OT Bishop Sheen/Peoria/1930s radio

[capecod]

A came across a recent article about how the Diocese of Peoria was trying to get Bishop Fulton Sheen's body reburied in Peoria.

Reading that article reminded me of a bit of old Peoria trivia:

By the mid 1930s, the most listened to radio shows in the United States were:

Amos & Andy
The Catholic Hour w Bishop Fulton Sheen
Fibber McGee & Molly

4 of the 5 stars of those shows attended HS in Peoria, within two blocks of each other(the exception was the actor who played Amos):

Fulton Sheen-Spalding Institute
Jim Jordan (Fibber McGee)-Spalding Institute
Marian Jordan(Molly)-Academy of Our Lady(across from SI)
Charles Correll (Andy)-Peoria Central (Central was in downtown Peoria back in the days that all of the above attended HS-within 2 blocks of SI and AOL)

[tornado]

I have often wondered who would rank at the top of the list of famous Peorians...
or famous athletes from Peoria...or famous Bradley grads....

Of course we all know about Fulton Sheen, Richard Pryor, Betty Friedan, Gen. Shalikashvili, Jack Brickhouse, and Bob Michel...
but honestly it could be argued....that none of those people are exactly household names outside of Illinois or people who actually rose to the very pinnacle of their own professions....

So who really are the candidates for MOST famous?

Here are lists compiled by some sources...although any list that includes Matt Hale needs to be discounted

http://www.peoria.org/famous-peorians

https://sites.google.com/site/peoriapastandpresent/home/famous-peorians

http://www.peoria.com/messages/peoria_famous_people.php?message_board_parent_id=52755

I would add two names of famous Peorians to those lists....people whose fame and influence will certainly outlive Fibber McGee, Dan Fogelberg, or Mudvayne.


One guy who gets left off a lot of lists is Joseph Miles Chamberlain, a native Peorian & Bradley grad who was perhaps
the 2nd or 3rd most influential astronomist in the US - and maybe only a TV series made Carl Sagan more notable.
Chamberlain was for many years the director of the world's most prestigious planetarium, the Hayden Planetarium in New York
...but wanted to be back in the midwest - so he opted to take the job as director of Chicago's Adler Planetarium for 30 years.

He lectured widely, took tours to remote places, wrote books .. but given that astronomy isn't as popular as Joan Rivers, still few knew the man's accomplishments.
He also directed the American Museum of Natural History, helped develop a device that improved the sextants in use by our navy during WWII (and gave the rights
to the device which could have profited him immensely to the US Navy), developed the modern planetarium projector that is still in use currenty,
and also was the key figure in the recovery of one of the world's most valuable gems, the DeLong Star Ruby, after it was stolen...

Phil Luciano wrote about Chamberlain when he died a few years ago. He was the brother of the wife of BU President Dr. Martin Abegg.

http://www.pjstar.com/article/20111228/News/312289850

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/12/science/space/joseph-m-chamberlain-dies-at-88-led-hayden-and-adler-planetariums.html?_r=0

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1964&dat=19650904&id=0MQiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=OLcFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1596,749128

btw- the son of Dr. Martin Abegg - Marty Abegg, Jr. is also world renowned in his own right...being one of the
world's authorities on the Dead Sea Scrolls, and founder of the DEAD SEA SCROLLS INSTITUTE

https://www.twu.ca/research/institutes-and-centres/university-institutes/dead-sea-scrolls-institute/default.html

http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-artifacts/dead-sea-scrolls/cast-of-characters/

http://www.centuryone.com/0063-2.html

http://www.deadseascrolls.org/Site/tools.php

[Da Coach]

I didn't know Laurie Partridge (Susan Dey) was born in Pekin!

[ihatetea]

I would say Richard Pryor if I had to vote. You say it could be argued he isn't a household name outside of peoria/Illinois and that strikes me as outlandish. He was a huge box office draw for a long time. Many of the comedians who were active in the nineties through the early part of this century list him as their biggest inspiration, the notable one whom I can think of off the top of my head being Chris rock.

[tornado]

notice the "or" in my statement --
Pryor was a household name but there was and still is a large hunk of the population who do not appreciate his form of humor -and thus he does not have such wide acceptance of his fame as a few others on those lists.

...surely you know there's been substantial objection and opposition when the city tried to honor him...and it still exists today..
Plus, it cannot be denied that others feel the negative aspects of Richard Pryor are, like Pete Rose or Barry Bonds, enough to disqualify his positive attributes....

[ihatetea]

As they say there is no bad press. Isn't being infamous a way of being famous? Just adds to his legacy if you ask me.

This is a very subjective project regardless. Unless you or someone else plans on polling America, we will never know the answer.

[Chico]

For this city to want to honor Pryor and not the likes of Fibber and Molly and Correll, who entertained this country for longer than he did without using the language he did is a joke.

[ihatetea]

For this city to want to honor Pryor and not the likes of Fibber and Molly and Correll, who entertained this country for longer than he did without using the language he did is a joke.

Maybe we shouldn't honor any of them. This is so generationally influenced, I honestly have never heard of fibber or Molly or correll.

[TNel]

Maybe we shouldn't honor any of them. This is so generationally influenced, I honestly have never heard of fibber or Molly or correll.

Lest we forget: Fellow Spalding Alum, General Wayne Downing. Highly decorated Commanding General & Commander-in-Chief of Special Operations. Not a household name nationally, but someone whose contributions to our nation are numerous and unheralded

[tornado]

This is a very subjective project regardless.....

sure it's subjective -- but a lot of cities if you ask who is their most famous - the answer is a unanimous slam dunk..

Like Dixon, IL - or Springfield who can boast US Presidents...
..Hannibal, MO can boast Mark Twain
I just thought it would be interesting to see who people think is most famous from Peoria or Bradley since there's no clear slam-dunk answer...
In fact it's kinda surprising that there's nobody that really stands out.
In a way - if the consensus answer IS Richard Pryor....if he's the most famous, most infamous, most important, most well known - then I guess I am surprised.

[bradleyfan124]

Can their be an argument of the number of influential people who came from big cities vs. small towns?

[tornado]

wouldn't you think the bigger cities ought to have more?

[Chico]

T, I would say that all 6 of the names you mentioned, with maybe the exception of the General, were well known outside of Illinois.

[tornado]

guess it depends on how "well known" would be interpreted...

I could be wrong, but I'd bet if you go out east and ask a bunch of people at a mall or interview a bunch of people having spring break in Daytona Beach --
especially if a good hunk of them are under 60....then
I hafta think that even if 10% could identify Bob Michel, Jack Brickhouse, Betty Friedan, or Fulton Sheen - I'd be terribly surprised.
Heck ESPN doesn't even know what state Peoria is in, and whenever I travel while wearing Bradley gear I get asked continually where that is, then instantly asked again where Peoria is.

Someone should do such a study but I'd suspect really only Richard Pryor would be recognized by more than even 10%

...but like I said - if we could claim Abe Lincoln, or even Joan Rivers, then 98% of people would know

[capecod]

Peoria is in Arizona

Heck ESPN doesn't even know what state Peoria is in, and whenever I travel while wearing Bradley gear I get asked continually where that is, then instantly asked again where Peoria is.

Many people know that Peoria is in Arizona...big spring training baseball town