Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1938-08-21

u ANbOMAN OLLlE NELSCN
K has achieved popularity and
fortune through radio, and he
naturally Is friendly to the
mlcrophone because Of such success.
but Ozzie has another reason for liking
oroadcasting and he enjoys giving his
views. The aspect Of radio activity
that appeals to him most is its hui
manizing or "debunking" influence.
This, says Mr.. Nelson, has made it
possible for people in show business
10 live reasonably normal lives. Here
with the orchestra mans viewpoint:
Y remember when I was a vounp-
ster-and not so many years ago at
that. I recall! how all the folks in
my neighborhood talked about nothing
else for three weeks except that a
certain famous motion picture star
was going to appear in a nearby
theater at the end Of those three
weeks. Then, for month after. the
movie star was the main topic of
discussion. We talked about how she
looked, how she walked, talked (this
was before talkies) and infinitely dis
sected her every little action on the
stage
I say that radio. fortunately, has
done away with all that. True. a
movie star is still box office and
people will pay their hard-earned cash
to see film satellite in person, but
now the public knows more about these
people. Through radio, all of movie
landau celebrities in any field of
entertainment endeavor-have been
Drought closer to the public. There
isn't that feeling any more that
certain actor or actress is only semi
real. Your radio has established that
personality as nothing more than a
human being with an especial talent.
Radio has humanized these people.
On the screen you see them portrayiu-
role. On the air, more often tina,
not, they are asked to be themselves
They stop being actors and actresse,
WE FOLLOWED that procedure c
my recent series over N. &C
Last month We completed five yea,s
on the air for the same sponso,
During that time many Of the LEADING
MIN stars appeared on the program
with us, and in every instance tn,
human, down-to-earth element wa
stressed.
Radio has enabled the individual
IN the entertainment field to have
home life, something which was viz
tually impossible before the advent
of kilocycle entertainment. In the
old days before my time, but I've
heard tell about it, a movie hero
mad to be that all of the time as far
as the public was concerned. If he
had wife that fact was shushed from
coast to coast. His feminine public
might not like it. and it never would
do to disillusion the ladies. There
was nothing to dispel the matinee
idol or movie hero legend so thor
oughly as the fact that our hand
some juvenile was married and had
two or three youngsters.
Radio, as have said before, has
done away with all that. The radio
public educated the movie industry to
believe that it was all right for movie
folk to be human beings and live
normal lives. 1t was fine for Ring
Crosby to be married and have four or
i've babies 1t made no difference
that on the screen Bing portrayed a
romantic young man most of the
time. Bing himself, through the me-
dunn Of his highly informal radio
show, established this humanizing ele-
| ment.
TT is common knowledge that Har-
riet billiard is Mrs. Ozzie Nelson in
private life. We have a two-year old
towhead We call David. The public, We
have discovered, likes to know that
when we aren't singing romantic dit
ties on the air or stage we live a
normal domestic life like any Of them
Radio has been lauded and cited
| for being important in the entertain
ment. cultural and educational scheme
Of things. Equally as important to
my mind is the fact that radio has
debunked much Of the glamour and
has given people like Harriet and me
a chance to have q normal home Life"