Al Pearce
Encyclopedia
Albert Pearce was a comedian, singer and banjoist who was a popular personality on several radio networks from 1928 to 1947.
After peddling insurance door-to-door during the 1920s, Al Pearce began selling real estate. With his brother Cal, he sang on the air in 1928 as part of the San Francisco Real Estate Glee Club. Al Pearce moved from music to comedy on KFRC
KFRC (defunct)
KFRC was a radio station in San Francisco, California in the United States, which made its first broadcast on Wednesday, September 24, 1924, from studios in the Hotel Whitcomb 1231 Market Street. KFRC originally broadcast with 50 watts on the 270 meter wavelength , then moved to 660 kHz. in...
, San Francisco, after writer Jack Hasty gave him a comedy sketch about a nervous door-to-door salesman named Elmer Blurt. As Pearce rose to fame, Blurt's running gag, "Nobody home, I hope, I hope, I hope," became a national catch phrase
Catch phrase
A catchphrase is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through a variety of mass media , as well as word of mouth...
.
When Pearce's The Happy Go Lucky Hour (sometimes titled Al Pearce and His Gang) began on KFRC in 1928, his gang consisted of brother Cal, Abe Bloom, Charles Carter, Jean Clarimoux, Edna Fisher, Tommy Harris, Norman Nielsen, Monroe Upton (as Lord Bilgewater), Hazel Warner and Cecil Wright. The musical-variety show scored such a success in San Francisco from 1928 until 1932 that it moved to the Blue Network
Blue Network
The Blue Network, and its immediate predecessor, the NBC Blue Network, were the on-air names of an American radio production and distribution service from 1927 to 1945...
on January 13, 1934, airing Saturdays at 6pm until September when the 30-minute series split into two 15-minute shows heard Mondays and Fridays at 5pm. It continued in those timeslots until March 29, 1935.
New supporting cast
Pearce gained a sponsor with Pepsodent Toothpaste for Friday afternoon shows on both the Blue Network and NBCNBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
from May 13, 1935, until April 3, 1936. His mid-1930s gang included comic Morey Amsterdam, "human chatterbox" Arlene Harris, vocalist Mabel Todd (1907–1977), singing comic Andy Andrews, and nutty cooking and health expert "Tizzie Lish", portrayed by Bill Comstock.
Beginning January 5, 1937, Pearce moved to CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
for the Ford Motor-sponsored series, Watch the Fun Go By, airing Tuesdays at 9pm until June 28, 1938.
Sponsored by Grape Nuts, Pearce returned to NBC Mondays at 8pm from October 10, 1938 to July 31, 1939.
Back at CBS, under the sponsorship of Dole
Dole Food Company
Dole Food Company, Inc. is an American-based agricultural multinational corporation headquartered in Westlake Village, California. The company is the largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world, operating with 74,300 full-time and seasonal employees who are responsible for over 300...
Pineapple
Pineapple
Pineapple is the common name for a tropical plant and its edible fruit, which is actually a multiple fruit consisting of coalesced berries. It was given the name pineapple due to its resemblance to a pine cone. The pineapple is by far the most economically important plant in the Bromeliaceae...
, he broadcast Wednesdays at 8pm from October 11, 1939 until April 3, 1940.
Camel Cigarettes was his sponsor for his CBS series Fridays at 7:30pm from May 3, 1940 until January 2, 1942.
In 1944, his sponsor was Dr. Pepper
Dr Pepper
Dr Pepper is a soft drink, marketed as having a unique flavor. The drink was created in the 1880s by Charles Alderton of Waco, Texas and first served around 1885. Dr Pepper was first nationally marketed in the United States in 1904 and is now also sold in Europe, Asia, Canada, Mexico, Australia ...
(which still had the dot in the name then), and when he was replaced on the Blue Network by an audience participation show, Darts for Dough, Pearce continued elsewhere while Dr. Pepper stayed on as the sponsor of Darts for Dough.
WWII
Pearce was also a frequent guest on the popular Armed Air Force Radio Service during World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
on shows such as Mail Call and Command Performance, and he also appeared in low-budget movies, including Hitchhike to Happiness (1945) and The Main Street Kid (1948).
For his work in radio, Pearce received a "Star" on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
in the late 1950s.