Week of February 5, 1959

The State Department publishes a transcript made from a tape recording of

conversations between Soviet pilots, purporting to show a U.S Air Force

transport plane was indeed gunned down by the pilots. The plane disappeared

on September 2 as it flew along the Turkey-Armenia border. At one point on the

tape, one of the Russian pilots say, “Yes, he is falling, I will finish him off boys, I

will finish him off on the run.” Over six perished in the crash. Moscow radio says

this week that the tape recording is a fake and denies a real tape even exists.

For the first time a Titan ICBM missile is fired aloft. Twice

before, the Titan ignited and on both occasions, the

engine fizzled just before lift-off at Cape Canaveral. The

Titan is the first of a new series of “second generation’

rockets and should be more powerful than the present

Atlas missiles.

Alcatraz warden Paul Madigan reports that convict Walter

Mollett of St Joseph, MO is killed in a fight with another

prisoner. He was struck on the head with a sharp

instrument.

Injured and hospitalized - actress Debbie Reynolds while

doing a dance number on the set of “Say One For Me.” Debbie stepped on a

cable during the dance and dislocated her knee, already injured from a childhood

injury. The movie also stars Bing Crosby and Robert Wagner.

Also injured - Vice President Richard Nixon falls on the icy steps of his

Washington home and cracks two ribs. He was taken to Walter Reed Army

Hospital. He’ll still be able to carry out his regular schedule.

Divorcing - Elaine Rooney (29) from Mickey Rooney. She says he caused her

“grevious mental distress, suffering and anguish” during their 5 1/2 year

marriage. It’s his fourth marriage.

Married Joan” drops an assault and battery complaint

against her former fiancé Harvey Stock Jr, a real

estate salesman in Palm Springs. Stock allegedly

decked her with his fist outside her home in the desert

city. She says she has no intention of resuming their

three-year-old romance.

Week of February 5, 1959

Ritchie Valens (17) (born Richard Valenzuela) is buried at San Fernando

Mission Cemetery near Los Angeles. Ritchie’s girlfriend,

widowed mother, Mrs. Concepcion Valenzuela during the

funeral mass. The song Ritchie wrote for his girlfriend is

number two on the charts this week. Other attending

members of the singer’s family - brothers Bobbie (21) and

Mario (2) and sisters Connie (7) and Irma (6). Valens was

a junior at San Fernando High School, but left school to go

tour under a work permit. Valens, Buddy Holly and The Big

Bopper were killed right after their small plane took off after

a concert at Clear Lake, IA last Tuesday.

Passing - actor Don Law (38) - as a child actor - played the roll of “Fats” in the

“Our Gang” series. Leaves a widow and three children.

“For people who don’t want a look-alike car but do want a low price tag ... the

1959 Edsel ... made to be the most distinctive car on the road - yet it’s priced with

Ford, Chevrolet and Plymouth. And Edsel gives you many eye-opening” extras

that the low-priced field either forgets or charges extra for.”

At the mart - a pair of Nylons .99 ... Niblets Corn 2 (12)oz cans - .29 ... Wisk

liquid detergent .69quart can ... Sara Lee Cake Coffee Cake 14 1/2oz .69 ...

SALT LIKE MORTON SALTS SALT)

Bestsellers - “Doctor Zhivago” - Boris Pasternak, “Exodus” - Leon Uris, “Lolita” -

Vladimir Nabokov, “From The Terrace” - John O’Hara, “Around the World With

Auntie Mame” - Patrick Dennis,, “Twixt Twelve and Twenty” - Pat Boone, “Only In

America” - Harry Golden, “Aku-Aku” - Thor Heyerdahl, “The Coming Of The New

Deal” - A.M Schlesinger, “Wedemeyer Reports” - Gen A.C. Wedemeyer

Week of February 5, 1959

Friday Night Television - CBS - Your Hit Parade, Rawhide, The Phil Silvers

Show, Lux Playhouse, The Lineup, Person To Person ... NBC - Northwest

Passage, Phil Harris, The M Squad, The Thin Man ... ABC - Rin Tin Tin, Walt

Disney Presents, Man With A Camera, 77 Sunset Strip

involved with a matador.

Phil Silvers - Bilko thinks up a credit card

system to start a diners club.

Phil Harris Show - Dean Martin, Alice

Faye and Betty Hutton perform.

Person To Person - Cuban rebel leader

Fidel Castro and his 9-year-old son/Artist

Norman Rockwell talk to Edward R.

Murrow.

Later on - Jack Paar - Herb Swope Jr.,

Frank Albertson and Gertrude Niesen.

rival for Doris Day in “Pillow Talk,” says, “the producer wanted me

to get the girl, but he was afraid of what a million fan-magazine

readers might do to him.”

Television news -

CBS says that “The Captain Kangaroo” show loses more than $1 million a year,

but the network has no plans to drop it. Parents and affiliates love the show.

Mike Wallace and National Telefilm Associates complete a deal where he’ll

conduct a nightly news and interview program over the company’s flagship

station - WNTA-Television (Channel 13) in New York. The anchor did a similar

show on Dumont-TV several years ago. Currently, Wallace is under contract to

ABC, but that contract is expiring May 1 and he’s not on the air there. NTA has

plans to syndicate the program.

Week of February 5, 1959

Walt Disney says “Sleeping Beauty” won’t be the studios last animated feature. “I

expect to go on producing an animated feature every two years.” Walt says the

studio is currently in the middle of “101 Dalmatians” - a fantasy by Dodie Smith.

An old cartoon is coming back - this time in made-for-

TV cartoons. Trans-Lux Television and the Pat Sullivan

Cartoon studio agree to make 260 four-minute “Felix the

Cat” cartoons. Felix, created by the Australian-born

Sullivan, first appeared as a bit player in a 1920 cartoon

called “Feline Frolics.” Felix also served as a mascot for

“The Spirit of St. Louis” when Charles Lindbergh flew the

Atlantic in 1927.

Vivian Vance tells Hollywood reporter Fairfax Nisbet that Ethel Mertz has a warm

spot in her heart, but eight years is a long time for a single role. “Until this Lucy

thing, I never played a role like silly, sloppy bumbling ol’ Ethel. I was a singer in

such Broadway shows as ‘Red Hot and Blue’ with Bob Hope, ‘Hooray for What’

with Ed Wynn, ‘Let’s Face it’ with Danny Kaye. Of course, there’s a chance that

I’ll keep on doing ‘Ethel’ as the new version lf Lucy shows are an hour and come

only every couple of months.” Vivian Vance is married to actor Phillip Ober.

twin Beechcraft plane to a grass strip at Palm Desert,

parks alongside a swimming pool, takes a dip and sun

bath, then flies back to Beverly Hills - about 100 miles.

CBS-TV cancels the game program “For Love or Money”

on the ground that there has been tampering with the

award of prizes on the program. It has been revealed

that a decimal machine, used to determine the size of

cash prizes awarded to contestants, had at times been

controlled by operators - instead of working freely as

purported.

Edward R. Murrow has requested (and has received) permission to take a year’s

sabbatical from CBS beginning July 1. It’s the first time in 25 years Murrow will

be off-the-air for an extended leave.

On the Ed Sullivan Show this week - CBS introduces “VideoScene” - an effect

that puts actors on a stage into any outdoor scene. Performers are placed

against a blank-dark background. As they move around the stage, another

Week of February 5, 1959

camera, focused on a filmed segment or a miniature set automatically moves in

proportion through electronic synching. The viewer at home sees the blended

scene. The effect is that you can place the actors anywhere in the world from a

television sound stage. CBS says that it will give live television the same scope

as is currently shot on films. “We anticipate savings.”

Ampex demonstrates a self-contained traveling

(cruiser) unit that can videotape any type of

location footage at the Hollywood Desilu studios.

The cruiser consists of a bus equipped with two

camera chains, a videotape recorder, monitor and

switching setup, camera mounts on the roof. Cost

is $185,000.

(Left) Tuesday night on ABC Times are central.

Gunsmoke (CBS) - 39.5

Wagon Train (NBC) - 38.7

Danny Thomas (CBS) - 38.2

The Rifleman (ABC) - 37.1

Have Gun Will Travel (CBS) - 34.7

Father Knows Best (CBS) - 33.0

Wells Fargo (NBC) - 32.6

Wyatt Earp (ABC) - 32.2

Price is Right (NBC) - 31.9

Zane Grey Theatre (CBS) - 31.5

Week of February 5, 1959

Music news - Elvis Presley is still in

the Army, but RCA Victor releases a

new album - “For L.P. Fans Only.”

Album includes “That’s All Right,”

“Mystery Train,” “Poor Boy,” “My

Baby Left Me” and “Playing For

Keeps.”

“The ten big tunes that sky-rocketed

Elvis to the top - now, for the first

time - all together in one RCA Victor

L.P. album. The back of the album

jacket sports a full-color portrait -

Elvis’ latest - in his dress uniform.”

Pop music this week in 1959 -

STAGGER LEE - Lloyd Price

DONNA - Ritchie Valens

SMOKE GETS IN YOUR EYES - The

Platters

PETITE FLEUR (Little Flower) - Chris

Barber’s Jazz Band

(All Of A Sudden) MY HEART SINGS -

Paul Anka

THE CHILDREN’S MARCHING SONG

(Nick Nack Paddy Whack) - Cyril

Stapleton & His Orchestra or Mitch

Miller & His Orchestra

LONELY TEARDROPS - Jackie Wilson

THE ALL AMERICAN BOY - Bill

Parsons

I’VE HAD IT - The Bell Notes

THE HAWAIIAN WEDDING SONG (Ke Kali Nei Au) - Andy Williams

I CRIED A TEAR - LaVern Baker

MY HAPPINESS - Connie Francis

THE DIARY - Neil Sedaka

THERE MUST BE A WAY - Joni James

O’ FALLING STAR - The Four Knights

Week of February 5, 1959

MANHATTAN SPIRITUAL - Reg Owens

THE LONLEY ONE - Duane Eddy

GOODBYE BABY - Jack Scott

I’M A MAN - Fabian

PETER GUNN - Ray Anthony & His Orchestra

BLAH, BLAH, BLAH - Nicola Paone

DON’T TAKE YOUR GUNS TO TOWN - Johnny

Cash

CHARLIE BROWN - The Coasters

A LOVER’S QUESTION - Clyde McPhatter

TALL PAUL - Annette Funicello

LA BAMBA - Ritchie Valens

At the movies -

Richard Widmark, Gig Young,

Gia Scala

Tracy

Blom, Charles Boer

Dean Martin Shirley MacLaine

Jack Carson