Myrt and Marge Soap Opera
Myrt and Marge (also known as The Story of Myrt and Marge), was a popular radio soap opera crafted by vaudevillian performer, Myrtle Vail. Intense drama and thrilling escapades were the hallmarks of these serial episodes.
Creater, Myrtle Vail, played the role of Myrtle (Myrt) Spear, a hardened chorus girl, appearing in “that most glittering of all Broadway extravaganzas,” Hayfield’s Pleasures. Others in the cast included Donna Damerel (playing Margie Minter).
It’s interesting to note that Myrt and Marge were played by the real mother and daughter team of Myrtle and her daughter, Donna. One critic described them as “working together like honey and cream.
Dick Janaver, as Lee Kirby, was a suitor of Marge. Edith Evanson played Helmi, “the faithful maid who went through so many of Myrt and Marge’s experiences with them.”
Other players in the cast included Vinton Hayworth (playing Jack Arnold), Gene Morgan as Rex Marvin, a motion picture director and another man who was pursuing Marge. There were several comical characters, including Clarence Tiffingtuffer, played by Ray Hedge and Thaddeus Cornfelder played by Cliff Arquette.
Myrt and Marge was originally featured as a nighttime radio drama, and was very successful during the mid-1920s and 1930s. The sponsor, Super Suds, brought it to daytime radio in 1937, where it remained successful for many years.
The show portrayed two women seeking fame and fortune in the world of show business. Mother and daughter had been separated since Marge was a baby, and didn’t meet until they happened to be at Hayfield’s Theater at the same time.
Marge was a spectator, watching the famous Chic-Chicks rehearse their precision chorus act and the troupe was headed by none other than Myrtle Spears, a veteran performer. When Marge fainted from hunger while watching the rehearsal, Myrtle rushed to get her something to eat.
Thus, began the drama of Myrt and Marge. Of course, Marge became a member of the Chic-Chicks and began to perform in Hayfield’s Theater with Myrt. Myrt became Marge’s mentor and advisor on all things, including love interests.
Both mother and daughter had numerous suitors and work problems that generated a large amount of drama for the show. The theme of the show, Poor Butterfly, was said to be one of the most haunting and dramatic of daytime shows. It was performed on the organ by John Winters and Rosa Rio
Myrt and Marge finally left the air in 1947 after the short lived 1946 transcription written by Myrtle Vail but starring Alice Yourman and Alice Goodkin.
Myrtle Vail lived to the ripe old age of 90. She died in 1978, 37 years after her real life daughter Donna (Damerel) Fick who died suddenly after giving birth to her third child at the young age of 29.
Happy listening my friends,
