Just Plain Bill

Just Plain Bill

Drawing of Ruth Russell by actor-singer Norman Sweetser (1894-1980)
Other names	Bill the Barber
Genre	Daytime dramatic serial
Running time	15 minutes
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
Syndicates	CBS, Blue, NBC Red
Starring	Arthur Hughes, Ruth Russell
Announcer	Don Pardo
Created by	Frank and Anne Hummert
Written by	Robert Hardy Andrews David Davidson
Directed by	Martha Atwell
Original release	September 19, 1932 – September 30, 1955
Opening theme	"Darling Nellie Gray"
Ending theme	"Polly Wolly Doodle"
Sponsored by	Kolyonos Toothpaste Anacin

Just Plain Bill was a 1932-1955 15-minute American radio drama program heard on CBS Radio and NBC Radio.^[1] It was "a story of people just like people we all know."^[1]

The program began on CBS on September 19, 1932. It was originally broadcast at night, but on October 16, 1933, CBS added a daytime version. Night broadcasts ended in 1935, leaving only the daytime program thereafter until the show ended on September 30, 1955.^[2]

It told the story of Bill Davidson (Arthur Hughes), a barber^[3] in the town of Hartville, and his daughter Nancy (Ruth Russell). Bill often became involved in helping his friends and neighbors when he wasn't cutting hair. Davidson was seldom directly affected by the problems in which he became involved, but he wanted to help people — especially Nancy — when they faced difficulties.^[4]

The show was created by Frank and Anne Hummert, who produced many radio daytime drama series, including Amanda of Honeymoon Hill, Backstage Wife, Front Page Farrell, John's Other Wife, Little Orphan Annie, Ma Perkins, Mr. Chameleon, Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons, Our Gal Sunday and Young Widder Brown.

Music was by Hal Brown (1865–1942), who played harmonica and whistled the Just Plain Bill opening theme, "Darling Nellie Gray". The closing theme was "Polly Wolly Doodle." Don Pardo was the program's announcer towards the end of the series, which came to an end on September 30, 1955.

Personnel

Characters in Just Plain Bill and the actors who portrayed them included those shown in the table below.

Character	Actor
Bill Davidson	Arthur Hughes[5]
Nancy Donovan	Ruth Russell[5] Toni Darnay[2]
Kerry Donovan	James Meighan[5]
Wiki Donovan	Sarah Fussell[2] Madeleine Pierce[2]
Kathleen Chatton	Ara Gerald[5]
Jonathan Hillery	Macdonald Carey[5]
Shirley King	Audrey Egan[5]
Reba Britton	Charlotte Lawrence[5]
Margaret Burns	Elizabeth Day[5]
Humphrey Fuller	Charles Eggleston[5]
Pearl Sutton	Ann Shepherd[5]
John Britton	William Woodson[5]
Laticia Davenport	Vera Allen[6]

Announcers included Andre Baruch, Fielden Farrington, Ed Herlihy, and Roger Krupp.^[5]

Sponsors

The series was sponsored by Anacin for 18 of the program's 23-year run.^{[citation needed]} Its initial sponsor was Kolynos toothpaste,^[1] In September 1936, Anacin and BiSoDol replaced Kolynos, with each product sponsoring half of the episodes in a week. (Even with the change, corporate sponsorship remained the same, since all three products had the same manufacturer.)^[7] A later sponsor was Clapp's baby food.

Cultural references

In The Three Stooges short Goofs and Saddles Larry Fine's character is known as "Just Plain Bill."

The April 24, 1949 episode of The Jack Benny Program has Jack shopping for a new car, passing up such dealers as Madman Muntz and Psychiatric Sam in favor of "Just Plain Bill." This episode was remade on February 24, 1952. Bill was played by Jim Backus in the original, and Joseph Kearns in the remake.

The January 14, 1950 episode of The Bob Hope Show has Hope, with guest star Bing Crosby, performing a soap opera parody called "Just Plain Bing."^[8]

The 1965 Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner cartoon "Just Plane Beep" has the coyote using an airplane to help him catch the Road Runner.^{[citation needed]}

In the M*A*S*H episode "Major Fred C. Dobbs," Hawkeye tape-records an encounter between Frank Burns and Hot Lips in the latter's tent, then plays it back for Frank in the guise of "my favorite armed forces soap opera, Just Plain MacArthur."

The comedy team Bob and Ray parodied the show in their sketch "Just Fancy Dan."

Listen to

• Just Plain Bill

See also

• List of radio soaps

References

1. Dunning, John (1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio. Oxford University Press. pp. 378–379. ISBN 0-19-507678-8. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
2. Cox, Jim (2015). Radio Crime Fighters: More Than 300 Programs from the Golden Age. McFarland. p. 150. ISBN 978-1-4766-1227-0. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
3. "Commercial premiers" (PDF). Billboard. September 30, 1933. p. 16. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
4. Edmondson, Madeleine; Rounds, David (1976). From Mary Noble to Mary Hartman : the complete soap opera book. Bratcliff Manor, New York: Stein and Day. p. 56. ISBN 0812820940.
5. Terrace, Vincent (1999). Radio Programs, 1924-1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 186. ISBN 978-0-7864-4513-4.
6. Steinhauser, Si (March 9, 1945). "Radio Comics Establish Youth Foundation". The Pittsburgh Press. Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh. p. 37. Retrieved April 16, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Air Briefs" (PDF). Billboard. September 26, 1936. p. 10. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
8. "The_Bob_Hope_Program". Archived from the original on 2016-06-24. Retrieved 2016-08-24 – via Internet Archive.

External links

• "Soaps on Radio" by Terry G.G. Salomonson
• Jerry Haendiges Vintage Radio Logs: Just Plain Bill