My Friend Irma (radio-TV)

My Friend Irma

Actress, Marie Wilson as Irma Peterson
Creator Cy Howard
Original work Radio, 1947
Print publications
Comics My Friend Irma
Comic strips My Friend Irma
Films and television
Films My Friend Irma, My Friend Irma Goes West
Television series My Friend Irma
Theatrical presentations
Plays My Frind Irma, a Comedy in Three Acts[1]
Audio
Radio programs My Friend Irma
Miscellaneous
Jack Seidel illustrated the My Friend Irma comic strip which began September 11, 1950
In the television version, Sid Tomack played Irma's boyfriend, Al.

My Friend Irma, created by writer-director-producer Cy Howard, is a top-rated, long-run radio situation comedy that spawned a media franchise. It was so popular in the late 1940s that its success escalated to films, television, a comic strip[2] and a comic book. Marie Wilson portrayed the title character, Irma Peterson, on radio, in two films and the television series. The radio series was broadcast on the Columbia network from April 11, 1947 to August 23, 1954.[3]

Characters and story

Dependable, level-headed Jane Stacy (Cathy Lewis—and Joan Banks during Lewis' illness in early 1949[3]) began each weekly radio program by narrating a misadventure of her innocent, bewildered roommate, Irma, a scatterbrained stenographer from Minnesota. The two central characters were in their mid-twenties. Irma had her 25th birthday in one episode; she was born on May 5. After the two met in the first episode, they lived together in an apartment rented from their Irish landlady, Mrs. O'Reilly (Jane Morgan, Gloria Gordon).

Irma's boyfriend Al (John Brown) was a deadbeat, barely on the right side of the law, who had not held a job in years. Only someone like Irma could love Al, whose nickname for Irma was "Chicken". Al had many crazy get-rich-quick schemes, which never worked. Al planned to marry Irma at some future date so she could support him. Professor Kropotkin (Hans Conried), the Russian violinist at the Princess Burlesque theater, lived upstairs. He greeted Jane and Irma with remarks like, "My two little bunnies with one being an Easter bunny and the other being Bugs Bunny." The Professor insulted Mrs. O'Reilly, complained about his room, and reluctantly became O'Reilly's love interest in an effort to make her forget his back rent.[3] In 1953, Conried dropped from the cast and was replaced by Kenny Delmar as his cousin, Maestro Wanderkin.[4]

Irma worked for the lawyer, Mr. Clyde (Alan Reed). She had such an odd filing system that once when Clyde fired her, he had to hire her back again because he couldn't find anything. Useless at dictation, Irma mangled whatever Clyde dictated. Asked how long she had been with Clyde, Irma said, "When I first went to work with him he had curly black hair, then it got grey, and now it's snow white. I guess I've been with him about six months."

Irma became less bright and more scatterbrained as the program evolved. She also developed a tendency to whine or cry whenever something went wrong, which was at least once every show. Jane had a romantic inclination for her boss, millionaire Richard Rhinelander III (Leif Erickson). Another actor in the show was Bea Benaderet.[3]

Sponsors

The show was sponsored by Swan Soap, and Irma would usually make a silly remark about it so the name could be advertised. Frank Bingman was the announcer for Swan Soap. The program was also sponsored by ENNDS which got rid of breath and body odors and each tiny capsule was said to contain 100 mg of chlorophyll. Pepsodent was also a sponsor.[3]

Because of the popularity of the show (early in the series, shows 41–43), a contest was run for the services of Irma/Marie Wilson to act as a secretary for the highest bidder for one day, with her willing to travel anywhere in America. The money was to go to the March of Dimes charity to fight polio. Three businessmen bid $1,000, but the winner was the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Fort Worth, Texas which bid $5,000.[3]

Lawsuit

In 1946, writer Arthur Kurlan had worked with CBS Radio in an attempt to bring the premise and characters of the popular play and film, My Sister Eileen, to radio. Soon after this effort failed, the very similar My Friend Irma was created. Kurlan took legal action, and ultimately received a settlement from CBS.[5]

Films and television

Marie Wilson and Mary Shipp as Irma's friend Kay Foster, 1953.

The TV version, seen on CBS from January 8, 1952[6] until June 1954, was the first series telecast from the CBS Television City facility in Hollywood on November 16, 1952.

The film My Friend Irma (1949) starred Marie Wilson and Diana Lynn, but is mainly remembered today for introducing Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis to moviegoers, resulting in even more screen time for Martin and Lewis in the sequel, My Friend Irma Goes West (1950).

Comic strip and comic book

The My Friend Irma comic strip, illustrated by Jack Seidel, began September 11, 1950, receiving a promotional boost in the November 7, 1950, issue of Look. In 1951, Dan DeCarlo took over the strip with Stan Lee scripting.

Atlas Comics (Marvel) published the My Friend Irma comic book which ran from #3 to #48 (1950–55), and was most often written by Stan Lee with art by Dan DeCarlo. After Atlas stopped publishing My Friend Irma, DeCarlo and Lee created a similar feature for Atlas titled My Girl Pearl.

References

  1. ↑ Reach, James (1951). My Friend Irma, a Comedy in Three Acts. Hollywood, CA: Samuel French. ASIN B002VH94HK.
  2. ↑ Heintjes, Tom (2009). "Everybody's Friend: Remembering Stan Lee and Dan DeCarlo's 'My Friend Irma'". Hogan's Alley (16). Retrieved 2015-02-02.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Dunning, John (1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio. Oxford University Press. pp. 472–73. ISBN 978-0-19-507678-3.
  4. ↑ Wolters, Larry (1953-03-02). "Television News and Views". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2015-03-26.
  5. ↑ Arthur Kurlan and Marilyn Kurlan v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue. Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Arthur Kurlan and Marilyn Kurlan., 343 F.2d 325 (2d Cir. March 26, 1965) (“In December, 1953, the California action was settled. CBS agreed to pay a total of $75,000—$22,000 to Kurlan before the year-end, $38,000 to him and his attorney jointly on January 15, 1954, and $15,000 to Kurlan a year later. In return Kurlan and McKenney released all claims, whether for violations of literary property, infringement of copyright, or in contract, from CBS' past or future production of 'My Friend Irma', and the pending California action was terminated with prejudice.”).
  6. ↑ Weiner, Ed (1992). The TV Guide TV Book: 40 Years of the All-Time Greatest Television Facts, Fads, Hits, and History. With the editors of TV Guide. New York: Harper Collins. pp. 201–40. ISBN 0-06-096914-8.
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