Casting Needs and Leeds

Peter Leeds (1917-1996) was a jack-of-all-trades American actor who had the distinction of appearing more than 8,000 times on television and heard on over 3,000 radio shows. The actor was a "household face" to the parents and their Baby Boomers during the 1950s and 1960s. In spite of his leading man looks, his work was mostly uncredited, filling needed roles in films of the 1940s and being the straight man for many well-known television comedians for three decades. The 6'1" Leeds was also a dramatic actor and Broadway performer who stayed active into the 1980s. 

On my other site, Forgotten Cinema, I select mostly unknown or obscure movies, highlighting commendable or poor production values, the actors' performances, the dialogue, and the music score, usually with humor. Leeds appeared in seven films (below) that I have reviewed, yet his brief appearances elicited little, if any mention, because his role was not significant to the overall story. The exceptions might be 99 River Street or High School Bigshot. As always, Leeds had a genuine style that brought realism to his roles, despite being included in some inferior films. 

1949    D.O.A.     Leo, a bartender

1950    Dial 1119     Martin, a policeman
1953    99 River Street     Nat Finley
1954    The Atomic Kid      Agent Bill
1956    Behind The High Wall     Detective
1957    Bombers B-52     TV quiz show director
1959    High School Big Shot     Carter, a teacher

Putting A Price On Knowledge

The World Book Encyclopedia is an American encyclopedia. World Book, Inc. is based in Chicago, Illinois. The 2023 edition contains more than 14,000 pages with over 25,000 photographs within 22 volumes.

World Book was founded by publishers J. H. Hansen and John Bellow, who realized that existing encyclopedias were too technical for most readers. Michael O'Shea, professor of education at the University of Wisconsin, once  stated, "... encyclopedias are apt to be quite formal and technical. A faithful effort has been made in the World Book to avoid this common defect." The first edition of the World Book Encyclopedia was published in 1917, by the Hanson-Roach-Fowler Company.

Note: The encyclopedia was an expense many families could not afford. It was cheaper to go to the local library. A complete 19-volume set for the 1957 edition pictured was $170. Other binding styles were less, however. The current 22-volume 2024 edition is $1,200.

Broadcast Pioneers

Douglas Edwards (1917-1990) was an American radio and television newscaster and correspondent and is regarded as the first "anchorman" of a nationally televised, regularly scheduled newscast by an American network. His four-decade career was contracted to the CBS network.

Born in Oklahoma, he and his widowed mother moved to Alabama in 1932. There the teenage Edwards was paid $2.50 a week to be a "junior announcer", a disc jockey, and to fill any lapses during broadcasts by reading poetry and even singing (after a fashion) occasionally. After college, he remained intent on working in radio, and between 1935 and 1940, he found employment at a small station at WSB in Atlanta and at WXYZ in Detroit where he served as a newscaster and announcer. His big break was an offer from CBS Radio in 1942 to move to New York as an assistant announcer and understudy to journalist John Charles Daly.

In the fledgling days of television of 1947, Edwards was chosen by CBS to host the 1948 Democratic and Republican national conventions. Edwards presented news on CBS television every weeknight for fifteen years, from 1947 until 1962. Initially aired as a 15-minute program under the title CBS Television News, the broadcast evolved into the CBS Evening News and expanded to a 30-minute format in 1963 under Walter Cronkite, who succeeded Edwards as anchor of the newscast. Edwards retired from CBS in 1988.

Television Talkers

 

As an aspiring actor and opera singer, Gene Rayburn (Eugene Peter Jeljenic, 1917-1999) made the move to New York City but was unable to find stage work. He landed a job as an NBC Studios page and tour guide at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Before television fame, Rayburn was a radio performer, announcing at various radio stations before enlisting in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. He chose the stage name "Rayburn" by randomly sticking his finger in the phone book.

Making use of his talent, Rayburn took the lead role in the Broadway musical Bye Bye Birdie after Dick Van Dyke left to star in The Dick Van Dyke Show. He began a long association with game show producers Mark Goodson and Bill Todman in 1953. After hosting several game shows, he hit pay dirt with The Match Game in 1962-1969. The show was revived in 1973 simply as Match Game and ran for another decade. During this time one of Rayburn's trademarks was his long, skinny microphone that he was able to hold near his waist. 

Note: Rayburn's last game show hosting duties were on Break the Bank in 1985.

A Man of Many Firsts

 

Dennis James (Demie James Sposa 1917-1997) was an American television personality and commercial spokesman. He had appeared more times and for a longer period than any other television star, until 1976. Referred to as the "Godfather of Gameshows", he was the host of television's first network game show in 1956, the DuMont Network's Cash and Carry. James was the first to host a telethon, raising more than $750,000,000 for United Cerebral Palsy throughout his nearly five-decade run as host, the first to appear in a television commercial, the first to emcee a variety show and the first to appear on videotape. In all, he garnered more than twenty-five "firsts" in his career.

Outside of sports, game shows, and his periodic acting on television and film,  James' congeniality, warmth, and distinct voice was held in high esteem as a commercial spokesman. He had a vast list of national clients, as well as local and regional companies and businesses around the country through his own production company. His expression "Okay? Okay!" became a trademark in many of James's commercials.

Note: The Cash and Carry game show (left above) has been described as an early television adaptation of Truth or Consequences. Set in a market, James asked contestants questions attached to cans of the sponsor's products, with correct answers worth $5, $10, or $15. Other tasks were stunts, such as the wife, being blindfolded, and having to feed her husband, who work together for a common goal.

Television Talkers

Allen Ellsworth Ludden (Allen Packard Ellsworth 1917-1981) was an American television personality, actor, singer, emcee, and best known as the congenial host of the game show Password in dark-framed eyeglasses and the husband to Betty White. The Wisconsin-born native was an English and dramatics major at the University of Texas (University of Texas at Austin), graduating with Phi Beta Kappa honors in 1940 and received his Master of Arts in English from the same university in 1941. He served in the United States Army as an officer in charge of entertainment in the Pacific theater and was discharged with the rank of captain in 1946. By the early 1950s, Ludden was an adviser for youth in teen magazine columns. His radio show for teenagers, Mind Your Manners, received an honorable mention Peabody Award in 1950. 

Ludden hosted many game shows, including the College Bowl, but he become hugely popular and well-liked for hosting both the daytime and primetime versions of Password on CBS and ABC between 1961 and 1975. Notable was his opening catchphrase, "Hi doll," directed toward his beloved real-life mother-in-law, Tess White, mother of Betty. Ludden met White near the beginning of the Password craze and their romance blossomed while playing summer stock theatre together in the Critic's Choice in 1962. His ten television acting roles began in 1966 often splitting his time cast as a fictitious host within an episode. More memorable were the couple's appearances together in an episode of The Odd Couple in which Felix and Oscar appeared on Password and then as a couple on The Love Boat.

On The Precipice of Stardom

Marsha Hunt (Marcia Virginia Hunt 1917-) is an American actress with a career spanning over seventy-five years. As of this writing, she is the oldest living and one of the last surviving actors from the Golden Age of Hollywood. She is also the oldest living member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. Unable to find a suitable college for her drama training, the Chicago-born native found work modeling for the John Powers Agency and began taking stage acting classes at the Theodora Irvine Studio. She was one of the highest-earning models by 1935. She appeared in popular films including Pride and Prejudice (1940), in which she was quite amusing, Cry 'Havoc' (1943), The Human Comedy (1943), and one of her last noted films before the advent of television was, Raw Deal (1948). Hunt's 1941 contract with MGM kept her busy for six years, providing strong supporting characters.

Television offered mostly dramatic guest-starring roles from the Fifties through the Eighties. She played everything from grandmas to judges. Notable early performances were for Alfred Hitchcock Presents, two anthology series, Climax! and Zane Grey Theater, and numerous, well-hidden roles on detective or drama series during the Sixties and Seventies. She was a cast member for the fourteen-episode, Peck's Bad Girl (1959). The versatile actress never found superstardom yet her longevity proved valuable to many casting directors. Semi-retiring in the early Sixties, television and the stage remained her focal points.

Reel Character Series

 

Adele Jergens (Adele Louisa Jurgens 1917-2002) was an American B-movie supporting actress. Her celebrity status as "Miss World's Fairest" at the 1939 New York World's Fair gained her a great deal of recognition before landing a movie contract in 1944 with Columbia Pictures in mostly forgettable films. The 5' 9” brunette was soon better known as a blonde and typically cast as a tough-talking second female lead as a girlfriend of a gangster or burlesque dancer. She was cast in the Franchot Tone film, I Love Trouble (1948) followed by similar roles that became her mainstay throughout the Fifties such as Armored Car Robbery, 1950 (above) and The Miami Story, 1954. The latter revealing a plump-cheeked puffiness. She failed to become a major star but made an impression with a host of conniving female roles. She was married to film and television actor Glenn Langan from 1949 until his death in 1991. Perhaps tiring of typecast roles, Jergens retired from acting in 1956.

Reel Character Series

 

Brad Dexter (Boris Michel Soso 1917-2002) was an American supporting actor and film producer. Known for his tough-guy crime drama or western villain roles, he was credited under several names early in his career. At the advice of actor/director John Huston, he became Brad Dexter, landing roles in Huston's film, The Asphalt Jungle (1950) followed by a breakthrough role as a smarmy villain in RKO's The Las Vegas Story (1951), starring Victor Mature and Jane Russell. RKO cast him in a similar part in the weaker, Macao (1952), also with Russell, with RKO signing him to a contract. Dexter was the villain to John Payne in the hard-hitting, 99 River Street (1953) followed by the captivating, though rather implausible, Violent Saturday (1955) and Between Heaven and Hell (1956), both for director Richard Fleischer. Television kept him busy in bit parts on numerous popular shows during the late Fifties and early Sixties.

His most famous film is probably the gunslinger in The Magnificent Seven (1960). Dexter will forever be overshadowed by the big box office competition dominating the film. His friendship with Frank Sinatra reached its peak when he saved 'Ol Blue Eyes from drowning during the production of None but the Brave (1965). Dexter was later awarded a Red Cross medal for his bravery. Grateful, Sinatra made him vice president of Sinatra Enterprises. Dexter joined Sinatra in, Von Ryan's Express (1965) but a friendship with Sinatra could be fleeting. He produced Sinatra's espionage film, The Naked Runner (1967). Speculation surrounds his clashing with the director and Sinatra over creative differences. Their two-year friendship possibly came to a screeching halt. It was back to television for Dexter in the Seventies to help finish out his career.

Keeping Your Whities Tidy

 

S.O.S Soap Pads were invented in 1917 by Irwin Cox of San Francisco, California, an aluminum pot salesman. The pre-soaped pad was intended to clean pots. Cox soon found out that the S.O.S pads had many more uses beyond pots and pans. Like white-wall tires in 1956, above. Cox introduced the soap-encrusted steel wool pads to potential new customers as a business card. His wife was responsible for the name with the S.O.S acronym standing for "Save Our Saucepans." The name was registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office simply by removing the last period, becoming unique and not to be confused with the international distress signal. The business was eventually bought by General Foods and by the late 1960s it was sold to Miles Laboratories who then sold the brand to Clorox.