The Ones and Onlys…Bob And Ray

Bob Elliott and Ray Goulding began as radio announcers (Elliott a disc jockey, and Goulding a news reader) in Boston with their own separate programs on station WHDH-AM, and each would visit with the other while on the air. Their informal banter was so appealing that WHDH would call on them, as a team, to fill in when Red Sox baseball broadcasts were rained out. Elliott and Goulding (not yet known as Bob and Ray) would improvise comedy routines all afternoon, and joke around with studio musicians. Elliott and Goulding’s brand of humor caught on, and WHDH gave them their own weekday show in 1946. Matinee with Bob and Ray.

In the early 1950s, the two had their own 15-minute television series, entitled simply Bob & Ray. It began November 26, 1951 on NBC with Audrey Meadows as a cast regular. During the second season, the title changed to Club Embassy, and Cloris Leachman joined the cast as a regular, replacing Audrey Meadows who left the series to join the cast of The Jackie Gleason Show on CBS. Expanding to a half-hour for the summer of 1952 only, the series continued until September 28, 1953. Thanks to Tom Roche for the photo.

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