Tony Marvin as a Mutual newscaster

[Kurt Toy]

How long did Tony Marvin, better known as Arthur Godfrey's announcer, work at Mutual as a newscaster, including a stint on "The World Today"?

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

I don't know how long Marvin was an anchor at Mutual, but I believe it was in the 1960's (maybe into the 1970's), after Arthur Godfrey was forced to give us his TV shows in 1959 (on which Marvin was announcer and sidekick) due to a lung cancer scare (from which Godfrey recovered and resumed doing a radio interview show).

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

I know that Tony Marvin was doing Mutual News in 1966. I worked at a station that was an affiliate then and it carried Mutual news both on the hour and half-hour so he was heard quite often along with the other newscasters who were there at that time.

 

[cjwest]

I believe he also did an evening news wrap up show. It used sound effects which was very strange for the time.
There is a blooper Mutual tape that I believe I remember having Tony on the air three sheets to the wind.

 

[FredLeonard]

I believe he also did an evening news wrap up show. It used sound effects which was very strange for the time.
There is a blooper Mutual tape that I believe I remember having Tony on the air three sheets to the wind.

It was a half-hour evening news show called "The World Today." Not to be confused with a 15 minute CBS Radio show called "The World Tonight" (the evening equivalent of "World News Round-up").

Mutual in the 60s and early 70s seemed to gather a bunch of the old-school announcers. They also had Westbrook Van Voorhess, previously the narrator of "The March of Time" newsreels and radio show. Bill Stern, who served as the model for Paul Harvey's broadcast style and for "The Rest of the Story," did sports reports.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

Bill Stern, who served as the model for Paul Harvey's broadcast style and for "The Rest of the Story," did sports reports.

Now you have my curiosity up. I must track down some Bill Stern stuff. I remember the name, but I can't place his style, his delivery.

I always thought of the old "country cliche" that might apply to Paul Harvey: "After God made him, God threw away the mold." Then there was that recovering alcoholic department manager I once worked with who tried to apply that saying to himself, and we always corrected him: "When God made you, it BROKE the mold!"


So you're trying to tell me that Paul Harvey didn't just sift that speech style out of the sage brush, tumble weeds and sand burrs of Oklahoma? ;D

 

[FredLeonard]

Bill Stern, who served as the model for Paul Harvey's broadcast style and for "The Rest of the Story," did sports reports.

Now you have my curiosity up. I must track down some Bill Stern stuff. I remember the name, but I can't place his style, his delivery.

I always thought of the old "country cliche" that might apply to Paul Harvey: "After God made him, God threw away the mold." Then there was that recovering alcoholic department manager I once worked with who tried to apply that saying to himself, and we always corrected him: "When God made you, it BROKE the mold!"


So you're trying to tell me that Paul Harvey didn't just sift that speech style out of the sage brush, tumble weeds and sand burrs of Oklahoma? ;D

No, he didn't. Much of it came from Bill Stern. Some came from Walter Winchell and the Harvey "slant" came from the Chicago Tribune. Stern did a weekly program called "The Colgate Sports Newsreel." Stern would cue the commercial saying "reel two," or "reel three." And he did sports personality features ("that little Italian boy who got a baseball bat for Christmas is now the Pope"). Stern appears in "Pride of the Yankees" (as the sportscaster) and his program is caricatured in Woody Allen's "Radio Days."

Both Mutual and ABC had stables of commentators representing a range of political opinion. Mutual's leading conservative commentator was Fulton Lewis, Jr. (later his son, Fulton Lewis III, took over). Paul Harvey was the last of the radio commentators but what they had in common was each had their own "take" on the news, both in slant and in selection.

 

[Mike_Rafone]

Bill Stern's early show was called "The Bill Stern Colgate Palmolive Sports Newsreel of the Air" try saying that in a rush and with only one breath. Opened with a Jack Armstrong male chorus singing.

Style was "machine-gun," stacato, breathless. Main feature was one of those "now it can be told" stories. Lots of schmaltz. As near as I can tell from what I've heard of his broadcasts, the only collegiate football teams in existence were Southern Cal, Notre Dame, Harvard, Northwestern, and maybe Illinois. There were no teams in the southern states.

The long version of the show had guests he cream-puffed interviewed, then as it got shortened was a scoreboard recap, finally just the "rest of the story" story.

As another poster said, a lot like in tempo and presentation Walter Winchell.

And back to Tony Marvin -- I've read in his latter days, it was unsafe for him to walk to work as the only bars he would walk past were those not open.

 

[HHH]

Bill Stern, who served as the model for Paul Harvey's broadcast style and for "The Rest of the Story," did sports reports.

Now you have my curiosity up. I must track down some Bill Stern stuff. I remember the name, but I can't place his style, his delivery.

I always thought of the old "country cliche" that might apply to Paul Harvey: "After God made him, God threw away the mold." Then there was that recovering alcoholic department manager I once worked with who tried to apply that saying to himself, and we always corrected him: "When God made you, it BROKE the mold!"


So you're trying to tell me that Paul Harvey didn't just sift that speech style out of the sage brush, tumble weeds and sand burrs of Oklahoma? ;D

No, he didn't. Much of it came from Bill Stern. Some came from Walter Winchell and the Harvey "slant" came from the Chicago Tribune. Stern did a weekly program called "The Colgate Sports Newsreel." Stern would cue the commercial saying "reel two," or "reel three." And he did sports personality features ("that little Italian boy who got a baseball bat for Christmas is now the Pope"). Stern appears in "Pride of the Yankees" (as the sportscaster) and his program is caricatured in Woody Allen's "Radio Days."

Both Mutual and ABC had stables of commentators representing a range of political opinion. Mutual's leading conservative commentator was Fulton Lewis, Jr. (later his son, Fulton Lewis III, took over). Paul Harvey was the last of the radio commentators but what they had in common was each had their own "take" on the news, both in slant and in selection.

Yes, Bill Stern was notorious for these ridiculous stories that were complete B.S!

The scuttlebutt was that the network got so many complaints, that Stern changed the intro to something like "Some may be true, some not, but all are fascinating" or something like that.

After that disclaimer, that meant anything goes!

I believe that he once had Abraham Lincoln playing baseball with Abner Doubleday.

Red Barber supposedly was not a fan and considered him a joke.

 

[FredLeonard]

Yes, Bill Stern was notorious for these ridiculous stories that were complete B.S!

The scuttlebutt was that the network got so many complaints, that Stern changed the intro to something like "Some may be true, some not, but all are fascinating" or something like that.

After that disclaimer, that meant anything goes!

I believe that he once had Abraham Lincoln playing baseball with Abner Doubleday.

Red Barber supposedly was not a fan and considered him a joke.

Many of his colleagues/competitors were not fans. Stern was notorious for his mistakes doing football games. He would have the wrong player carrying the ball and when his spotter finally corrected him, Stern would have the wrong player lateral the ball at the last minute to the correct player, just before crossing the goal line.

However, when CBS' lead sportscaster made a mistake in calling the winner of a major horse race, Stern was merciless in his on-air jibes at Husing. Husing's reply: "Well, you can't lateral a horse."

 

[JeffM]

Here's a link to a video with the soundtrack of Tony Marvin doing a Mutual newscast while plastered...including a commercial for milk!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVfAvVe2c0E

 

[JeeperOne]

Bill Stern's early show was called "The Bill Stern Colgate Palmolive Sports Newsreel of the Air"

Actually it's called Bill Stern's Sports Newsreels which was SPONSORED by Colgate. GET IT RIGHT PEOPLES (Some of us are passionate about Old Time Radio) !!!

Episodes can be found on the Internet Archive HERE
Info & Hostory on Bill Stern himself can be found on Wikipedia HERE

Cheers & 73

 

[mikedow]

Tony Marvin ended his career at WATR in Waterbury, Connecticut.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...HrQyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=TQIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6891,522749

He was also the original Tony the Tiger for Kelloggs's Frosted Flakes. He died in 1998.

 

[Hot Hits]

Tony Marvin
He was also the original Tony the Tiger for Kelloggs's Frosted Flakes. He died in 1998.

I don't know where you get your Kellogg's Tony the Tiger info from but...

In the original advertisements featuring Tony the Tiger, Dallas McKennon did the voice, but was quickly replaced by Thurl Ravenscroft for 50 years. McKennon was also a noted voice actor, even lending his vocal talents to movies Ravenscroft was also in, such as Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, 101 Dalmatians, Mary Poppins, and others. He’s probably best known for his role as Gumby and also Buzz Buzzard in the Woody Woodpecker show.


Since Ravenscroft’s death in 2005, professional wrestling announcer Lee Marshall has done the voice for Tony the Tiger. Lee claims he is the voice of God. That is how big his ego is?

 

[JeffM]

The "Tony the Tiger" claim was made by Mr. Marvin's widow, and is traceable to a quote from her in his obituary as published in newspapers at the time of his death. It could be that he may have done Tony's voice in New York-based radio commercials or something similar. Thurl Ravenscroft was a superb bass singer, much heard as a background vocalist with everyone from Elvis to Doris Day. That's him singing "Ain't-a-gonna need this house no more" on Rosemary Clooney's "This Old House." Some of you may recall him also as a prominent member of the Johnny Mann singers on their 70's syndie variety show.

Dallas McKennon was seen "on camera" as Cincinnatus, the saloon keeper, in the "Daniel Boone" TV series, and was caricatured as "Captain Zoom" in Walter Lantz's Woody Woodpecker cartoon "Woodpecker From Mars." McKennon replaced Lionel Stander as Buzz Buzzard after Stander was "blacklisted" in the HUAC era.

 

[Kurt Toy]

McKennon also voiced the Archie Andrews character on the long-running Filmation series.

 

[JeffM]

For whatever it's worth, I guess I should add that at this time of year you'll be hearing Thurl Ravenscroft all over the all-Christmas stations, singing "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch" from the sound track of the "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" TV cartoon.