Ben Grauer
Encyclopedia
Benjamin Franklin Grauer (June 2, 1908 – May 31, 1977) was an US radio and TV personality, following a career during the 1920s as a child actor
Child actor
The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting in motion pictures or television, but also to an adult who began his or her acting career as a child; to avoid confusion, the latter is also called a former child actor...

 in films and on Broadway. He began his career as a child in David Warfield
David Warfield
David Warfield was an American stage actor, born in San Francisco, California. His first connection with the theatre was as an usher. He made his first stage appearance in 1888 in The Ticket-of-Leave Man. Two years later he went to New York City, where he appeared at the Casino Theatre and at...

's production of The Return of Peter Grimm. Among his early credits were roles in films directed by D.W. Griffith.

Grauer was born in Staten Island
Staten Island
Staten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...

, New York. After graduating from Townsend Harris High School
Townsend Harris High School
Townsend Harris High School is a public magnet high school for the humanities in the borough of Queens in New York City. Students and alumni often refer to themselves as "Harrisites." Townsend Harris consistently ranks as among the top 100 High Schools in the United States. It currently operates as...

, he received his B.A. from the City College of New York
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...

 in 1930. Grauer started in radio as an actor but soon became part of the broadcasting staff at the National Broadcasting Company
NBC
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...

. He was one of the four narrators, along with Burgess Meredith
Burgess Meredith
Oliver Burgess Meredith , known professionally as Burgess Meredith, was an American actor in theatre, film, and television, who also worked as a director...

, of NBC's public affairs series The Big Story
The Big Story (1949 TV series)
For the Fox News Channel public affairs program, see The Big Story.The Big Story is an American anthology television series about courageous American journalists. It aired monthly on NBC from September 16, 1949, to June 28, 1957, after which it appeared in syndication until 1958...

, which focused on courageous journalists.

In 1954, he married interior designer Melanie Kahane.

Radio

Grauer's greatest fame lies in his legendary 40-year career in radio. In 1930, the 22-year-old Benjamin Franklin Grauer joined the staff at NBC. He quickly rose through the ranks to become a senior commentator and reporter. He was the designated announcer for the popular 1940s Walter Winchell
Walter Winchell
Walter Winchell was an American newspaper and radio gossip commentator.-Professional career:Born Walter Weinschel in New York City, he left school in the sixth grade and started performing in a vaudeville troupe known as Gus Edwards' "Newsboys Sextet."His career in journalism was begun by posting...

's Jergens Journal. Perhaps, most importantly, he was selected by Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini was an Italian conductor. One of the most acclaimed musicians of the late 19th and 20th century, he was renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orchestral detail and sonority, and his photographic memory...

 to become the voice of the NBC Symphony Orchestra
NBC Symphony Orchestra
The NBC Symphony Orchestra was a radio orchestra established by David Sarnoff of the National Broadcasting Company especially for conductor Arturo Toscanini...

. Grauer took over as announcer in 1940 and remained until the orchestra was disbanded in June 1954. Toscanini said he was his favorite announcer.

Grauer did both the Toscanini radio and TV broadcasts. Several years after the death of Toscanini, Grauer and composer Don Gillis (who produced the NBC programs from 1947 to 1954), created the Peabody Award
Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. In 1939, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting...

-winning radio series Toscanini, the Man Behind the Legend. It began in 1963 and continued through the centennial of Toscanini's birth in 1967. This series ran for nearly two decades on NBC Radio and then other radio stations until the early 1980s.

Starting in 1932, Grauer covered the Olympic Games, presidential inaugurations and international events. During his radio career, Grauer covered nearly every major historic event, including the Morro Castle
SS Morro Castle
The SS Morro Castle was a luxury cruise ship of the 1930s that was built for the Ward Line for runs between New York City and Havana, Cuba...

 fire, the Paris Peace Conference
Paris Peace Treaties, 1947
The Paris Peace Conference resulted in the Paris Peace Treaties signed on February 10, 1947. The victorious wartime Allied powers negotiated the details of treaties with Italy, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Finland .The...

 and the US occupation of Japan. Millions remember his NBC coverage of the New Year's celebrations on both radio and TV. Between 1951 and 1969, Grauer covered these events 11 times live from New York's Times Square
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...

. He continued covering New Year's Eve for Guy Lombardo
Guy Lombardo
Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo was a Canadian-American bandleader and violinist.Forming "The Royal Canadians" in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert, and Victor and other musicians from his hometown, Lombardo led the group to international success, billing themselves as creating "The Sweetest...

's New Year's Eve specials on 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...

 in the 1970s, with his last appearance on December 31, 1976, the year before both he and Lombardo died. From the mid-1950s until the mid-1960s, Grauer's reports were part of the NBC television network's Tonight Show, where he worked with Johnny Carson
Johnny Carson
John William "Johnny" Carson was an American television host and comedian, known as host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for 30 years . Carson received six Emmy Awards including the Governor Award and a 1985 Peabody Award; he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987...

 and prior to that, Jack Paar
Jack Paar
Jack Harold Paar was an author, American radio and television comedian and talk show host, best known for his stint as host of The Tonight Show from 1957 to 1962...

, and Steve Allen
Steve Allen
Steve Allen may refer to:*Steve Allen , American musician, comedian, and writer*Steve Allen , presenter on the London-based talk radio station LBC 97.3...

. Grauer was also one of NBC Radio's Monitor
Monitor (NBC Radio)
NBC Monitor was an American weekend radio program broadcast from June 12, 1955, until January 26, 1975. Airing live and nationwide on the NBC Radio Network, it originally aired beginning Saturday morning at 8am and continuing through the weekend until 12 midnight on Sunday...

 "Communicators" from 1955 to 1960.

Grauer also was one of five hosts/narrators of "The First Fabulous Fifty", a five-part NBC Radio Network documentary series on the history of the network, featuring soundbites from past NBC programs. The series was broadcast on the occasion of the network's 50th anniversary in the autumn of 1976. Grauer narrated the first installment, which covered the network's first decade on the air, 1926 through 1936.

Television

Grauer provided the commentary for NBC's first television special, the opening in 1939 of the New York World's Fair
1939 New York World's Fair
The 1939–40 New York World's Fair, which covered the of Flushing Meadows-Corona Park , was the second largest American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904. Many countries around the world participated in it, and over 44 million people...

. In 1948, Grauer, together with John Cameron Swayze
John Cameron Swayze
John Cameron Swayze was a popular news commentator and game show panelist in the United States during the 1950s.- Early life :...

, provided the first live TV coverage of the national political conventions. In 1954, NBC began broadcasting some of their shows in living color, and in 1957, the animated Peacock logo made its debut. It was Grauer who first spoke the now famous words, "The following program is brought to you in living color on NBC," behind the Peacock graphic. During his 40-year broadcast career, he hosted numerous TV programs on NBC, including game shows, quiz shows, concerts and news programs.

Reissues

It is for announcing the Toscanini radio concerts that Grauer is best known to modern classical music buffs. Several CD reissues have included those announcements to give the listener the feeling of hearing the NBC Symphony broadcasts exactly as they sounded when first aired. However, on the videocassettes and DVD's of Toscanini's television concerts, Grauer's voice has been replaced by that of Martin Bookspan
Martin Bookspan
Martin Bookspan is an announcer, commentator and author. He was the announcer on the PBS series Live from Lincoln Center from its beginnings in 1976 until 2006, when he retired and was replaced by Fred Child...

. This was done because the music tracks now heard are not taken from the actual 1948-52 television audio, which was very inferior, but from live, hi-fi magnetic tape sound recording
Magnetic tape sound recording
The use of magnetic tape for sound recording originated around 1930. Magnetizable tape revolutionized both the radio broadcast and music recording industries. It did this by giving artists and producers the power to record and re-record audio with minimal loss in quality as well as edit and...

s made of these same concerts at the studio. They are exactly synchronized to the visual images so that it now appears that these programs were made with high-fidelity sound. In order to maintain a complete illusion of superior sound, the announcements had to be redone; the difference in audio quality between Grauer's announcements and the music tracks as they are now heard would have been blatantly obvious.

An archival recording of Grauer's voice calling, "Here it is," begins Harry Shearer
Harry Shearer
Harry Julius Shearer is an American actor, comedian, writer, voice artist, musician, author, radio host and director. He is known for his long-running role on The Simpsons, his work on Saturday Night Live, the comedy band Spinal Tap and his radio program Le Show...

's Le Show
Le Show
Le Show is a weekly syndicated public radio show hosted by satirist Harry Shearer.The program is a hodgepodge of satirical news commentary, music, and sketch comedy...

.

Final years and death

In the decade before his death, Grauer collected material for a projected history of prices and pricing, with special attention to book prices. He was active in several professional journalistic organizations as well as the Grolier Club
Grolier Club
The Grolier Club is a private club and society of bibliophiles in New York City. Founded in January 1884, it is the oldest existing bibliophilic club in North America. The club is named after Jean Grolier de Servières, Viscount d'Aguisy, Treasurer General of France, whose library was famous; his...

. Grauer had a strong interest in the graphic arts; he even printed his own Christmas card
Christmas card
A Christmas card is a greeting card sent as part of the traditional celebration of Christmas in order to convey between people a range of sentiments related to the Christmas and holiday season. Christmas cards are usually exchanged during the weeks preceding Christmas Day by many people in Western...

s.

Ben Grauer died of a heart attack in New York City in 1977 at the age of 68. He is interred in Westchester Hills Cemetery
Westchester Hills Cemetery
The Westchester Hills Cemetery, approximately 20 miles north of New York City, was established at 400 Saw Mill River Road in Hastings-on-Hudson, Westchester County, New York. It welcomes the burial of Christians and Jews, and many well-known entertainers and performers are interred there...

 in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York.

Filmography

Including early career as child actor:
  • His Woman (1919)
  • Mad Woman (1919)
  • The Idol Dancer (1920) .... as Native Boy (film directed by D.W. Griffith)
  • Annabel Lee (1921) .... David Martin, as a child
  • The Town That Forgot God (1922) .... as a boy
  • My Friend the Devil (1922) .... George Dryden, as a boy
  • Gaslight Follies (1945) .... Narrator, 'Stars of Yesterday'
  • Fight of the Wild Stallions (1947) .... Narrator
  • Kon-Tiki
    Kon-Tiki
    Kon-Tiki was the raft used by Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl in his 1947 expedition across the Pacific Ocean from South America to the Polynesian islands. It was named after the Inca sun god, Viracocha, for whom "Kon-Tiki" was said to be an old name...

     (1950) (voice) .... Narrator

Radio credits

  • The Coca-Cola Top-Notchers (1930)
  • Thrills Of Tomorrow For Boys (1933)
  • The Baker's Broadcast (1934)
  • The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour
    The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour
    The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour was a pioneering musical variety radio program broadcast on NBC from 1929 to 1936, when it became The Royal Gelatin Hour, continuing until 1939...

    (1934)
  • Radio City Matinee (1935)
  • The Nellie Revell Show (1935)
  • Ripley's Believe It Or Not (1935)
  • Circus Night In Silvertown (1935)
  • Lux Radio Theatre (1935)
  • The Magic Key of RCA
    The Magic Key of RCA
    The Magic Key of RCA was an American variety radio show that featured an unusually large and broad range of entertainment stars and other noted personalities...

    (1935)
  • Paul Whiteman
    Paul Whiteman
    Paul Samuel Whiteman was an American bandleader and orchestral director.Leader of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s, Whiteman's recordings were immensely successful, and press notices often referred to him as the "King of Jazz"...

    's Musical Varieties
    (1936)
  • The Shell Show (1937)
  • Shell Chateau (1937)
  • The Fact Finder (1937)
  • The Royal Desserts Program (1938)
  • Walter Winchell
    Walter Winchell
    Walter Winchell was an American newspaper and radio gossip commentator.-Professional career:Born Walter Weinschel in New York City, he left school in the sixth grade and started performing in a vaudeville troupe known as Gus Edwards' "Newsboys Sextet."His career in journalism was begun by posting...

    (1938)
  • Pulitzer Prize Plays (1938)
  • Battle of the Sexes (1938) NBC quiz.
  • Pot o' Gold (1939–41) Considered the first "interactive" broadcast program.
    A popular game show hosted by Grauer.
    Horace Heidt and his Musical Knights
    Horace Heidt
    Horace Heidt was an American pianist, big band leader, and radio and television personality. His band, Horace Heidt and His Musical Knights, toured vaudeville and performed on radio and television through the 1930s and 1940s.-Biography:Born in Alameda, California, Heidt attended Culver...

     played while Grauer asked listeners questions on the phone.
    It was this program that introduced the catchphrase "Stop the music".
  • Richard Himber and His Orchestra (1939)
  • The Vitalis Program (1939)
  • H.V. Kaltenborn (1940)
  • News Roundup (1940)
  • Behind the Mike (1940)
  • The News From Europe (1941)
  • Sunday Evening News Roundup (1941)
  • NBC Sunday News Roundup (1941)
  • Jergens Journal (1941)
  • The Hemisphere Review (1941)
  • Two Years Of War (1941)
  • Kay Kyser
    Kay Kyser
    James Kern Kyser was a popular bandleader and radio personality of the 1930s and 1940s.-Early years:He was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, the son of pharmacists Paul Bynum Kyser and Emily Royster Kyser. Editor Vermont C. Royster was his cousin...

    's Kollege Of Musical Knowledge
    (1941)
  • The March Of Time (1941)
  • Radio City Music Hall On the Air (1942)
  • Music Of the New World (1943)
  • Mr. and Mrs. North
    Mr. and Mrs. North
    Mr. and Mrs. North are fictional American amateur detectives. Created by Frances and Richard Lockridge, the couple were featured in a series of 26 Mr. and Mrs. North novels, a Broadway play, a motion picture and several radio and television series....

    (1943)
  • Information, Please! (1943) NBC quiz show
  • The Fitch Bandwagon (1943)
  • Your Home Front Reporter (1943)
  • General Motors Symphony Of the Air (1943)
  • Treasury Salute (1944)
  • Opening Of the Fourth War Loan (1944)

  • NBC D-Day Coverage (1944)
  • Republican National Convention (1944)
  • Democratic National Convention (1944)
  • We Came This Way (1944)
  • Liberation (1944)
  • The Harold Lloyd
    Harold Lloyd
    Harold Clayton Lloyd, Sr. was an American film actor and producer, most famous for his silent comedies....

     Comedy Theatre
    (1945)
  • V-E Day Coverage (1945)
  • Atlantic Spotlight (1945) Grauer would chat across the Atlantic Ocean with BBC announcer in London.
  • The Charlie McCarthy Show
    Edgar Bergen
    Edgar John Bergen was an American actor and radio performer, best known as a ventriloquist.-Early life:...

    (1945)
  • It's Alec Templeton Time
    It's Alec Templeton Time
    It's Alec Templeton Time was an early American television program broadcast on the now defunct DuMont Television Network. The series ran during the summer of 1955. It was a musical program hosted by blind satirist and musician Alec Templeton...

    (1946)
  • A Story For V-J Day (1946)
  • Echoes Of A Century (1947)
  • Home Is What You Make It (1947)
  • Here's To Veterans (1947)
  • Housing 1947 (1947)
  • The Chesterfield Supper Club
    The Chesterfield Supper Club
    The Chesterfield Supper Club, an NBC musical variety radio program , was also telecast by NBC from 1948 to 1950.-Radio:The Chesterfield Supper Club began on December 11, 1944, as a 15-minute radio program, airing at 7pm weeknights on the NBC Radio Network. This musical variety show was sponsored by...

    (1948)
  • Living 1948 (1948)
  • Author Meets the Critics (1948)
  • March Of Dimes (1949)
  • The Henry Morgan
    Henry Morgan
    Admiral Sir Henry Morgan was an Admiral of the Royal Navy, a privateer, and a pirate who made a name for himself during activities in the Caribbean, primarily raiding Spanish settlements...

     Show
    (1949)
  • Could Be (1949)
  • The People Act (1950)
  • We Can Do It (1950)
  • The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show
    The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show
    The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show, a comedy radio program which ran on NBC from 1948 to 1954, evolved from an earlier music and comedy variety program, The Fitch Bandwagon...

    (1950)
  • Memo For Americans (1951)
  • The Big Show
    The Big Show (NBC Radio)
    The Big Show, an American radio variety program featuring 90 minutes of top-name comic, stage, screen and music talent, was aimed at keeping American radio in its classic era alive and well against the rapidly-growing television tide...

    (1951)
  • Theatre Guild On the Air (1951)
  • Living 1951 (1951)
  • American Portraits (1951)
  • The Endless Frontier (1952)
  • The Forty Million (1952)
  • Medicine U.S.A. (1953)
  • Biography In Sound (1955)
  • Best Of All (1955)
  • Monitor (1955–1960) NBC Radio weekend radio show
  • X Minus One (1956)
  • Recollections At Thirty (1956)
  • Sleep No More (1956–57) NBC Radio drama
  • The Boston Pops
    Boston Pops Orchestra
    The Boston Pops Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts, that specializes in playing light classical and popular music....

    (1957)
  • Johnny Presents (1959)
  • Meet the Press
    Meet the Press
    Meet the Press is a weekly American television news/interview program produced by NBC. It is the longest-running television series in American broadcasting history, despite bearing little resemblance to the original format of the program seen in its television debut on November 6, 1947. It has been...

    (1959)
  • Democracy In America (1962)
  • New Year's Eve All-Star Parade Of Bands (1968)
  • The First Fabulous 50 (1976)
  • What Would You Have Done? NBC Radio drama

These are found at Digital Deli Too.

TV credits

  • Americana (1947–1949) American History quiz show. NBC-TV
  • The Ben Grauer Show, You Are an Artist
    You Are an Artist
    You Are an Artist is an NBC television series, which first aired on NBC flagship station WNBT-TV in New York City on November 1, 1946 and then on the NBC Television network until 1950.-Production history:...

    , Learn to Draw (1950)
  • The Big Story
    The Big Story (radio/TV)
    The Big Story was a radio and television crime show which dramatized the true stories of real-life newspaper reporters. The only continuing character was the narrator, Bob Sloane. Produced by Barnard J. Prockter, the shows were scripted by Gail Ingram, Arnold Pearl and Max Ehrlich. Tom Victor and...

    (1949–57) dramatic TV anthology. NBC-TV
  • Eyewitness (1947–48) Series that traced the history and development of TV itself. NBC-TV
  • In Town Today (1951) RCA
    RCA
    RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...

     variety specials included Bob Hope
    Bob Hope
    Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...

     and other stars showing off their new TV sets. NBC-TV
  • It's a Problem (1951–52) A trio of experts discuss everyday living difficulties. NBC-TV
  • Kay Kyser's Kollege of Musical Knowledge
    Kay Kyser
    James Kern Kyser was a popular bandleader and radio personality of the 1930s and 1940s.-Early years:He was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, the son of pharmacists Paul Bynum Kyser and Emily Royster Kyser. Editor Vermont C. Royster was his cousin...

    (1949–50) Popular musical quiz show hosted by Grauer. NBC-TV
  • Lewisohn Stadium
    Lewisohn Stadium
    Lewisohn Stadium was an amphitheater and athletic facility built on the campus of the City College of New York. It opened in 1915 and was demolished in 1973.-History:...

     Concerts
    (1950) Featuring the New York Philharmonic
    New York Philharmonic
    The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...

    . NBC-TV
  • March of Medicine (1958) Medical documentary series. NBC-TV
  • The Sacco-Vanzetti Story
    Sacco and Vanzetti
    Ferdinando Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were anarchists who were convicted of murdering two men during a 1920 armed robbery in South Braintree, Massachusetts, United States...

    (1960) TV miniseries
    Miniseries
    A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...

     narrated by Grauer.
  • Say It with Acting (1949–1952) Teams from Broadway shows
    Broadway theatre
    Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

     play charades.
  • Tactic (1959) NBC-TV series. Guests included Alfred Hitchcock
    Alfred Hitchcock
    Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...

     and William Shatner
    William Shatner
    William Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, and author. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T...

    .
  • What Happened (1952) Panelists had to find out why each guest was important on this NBC-TV series.

Listen to


External links

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