Bill Goodwin in Old Time Radio

Bill Goodwin
(1910 – 1958)

The announcer probably had the best job in Old Time Radio. The Star of the show would have been under pressure to bring in the audience and keep them laughing (or on the edge of their seats, depending on what sort of program it was), the guest star had to adapt to how the regular company was used to working, and the regular company of hard-working Radio Row players could never be sure if they would be working from week to week and even if they were regulars they rarely got any credit. The announcer knew he would be working from episode to episode for several reasons. Most importantly, he was the one who actually made money for the show by being the sponsor's mouthpiece. Not only did he let the audience know who was paying for the show they were enjoying, the announcer told the audience what show it was they were actually listening to and who they had heard on the program, including who the announcer was. The host or star usually played off the familiar announcer, which made him an important and recognizable part of the audience's listening experience.

One of the biggest challenges for announcers and writers in commercial radio was making the commercial announcement a memorable part of the broadcast. It's not really clear who invented the "integrated commercial", making the sponsor plug part of the action of the scene, but many of our favorite announcers became masters. Don Wilson was an early addition to Jack Benny's "gang" and was not only a regular foil for Jack, he could also work Jell-O or "L.S./M.F.T." into just about any conversation. Similarly, on the Fibber McGee and Molly show, there was no subject that Harlow Wilcox could not find a way to turn into a plug for the virtues of Johnson Wax Products. The long-time announcer for George Burns and Gracie Allen, Bill Goodwin, claims to have done the first integrated commercial while working with that couple. The claim is hard to verify, especially since George and Gracie went through so many sponsor changes in their early radio days, but it is as good a claim as any.

William Nettles Goodwin was born in San Francisco, 1910 (which may explain why he got on so famously with fellow "City by the Bay" native, Gracie Allen). He attended the University of California and became involved in amateur and stock theater companies. "But then came my getting-fired period," he said. "I got fired from the stock company in Portland, Oregon, and then got a job with a radio station there. I got fired. I worked for a Sacramento station for $15 a week. Which wasn't bad, because the boarding house cost a day and that included strawberry shortcake. But I got fired. I also got fired from stations in San Francisco and Los Angeles. But each time I stayed a little longer."

Goodwin was the announcer for the second episode of The Adventures of Gracie sponsored by White Owl Cigars in 1934, but he did not become the couple's regular announcer until Lever Bros took over sponsorship of The Burns and Allen Show on NBC in 1941. He remained with George and Gracie for the rest of their radio career except for six months in 1944-45 when Harry von Zell took over the announcing duties (von Zell carried to announcing duties on television and was fired by George on a weekly basis in a favorite running gag.) Before rejoining George and Gracie, Goodwin pushed Camel Cigarettes for Penny Singleton and Arthur Lake on Blondie. Goodwin had steady success on TV hosting Colgate Theatre and the quiz show Penny to a Million. The later was broadcast from New York, requiring Goodwin to commute from the West Coast to the East each Monday and return Thursday morning after the Wednesday night broadcast. He also appeared in a number of films, including The Stork Club (1945), The Jolson Story (1946), and with Doris Day in Tea for Two (1950).

With his wife, the former Phillipa Hilber, Goodwin owned and operated the Nooks Hotel in Palm Springs (he would commute to Hollywood for his radio and TV work). On the evening May 8-9, 1958, he told his wife that he was not feeling well and wanted to go for a drive in the desert to relax. At 4:30 in the morning, Highway Patrol found Goodwin's car along the side of the road, headlights ablaze and the motor running. Goodwin's body was behind the wheel, he had apparently suffered a major heart attack and pulled off the road where he died. He was 47.

On February 8, 1950, one of the first Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the Radio classification was dedicated honoring the contributions of Bill Goodwin at 6810 Hollywood Blvd.