BW - EP144—007: October 1957—Bill Kemp And The Queen's Visit

On Wednesday October 9th, 1957 at 8PM eastern time, The Bill Kemp Show took to the air over ABC. Bill Kemp was born on July 10th, 1921 in Toronto, Canada. An up and coming performer in the 1950s, his daily radio show ran weeknights at 8PM. His show was the final in a twelve-hour daily live broadcast project by ABC called “The Live and Lively Radio Network.” ABC’s intention was to raise ratings by going back to live broadcasts in an era of taped shows. Interestingly, it was ABC that helped launch the non-Mutual Broadcasting transcribed primetime era with Bing Crosby’s Philco Radio Time in 1946. Kemp’s show featured an orchestra, vocalist and guest stars such as Jonathon Winters. Kemp’s announcer George Ansbro remembered that Kemp once went laugh for laugh with Winters after a particularly successful broadcast, and continued the antics all the way to a nearby steakhouse. Unfortunately, Kemp also developed a debilitating drinking problem. Merv Griffin and Jim Backus were called on several occasions to cover for Kemp during absences for "personal reasons." One week after this broadcast on Wednesday October 16th, Queen Elizabeth II departed from Ottawa and arrived in Williamsburg, Virginia. The next day she was in Washington, D.C. While at the White House, Prince Philip received the gold medal of the National Geographic Society. On October 18th, two U.S. Navy balloonists flew to an altitude of sixteen miles, landing near Hermansville, Michigan. On October 19th, the Queen and Prince Philip attended an American football game in College Park, Maryland, and then visited a supermarket in West Hyattsville. That same day a beauty pageant winner was killed en route to her coronation in a helicopter crash in Farmingdale, New York, while Montreal Canadiens’ star Maurice “The Rocket” Richard became the first player in National Hockey League history to score five-hundred career goals.