Eddie Anderson and model trains

[scottp]

At a site called Trainorders.com, there was a discussion of celebrities interested in model trains. I mentioned Eddie Anderson appearing in a hobby film short with his trains, and another poster contributed this:


Rochester was played by "Eddie Anderson" who was from Oakland, Calif.. Same town I come from...
He was BIG on TRAINS...

In 1939, Rochester came to Oakland with the troupe to do a radio show in the Oakland Auditorium..
Somehow, he had heard about "Vic Shattock" and the STEAM operated 2.5 inch gauge railroad that operated in Vic's basement in East Oakland at 38th Ave & Foothill Blvd...
Vic was approached by Rochester's agent and an appointment was set up for Rochester to visit on a Saturday evening.
The Saturday arrived and Rochester and Agent and their wives and others all came calling to Vic's house. A wonderful evening was had and Riochester was elated with what he saw: STEAM locomotives running around a large basement on a scenic railroad. Something unheard of in those days..
Anyway, after the locomotives were put away back in the Roundhouse for the evening, the visiting troupe was asked if they would care to adjourn to the living quarters upstairs for "refreshments" !
Celebrities had to be careful, even in those days, so the question went out: "What are you drinking" ?? The answer: "Four Roses" ...

That was fine with the Troupe and so a fine evening was held in Vic's house.
During this refreshment period, Rochester was asked to do his "Rochester" gravel voice.. It evidently was "fake" on radio and TV.. Vic's daughters reported that Rochester was glad to perform the request for them and a good laugh was had by all..

Goodbyes were said-- and the Troupe went back to their hotel...
This story does NOT end here quite yet......

It seems that "Rochester" was due to report to the Oakland Auditorium sometime SUNDAY morning for a radio show rehersal.. He never showed up !! He got into trouble for letting that happen ... Where was Rochester ?? What happened to him !!

Well, it seems that someone came to the front door of Vic Shattock's house at 8:00 AM on that same SUNDAY morning and rang the doorbell !

Yep--you guessed it.. It was "Rochester" ..
He wanted to know if he could see the TRAINS run again ? (grin) The answer: ** YES ** ...
And so it was that the Oakland-born comedian who used to hack newspapers as a kid at 40th & Telegraph next to the Key System "C"-Line, missed a radio show to see a repeat performance of LIVE STEAM in some guy's Oakland basement..

Yes, folks:
Eddie "Rochester" Anderson was a BIG train buff!

"Key Route Ken"...

p.s.-- The host, Vic Shattock, was MY paternal grandfather !!

[bboswell]

During this refreshment period, Rochester was asked to do his "Rochester" gravel voice.. It evidently was "fake" on radio and TV.. Vic's daughters reported that Rochester was glad to perform the request for them and a good laugh was had by all..

Wha?? Is this true? I feel cheated! I thought it was the McCoy. How and why (... well, OK, I get the why: Cha-Ching$$) would a performer do that to their voice each week?

[shimp scrampi]

My understanding is that Eddie Anderson "exaggerated" rather than "faked" his voice - so in real life it certainly would've been gravelly but maybe not THAT gravelly. Same question is debated about Gracie Allen's voice, and I think the same consensus is reached - a naturally distinctive voice that was played up a bit for the microphones.

[Alan]

Scott: Thanks for passing along that wonderful story!

RE: gravelly voice?

My understanding has also been that EA's everday voice definitely had some of that trademark "gravel"...tho certainly played up when acting.

Offhand (perhaps obvious) remark; It has seemed to me that Mary's on-air voice underwent a dramatic change over the years;

Earlier on, she (mostly?) seemed to use a higher pitched, stereotypically (even then) sarcastic hard-edged-woman-from-NYC type accent...

My perception is that she later made the choice of using her "regular" voice...

[LLeff]

My understanding is that Eddie Anderson "exaggerated" rather than "faked" his voice - so in real life it certainly would've been gravelly but maybe not THAT gravelly. Same question is debated about Gracie Allen's voice, and I think the same consensus is reached - a naturally distinctive voice that was played up a bit for the microphones.

Well, grab a comedy script--particularly a radio script, but any comedy will do, even an E-mail joke--and try reading it aloud. Notice how your voice is (probably) different than your normal speaking voice. Particularly if you've had any comedic training, then you'll automatically put a little more emphasis into "selling" the lines.

There are a couple rare incidences where Eddie Anderson breaks character on air momentarily due to a blooper. You'll notice that his voice has the gravel, but is lower.

[Maxwell]

I'd guess the most obvious place to hear Eddie Anderson's natural voice would be in "Gone with the Wind." It does have a gravelly quality to it, but nowhere near as exaggerated as when he's playing the Rochester character.

[David47Jens]

Awwww, heck! I had to check the dictionary to see if the IJBFC had created a new word, "gravelly," but no dice; it already existed.

[Maxwell]

Something else to throw into the mix here. I caught the last part of the movie "Cabin in the Sky" a couple of weeks ago. I heard Eddie Anderson sing two songs. One was in what was closer to the voice he used in GWTW while the other was in his "Rochester" voice.

[scottp]

I'm told GWTW will be on TV this weekend (don't know what channel.) About how long into the movie does Eddie appear? I've seen the movie about three times but I always doze off here and there.

[Maxwell]

I'm not sure how far into the movie Eddie Anderson appears. I *think* it's when Scarlett is getting ready to go to Atlanta. Anderson will be very hard to recognize in the scene except for his voice. He'll have a gray hair and a gray mustache. IIRC the carriage is photograpned from one side and he's "behind" it, i.e. on the other side.

[Maxwell]

And I was wrong....He appears (with his normal hair color, shot from the side) just before Ashley Wilkes descends the stairs to say goodbye to Scarlett and again show what a complete wuss he is.

I just happened to turn on TCM just before the scene. Assuming the movie started ab about 7:05 CDT, the scene with Anderson occurs about 55 minutes into the film because I saw it at about 8:00 CDT.

[LLeff]

And I was wrong....He appears (with his normal hair color, shot from the side) just before Ashley Wilkes descends the stairs to say goodbye to Scarlett and again show what a complete wuss he is.

Eddie Anderson's best and most noticeable scene is where he's chasing the extremely thin rooster, trying to talk him into letting him cut off his head.

[Maxwell]

And I was wrong....He appears (with his normal hair color, shot from the side) just before Ashley Wilkes descends the stairs to say goodbye to Scarlett and again show what a complete wuss he is.

Eddie Anderson's best and most noticeable scene is where he's chasing the extremely thin rooster, trying to talk him into letting him cut off his head.

I have to admit that it's been a long time since I watched GWTW all the way through. I remember that scene now that you remind me.