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| Image of 11 year old Lucy Gilman. From the Passaic Herald-News, Tuesday, October 13, 1936. The caption claimed that she was talked out of cutting her red curly locks. https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-herald-news-radio-child-actress-lucy/167164771/ |
Since many Old Time Radio (OTR) child stars were born in the 1920s, being in the 2020s presents many opportunities to celebrate centennial anniversaries of their birthdays. I tried this last year with Barbara Jean Wong and here is another star on what would have been their 100th birthday.
Lucy Gilman (Scott) March 4, 1925 - November 23, 2006
Today's Children, c. 1932 - 1937
Rainbow Court [a.k.a. "Song of the City"] 1934-1935
First Nighter, c. 1933
Princess Pat Players, c. 1934 - 1936
Sunbrite Junior Nursing Corps 1936 - c. 1938
Radio actress Lucy Gilman was born on March 4, 1925, in Chicago, Illinois. Her father Harry Gilman was a concert violinist and music producer for overseas radio programs. Lucy was the youngest of three sisters. Her sister Toni Gilman (1923-2017) was also a model, radio and stage actress. Lucy began her career as a child actress reportedly at the age of 3.
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| Lucy Gilman in a character pose as "Lucy Moran" on "Today's Children". From Radio Stars Magazine, Feburary 1935. From the Media History Digital Library. |
In regional and national press young Lucy was frequently referenced as one of radio's youngest stars and attracted attention for her role as Lucy Moran on the soap opera "Today's Children" with Irna Phillips "Godmother of the Soap Opera", Ireene Wicker who was also known as "The Singing Lady", writer and actor Walter Wicker (Ireene's husband) and several other Chicago radio pioneers.
With much of the same cast Gilman portrayed "Mary Lou" and orphan girl on the short lived soaper Rainbow Court (Song of the City. Lucy is also credited in a 1935-1936 revamp of "Painted Dreams"; the 1930 version was the landmark series by Irna Phillips some historians credit as the first soap opera. Gilman was also heard in at least one dramatic role for the "First Nighter Program"
Dorothy Hart Sunbrite Nurse Program
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| Dorothy Hart Sunbrite Junior Nurse Corps Button. Images: Ebay.com |
The pinnacle of Lucy's radio career may have been the "Sunbrite Junior Nurse Corps". Also known as "Dorothy Hart Sunbrite Nurse" this radio program premiered on February 17, 1936* over Chicago WBBM for CBS sponsored by Sunbrite Cleanser. The series was directed by Bess Johnson who was Lucy's co-star on the Today's Children series.
Airing three times a week, typically around 5 p.m., each 15-minute episode Gilman as Dorothy Hart who was the "National President" of the Sunbrite Junior Nurse Corps, guiding young listeners through stories and lessons on hygiene, safety, and first aid. The program featured narrative stories about historical figures like Florence Nightingale, Clara Barton, and Sacagawea.
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| Image from WorthPoint Auctions -- https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/1936-dorothy-hart-sunbrite-junior-1845907898 |
Girls listening to the series were encouraged to join the Sunbrite Junior Nurse Corps by sending in a Sunbrite Cleanser label. New members received a membership certificate, a Junior Nurse Manual, and an equipment catalog. The catalog offered items such as official uniforms, first aid kits, rings, and other accessories. The Sunbrite Nurse accessories are rare and collectible today especially since audio from the actual program is lost today. Some memorabilia from the program is even in the collections of the National Library of Medicine.
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| Left to Right, Charlie Arnold, Jim Ameche, and Lucy Gilman. Notice the Sunbrite Nursing shoulder patch. Image from the Joe Hehn Memorial Collection of Golden Age Radio. https://archive.org/details/photosJHMC |
The program's content was supervised by child guidance expert Angelo Patri (1876-1965), ensuring it was both educational and appropriate for its young audience.
Brief Hollywood Career
Gilman has one documented screen appearance (on IMDB) as Julia Davis in the 1938 film "Gangster's Boy," co-starring Jackie Cooper.
Before this film was made Gilman was also widely publicized the top contender for the role of Becky Thatcher in David O'Selznick's production of "Adventures of Tom Sawyer". She won the role from over 874 actresses. According to an interview given by Gilman in 1937 she lost the role when the production was delayed and she grew too big for the part by time shooting had resumed.
Actress Ann Gillis (1927-2018) was ultimately cast as Becky Thatcher for the completed 1938 release. Gillis, a redhead just like Gilman, would also portray Little Orphan Annie on the big screen that year. Since Little Orphan Annie was a redheaded character, and a fixture of Chicago radio, just like Lucy Gilman, one wonder if she could have had this part under different circumstances.
Other Radio Roles
While Gilman's Hollywood career was brief she continued in radio acting into early adulthood. Among her roles were Eileen O'Brien on "The Guiding Light", Edna Seymour on "Myrt and Marge", the Mrs. on "Mr. and Mrs.", and even as a "co-em-cee" for "The Breakfast Quiz" game show on WGN.
On December 25, 1948, she married advertising president Jack Scott. The couple were married for over 50 years until Scott's death. Lucy Gilman Scott passed away in her sleep on November 23, 2006, at her home in Northbrook, Illinois at the age 81.
Lucy Gilman's Legacy Today
As with several of the prolific child stars of the 1930s very few broadcasts with Gilman as a child have survived or are publicly available today. Her career is documented in the collections of several archives, museums and digital collections. Her versatility at a very young age in the soap operas "Today's Children", "Song of the City" and "Painted Dreams" predates several child and teen stars of the TV soaps like Laurence Fishbourne, Christel Khalil, Bryton McClure and Kimberly McCullough.
If Irna Phillips was the "Godmother of Soap Operas", and Ireene Wicker "The First Queen of the Soap Operas" then Gillman could be considered "The First Princess of the Soaps Operas" or daytime dramas.
The Sunbrite Nursing Corps series remains notable as possibly the first broadcasting program designed to engage young girls in a simulation of a STEM or medical field, even if the real goal was to sell cleanser. More research is needed to learn about the programs' impact on women who became nurses between 1940 and 1960. Today it could be seen as a distant ancestor of "Mission Unstoppable".
Links and Resources.
*See Larry Wolters article cited below.
Angelo Patri Papers - Library of Congress, 1904-1962. [Not reviewed for this blog, but is hoped that Patri's papers would contain materials related to this series]
[Interview with Lucy Gilman]. In This Corner With Cedric Adams. Minneapolis Star February 22, 1937.
Lucy Gilman Scott (Obiturary) Donnellan Funeral Home. https://www.donnellanfuneral.com/obituaries/Lucy-Gilman-Scott?obId=7468926
Sunbrite Postcard, Collection of History of Medicine, National Library of Medicine Digital Library - http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101627261
Wolters, Larry. News of the Radio Stations. Chicago Tribune. February 17, 1936. Page 20. https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-premiere-of-sunbrite-jun/167166122/
