Bob and Ray

Bob Elliott and Ray Goulding were an American comedy duo that began in radio in 1946 with a daily 15-minute show titled Matinee With Bob and Ray. They continued on the air for over four decades on NBC, CBS, Mutual, New York City local stations WINS, WOR, and WHN, and NPR, ending in 1987. Some episodes were released on phonograph records, and the pair had a 15-minute television show that ran from November 26, 1951 through September 28, 1953 on NBC. (It was a full half hour for the summer of 1952 only.) The duo also returned to television in the latter part of their career, both in a one-shot 1979 NBC special with members of the original Saturday Night Live cast, and in a series of specials for PBS in the early 1980s.

Their earlier shows were mostly ad-libbed. Later the shows relied more heavily on scripts. While Bob and Ray wrote much of their material, their writers included Tom Koch, who wrote many of their best-known routines, and Raymond Knight, an early radio pioneer (Bob later married Knight's widow). As sole performers, Elliott and Goulding lent their voices to a variety of recurring characters and countless one-shots. Those played by Elliott included Wally Ballou, an inept news reporter whose opening transmission was invariably cut off ("–lly Ballou here"); obnoxious sportscaster Biff Burns; Tex Blaisdell, a cowboy singer who also did rope tricks on the radio; Arthur Sturdley, an Arthur Godfrey take-off; and many more.

Goulding played book reviewer Webley Webster and farm editor Dean Archer Armstead with the same low, slurring delivery; Charles the Poet, who recited soppy verse; serial characters such as Matt Neffer; and all female roles. Goulding generally used the same flat voice for all of his women characters; perhaps the most memorable of these was Mary McGoon, home economics adviser, who offered bizarre recipes for such items as "ginger ale salad" and "mock turkey." In 1949, Goulding, as Mary, recorded I Want to Be a Cow in Switzerland, which soon became a novelty hit and is still occasionally played by the likes of Dr. Demento. On radio, Goulding also played the females in the various soap opera spoofs, but for the television series, first Audrey Meadows and then Cloris Leachman appeared on camera in these roles (usually either Mary Backstage or Linda Lovely).

Spoofs of other radio programs were another staple, including the soap operas "Mary Backstayge, Noble Wife" and "One Fella's Family"; children's shows like "Mr. Science" and "Matt Neffer, Boy Spot-Welding King of the World"; adventure serials like "Elmer W. Litzinger, Spy"; and game shows like "The 64-Cent Question." There were spoof advertisements for such fictitious sponsors as the Monongahela Metal Foundry ("Casting steel ingots with the housewife in mind") and Einbinder Flypaper ("The brand you've gradually grown to trust over the course of three generations"), and such enduring routines as the Komodo dragon expert and the spokesman for the Slow Talkers of America.

Bob and Ray starred in a two-man Broadway show, The Two and Only, in 1970; made numerous appearances on the Johnny Carson and David Letterman television shows; did extensive work in radio and television commercials; authored several books; and enjoyed supporting roles in the films Cold Turkey (1970) and Author! Author! (1982).

Bob and Ray also gained fame as the voices of Bert and Harry Piels, two animated characters from a very successful ad campaign for Piels Brothers Beer. Based on the success of that ad campaign they launched a successful advertising voice-over company, Greybar Enterprises.

Goulding died on March 24, 1990. Elliott continued to perform, most notably with his son (actor/comedian Chris Elliott) on the TV sitcom Get a Life.

Bob and Ray were inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1995.

Sources

Dunning, John. On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. ISBN 0195076788

External links

• The Bob and Ray Home Page (http://www.bobandray.com)
• Radio Hall of Fame - Bob & Ray (http://www.radiohof.org/comedy/bobray.html)