August 7, 1948
Stanley Victor Freberg author, recording
artist, animation voice
actor, comedian, radio
personality, puppeteer, and advertising creative
director was born.
His first jobs (at age eighteen) involved supplying voices for Warner Brothers
cartoons, usually in support of Mel Blanc and always without credit. Soon
though, Freberg was being heard on radio shows and on early television.
He and V.O. actor Daws Butler worked puppets and supplied the vocals on Bob
Clampett's Time for Beany, the first kids' show to attract an adult
audience.In 1950, he launched a
long association with Capitol Records, recording silly and satirical
material. The sales and critical reaction stunned the Capitol execs so
they let him keep on doing pretty much anything he wanted, even when it meant
attacking their own industry. His recordings all had two outstanding
qualities. One is that they were funny. The other is that they were
produced with high production values, first-rate music (usually supplied by arranger-conductor
Billy May) and a fine supporting cast that included Butler, June Foray and
Peter Leeds, along with the hundreds of voices that came out of Freberg
himself. Even if you didn't get the satire — and some folks didn't,
especially when Freberg records were released overseas — the material was
always fun to listen to.
Freberg starred in two
network radio shows, both of which also featured his frequent partner,
Butler. The 1954 That's Rich was a fairly standard situation
comedy but the 1957 Stan Freberg Show was a glorious (if short-lived)
festival of satire and comedy. It made him, by his definition, "the
last network radio comedian in America." A nice way to end an era.
When The Stan Freberg
Show ended after 15 weeks, Freberg found a new outlet for his humor in
advertising, with award-winning campaigns for Sunsweet Prunes, Jeno's Pizza
Rolls, Chun King Chow Mein, Pittsburgh Paints and many other clients. He
didn't exactly invent the funny commercial but he quickly became its master, and
rival ad agencies scrambled to emulate his lead. And of course, he
continued to release records, including the album many believe to be the
greatest comedy record of all time. Stan Freberg Presents the United States
of America, The Early Years.
August 10, 1948
Candid Camera, produced
and hosted by Alan Funt, debuted on this day in 1948.
Funt had originally created the concept for radio,
debuting Candid Microphone in 1947. When it premiered as a television
show, the program kept the name Candid Microphone until its second
season. Both the radio and TV versions featured unsuspecting people captured in
their natural, bemused responses to comic setups. Candid Camera ran on
network television from 1948 to 1950, again in 1953, and once again from 1960
to 1967. In 1989, Alan's son Peter became his father's co-host in a series of
Candid Camera specials. In 1991, CBS tried to revive the show with Dom DeLuise
and Eva LaRue as co-hosts, but the show flopped.August
11, 1933
Jerry Lamon Falwell, Sr. The evangelical Christian pastor, televangelist, and a conservative commentator was born.
He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road
Baptist Church, a megachurch in Lynchburg, Virginia.
He founded Lynchburg Christian Academy (now Liberty
Christian Academy) in 1967, Liberty University
in 1971, and cofounded the Moral Majority
in 1979.After the September 11 attacks in 2001, Falwell said on Pat
Robertson's The 700 Club, "I really believe that the pagans, and the
abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively
trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of
them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and
say 'you helped this happen.'" Falwell further stated that the attacks
were "probably deserved," a statement which Christopher Hitchens called treasonous. After
heavy criticism, Falwell said that no one but the terrorists were to blame, and
apologized saying "if I left that impression with gays or lesbians or
anyone else, I apologize."
On May 15, 2007, Falwell was found
without pulse and unconscious in his office about 10:45 am after missing a
morning appointment and was taken to Lynchburg General Hospital.
"I had breakfast with him, and he was fine at breakfast.... He went to
his office, I went to mine and they found him unresponsive" said Ron
Godwin, the executive vice president of Falwell's Liberty University. His condition was initially
reported as "gravely serious"; CPR was administered
unsuccessfully. As of 2:10 pm, during a live press conference, a doctor for the
hospital confirmed that Falwell had died of "cardiac arrhythmia, or sudden cardiac death." A statement issued
by the hospital reported he was pronounced dead at Lynchburg General Hospital
at 12:40 pm, EST. Falwell's family, including his wife Macel and sons Jerry
Falwell, Jr. and Jonathan Falwell, were at the hospital at the time
of the pronouncement.
In solidarity
Tony Figueroa
August 7, 1948
Stanley Victor Freberg author, recording artist, animation voice actor, comedian, radio personality, puppeteer, and advertising creative director was born.
His first jobs (at age eighteen) involved supplying voices for Warner Brothers cartoons, usually in support of Mel Blanc and always without credit. Soon though, Freberg was being heard on radio shows and on early television. He and V.O. actor Daws Butler worked puppets and supplied the vocals on Bob Clampett's Time for Beany, the first kids' show to attract an adult audience.
In 1950, he launched a long association with Capitol Records, recording silly and satirical material. The sales and critical reaction stunned the Capitol execs so they let him keep on doing pretty much anything he wanted, even when it meant attacking their own industry. His recordings all had two outstanding qualities. One is that they were funny. The other is that they were produced with high production values, first-rate music (usually supplied by arranger-conductor Billy May) and a fine supporting cast that included Butler, June Foray and Peter Leeds, along with the hundreds of voices that came out of Freberg himself. Even if you didn't get the satire — and some folks didn't, especially when Freberg records were released overseas — the material was always fun to listen to.
Freberg starred in two network radio shows, both of which also featured his frequent partner, Butler. The 1954 That's Rich was a fairly standard situation comedy but the 1957 Stan Freberg Show was a glorious (if short-lived) festival of satire and comedy. It made him, by his definition, "the last network radio comedian in America." A nice way to end an era.
When The Stan Freberg Show ended after 15 weeks, Freberg found a new outlet for his humor in advertising, with award-winning campaigns for Sunsweet Prunes, Jeno's Pizza Rolls, Chun King Chow Mein, Pittsburgh Paints and many other clients. He didn't exactly invent the funny commercial but he quickly became its master, and rival ad agencies scrambled to emulate his lead. And of course, he continued to release records, including the album many believe to be the greatest comedy record of all time. Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America, The Early Years.
August 10, 1948
Candid Camera, produced and hosted by Alan Funt, debuted on this day in 1948.
Funt had originally created the concept for radio, debuting Candid Microphone in 1947. When it premiered as a television show, the program kept the name Candid Microphone until its second season. Both the radio and TV versions featured unsuspecting people captured in their natural, bemused responses to comic setups. Candid Camera ran on network television from 1948 to 1950, again in 1953, and once again from 1960 to 1967. In 1989, Alan's son Peter became his father's co-host in a series of Candid Camera specials. In 1991, CBS tried to revive the show with Dom DeLuise and Eva LaRue as co-hosts, but the show flopped.
August 11, 1933
Jerry Lamon Falwell, Sr. The evangelical Christian pastor, televangelist, and a conservative commentator was born.
He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, a megachurch in Lynchburg, Virginia. He founded Lynchburg Christian Academy (now Liberty Christian Academy) in 1967, Liberty University in 1971, and cofounded the Moral Majority in 1979.
After the September 11 attacks in 2001, Falwell said on Pat Robertson's The 700 Club, "I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say 'you helped this happen.'" Falwell further stated that the attacks were "probably deserved," a statement which Christopher Hitchens called treasonous. After heavy criticism, Falwell said that no one but the terrorists were to blame, and apologized saying "if I left that impression with gays or lesbians or anyone else, I apologize."
On May 15, 2007, Falwell was found without pulse and unconscious in his office about 10:45 am after missing a morning appointment and was taken to Lynchburg General Hospital.
"I had breakfast with him, and he was fine at breakfast.... He went to his office, I went to mine and they found him unresponsive" said Ron Godwin, the executive vice president of Falwell's Liberty University. His condition was initially reported as "gravely serious"; CPR was administered unsuccessfully. As of 2:10 pm, during a live press conference, a doctor for the hospital confirmed that Falwell had died of "cardiac arrhythmia, or sudden cardiac death." A statement issued by the hospital reported he was pronounced dead at Lynchburg General Hospital at 12:40 pm, EST. Falwell's family, including his wife Macel and sons Jerry Falwell, Jr. and Jonathan Falwell, were at the hospital at the time of the pronouncement.
In solidarity
