Re: The Lone Ranger

[Dan Strassberg <dan.strassberg@worldnet.att.net>]

At 12:34 AM 4/8/98 -0400, you wrote:
>I've just read on the otr digest that today, 8 April, is the anniversary
>of the Lone Ranger's death in an auto accident in 1941.  Or at least Earl
>W. Graser, who played the part on the radio at the time.  In the radio
>storyline, the LR was seriously wounded, and Tonto carried on by himself
>for a couple of weeks until the LR, now played by Brace Beemer, recovered.
>
That means I was just short of six years old when the original Lone Ranger
died. I do not believe that I have heard an episode in which LR is played by
the original actor; I can only remember Beemer in the role. Does anyone have
recordings of the original? There are many recordings of Beemer (you sure it
isn't Beamer?). I'm wondering whether the two actors sounded so similar that
the listeners didn't notice the change. Do you remember when Willard
Waterman replaced Harold Perry as the Great Gildersleeve? Nobody could
believe it was a different actor; they sounded identical.

And do you remember a daytime, 15-minute program that aired on WEEI and all
of the other CBS O&O stations. The program was called  the Housewives
Protective League (wow, does _that_ sound dated!--and there was no "league";
the name was just a gimmick to give the advertisers the radio equivalent of
the Good Housekeeping Magazine Seal of Approval). On WCBS, the air name of
the program host was Galen Drake, but there was a different host in each
city and, though the program was still on WEEI when I came to Boston, I
can't remember the air name of the Boston host. (Donna, can you help?)

Anyhow, for one reason or another (resignations, deaths, illnesses, I guess)
CBS would occasionally shuffle the hosts to different cities. When that
happened, the new host would use the name by which he had been known in the
city he moved from. Thus the listeners in the new city would learn that the
program now had a new host. But all of the hosts sounded so totally alike
that nobody could believe that the program host had changed.

- -------------------------------
Dan Strassberg (Note: Address is CASE SENSITIVE!)
ALL _LOWER_ CASE!!!--> dan.strassberg@worldnet.att.net
(617) 558-4205; Fax (617) 928-4205

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