UNBELIEVABLE FIND! The only known video footage of Baby Snooks!!!

WOW! I've been searching for footage of Snooks for many years...

Fanny Brice and Hanley Stafford photos (Baby Snooks)

When Snooks became a hit

Courtesy of the Cobalt Club

Moorehead, Jameson, Ozzie Nelson, Harriet Hilliard photo dump

Half-Fanny/Half-Baby Snooks

Interesting photo dump/April 5th

Hanley Stafford, no doubt wondering what Baby Snooks is up to...

Is that the WEIRD mask?

Lum and Abner!

Claire Trevor and Edward G. Robinson - stars on 1938's Big Town

Were they "together" or not?

Various Fanny Brice/Baby Snooks leftovers

When Baby Snooks turned 25

More Blondie

Review: Baby Snooks

If there were 1,000 Baby Snooks audio clips out there, I would have them all and I might spend my time listening to nothing but them.

Baby Snooks was a character on shows with various titles in the late 1930's and all through the 1940's.  Snooks was no baby or anything close to a child but a very mature actress named Fanny Brice.  Brice was the subject of Barabra Streisand's motion picture in the late 1960's, Funny Girl.

Brice had been doing the Snooks character for years on stage.  But when she came to radio, her sponsors did not want her to do the character.  She did it anyway - and was a huge hit.

It's very hard to explain Snooks to someone that's never heard her.  She is a terror but in a very funny way.  She likes to create havoc, loves to torture her little baby brother and best of all, is the most-curious youngster in all of Radioland.

It is often I hear Snooks and howl out loud with laughter.  It is amazing to me how Fanny Brice could have been so funny. 

I knew nothing about Snooks until about 3 years ago.  I had seen the name in OTR circles and probably had even heard my parents talk about her when I was younger.  But I ignored the show, probably thinking it was for kids.

While I suppose kids loved the show, I frankly cannot think of a worse show for kids!  Snooks is a terrible child and not at all innocent.  But is she hilarious!  Fibber McGee, Walter Tetley, Arnold Stang - no one holds a candle to Snooks when taken as a whole.

Her daddy, Hanley Stafford, is perfect for the role.  He tries to educate her, gives her the patience she needs - then blows his top!  But we all know there is no way to make Snooks straighten up and fly right... that's impossible.

As far as I can decree, there are no weak spots if you bypass the music on the surviving clips.

I give the various Baby Snooks clips 5 stars.

©Jimbo 2010/2011

Hodge-podging/Feb.23rd

Ricky Jordan?

I never really thought about it before now - and I'll bet you haven't either, but isn't Rocky Jordan kind of a knock-off of Rick in the film, Casablanca?  There is the  North Africa setting for both, the restaurant for both and while neither are detectives both are mixed up (on the side of the law) in the local crime scene and are friendly with the local police chief, yet are miles ahead of him.  There are also plenty of women for both.

The biggest difference between the two is World War II for Rick and post-war for Rocky.  Oh by the way:  RiCK and RoCKy...
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If you listen to Bill Stern's Sports Newreels (and if you don't, you are missing a lot of fun - even if you don't like sports) do you ever realize how often he says the following expression: "And believe it or not, he too was born on Christmas Day"...you'd be surprised.
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I had the opportunity in the last week to listen to Orson Welles' Lear commentaries that I wrote about some time ago.

After listening to them again I come away fascinated with Welles. I don't agree with his politics (I'd bet you that at least when he made these commentaries that he was a Socialist) but he's convincingly clever - and his wit and charm on the air cannot be denied.
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Speaking of great actors, I wouldn't say that House Jameson and Hanley Stafford are in the "best actor" category but after many listenings to both I am always impressed with their work.
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I've also been listening to a new series (for me) Vox Pop (Voice of the People) - a show where the average Joe on the street (or servicemen) were interviewed live. While I haven't noticed anything too unusual yet, it is interesting to hear non-actors before a live microphone (think of You Bet Your Life.)

I'll review the show after I listen to a few more episodes, but I wanted you to be aware of this incredible (and I do mean incredible) collection of Vox Pop images online.
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Joe Kelly, the quizmaster on the Quiz Kids prorgam, was selected to head Quiz Kids - not because of his brilliance but because of his lack of brilliance, so says the book On the Air. Kelly had been the host of National Barn Dance for years and was a third grade dropout.

Despite all that, he seems perfect for the show and I've always liked his work.
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Seriously doing all kinds of things behind the scenes and working 12-13 hours a day at it.  But it takes a while for research to pay off.

Right now I am in the process of sorting and posting almost 300 new OTR Advertisments and I hope you go there and look around and find something you like.   I enjoy digging through papers and finding an ad but there's a lot of work involved in it.  If you'd just go and look now and then and enjoy the ads, I'd be pleased for you to see them.   There are almost 700 different OTR show advertisements involved (not all are posted yet, though.)

Bloooooooondie!