Howard Claney

Last updated

Howard Moorhead Claney (April 17, 1898 - April 30, 1980) [1] [2] was an American actor, an announcer on old-time radio, and a narrator of films.

Contents

Early years

The son of William J. Claney and Mary J. Claney, [3] he was born in the Manchester neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After graduating from Allegheny High School, he studied at Carnegie Tech. [2]

He served in the U.S. Army during World War I. [4]

Career

Claney acted on stage before he moved into radio. His Broadway credits included Lolly (1929), King Henry V (1928), Caponsacchi (1926), The Immortal Thief (1926), The Little Poor Man (1925), Macbeth (1924), Voltaire (1922), The S. S. Tenacity (1922), Don Juan (1921), Lillian (1921), Liliom (1921), and A Man of the People (1920). [5] He also worked as stage manager for the Shubert family. [6]

His career in radio began when he announced a remote broadcast of a performance of Vincent Lopez and his orchestra. His first full-time assignment was working as announcer on the Women's Radio Review. [2] Other programs for which he was the announcer included The Voice of Firestone , Log Cabin Dude Ranch, The Famous Actors Guild, Waltz Time, [7] General Motors Concerts , [8] Information Please , [9] Amanda of Honeymoon Hill , [10] American Melody Hour, [11] The American Album of Familiar Music , [10] : 24 The Metropolitan Opera Auditions of the Air, [10] : 228  Mr. Chameleon , [10] : 233  and Stella Dallas . [10] : 314 

Claney narrated Vitaphone films, including the Newman Traveltalks Long Bright Land, Land of the Kangaroo, Malayan Jungle, Pearl of the East, Toradja Land, and Isles of Enchantment. He also narrated some films of the Vitaphone Pictorial Revue series. [12]

Personal life

Claney studied art at the Art Students League of New York and the Art Institute of Chicago, with additional studies in London and Paris. In the 1930s, several exhibitions highlighted his work, and he sold many painting in oil and watercolor. He preferred landscapes, especially of scenes from the Pittsburgh area. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Bartell</span> American actor and announcer (1913–2004)

Harry Alfred Bartell was an American actor and announcer in radio, television and film. With his rather youthful sounding voice, Bartell was one of the busiest West Coast character actors from the early 1940s until the end of network radio drama in the 1960s.

Ernest E. Chappell was an American radio announcer and actor, best remembered for his featured role in the late 1940s radio program Quiet, Please. The show ran from 1947 to 1949, and Quiet, Please was Chappell's major acting credit. His signature line was: "And so, until next week at this same time, I am quietly yours, Ernest Chappell."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carl Betz</span> American actor (1921–1978)

Carl Lawrence Betz was an American stage, film, and television actor. He appeared in a variety of television series, including the CBS soap opera Love of Life; he is best remembered for playing Donna Reed's television husband, Dr. Alex Stone, from 1958 to 1966 in the ABC sitcom The Donna Reed Show. Then between 1967 and 1969, Betz played defense attorney Clinton Judd in ABC's courtroom drama Judd, for the Defense, winning an Emmy Award in 1969 for his work on that series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Duquesne Bridge</span> Bridge in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The Fort Duquesne Bridge is a steel bowstring arch bridge that spans the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was colloquially referred to as "The Bridge to Nowhere".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marie Wilson (American actress)</span> US actress (1916–1972)

Marie Wilson was an American radio, film, and television actress. She may be best remembered as the title character in My Friend Irma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Donald</span> American actor

Peter Donald was a British-born actor who worked in American radio and television. He has been called "one of radio's great dialecticians."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basil Ruysdael</span> American actor and opera singer (1878–1960)

Basil Spaulding Millspaugh, known as Basil Ruysdael, was an American actor and opera singer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claudia Morgan</span> American actress (1911–1974)

Claudia Louise Morgan was an American film, television, and radio actress. She was best known for debuting the role of Vera Claythorne in the first Broadway production of Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians and for her portrayal of Nora Charles on the 1940s radio series, The Adventures of the Thin Man.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alice Reinheart</span> American actress

Alice Reinheart was an American actress, best known for her work in old-time radio. She also appeared on television. An article in the September 1940 issue of Radio and Television Mirror magazine described her as "pert, vivacious, beautiful and talented in writing and music as well as acting."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dwight Weist</span> Radio actor and announcer (1910–1991)

Dwight Weist, Jr. was an actor and announcer in the era of old-time radio.

Roberta Gale was an American actress. She is known for her roles as a leading lady in a number of Poverty Row western films made during the 1930s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mitzi Gould</span> American actress

Mitzi Gould was an American actress. Before her marriage in 1937 she was known as Mitzi Haynes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louise Fitch</span> American actress

Louise A. Fitch was an American actress best known for her work in old-time radio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Johnstone (actor)</span> American radio and screen actor (1908–1996)

William S. Johnstone was an American radio and screen actor. He is best known for his voice work as the title character on The Shadow for five seasons from 1938–1943.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shaindel Kalish</span> American actress

Shaindel Kalish was an American actress on stage, on old-time radio, and in films. Her first name was sometimes spelled "Scheindel". She was also known at various times as Judith Blake, Ann Shepherd, Ann Preston, Judith Preston Blake, Ann S. Sheps, and Ann Shepherd Mann. She was a victim of the Hollywood Blacklist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peg LaCentra</span> American actress

Margherita Maria Francesca LaCentra was an American contralto singer, best known for her work on old-time radio and her singing with Artie Shaw's orchestra. She also performed as Barbara Fulton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alyce Mills</span> American silent film actress

Alyce Mills was an American actress. She appeared in silent films including as a lead. She starred in the 1924 film Daughters of the Night. and the 1926 film Say It Again. She also starred in two B. P. Schulberg films with William Powell: My Lady's Lips and Faint Perfume.

Jean Paul King was an American announcer and actor.

Francis J. Felton Jr. was a bandleader, vaudevillian, and host of children's television programs. He was known professionally as Happy Felton.

Alois Havrilla was an American radio announcer and singer.

References

  1. ↑ "Howard Moorhead Claney in the U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010". Ancestry.com . Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 Steinhauser, S.H. (October 29, 1931). "Allegheny Graduate Is Ace Of Networks". The Pittsburgh Press. Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh. p. 16. Retrieved 13 June 2019– via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ "Air Personalities: Howard Claney". Spring Lake Gazette. New Jersey, Spring Lake. March 23, 1933. p. 7. Retrieved 14 June 2019– via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ Ansbro, George (2009). I Have a Lady in the Balcony: Memoirs of a Broadcaster in Radio and Television. McFarland. p. 99. ISBN   9780786443185 . Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  5. ↑ "("Howard Claney" search results)". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  6. 1 2 "Announcer Is Also Painter". The Evening News. Pennsylvania, Harrisburg. January 13, 1938. p. 19. Retrieved 13 June 2019– via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "NBC Announcer Commitments" (PDF). Radio Daily. March 4, 1937. p. 6. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
  8. ↑ "'General Motors Concerts'" (PDF). Radio Daily. April 6, 1937. p. 7. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
  9. ↑ "'Information, Please'" (PDF). Billboard. May 28, 1938. p. 9. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Terrace, Vincent (1999). Radio Programs, 1924-1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 21. ISBN   978-0-7864-4513-4.
  11. ↑ "Melody Hour Foursome". The Nebraska State Journal. Nebraska, Lincoln. January 20, 1946. p. 28. Retrieved 13 June 2019– via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ Liebman, Roy (2015). Vitaphone Films: A Catalogue of the Features and Shorts. McFarland. p. 161. ISBN   9781476609362 . Retrieved 13 June 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.