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Arhur Godfrey Old Time Radio Program
30 comedy/musical/variety show
Arthur Godfrey (1903-1983) born in New York City in 1903. His father
was in the horse drawn cab (hackney cab) business, but with the coming of the
automobile, his family's fortunes seriously declined. His family was a prominent
New York family, but they had the name, but no longer had the money. They moved
to New Jersey, and he moved out, joining the Navy at the age of 16 – and
he lied about his age to enlist. Arthur moved in and out of the military (I'm
guessing it must of been different in those days) and was on detail to the coast
guard in Baltimore from 1927 to 1930 when he won a talent show competition and
was so popular that he got a weekly radio show.
He left the military, then moved to Washington DC, and became an announcer
on station WRC. Godfrey modified and perfected his radio personality over the
next few years. He would talk conversationally rather than as The Formal Announcer,
he would inject some humor into his advertising bits, and occasionally sing
when you wouldn't expect him to. The listeners felt that they got to know him.
President Roosevelt was a listener to his show, and with Roosevelt's encouragement
Godfrey received a commission in the Naval Reserve. Godfrey did a brief stint
on the Fred Allen show, but 'creative differences' made the two talented radio
men split up soon.
Arthur Godfrey achieved national notice on a tragic note. In April of 1945
he was the CBS radio morning anchor in Washington DC, and he covered Franklin
Roosevelt's funeral procession. His more friendly and intimate radio style really
hit the mood of the country for this shattering event. Instead of delivering
just the news of the funeral, he put his emotions on display and at one point,
broke down in tears during the procession. The broadcast was so moving that
CBS ran his show on the entire network.
Shortly after this broadcast CBS gave him a network-wide morning show. It was
a news show, with interviews of celebrities and his own music thrown in. CBS
moved his show to prime time, but made it more of a talent show contest. Young
acts on his show included: Lenny Bruce, Don Adams, Tony Bennett, Patsy Cline,
and Pat Boone. However, he didn't always pick future stars. Elvis Presley tried
out for the show, and was rejected. This show, morphed into the Arthur Godfrey
and his Friends weekly variety show in 1949. Godfrey would interview the acts
on his show, he would sing and play his signature instrument, the ukulele, joke
with his announcer and cast, and keep the show moving along at a friendly pace.
Godfrey became one of the busiest men in entertainment. His show was a success,
he did many appearances on other shows, his cast, known as the Little Godfreys,
were becoming stars in their own right, he was working in multiple media formats.
The audience liked him because he had that 'neighbor next door' feel, with his
informal and conversational tone, and, perhaps just as important, sponsors liked
him because he was a heck of a salesman. He would mock and joke with the advertisements
he had to sell – but was careful to mock the sales script, or the company
executives, but not the product itself. He also had the reputation of only selling
products he believed in. When he quit smoking, he also stopped selling Chesterfield
cigarettes, even though Chesterfield was a longtime advertiser for his show.
Advertisers loved him, CBS loved him, and the public trusted that when he sold
something, he believed it was a good product.
Perhaps his success went to his head, perhaps he had been able to mask a large
ego from his audience for decades, but the perception of Godfrey changed drastically
when he fired one of his cast on the air. Julius LaRosa was one of the members
of his cast. He was gaining in popularity (possibly getting more fan mail than
Godfrey himself) and had a hit record. LaRosa and Godfrey were having difficulty
behind the scenes, and it led to Godfrey firing him on the air. Godfrey did
not help his case when he said in a press conference later that he fired LaRosa
to teach him humility. Godfrey became the punchline for comics for years. However,
even with this hit to his public image, he still maintained a large and loyal
fan base. Arthur Godfrey has also been accused of anti-semitism, however, he
had many Jewish performers appear on his show, including his long time announcer
Tony Marvin. One civil rights issue that is clear is that he gave African Americans
ample opportunities. On one television broadcast in particular, he had a black
and white act dancing together. Southern stations and politicians objected,
but Godfrey refused to remove the act.
All of our Old Time Radio Programs are in MP3 format. You can play them
on your computer, you can transfer them to MP3 players (like the IPod), but,
by and large, you cannot play them on stereos, walkmen, or car radios.
The sound quality of Old Time Radio Programs can vary greatly. Some episodes
are excellent, others you have to turn up the volume a little and ignore the
static. All of the episodes can be listened to and enjoyed. You can listen to
our free samples to get a feel for how the programs sound.
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Arthur Godfrey Episode List
15episodes
ArthurGodfrey_1946-07-08.mp3
ArthurGodfrey_1946-07-09.mp3
ArthurGodfrey_1947-03-11__JohnnyDaggan.mp3
ArthurGodfrey_1947-09-08.mp3
ArthurGodfrey_1949-04-18__LBruce,JConnelly.mp3
ArthurGodfrey_1949-04-18__LennyBruce.mp3
ArthurGodfrey_1950-04-24__TalentScouts.mp3
ArthurGodfrey_1950-05-08.mp3
ArthurGodfrey_1950-05-16.mp3
ArthurGodfrey_1950-05-22.mp3
ArthurGodfrey_1950-05-29.mp3
ArthurGodfrey_1950-06-05.mp3
ArthurGodfrey_1950-06-12.mp3
ArthurGodfrey_1950-10-02__WithGeorgeSawtell.mp3
ArthurGodfrey_1953-10-19__FiresJuliusLaRosa(excerpt).mp3
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