Guests

The big boom in Guest Stars was on. Eight of last week's 15 most popular radio shows had at least one guest star. Altogether, the four networks carried more than 100 of them. For their Hooper-boosting services, they were paid a grand total of about $100,000. Individual guests pulled down as much as $3,500 in New York and $5,000 in Hollywood (perhaps because of the high cost of swimming pools) in cash, cars, refrigerators and whatnot.*

Radio's big names are more than glad to pass out that kind of money. In recent months, with sponsors axing heaps of weak shows, most of the fixed stars have felt safer with the added twinkle of a satellite. And many a guest has been delighted to twinkle at the price.

Guests fall into three main categories:

The Hams--serious actors & actresses (Helen Hayes, Gary Grant, Joseph Cotten) who made most of their radio appearances on dramatic shows.

The Floaters--famed entertainers with no radio shows of their own (Al Jolson, Tallulah Bankhead, Bea Lillie) who don't mind picking up a few grand on someone else's. Jolson is currently the most-hitched-to star in radio. He recently upped Bing Crosby's Hooper 4.9 points, boosted Eddie Cantor's a full 5. Offered a show of his own, Jolson declined: he can make too much money guesting--with no worries over script and sponsor. At week's end, Jolson signed for ten appearances on the Crosby show next fall--$50,000 guaranteed.

The Back-Scratchers--established radio stars who visit each other's shows, without charge, on a "you-scratch-my-back-and-ril-scratch-yours" basis. Under this arrangement, Jack Benny last week assembled a "Million Dollar Quartet" (Bing Crosby, Dick Haymes, Andy Russell, Dennis Day) for only $3,000. Russell, the only one without a radio show of his own, was the only one Benny had to pay. World's Champion Back-Scratcher is Bob Hope, who solemnly estimates that during the next month he will spend more than half his waking hours in broadcasting studios.

Sighs a top comic: "I'd give my next year's option to get Garbo."

* Last fall, when Jimmy Durante guested on the Ford Show, he was offered a Ford and a Mercury in payment. Though "mortified to dwell upon the thought" that there were three grades of guest stars on the market (Ford, Mercury, Lincoln-Continental), Jimmy insisted that he be known as the Continental type. The sponsor yielded.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.