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The Jimmy Durante Show

"All of us have schnozzles . . . if not in our faces, then in our character, minds or habits. When we admit our schnozzles, instead of defending them, we begin to laugh, and the world laughs with us." He butchered the English language. He sang as if he gargled with gravel. He dropped pearls of wisdom disguised as one-liners. And he had a nose that got everywhere ten minutes before he did. All of this and a genuine love for his craft and the people who enjoyed it made Jimmy Durante a star in the Golden Age of Radio and still keeps him in the minds and hearts of fans today. Nicknamed "Schnozzola" for his oversized nose, Jimmy Durante first came to prominence as a teenager, playing New York's restaurant and nightclub circuit as Ragtime Jimmy. Bitten by the show-biz bug, he dropped out of school in the eighth grade and soon joined a musical comedy trio that wowed nightclub audiences with its boisterous unpredictability, Durante's aggressive interaction with the musicians, and his penchant for destroying pianos in mock frustration. By the mid-1920s, the team was being featured in vaudeville, culminating in a lengthy run at New York's Palace Theater. By the time Cole Porter's "The New Yorkers" opened in 1930, Durante was a star. Jimmy continued his Broadway success in a string of popular shows and revues throughout the 1930s. But he didn't limit himself solely to the Great White Way; thanks to appearances in a series of films for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and a guest star spot on Rudy Vallee's Fleischmann Hour, by 1933, Durante had taken over for Eddie Cantor as the host of radio's "Chase and Sanborn Hour". On the air, Durante's broad delivery, overwhelming personality, and penchant for mangling his words only increased his popularity with laugh-hungry Depression-era audiences and made him a welcome visitor in American homes. In 1943, Hollywood beckoned once again with the offer of comedic roles in a series of motion pictures. For this opportunity, Durante relocated to Hollywood, where he was also signed to headline a CBS series titled "The Camel Caravan". The new series found the Schnozz co-starred with a fresh voiced young comedian named Garry Moore in what initially seemed to be an odd and highly unlikely pairing. As so often happens, however, the mismatched duo instantly clicked as a team, ratings went through the roof, and Durante's patented brand of language mangling and outraged interaction with the orchestra introduced him to radio audiences all over again. Durante and Moore enjoyed four successful seasons together until Moore decided to pursue a solo career at the end of the 1946/47 season. With Moore's departure, in the fall of 1947, Jimmy Durante signed a contract to host a new series on NBC for the Rexall Drug Company, costarring vocalist Peggy Lee and character actor Victor Moore. Loud, boisterous, and wildly entertaining, The Jimmy Durante Show proved just as popular as its predecessor - so much so, in fact, that the following season found Durante back on CBS and back with Camel Cigarettes for another two years before the Schnozz finally moved full-time to television in the early 1950s.

This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.

License

Chapters

1944-12-22 - Christmas Show

28:38

1945-06-15 - The Case Of The Missing Ring

25:46

460301 #140 AFRS

30:21

Thanksgiving Pilgrim Opera

28:39

Guest - Greer Garson

24:05

Guest - Eddie Cantor

29:06

Guest - Victor Moore

29:27

Guest - Lucille Ball

29:24

Guest - Bing Crosby

28:55

Guest - Dorothy Lamour

30:13

Guest - Victor Moore

29:55

Guest - Charles Boyer

29:33

Guest - Boris Karloff

29:42

Guest - Victor Moore

28:17

Guest - Margaret O'Brien

27:33

Guest - Red Skelton

28:16

Guest Host - Bob Hope

28:29

Guest Host - Frank Morgan

28:57

Guest Host - Al Jolson

29:00

Jimmy Returns

28:56

Courtin' Cora Bell

29:39

Jimmy's Birthday

29:26

Going To Ciro's

29:39

Goes To The Race Track

29:31

Flying Lessons

29:36

Guest - Van Johnson

30:07

Vacations

29:02

Guest - Rose Marie

29:21

Guest - Dorothy Lamour

29:25

Guest - President Harry Truman

28:23

Guest - Lou Clayton and Eddie Jackson

26:23

Guest - Lucille Ball

28:15

Transportation Problems

29:06

A President's Wife

29:00

The Small Businessman

30:27

Choice Of Champions

30:19

Men In Beauty Parlors

29:00

Guest - Lou Clayton and Eddie Jackson

14:15

Guest - Alan Young

30:00

Guest - Rose Marie

30:07

Guest - Vera Vague

28:57