[Music]
you're listening to the oldtime radio
show on 71k news talk radio now back to
Denver's oldtime radio history buff John
Dunning and uh I am very happy today to
have Frank Nelson uh we all know this
anyway but Frank Nelson had a frequent
but indefinable role on the Benny
Program he played a floor walker uh that
of course in the Christmas show which
they did every year he he played a
waiter in restaurants uh in supermarkets
he played a Salesman he played a ticket
seller at the railroad station but on
all of these parts he had one common
denominator and one personality trait no
matter what the situation he was always
Jack Benny's Archen enemy and that one
magic word that he uttered every week uh
always sent the audience into
hysterics uh Frank Nelson are you on the
phone yes
yes you're still doing that for
McDonald's you know I just no I'm not
just doing it for McDonald's now I just
finished doing it uh I did it up until
about the 10th of January and uh the way
I answered you just with the yes you
know without stretching it or anything I
I I have to tell you a story about a
director that came on the Benny show at
a particular point in time and uh so we
were sitting around the table reading
and uh Jack said oh Miss Mister and I
said is and uh we went on through the
thing and when we were through and going
to do the uh rehearsal on Mike uh he
walked up to me and he said uh Frank
don't do that and I said what he said
don't do that I said don't do what he
said well you know how you said the yes
he said don't do that I said oh all
right so get up there and Jack said oh
Mis mister and I said yes ja said what
are you doing I said well the director
told me not to do this have and Jack
turned around and he said have you ever
seen my show or heard my show and the
director said well no I haven't he said
well he's been doing that for 30 years
that's what I pay him to do it was uh
probably the the most famous one word in
in certainly that I can think of in all
of the oldtime radio I've heard well it
uh it lasted for 38 years so I guess it
had something 38 years well you must
have started on it very early then well
I started with Jack uh actually on June
1st
1934 I wasn't doing the yes then I was
just doing uh Parts with him and uh oh
I'd say about 6 months into uh my
association with him one week I happen
to stretch it and the writers the next
week said hey we're going to try that
again I said try what he said well you
remember you stretched out a yes and it
got a laugh last week and I had to think
about it then I said oh yeah yeah I
remember so I did and uh so then we
would uh they one day decided they see
what I could do with ooh and so uh they
they haven't really cheed Jack in and uh
Jack's line was you you really do hate
me don't you and I
said do I and he right on the floor
right on the floor but uh this was in
rehearsal right huh this was in
rehearsal oh yeah he could also break up
on the air though oh oh yes oh he broke
up many times on the air many times on
the air you know it's it's uh fun to
talk to you in uh Denver I don't think
you know this probably but uh first
broadcast I ever did was at Ko in Denver
really yep I started my career in 1926 I
was still a kid in high school and I uh
did a show for uh the United States
national bank with a young lady by the
name of Georgia Miller and uh she she
was the wife and I was the husband in a
series and uh I went out to audition for
it and they looked at me and said what
are you doing out here and I said well
they told me you had something to be
auditioned for and they said oh well
this is a man of about 35 years of age I
said oh well okay and I start to leave
and uh the director said well look have
you ever read over a microphone I said
no and he said well maybe you'd like to
stay in and read and I said well she
yeah sure so I did and there were 30 of
us at audition that day and the next day
they called back 12 next day they called
back 4:00 and I got it so I I worked
that and uh then I worked at uh KFL in
Denver I sold time and announced there
and uh I opened Denver University's
Little Theater uh doing March banks in
Canada and either 28 or 29 so uh I uh I
have a uh a many good memories of Denver
my wife I mean my mother had a dress
shop as a matter of fact at 412 East
cfax off at the Cathedral there you
really do uh know Denver then oh yes I
do well I may have missed it maybe you
already told me but how did you happen
to be in Denver in the first place well
I uh I went to uh I went to Mor junor
High there and I went to West High
School there and graduated from West so
I lived there for a long time well did
you you know you mentioned KOA Don
Wilson was on KOA wasn't he mhm did you
know him here then uh no I didn't know
Don I think Don left there a little
before I did and uh I I don't remember
Don and I don't think we met there at
all I met him at KFI out here when I
came out here did you read Irving fe's
book did I read what Irving fe's book on
Jack Benny no I didn't read Irving's
book Irving is my pet hate is he yes he
is well you'll probably hate this
anecdote in there he um he he says you
you got uh the the most money for one
word of any anybody in radio or
television until that time well that's
that's that's a marvelous theory that he
has you see Irving Irving hated like the
devil to turn loose of a buck it uh it
just hurt him terribly Jack Jack didn't
but Irving did and Jack didn't know what
Irving did sometimes uh for instance I
I'll give you a story about Irving uh
one week I got a call from the casting
director and uh he said uh Frank um like
to have you on the show this this is in
the television days I'd like to have you
on the show this week but uh you're just
voice over you're at the airport and
you're just coming over the PA and so
Irving thought that maybe you'd work for
half of your regular salary and I said
tell that's and I got just about that
far and he said never mind never mind
I'll call you back so in about uh 20
minutes he called back and he said okay
he said uh see you tomorrow in your
regular salary and he said no I'm going
to tell you what happened he said iring
said I'm not going to pay Nelson's
salary to do this thing so get another
actor so he said I got another actor the
other actor went on stage and as soon as
uh Jack said something and this fell
started to talk Jack said where's Frank
and Irving says well I thought he says
where's Frank he said get Frank Irving
says yes sir so it ended up that he had
to pay the other actor and then he had
to pay me my regular salary so it cost
me more than it would have to begin with
well this anecdote he reports is always
that way yeah he he indicates that in
the book cuz he T he was the Jack
Benny's producer at the time I believe
yes he was uh originally he was his
accountant and then he ended up being
his producer finally and of course he's
now George Burn's manager uhhuh yeah I
think the the anecdote is kind of uh is
kind of revealing because he talks in
here about how he didn't want to pay
your fee to come in and and do this
basically what they needed was the yes
you know he didn't want to pay the fee
for that and and so he took it to Benny
at least as he has it in the book and
Benny says of course we have to to pay
his fee he's entitled to get uh his fee
uh for the one word or whatever else he
he does and and they according to fine
they had a big a big conference with all
the writers to decide whether the one
word uh on this particular show was a
big enough laugh to get the uh the fee
and they went ahead and paid the fee
because they decided it was well I'll
I'll give you 100 to one right now that
that isn't the way it happened because
uh if he he wouldn't have dared go to
Jack and ask that he simply wouldn't do
that Jack would expect me to be there if
uh if he if the character was in and he
C certainly expect you to get paid for
it that's right and uh Jack would never
have raised the uh the issue about money
in the first place with the kind of
money Jack was making it didn't make any
difference you know what he was uh going
to pay me when you figure what he was
going to pay the government it it just
didn't make that much difference matter
of fact I made a lot more money on other
shows than I made on the Jack Benny show
H uh the the revealing thing I think
about that anecdote you know even that
he would tell it it reveals that Jack
Benny's character was the exact opposite
of what he went to Great Lengths to
promote on the air Jack was a very
generous Man actually he was a very
charitable man and uh for instance uh he
would he would give $25,000 let's say to
Jewish War relief uh during the war with
the stipulation that there' be no
publicity there was another comedian out
here that would give 5,000 with the
stipulation there'd be a lot of
publicity that was the difference
between the two but uh Jack was just
that kind of a human being he uh and uh
you know when Mel was uh in that
terrible auto accident he was in a coma
for 21 days Jack sat at his bedside all
that time this is Mel blank that's right
and uh he did the same with Eddie
Anderson when Eddie had a stroke he was
out there at the hospital daily he uh
was a very very decent and uh lovely man
he was not an easy man to know to
socialize with or anything like that now
Mel socialized with him a fair amount of
time but uh I never did socialize with
Jack but uh I certainly enjoyed working
with him and I admired him as a human
being one of the things I loved about
the Benny show was how if they blew a
line they would play on it and build on
it throughout the oh yeah um I was
wondering if some of that wasn't if some
of those lines maybe weren't blown in
dress rehearsal and built into the show
no they were actually blown on the air
that's right uh for instance uh Mary had
one where she came in and I was the soda
jerk and she said I'll have a chis sze
sandwich and that that played for weeks
and that happened on the show it did not
happen in rehearsal those running gags
were just fantastic that's right another
one was when uh uh uh Harris had man of
sh of a bits you know I mean he just
garbled it and they did Man of sh of
aits for a long time I'll tell you the
most famous One probably I don't know
whether it's in his book or not but I it
probably is uh Don Wilson had a line
early in the show oh first I have to
back up to myself I I had a line Jack
says Mr M I said yes he said uh are you
the door man I said well who do you
think I am in this uniform Nelson Eddie
that's the one I I'll just let you tell
that I was going to read it but I'll let
you tell it okay so uh he said Nelson
Eddie and uh uh he said you know I don't
like that joke for Frank we got to get a
different joke he said I don't like the
Nelson edti joke well we get to show and
they haven't changed the joke now early
in the show Don Wilson had a line about
Drew Pearson the famous columnist and it
came out Greer pen got a tremendous
laugh out of the audience and broke jack
up now I look up at the booth and the
writers are motioning to me to come into
the booth so I get up and go back and
walk in the booth I said what you want
they said look when you get to the line
says are you the door man say well who
do you think I am in this uniform Dre
poin I said come on fellas it doesn't
even track they said never mind whether
it tracks do it I said now look nobody
had lives with Jack and you know that
they said we will take the
responsibility for having given you the
line I think if it had died out there
they'd have all said he did it on his
own I don't know but anyway I went back
out and now we get to the thing and Jack
said oh mister mister and I always had
my back to him and I hled into the mic
and I said yes and he said uh excuse me
are you the door man and as he said it I
saw this dull look come into his eyes
like oh good lord here comes that line I
don't want to hear and I stared right
into his eyes and I said well who do you
think I am in this uniform Dre po but
his eyes got like two saucers he began
to laugh he grabbed a hold of the
microphone he slid down the microphone
to the floor pounded on the floor got up
staggered clear across the stage to the
far wall turned around into the curtains
got a hold of the curtains slid down the
curtains pounded on the floor some more
got up and staggered back to the mic and
the laugh is going on through this whole
thing this is alive that's his all live
and it went on through the whole thing
now he gets back to the microphone I
thought he'd never you know get back to
the script and I really think that this
is probably the longest laugh we ever
had on the Benny show longer than your
money or your life yeah I think it was
longer than that I think it was but it
wasn't planned you see it just happened
and so then for weeks after that I would
run into writers from other shows and
they' say that whole thing was a a
planned routine wasn't it I said no it
was not and I'd tell them this story
very much as I've told you and they all
thought I was lying to them I there
wasn't one of them was convinced that I
was telling them the truth and it's
absolutely the way it happened um there
was a wonderful one that Mary blew in
fact I even I even said on the air you
know I really think that would must have
been done in rehearsal and apparently
I'm wrong but there was a wonderful line
that she blew or she was supposed to say
uh uh he says where's my car and she
says it's up on the grease rack and she
says it's up there on the grass
reek and uh they used that for about
three or 4 weeks running I think there
was there was uh there was a line in
there about a couple of skunks getting
out and they're over there uh uh blood
that grass reeks or something like that
the writers were were ingenious at oh
yeah once once anything like that
happened they would pick it up no Mary
you couldn't you couldn't write that
kind of a breakup for Mary because she
wouldn't be able to do it she she just
wouldn't be able to handle that kind of
a thing and make it uh sound like
anything but a phony thing now there was
never a single one of those things that
was written into the
script oh well we we bounced from show
to show of course I did blonde I did my
first Blondie in 1939 and did the last
one on January 12th of
1950 and in that I played herb Woodley
the next door neighbor right and uh so
we bounced from show to show I was uh
one of the uh two announcers I was the
billboard announcer on Lux Radio Theater
for two and a half years when was that
uh well at the beginning of uh Lux out
here I'd have to look at my books to
tell you the exact date of it but uh
when it first came out here I I did the
billboard announcing and then doubled
into the
show and uh just looking to see if I
could pick up a date on it here but I
don't know if I
can uh I wanted to ask you while you're
looking about uh uh Phil Harris whose
shows survive in such wonderful sound
and and and are so obviously influenced
by Jack Benny oh sure well uh you know
he uh he had uh the Frankie the uh the
uh banjo player you know was uh supposed
to be sidekicking that right and uh it
was patterned to a great extent after
what he had learned really with
Jack I can tell you a little story about
Rochester of how he got on the Benny
show okay uh the only time that I ever
turned Jack down in my life I would get
out of other shows this is before I was
contracted to him and I'd get out of
other shows in order to do his show well
he called me one week quite late and I
already had four commitments for Sunday
and I said there's just no way I can do
it I'm sorry what he wanted me to do was
a porter on a train coming from
Albuquerque and it's a very fortunate
thing that I was busy and they couldn't
get me because they went out and they
got a young man by the name of Eddie
Anderson and Jack was so impressed by
him that he said hey we got to find a
spot for him on the show and he became
his valid on the show that's the way he
got on the show you mean you almost had
the role of uh the Rochester guy well oh
it I never would have developed that
way just have been a one shot if I had
have done it but because he had this
very distinctive voice and all Jack was
so intrigued with him he said hey we got
to do something else beside this Porter
bit right right but what I mean is you
almost got the role that that in other
words if you had done that show maybe
there wouldn't have been any rochest
that's right that is correct uh I think
that was around Easter 1937 wasn't it uh
I couldn't give you debate I really
don't remember it it went back ways
though yeah long ways Elliot Lewis was
another one who was who was on Benny's
show a lot wasn't he well Elliot used to
come on and he did what they called the
mly they call him a mly
be kind of goofy guy you know and uh we
did a routine we did one routine uh
between Elliot and myself that uh is
turned out to be just an absolute
screamingly funny routine and we were
scared to death of it because if it died
early you were dead because you had to
go on with it you couldn't get off of it
and what it was uh he gets up to the
line ahead of Jack to get a ticket and
he says I'd like a ticket for
glamur I said yes sir he said uh is that
little Brook still you know how are
things in glamore I said fine fine just
fine he says is that little Brook still
running there I said yes yes it is and
we get every line of the song that way
and it just kept building and of course
Jack doing the looks behind him and it
went from the beginning of the song to
the end with every one of the lyrics and
it played just kept building and
building and building then they tried it
it was so successful they tried it again
with another song about a year later and
it died a morning and we still had to do
it because there was no way out of it
you see was that the Tennessee
walls I'm not sure I don't remember what
it was I don't I don't think I really
want to remember what it was because it
it just died that's all josephburg in
his book recounts that that uh that you
and U and I believe it was Elliot Lewis
did the Tennessee Walts that way well
then they were then probably we did
that's probably the second one only the
one that really played was how are
things in
glamur yeah I think that's in Irving FES
book yeah um that's wonderful comedy
when you can build something like that
into oh it it it it was it was just
tremendous and yet you can see what a
chancy kind of a routine it was because
if it didn't start to play right from
the beginning you were going nowhere
except downhill for a long time right
Fred Allen used to do some great things
with u music did you ever work with him
yes I worked with uh with Allan uh when
he was working with
Jack uh on about oh I think two or three
shows where Alan was on when they had
the feud going you know yeah what's uh
what's your opinion of Fred Allan oh I
think he was uh I think he was born like
uh 20 years too soon uh uh the kind of
Comedy that he did that was so
magnificent and he was the comedian's
comedian every comedian adored him
thought he was the greatest thing that
ever came down the pike but he was too
sharp for the people generally speaking
and then comedy began to change and I
think he would have done very very well
on today's market or back a piece from
now even but uh I just think he was a
little before his time you see he never
had a high rating and yet every comedian
loved
him listen when when you do a a campaign
like McDonald's and when when there you
know the the tie into to The Jack Benny
show which has been gone now for the the
radio show has been gone now for 25
years your your tie to that is so subtle
a whole generation of viewers are going
to look at those spots and and probably
not know what what they're doing how how
does McDonald's come up with something
like that or what well uh as as I
understand it the uh the head of meum
Harper and steers
uh you want the boring story of how I
got the commercials sure all right uh I
I got a call one day from Afra out here
after called me and said uh that they
wanted me to call Chicago meet them
Harper and steers and talk to a lady by
the name of Virginia Dalton about some
McDonald's commercial so I called her
and I said uh I don't understand why you
don't have my phone number I don't even
have an agent anymore and I said I don't
understand why you don't have my phone
number cuz I've done four commercials
for you and uh she said well we're a big
agency they're four floors here and one
floor doesn't necessarily know what the
other's doing but would you be
interested and I said yeah sure so about
20 minutes passed and she called back
and she said uh uh Frank I uh checked on
those commercials those were voice over
and I said yes she said well this is on
camera and then this is the way an actor
sells himself I said what the hell do
you want with me on camera and there was
a pause and she said well we thought we
might and I said well if you do okay but
I can't figure out what you want with me
on camera so then on the following
Monday I uh was called to go out into
Burbank and do an audition at a small
Studio out there and I went out there
walk in and a young man 26 years old
walks out of the back room and he said
I'm Bill bricka of needam Harper and
steers and I wrote the commercials and I
said oh I know you're going to tell me
that your mother used to carry you into
the theater in her arms and you watch me
perform and he said no no he said I know
the character and our boss is a great
fan of the Benny show so that's
supposedly where it came from so I then
did uh the commercials and uh when we
got all through he said now I can't go
back to Chicago without autographs and I
thought oh come on you're putting me on
and so he brought these five scripts in
that I had done and I said uh first when
he said is to so and so I said now who
is that he said that's the head of n of
Haron steers I said by all means so I
autographed each of these the people he
asked me to autograph them to and left
and came home and said to my wife there
isn't a snow pole of a chance in hell am
I getting that job because anytime you
get all that kind of treatment nothing
happens 3 days later they called and
said they wanted me to do it and the
funny thing is that's the first time
McDonald's has ever done anything except
real people you know uh just folks doing
commercials and uh actually it's the
biggest single campaign they have ever
done they called me two weeks into the
campaign and said that McDonald's was so
happy with it they were putting an
additional half million into Network
advertising so uh it evidently was a
very successful campaign for them and
I'm happy to have worked for them and I
got a kick out at doing it and you're
talking about the character the very
strange thing happened you see I
wondered I thought now uh what what are
the kids going to think about this
today uh it's a long time since my son
used to come home from school and say
you know Dad I am sick of you because
all the kids in school were doing the
yes okay all the kids back doing it
again all the kids they go into
McDonald's and they say uh I I'll have a
uh hamburger they say uh Big Mac yes and
they're they're all doing this bit and I
have had uh kids run up and wrap on my
window and I roll the window down and
they do the yes at me and then run and
uh it's it's strange but the young
people have picked up on it just exactly
as they did back in the Benny days isn't
that funny yeah it is your wife via Von
yep was also on the Jack Benny show for
and she used to do a lot of f Fels you
know if it was a sexy uh French girl or
a sexy uh Italian girl or whatever it
happened to be she uh she did a lot of
those she worked with Bob Hope a great
deal she uh did madelle Fifi with uh
Eddie caner and uh of course she hasn't
been working at it I'll tell you what we
do now we have a thing that we do called
uh the golden days of radio and uh so
she and I do the bickerson now really
yeah we have a lot of fun doing that how
how often was she on the Benny Program
well she used to sometimes she would
stand by if Mary wasn't feeling too well
Mary used to faint a lot really yeah
she'd have spells when she would faint
and sometime boy she'd hit that stage
and that was it uh and usually it would
be after the show right at the
conclusion of the show I don't remember
Mary ever fainting during a show but I
sure remember fainting a great many
times after a show what did she have
Mike fright uh I don't know I don't know
whether it was that or just uh a general
nervousness or what the it was I really
don't know but uh if she was not feeling
too well they would often have theola
down there just to stand by uh just in
case something happened to her just to
pick up and do her lines but there are
other times they would have her in there
doing as I say the F fatel type of did
she did she uh substitute for Mary later
after she left the show no no she never
substituted for Mary as such now Mary
Livingston actually left the program
because of the the fact that the
pressures wouldn't do she do the
television shows she just wouldn't do
them she left the radio trapped her into
doing one but I mean she just wouldn't
do them I believe she left the radio
show too well she may have towards the
end I I I really don't remember that now
uh theola might know more about that
than I do she might have up or you know
stood in for her on an occasion I really
don't know I said she hadn't but I could
be wrong on that you know we played one
the other night from 1954 and the
actress who was playing the part was
good but there was such a different
she didn't have that bite and well Mary
was Marry You know I mean and uh and
when you've done a thing that long you
you don't try to step into somebody
else's shoes unless it's just a
necessity you just have to do it that's
all because uh you're never going to be
compared favorably that's right we have
one more caller here hello this is John
dunny you're on 71k News Talk Radio I'd
like to ask what was the most uh funny
or embarrassing thing that ever happened
to you in radio good question did you
get that what was the the funniest and
the most embarrassing well I really
think that the Dre po story that I told
you earlier was probably the funniest I
uh that that uh I got more of a kick out
than anything out of the reaction of
Jack you know I mean it was such a it
just broke him up so completely that I I
I would say that's about as funny as
anything happened to me embarassing
embarrassing I don't know uh that's uh
it's embarrassing when you make a
mistake uh uh it's embarrassing when you
do something on a dramatic show like I
did once when I had a very dramatic
scene which uh the First Act ended with
uh you've killed my
boy and uh no you killed my son was the
line and
I started to say boy and tried to change
back and it came out you killed my soy
now you know that uh that leaves you in
uh a fine State of Affairs and uh now I
have to go back and do the second act
and I'm thinking oh my God a highly
dramatic show and I did a thing like
that and then the director having no
heart at all handed me a little note
just as I'm going to open the second act
and I flip it open and it says my little
soy how have you been and then I
practically couldn't go on I practically
couldn't get the words out uh you hear a
lot about
[Music]
oh oh
[Music]
oh
[Music]
oh oh oh
[Music]