Old Radio

How does a radio comedian end up as a bigtime college football coach? Well, the Lou Holtz of our world and the one who coached the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are two different people. Radio's  Lou Holtz was born on this day in 1893 in Beverly Hills. He started touring the Vaudeville circuit in his teens and became one of the genre's big stars. In the 20's, he developed one of his signature character, Sam Lapidus. Not long after, he began making appearances on the top radio programs of the day, such as The Rudy Vallee Show and The Paul Whiteman Show. From there it was a chance to host his own show, The Lou Holtz Laugh Club . This was a little niblet of a show, just three minutes in length, but packed with comedic stories and jokes told by Lou himself and his guests. After his retirement, Holtz was able to participate in a real-life laugh club by hanging out at L.A.'s Hillcrest Country Club with comedy legends like The Marx Brothers and George Burns . M...

March 22: Happy Birthday, Chico Marx It's pronounced "Chick-o." Legend has it that in an early press release, the typesetter forgot the "k," and in a spirit of whimsy, the Marx Brothers left it that way. It therefore began to be pronounced the way it was spelled, and the name essentially began going by either pronunciation. In the fall of '32, the mispronounced Marx brother began appearing with just Groucho on a radio program called Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel, the Monday installment of Standard Oil's Five Star Theatre. Chico played Emmanuel Ravelli, the assistant to Groucho's lawyer character. In Spring of '34, the two had a quick stint on a show called Marx of Time which lampooned current events. Chico appeared in a handful of episodes of Pabst Blue Ribbon Town, which Groucho Marx hosted. He also lent his talents to Command Performance , Radio Hall of Fame , and Hollywood Hotel. The piano-playing funny man died in October...