September 21, 1948…Berle Becomes “Texaco Star Theater” Host
On September 21, 2016
- TV History
September 21, 1948…Berle Becomes “Texaco Star Theater” Host
This is an ultra rare photo of NBC’s newly converted Studio 6B, where “Texaco Start Theater” is about to go on the air. Berle hosted the debut show June 8, 1948, but over the summer, Henny Youngman, Morey Amsterdam, George Price, Jack Carter and Peter Donald rotated as host, before Berle “won the competition,”. He was made permanent host on September 21, and over the next three years, he, and this show were the biggest thing in television! Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee
…..and he was still doing a “TEXACO STAR THEATER” radio show on ABC at the time (he dropped that to concentrate on television the following year).
Tympani always came in handy for back-timing a live orchestra.
Is this The Tonight Show studio?
Interesting that the whole stage and audience is being base lit by two light stands with a lot of “scoops”.
I wonder how many kinescopes from these years survive? Also, the few that I have seen the theater always seems to be so much bigger than it really was. Great picture!