Here's a correction for my first book on Shirley Booth (Love is the Reason for it All: The Shirley Booth Story, published in 2008)...
February 9, 1947 - Shirley is not in the radio episode of The Fred Allen Show, with guest star Leo Durocher.
As per the many references to Shirley Booth appearing in a Fred Allen episode with Leo Durocher from November 25, 1944...
Even I believed this from the published, usually reliable logs (etc.), but I have confirmed by listening to the episode that this is not Shirley - it sounds like Minerva Pious (who played Mrs. Nussbaum in Fred's shows).
The issue came up because I've seen a soon-to-be-published log of Fred Allen's radio shows and it incorrectly listed Shirley Booth as appearing in that particular episode.
The only other published work on Shirley Booth (also published in 2008) incorrectly gave a description that Shirley played "a Dottie Mahoney-ish sports fan, 'Little Bobby-Socks,' who flirted with Durocher."
You can confirm that Shirley is not that sports fan by hearing the show at the Internet Archive page for this show at:
Click on the episode in question...
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I am continuing my coverage regarding the critical response to Shirley Booth 's Broadway show Miss Isobel....
New York Journal American’s John McClain: “There comes that horrible occasion when even the most gifted performer is defeated by an un-gifted script, and this happened to Shirley Booth at the Royale Theatre last night.”
New York Journal American’s John McClain: “There comes that horrible occasion when even the most gifted performer is defeated by an un-gifted script, and this happened to Shirley Booth at the Royale Theatre last night.”
“But with all her brilliance, it is not simple to make the character she portrays engrossing,” noted Thomas Dash of the Women’s Wear Daily. Dash observed Booth’s valiant attempts to work with a bad script. Mrs. Ackroyd’s character is written in an unsympathetic light. Theatre Arts concluded: “Any sympathy probably should be directed at the long-suffering Miss Booth, though this is becoming an old story with her. The star’s broad shoulders seem to be as vital at this stage of her career as her great talent.”
Brooks Atkinson observed how since The Time of the Cuckoo, Booth has been “squandering her talents at random. Put ‘Miss Isobel’ at the bottom of the list. Conceivably it amuses Miss Booth. But it’s tough on the noggin.”
Time magazine acknowledged the subject matter’s problematic nature. It’s a story more fit for fiction than theater. Although Booth is credited for even drawing some laughter occasionally, the Time critic concluded: “With a look, a gesture, an intonation, she can be remarkably eloquent; but in the end the play, and even the part, is too much for her.”
The New York Post critic Richard Watts Jr. contended: “But everyone has known for some years that she is one of the finest actresses in the world, and it didn’t require so grueling a gamut of clumsy playwriting to demonstrate her brilliance. It merely seems a brutal waste of a beautiful skill.”
Walter Kerr, critic for New York Herald Tribune, hailed Booth. “The text is impossible; the part is preposterous; but the actress gloriously herself, believing in everything. Shirley, I love you. But these plays have got to get better.”
The Daily Mirror and the Daily News were among many papers offering unenthusiastic responses to the show.
After 53 performances, Miss Isobel closed on February 8, 1958. Whether Booth had poor judgment in selecting this role as some critics noted does not matter. As in the past, her skill in playing the part brought praise nonetheless.
Brooks Atkinson observed how since The Time of the Cuckoo, Booth has been “squandering her talents at random. Put ‘Miss Isobel’ at the bottom of the list. Conceivably it amuses Miss Booth. But it’s tough on the noggin.”
Time magazine acknowledged the subject matter’s problematic nature. It’s a story more fit for fiction than theater. Although Booth is credited for even drawing some laughter occasionally, the Time critic concluded: “With a look, a gesture, an intonation, she can be remarkably eloquent; but in the end the play, and even the part, is too much for her.”
The New York Post critic Richard Watts Jr. contended: “But everyone has known for some years that she is one of the finest actresses in the world, and it didn’t require so grueling a gamut of clumsy playwriting to demonstrate her brilliance. It merely seems a brutal waste of a beautiful skill.”
Walter Kerr, critic for New York Herald Tribune, hailed Booth. “The text is impossible; the part is preposterous; but the actress gloriously herself, believing in everything. Shirley, I love you. But these plays have got to get better.”
The Daily Mirror and the Daily News were among many papers offering unenthusiastic responses to the show.
After 53 performances, Miss Isobel closed on February 8, 1958. Whether Booth had poor judgment in selecting this role as some critics noted does not matter. As in the past, her skill in playing the part brought praise nonetheless.
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Hazel says...
In episode #126 ("Who's in Charge Here?"), Hazel is asked how she gets her eggs to rise just so. Hazel says: "Oh well, I just beat up the whites you know good and stiff and then I just ease in the yolks."
In episode #126 ("Who's in Charge Here?"), Hazel is asked how she gets her eggs to rise just so. Hazel says: "Oh well, I just beat up the whites you know good and stiff and then I just ease in the yolks."
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THANKS FOR VISITING!
JOIN ME AGAIN TOMORROW!
*****
For purchasing any of my books, you can visit Amazon.com
You can also check www.bookfinder.com
which offers the best prices on new & used copies.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For Bill, His Pinup Girl: The Shirley Booth & Bill Baker Story
by Jim Manago
Foreword by Leslie Sodaro
Published December 1, 2010
Further details at: http://shirleybooth.blogspot.com
JOIN ME AGAIN TOMORROW!
*****
For purchasing any of my books, you can visit Amazon.com
You can also check www.bookfinder.com
which offers the best prices on new & used copies.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For Bill, His Pinup Girl: The Shirley Booth & Bill Baker Story
by Jim Manago
Foreword by Leslie Sodaro
Published December 1, 2010
Further details at: http://shirleybooth.blogspot.com
*****
Love is the Reason for it All: The Shirley Booth Story
by Jim Manago
Radio Research by Donna Manago
Foreword by Ted Key
BearManor Media, May 2008
http://bearmanormedia.bizland.com
by Jim Manago
Radio Research by Donna Manago
Foreword by Ted Key
BearManor Media, May 2008
http://bearmanormedia.bizland.com
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