Research Catalog

Title

"Something on my own" : Gertrude Berg and American broadcasting, 1929-1956 / Glenn D. Smith, Jr.

Author

Smith, Pete, 1970-

Publication

Syracuse, N.Y. : Syracuse University Press, 2007.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xv, 293 pages : illustrations; 24 cm.

Summary

"In 1929 The Goldbergs debuted on the air, introducing Gertrude Berg - and her radio alter ego, Bronx housewife Molly Goldberg - to the nation. The show would become one of the most beloved and enduring programs of Golden Age radio and early TV. At the helm was Berg who, as creator, star, writer, and producer, became a force to be reckoned with. This biography provides a look at how Gertrude Berg carved a special place for herself in the annals of broadcast history. Decades before Lucille Ball, Berg triumphed as a woman of commercial and creative consequence in what was essentially a male-dominated arena." "For over three decades, Berg's "Molly" fluttered about and hung out her kitchen window dispensing motherly advice laced with engaging malapropisms, insights, and lots of "schmaltz." The show offered a warmly comedic look at the lives and dreams of working-class American Jews and subtle insights into the nature of assimilation. While Molly, husband Jake, and Uncle David represent Old World Jewish stereotypes, children Rosalie and Sammy are as American as apple pie. A portrait of the immigrant experience, The Goldbergs offered a mythic idea of the American dream." "Drawing on Gertrude Berg's papers at Syracuse University's Bird Library and rare interviews with her family and colleagues, the author reveals her as shrewd, creative, and forthright. Unlike "Molly," Berg was a cultivated woman of taste and means. A pioneer in the concept of product tie-in, she parlayed the show's popularity into a movie, short stories, and even a cookbook. In 1951 she stood up to the blacklist by refusing to fire longtime co-star Philip Loeb who was under investigation by the Senate Internal Security Committee. The book also chronicles Berg's accomplishments in theater, film, and literature."--BOOK JACKET.

Series Statement

The television series

Uniform Title

Television series.

Subject

• Berg, Gertrude, 1899-1966
• Berg, Gertrude, 1899-1966
• Berg, Gertrude Schauspielerin
• Actors > United States > Biography
• Actors
• Rundfunk
• Actors > United States > Biography
• United States
• USA

Genre/Form

Biographies

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 267-275) and index.

Contents

Part 1. The beginning -- Prologue : "and she was rarely afraid" -- "Something on my own" -- Part 2. Radio -- "A place in the radio sun" -- "Molly as somebody else" -- "You will always be Molly" -- "Yours goes on forever" -- Part 3. A new frontier -- Interlude : "a strange new world" -- "The first lady of television" -- Part 4. The blacklist -- "A center of stormy controversies" -- "I won't fire him" -- "Like hanging fire" -- Part 5. Starting over -- "Television is serious business" -- "Gertrude died with her boots on."

ISBN

• 9780815608875
• 081560887X

LCCN

2007012970

OCLC

• ocn122261850
• 122261850
• SCSB-8907097

Owning Institutions

Princeton University Library