Radio: Announcer’s Exit

To Announcer Bill Goodwin, the $1,000 a week he got for plugging Swan soap was no soporific: he still wanted to be a comedian. His whole point in plugging soap on the Burns & Allen show—with an agreement that he be given plenty of publicity and good lines to speak—was to attract attention to himself. But the stars of the Burns & Allen show are Burns & Allen. Advertisements that printed ambitious Bill Goodwin’s name in type as big as the stars’ rocked George Burns back on his heels. Presently Goodwin’s publicity and his lines began to shrink.

Three weeks ago startled network officials heard frustrated Bill Goodwin sing out his sign-off (“This is CBS … the Columbia . . . Broadcasting . . . System”) in a rapidly rising whine that broke into a high, hysterical giggle. Fortnight ago he concluded it with a stricken “OUCH!” Last week, he added a single, unsavory “Ughh!”

He had decided to walk out on his contract, and his nervous employers decided he might as well. George Burns readily agreed. Then Bill Goodwin played his ace: this week he becomes the featured comedian on the Frank Sinatra program—with the Swoonmaster as straight man. Salary: $1,000 a week.