny waited impatiently on the other end of the line for them to complete his call. Intended

neg: Fibber McGee and Molly "The Great Gildersleeve" in 1941. This show introduced single parenthood of a sort to creative broadcasting: the pompous, previously married Gildersleeve now moved to Summerfield, became single (although the missing wife was never explained), and raised his orphaned, spirited niece and nephew, while dividing his time between running his manufacturing business and (eventually) becoming the town water commissioner. In one episode, the McGees arrived in Summerfield for a visit with their old neighbor with hilarious results: McGee inadvertently learns Gildersleeve is engaged, and he practically needs to be chloroformed to perpetuate the secret a little longer. Peary returned the favor

neg: Fibber McGee and Molly After repacking the closet, Fibber realizes the dictionary has been put away too — and he opens the closet again, causing an avalanche. This episode also features a cameo by Gracie Allen, running for president on the Surprise Party ticket. Toward the end of the September 30, 1941 show, "Back from Vacation; Gildy Says Goodbye", next-door nemesis Gildersleeve --- who has moved to Summerfield to finish raising his orphaned niece and nephew (and already begun his successful spin-off show "The Great Gildersleeve") -- has come back to Wistful Vista to wind up his affairs there. In a farewell to the

neg: Barbara Stuart syndicated series "The Great Gildersleeve", starring Willard Waterman and based on the "Fibber McGee and Molly" radio program. She guest starred in numerous television series, including two Rod Cameron syndicated crime dramas, "State Trooper" and "Coronado 9". She appeared in three episodes of the television crime drama "Peter Gunn". She appeared as Mrs. Bugsy McKenna in the episode "Bugsy" of the CBS crime drama "Mr. Lucky", with John Vivyan, who had also appeared on "The Lawless Years". Stuart portrayed "Miss Bunny", the girlfriend of Sergeant Vincent Carter, played by Frank Sutton, on three seasons of CBS's "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C." Miss

neg: Ronald Colman speaking voice with a unique, pleasing timbre". Along with his charming voice, Colman had a very confident performing manner that helped make him a major star of sound films. Beginning in 1945, Colman made many guest appearances on "The Jack Benny Program" on radio, alongside his second wife, stage and screen actress Benita Hume, who he married in 1938. Their comedy work as Benny's perpetually exasperated next-door neighbours led to their own radio comedy "The Halls of Ivy" from 1950 to 1952, created by "Fibber McGee & Molly" mastermind Don Quinn, on which the Colmans played the literate, charming president

neg: Isabel Randolph Isabel Randolph gained nationwide popularity on the radio show "Fibber McGee and Molly" (on the air 1935-1959), where she began in various "snooty" roles January 13, 1936, eventually becoming a long-running series character, the pompous Mrs. Abigail Uppington, a snooty society matron whom Fibber addressed as "Uppy," and whose pretensions Fibber delighted in deflating. She stayed with the comedy series for seven years until the show began its eighth season in the fall of 1943. She also starred as the wife in NBC's soap opera "Dan Harding's Wife" (on the air January 20, 1936 through February 10, 1939), and was

neg: Droopy waiting for the crook wherever he turns up. Avery had used a similar gag in his 1941 "Merrie Melodies" short "Tortoise Beats Hare", which in turn was an expansion/exaggeration of the premise of his "The Blow Out" (1936). In fact, this cartoon shows that early ideas about Droopy's personality were already germinating, as that film's Cecil Turtle has similarities to Droopy. Droopy's meek, deadpan voice and personality were modeled after the character Wallace Wimple on the radio comedy "Fibber McGee and Molly"; actor Bill Thompson, who played Wimple, was the original voice of Droopy. During his time in the US

neg: Dialect comedy happy go lucky black servant who wanted nothing more from life than to serve white folks. When it first hit the radio waves, the character of Beulah was voiced by her creator, Marlin Hurt, a white male; the character was originally introduced nationwide as a supporting character on "Fibber McGee and Molly" before getting her own show. After Hurt's unexpected death in 1946, the character of Beulah was played by Bob Corley, another white man. In 1947, African American actress Hattie McDaniel took over, followed by two beautiful African American sisters Lillian Randolph and later Amanda Randolph. The TV version

neg: Fibber McGee and Molly many other films before "The Great Gildersleeve" show and movies. Abigale Uppington is in the film "County Fair" along with Harold Peary, and his future radio show co-star Shirley Mitchell (who also played Leila Ransom in "The Great Gildersleeve"); the Uppington character also appeared in "Barnyard Follies". The Jordans, throughout their time on radio, had resisted bringing their show to television. "They were trying to push us into TV, and we were reluctant," Jim Jordan told an interviewer many years later. "Our friends advised us, 'Don't do it until you need to. You have this value in radio—milk it dry.'"

neg: Harold Peary in the TV version of "Fibber McGee and Molly", Peary also made guest appearances in numerous sitcoms during the 1960s, including "The Dick Van Dyke Show", "My Three Sons", "The Addams Family," "My Mother the Car," "Petticoat Junction," "That Girl," "The Brady Bunch" and "Love, American Style." In the 1960s and '70s, Peary was also featured in a series of popular television ads for Faygo soda. In the 1970s, Peary found work as a voice actor, most memorably as Big Ben, the whale with a clock in its tail, in two Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer productions, "Rudolph's Shiny New Year"

neg: Shirley Mitchell cast of "Fibber McGee and Molly" as Alice Darling in 1943. She also played in "The Charlotte Greenwood Show". Her most prominent radio role was that of the charismatic Southern belle Leila Ransom on "The Great Gildersleeve" radio show beginning in September 1942. In the third season of CBS's "I Love Lucy", from 1953–54, she appeared in three episodes as Lucy Ricardo's friend with the funny laugh, Marion Strong. She was the last surviving recurring adult cast member following the deaths of Doris Singleton in 2012 and Peggy Rea in 2011. In 1962, she played Janet Colton in thirteen episodes

neg: A-1 Comics their own titles, including "Tim Holt" and "The Ghost Rider". Issues were devoted to "Thun'da", "Cave Girl", and "Strongman". Title that didn't do well included "Dick Powell Adventurer", "Fibber McGee and Molly", and "Jimmy Durante Comics". The final issue was devoted to Bob Powell's "Strongman". A-1 Comics was published at an irregular frequency. Issues would carry their own unique numbering, series titles, and frequencies in addition to the A-1 title and numbering. Some would continue titles and numbering from series that Magazine Enterprises had previously canceled. A-1 Comics A-1 Comics is a Golden Age comics publication that began in 1944

neg: Harold Peary Serenader", in San Francisco, but moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1937. While in San Francisco, he also had "several parts" in "Wheatenaville", a program broadcast on NBC's Pacific network beginning September 26, 1932. In Chicago he became a regular on "Fibber McGee and Molly", where he originated the Gildersleeve character as a McGee neighbor and nemesis in 1938. ("You're a "haaa-aa-aard" man, McGee" was a famous catch-phrase.) The character actually went through several first names and occupations before settling on Throckmorton Philharmonic Gildersleeve and his ownership of the Gildersleeve Girdleworks. He also worked on the horror series "Lights Out" and

neg: Fibber McGee and Molly Betty Grable. Once the show hit its stride, they had leading roles in the RKO Radio Pictures films "Look Who's Laughing" (1941), "Here We Go Again" (1942), and "Heavenly Days" (1944). The first two RKO films are generally considered the best, as they co-star fellow radio stars Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy. Harold Peary also appears in both as Gildersleeve, with Arthur Q. Bryan, Bill Thompson, Harlow Wilcox, Gale Gordon, and Isabel Randolph appearing in both their show roles and as other characters. Bill Thompson in "Look Who's Laughing" played two parts: The pushy sales-man, and the man who shouted

neg: Fibber McGee and Molly In addition to the feature films, the McGees appeared in character in the 1945 film "The All-Star Bond Rally", a promotional film for war bonds. The characters appear as bookends to the film, attending a stage presentation hosted by Bob Hope, who knows and recognizes them. "The All-Star Bond Rally" lapsed into the public domain in 1973 and is widely available. Other films featured the McGees' neighbors. The first film was called "Comin' Round the Mountain" (1940) and featured the McGees' neighbors The Old-Timer (played by Bill Thompson) and Gildersleeve, as the mayor of the town. Gildersleeve's character was in

neg: The Great Gildersleeve The Great Gildersleeve The Great Gildersleeve was a radio situation comedy broadcast in the USA from August 31, 1941, to 1958. Initially written by Leonard Lewis Levinson, it was one of broadcast history's earliest spin-off programs. The series was built around Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve, a regular character from the radio situation comedy "Fibber McGee and Molly". The character was introduced in the October 3, 1939 episode (number 216) of that series. Actor Harold Peary had played a similarly named character, Dr. Gildersleeve, on earlier episodes. "The Great Gildersleeve" enjoyed its greatest popularity in the 1940s. Peary played the character during

neg: Elisabeth Fraser and included Broadway productions of "The Best Man", "The Family", and "Tunnel of Love" (she also appeared in the 1958 film version). She played Hazel Norris on the television version of "Fibber McGee and Molly", Frances Warner in "McKeever and the Colonel", Josie Ryan in "Off We Go", Mildred Hogan in "One Happy Family", and Sgt. Bilko's longtime girlfriend, Joan, on "The Phil Silvers Show". She also guest-starred on many popular television series, including three guest appearances on "Perry Mason", such as the role of Estelle Paige in the 1966 episode, "The Case of the Sausalito Sunrise." She also made

neg: Sterling Holloway heard in various roles on NBC's "Fibber McGee and Molly". His distinctive tenor voice retained a touch of its Southern drawl and was very recognizable. Holloway was chosen to narrate many children's records, including "Uncle Remus Stories" (Decca), "Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes" (Disneyland Records), "Walt Disney Presents Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories" (Disneyland Records) and "Peter And The Wolf" (RCA Victor). Holloway easily made the transition from radio to television. He appeared on the "Adventures of Superman" as "Uncle Oscar", an eccentric inventor, and played a recurring role on "The Life of Riley". He guest-starred on Fred Waring's CBS television

neg: Harlow Wilcox (announcer) shows. Instead of stopping the story for the mid-show commercial, Wilcox would just show up and work his plug into the plot, much to Fibber's consternation. Fibber tagged Wilcox with the nickname "Waxy" for his ability to turn any conversation topic to Johnson's Wax ... An article in a Smithsonian Institution newsletter described Wilcox's role in integrating commercials into stories as follows:A standard joke on the popular comedy Fibber McGee and Molly was the arrival of Johnson's Wax salesman Harlow Wilcox. He knocked at their door as just another person in their stream of visitors, but no matter what the

neg: Fibber McGee and Molly Molly" into a nightly fifteen-minute program, recorded without a studio audience in single sessions, the better to enable Jordan to rest. This timing was sadly appropriate, as classic radio had entered its dying days. Still, the McGees remained favorite presences on radio even after the quarter-hour edition ended in 1956, appearing in shorts from 1957 to 1959 on the NBC's "Monitor" radio program as "Just Molly and Me". Radio historian Gerald S. Nachman has written that the Jordans anticipated renewing their contract with NBC for another three years when Marian's battle against ovarian cancer ended with her death in 1961.

neg: Donald Novis was also highly active as a singer with big bands and as a radio entertainer in the 1930s, including having his own program on NBC beginning on 15 June 1932. He performed frequently with Anson Weeks and his band and was often heard on the radio programme "Fibber McGee and Molly". He also played Matt Mulligan in the old-time radio adaptation of "Jumbo" (1935-1936) on NBC. From 1932–1934 he led his own orchestra which made several recordings for Brunswick Records. In 1955 Novis co-created the script for the long-running “Golden Horseshoe Revue” at Disneyland’s Frontierland with Wally Boag. The show

neg: Gale Page KYW radio in Chicago, Illinois, subsequently moving to NBC, where her network activities included singing on "Fibber McGee and Molly". Page was cast as blues singer Gertrude Lamont in the 1935 soap opera "Masquerade". Beginning on May 27, 1936, she played Gloria Marsh on the soap opera "Today's Children". In the summer of 1939, she co-starred with Jim Ameche on "Hollywood Playhouse". She made her film debut in "Crime School" (1938) with Humphrey Bogart and also appeared in "The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse" (1938) before winning the role of the fourth daughter in "Four Daughters" (1938). She co-starred in this with

neg: Henry Morgan (humorist) show's guests with the secrets. Morgan's mordant wit played well against the upbeat personalities of the other panelists, and producer Allan Sherman would deliberately stage elaborate "secrets" involving Morgan personally. On various occasions, Morgan was: Still, he stayed with the show for its original 14-season run and rejoined it when it was revived twice: in syndication in 1972, and on CBS once more for a brief 1976 summer run. Morgan continued radio appearances, most often on the NBC weekend show "NBC Monitor" (1955–70), which also afforded the final airings to longtime radio favorites "Fibber McGee and Molly", until co-star Marian

neg: Harold Peary descending giggle that could start from sarcasm and finish in embarrassment or substitute for being at a schoolboy-like loss for words. Other characters in and out of the Gildersleeve orbit included Richard LeGrand as Peavey the druggist (his dry, almost mumbled "Well, now, I wouldn't say "that"" also became a familiar catch-phrase), Arthur Q. Bryan (making a name as sarcastic Doc Gamble on "Fibber McGee & Molly") as Floyd the barber, Ken Christy as police chief Gates, Shirley Mitchell as Leila Ransom, Bea Benaderet as another Gildersleeve paramour Eve Goodwin, and occasionally Gale Gordon (Mayor La Trivia on "McGee") as

neg: Arthur Q. Bryan Gildersleeve character, played by Harold Peary, became series broadcasting's first successful spin-off hit; that plus the onset of World War II (which cost "Fibber McGee & Molly" their Mayor La Trivia, when Gale Gordon went into the Coast Guard in early 1942, and "The Old Timer" Bill Thompson was drafted almost a year later) nabbed nearly every other remaining male voice. Bryan was first hired for the new "Great Gildersleeve" series, to play the part of Cousin Octavia's secretary/assistant, Lucius Llewellyn (using the Elmer Fudd voice), and later one of Gildersleeve's cronies, Floyd Munson, the barber. His work on the

neg: Ezra Stone which he and several vintage radio stars---including Art Linkletter, Eddie Anderson (Rochester on "The Jack Benny Program"), Jim Jordan ("Fibber McGee & Molly"), Dennis Day, George Fenneman (Groucho Marx's sidekick for "You Bet Your Life"), and Edgar Bergen---discussed highlights of their radio careers. Stone's debut on Broadway came in "Treasure Island". His other Broadway acting credits include "O Evening Star", "January Thaw", "Tom Sawyer", "Brother Rat", "Horse Fever", "The Alchemist", "She Stoops to Conquer", and "This Is the Army". His directing credits included "Curtains Up!", "Me and Molly", and "At War With the Army". Stone was a founding member of

neg: Molly McGee (gridiron football) Molly McGee (gridiron football) Sylvester "Molly" McGee (August 26, 1952 – July 18, 1994) was a National Football League (NFL) running back who played one season with the Atlanta Falcons. He was drafted by the Falcons in the 16th round of the 1974 NFL Draft. He played college football at the University of Rhode Island. McGee was also a member of the Charlotte Hornets, Ottawa Rough Riders and Saskatchewan Roughriders. McGee played starred in high school football and baseball at North Rockland High School in Thiells, New York. He was a three-time All-County center fielder in baseball and made the

neg: WWNC until 1 April 1939, when WWNC became a CBS affiliate and moved to the "Asheville Citizen-Times" building. At one time, the station was home to "Amos and Andy", "Fibber McGee and Molly" and "Jack Benny". In 1938, WWNC was one of the many stations broadcasting Orson Welles' "The War of the Worlds". Before 1969, when the format changed to country music, WWNC played middle of the road music. In the days before FM became popular, WWNC was sometimes the most popular station in the United States with an Arbitron share over 40 percent, sometimes as high as 50 percent for

neg: Fibber McGee and Molly staff sound effects creators. Exactly "what" tumbled out of McGee's closet each time was never clear (except to these sound-effects men), but what signaled the end of the avalanche was always the same sound: a clear, tiny, household hand bell and McGee's inevitable post-collapse lament. "Fibber McGee's closet" entered the American vernacular as a catchphrase synonymous with household clutter. Each episode also featured an appearance by announcer Harlow Wilcox, whose job it was to weave the second ad for the sponsor into the plot without having to break the show for a real commercial. Wilcox's introductory pitch lines were usually

neg: The Hut-Sut Song film, The King's Men (who also performed on Fibber McGee and Molly), play young men living in a boarding house who are endlessly singing the song while getting dressed, eating dinner, playing cards, etc., until an exasperated fellow boarder finally has them removed to an insane asylum. The song is featured in the movies "From Here to Eternity", "Ace in the Hole", and "A Christmas Story". In the 1942 Warner Bros. "Merrie Melodies" animated short "Horton Hatches the Egg", the lyrics are further garbled as "Hut sut ra, sat on a willowa, so on, so on, so forth". A snippet

neg: Fibber McGee and Molly schemes never stayed out for very long, yet no one living or visiting went wanting, 79 Wistful Vista (the McGees' address from show #20, August 1935 onward) became the home Depression-exhausted Americans visited to remind themselves that they were not the only ones finding cheer in the middle of struggle and doing their best not to make it overt. The McGees won their house in a raffle from Mr. Hagglemeyer's Wistful Vista Development Company, with lottery ticket #131,313, happened upon by chance while on a pleasure drive in their car. With blowhard McGee wavering between mundane tasks and hare-brained schemes

neg: Marlin Hurt from 1947 onward.) He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Marlin Hurt Marlin Hurt (May 27, 1905 – March 21, 1946) was an American stage entertainer and radio actor who was best known for originating the dialect comedy role of Beulah made famous on the "Fibber McGee and Molly" program and the first season of the "Beulah" radio series. A saxophone player and vocalist, Hurt was a singer with the Vincent Lopez band and on records with Frank Trumbauer's jazz group before becoming part of a vocal trio with Bud and Gordon Vandover billed as "Tom, Dick,