The Aldrich Family

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The success of the radio series led to Dell's Henry Aldrich comic book.

The Aldrich Family, a popular radio teenage situation comedy (1939-1953), is remembered first and foremost for its unforgettable introduction: awkward teen Henry's mother calling, "Hen-reeeeeeeeeeeee! Hen-ree Al-drich!"

Born on Broadway, the creation of playwright Clifford Goldsmith, Henry Aldrich was a minor character in Goldsmith's play What a Life, which was produced and directed by George Abbott and ran for 538 performances (from April 13, 1938 to July 8, 1939). The Broadway cast included Eddie Bracken, Betty Field and Butterfly McQueen. The actor who brought Henry to life on stage was 20-year-old Ezra Stone, who was billed near the bottom as the 20th actor in the cast. Stone was also employed as the play's production assistant.

Time found the play "short on plot" but noted:

Chief amusement centres in Henry Aldrich (Ezra Stone), a cross between Penrod and Willie Baxter, who attends classes mainly in the principal's office. With a talent for head-on collisions, always ingenious, never crafty, always there with an answer, never with the right one, brash, bouncing, rumpled, rattled, rueful by turns, Henry grows into that rare thing on the stage—a person... Calm, blue-eyed playwright Clifford Henshaw Goldsmith is 38, was born in East Aurora, N. Y. where his shirts hung on the same clothesline as Roycrofter Elbert Hubbard's, now lives in a secluded farmhouse near Paoli, Pa. After a tiny role in Lightnin' and a start in cinema cut short when he tumbled down some false stairs and upset three cameras. Goldsmith joined a chautauqua, found himself while pinch-hitting for a humorous health lecturer, became a health lecturer on his own, talked on nutrition before hundreds of high schools.

1 Radio
2 Family and friends
3 Television and films
4 Listen to
5 External links

[edit] Radio

When Rudy Vallee saw the play, he asked Goldsmith to adapt it into some sketches for his radio program, and this was followed in 1938 by a 39-week run of a sketch comedy series on The Kate Smith Hour with Stone continuing in the role of Henry. Kate Smith's director, Bob Welsh, is credited with the creation of the "Hen-reeeeeeeeeeeee! Hen-ree Al-drich!" opening, which eventually became one of the most famous signature sounds in radio.

After finding an audience with Kate Smith's listeners, The Aldrich Family was launched in its own series as a summer replacement program for Jack Benny in NBC's Sunday night lineup, July 2, 1939, and it stayed there until October 1, 1939, when it moved to Tuesday nights at 8 p.m., sponsored by General Foods's popular gelatin dessert Jell-O, which also sponsored Jack Benny at the time. The Aldriches ran in that slot from October 10, 1939 until May 28, 1940, moving to Thursdays, from July 4, 1940 until July 20, 1944. After a brief hiatus, the show moved to CBS, running on Fridays from September 1, 1944 until August 30, 1946 with sponsors Grape Nuts and Jell-O before moving back to NBC from September 5, 1946 to June 28, 1951 on Thursdays and, then, its final run of September 21, 1952 to April 19, 1953 on Sundays.

A top-ten ratings hit within two years of its birth (in 1941, the show carried a 33.4 Crossley rating, landing it solidly alongside Jack Benny and Bob Hope). Earning $3000 a week, Goldsmith was the highest paid writer in radio, and his show became a prototype for the teen-oriented situation comedies that followed on radio and television.

Stone kept the lead role until 1942, when he entered the Army for World War II. Norman Tokar succeeded Stone as Henry for two seasons. Best known for his later work directing the television hit Leave It to Beaver — whose approach of telling its stories from the vantage point of a child may have been inspired by the similar implication in many Aldrich episodes — Tokar also helped write many of the Aldrich episodes.

Cast of radio's The Aldrich Family

On The Aldrich Family, Tokar was followed by Dickie Jones (1943-44) and Raymond Ives (1944-45), before Stone returned to his signature role. Bobby Ellis became the last Henry Aldrich in 1952.

[edit] Family and friends

Henry's parents, Sam and Alice, were portrayed by House Jameson and Katharine Raht, and his usual girlfriend, Kathleen Anderson, by Mary Shipp. The role of Henry's best friend, Homer Brown, was played by Jackie Kelk (Jack Grimes, Michael O'Day and John Fiedler. Homer's parents were Arthur Vinton and Agnes Moorehead, among others. Eddie Bracken appeared in the earlier shows as friend Dizzy Stevens. The show's announcers included Harry Von Zell, Dan Seymour, and Dwight Weist.

Clearly the model for such future inept teenagers as Archie Andrews (whose radio version premiered in 1943, at the height of The Aldrich Family's popularity), Henry Aldrich was an endearingly bumbling kid growing awkwardly into adolescence, and The Aldrich Family often revolved around Henry's misadventures with the girls and with his friends. Though it now seems among the most dated of its era's entertainment, The Aldrich Family in its time was written intelligently, with gentle humor and was acted wholly appropriately to its primary subject matter.

[edit] Television and films

Jackie Cooper and Jimmy Lydon portrayed Henry Aldrich in the movie series of 1939-42.

On October 2, 1949, the program premiered on NBC-TV while continuing to air on the radio with a primarily different cast. Over the course of its nearly four year run on television, Henry was portrayed by five different actors - Robert Casey, Richard Tyler, Henry Girard, Kenneth Nelson and Bobby Ellis, the only one to participate in the radio production as well. Other characters - including Mrs. Aldrich, Henry's sister Mary, and his best friend Homer Brown - were portrayed by multiple actors as well, a practice not uncommon in radio but unusual for television, where cast changes are more noticeable.

The program garnered some adverse publicity when film and radio veteran Jean Muir was signed to play Mrs. Aldrich in the second season. Right-wing groups accused the actress of being a Communist sympathizer (her name appeared in Red Channels, a pamphlet listing the names of performers allegedly involved in left-wing activities), and General Foods, the show's sponsor, cancelled the first episode of the new season and replaced her with Nancy Carroll. Muir went on to defend herself before a Congressional committee, but her career never recovered from the charges. The final episode was broadcast on May 29, 1953, slightly more than a month after the radio series came to an end.

The comedy troupe Firesign Theatre saluted the show with a clever parody, Don't Crush That Dwarf Hand Me the Pliers.