Harry von Zell (July 11, 1906 – November 21, 1981), born in Indianapolis, made his mark as an announcer of radio programs and an actor in films and television shows.
His family moved to California, where von Zell studied music and drama at UCLA and worked at a variety of jobs. After friends tricked him into singing on a radio program, he received offers from radio stations, and his radio career began. Auditioning for Paul Whiteman's radio show, he beat out 250 other announcers. When that series came to an end in 1930, he headed for New York and became a CBS staff announcer, working with Fred Allen, Phil Baker, Eddie Cantor, Eddy Duchin and Ed Wynn. He also announced for The March of Time.
As a young announcer, von Zell made a memorable verbal slip in 1931 when he referred to U.S. President Herbert Hoover as "Hoobert Heever" during a live tribute on Hoover's birthday. Hoover was not present at this tribute. Von Zell's blooper came at the end of a lengthy coverage of Hoover's career in which he had correctly pronounced the President's name several times. Some mistakenly believe Hoover was present when the incident happened because of a re-enactment fabricated by Kermit Schaefer for his Pardon My Blooper record album.
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'Harry Von Zell' is featured as a movie character in the following productions:
His Baiting Beauty (1950)
Actors: Emil Sitka (actor), Elwood Ullman (writer), Edward Bernds (director), Dick Wessel (actor), Christine McIntyre (actress), Minerva Urecal (actress), Jean Willes (actress), Hugh McCollum (producer), Harry von Zell (actor), Henry DeMond (editor),
Plot: Harry Von Zell, popular radio announcer, has to go out of town to open a new radio station but his wife, egged on by her mother, thinks he is just going there to meet another woman which, of course, he accidentally does, and up shows his new bride and his hatchet-faced mother-in-law. Neither of which are inclined to believe Harry's side of the story.
Keywords: 1940s, actor-shares-first-name-with-character, actor-shares-last-name-with-character, alibi, boss, business-trip, california, chase, false-accusation, hollywood-californiaGenres: Comedy, Short,
Microspook (1949)
Actors: Edward Bernds (director), Dudley Dickerson (actor), Emil Sitka (actor), Harry Tyler (actor), Jimmy Aubrey (actor), Christine McIntyre (actress), Hugh McCollum (producer), Jules White (producer), Edward Bernds (writer), Edward Bernds (writer), Harry von Zell (actor),
Plot: His radio-station co-workers are so annoyed at being the victims of announcer Harry Von Zell's endless practical joking, and they decide to get even by selling the sponsor on having Von Zell do a broadcast from a haunted house. They then sneak in to scare him with a gorilla-costume worn by one of them, only to find that an escaped-gorilla and his eccentric keeper are already there.
Keywords: 1940s, actor-shares-first-name-with-character, actor-shares-last-name-with-character, actress, announcer, archive-footage, blonde, chase, co-worker, costumeGenres: Comedy, Short,
Meet Mr. Mischief (1947)
Actors: Edward Bernds (director), Eddie Cantor (actor), Vernon Dent (actor), Dudley Dickerson (actor), Ralf Harolde (actor), Fred Kelsey (actor), Victor Potel (actor), Emil Sitka (actor), Phil Arnold (actor), Charles C. Wilson (actor), Symona Boniface (actress), Christine McIntyre (actress), Hugh McCollum (producer), Edward Bernds (writer), Harry von Zell (actor),
Plot: Radio announcer Harry Von Zell is a practical joker. One day, a turban-wearing visitor shows up at the radio station and tells Harry that he is there to take Harry's head back to his Asian tribe to replace that of their dead-leader, and since Harry's head is a dead-ringer for the dead leader's head, Harry must make the sacrifice. Hasim does not explain why their dead leader has no head. A wild chase follows from studio to studio, breaking up several shows in progress and irking a prospective sponsor, until both are caught and brought before Judge Vernon Dent. Harry's wife explains that she had hired the fake swami in the hopes the joke would cause Harry to give up his practical-joke playing. The judge dismisses the case with a warning to Harry to cease and desist and offers to shake hands with Harry. Harry then learns that the judge is something of a practical joker himself.
Keywords: 1940s, actor-shares-first-name-with-character, actor-shares-last-name-with-character, advertising, announcer, arrest, asia, asian, audience, bossGenres: Comedy, Short,
Rolling Down to Reno (1947)
Actors: Edwin H. Bryant (editor), Heinie Conklin (actor), Lew Davis (actor), Dudley Dickerson (actor), Kenneth MacDonald (actor), Emil Sitka (actor), Phil Arnold (actor), Symona Boniface (actress), Christine McIntyre (actress), Jules White (producer), Clyde Bruckman (writer), Jules White (writer), Jules White (director), Harry von Zell (actor),
Genres: Comedy, Short,So's Your Antenna (1946)
Actors: Jim Bannon (actor), Lew Davis (actor), Tom Kennedy (actor), Joe Palma (actor), Emil Sitka (actor), Jules White (director), Edwin H. Bryant (editor), Dick Wessel (actor), Jules White (producer), Zion Myers (writer), Zion Myers (writer), Harry von Zell (actor), Harry von Zell (actor),
Plot: Radio announcer and performer Harry Von Zell, plays a gangster named Hoodlum Harry on a radio program, and is so convincing that some local gangsters decide he will make a swell addition to their ranks. Harry, thinking they are offering him an acting job, readily accepts...and then has to face the consequences.
Keywords: 1940s, actor, actor-shares-first-name-with-character, actor-shares-full-name-with-character, actor-shares-last-name-with-character, announcer, antenna, archive-footage, california, chaseGenres: Comedy, Short,
von Zell, Harry Filmography
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1990, role: actor , character name: Himself
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1978, role: actor
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1976, role: actor , character name: Narrator
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1968, role: actor , character name: Narrator
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1966, role: actor , character name: Newscaster
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1966, role: actor , character name: Off-Screen Narrator
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1956, role: actor
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1954, role: actor , character name: Regular Performer
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1954, role: actor , character name: Narrator
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1952, role: actor , character name: Radio Quiz Show Host
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1952, role: actor , character name: Mr. Stoner
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1951, role: actor , character name: Savage
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1951, role: actor , character name: Capt. 'Danny' Eliot
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1951, role: actor , character name: Mr. Chadwick
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1951, role: actor , character name: Maj. Gen. William Steele
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1950, role: actor , character name: Mr. Morrison
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1950, role: actor , character name: Tex Henry
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1950, role: actor , character name: Ephraim Strong
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1950, role: actor , character name: Harry Von Zell
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1950, role: actor
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1949, role: actor , character name: Harry Von Zell
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1949, role: actor , character name: Jeff Cooper
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1949, role: actor
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1948, role: actor , character name: Zack Humber
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1948, role: actor , character name: Harry
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1947, role: actor , character name: Harry Von Zell
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1947, role: actor , character name: Carter
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1947, role: actor , character name: Harry
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1947, role: actor , character name: Joe Snyder
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1947, role: actor , character name: Harry Von Zell
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1947, role: actor , character name: Himself
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1947, role: actor , character name: Narrator
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1946, role: actor , character name: Scuffy
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1946, role: actor , character name: Hoodlum Harry
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1946, role: actor , character name: Harry Von Zell
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1945, role: actor , character name: Harry Von Zell - Radio Announcer
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1945, role: actor , character name: Ben
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1945, role: actor , character name: Phil
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1945, role: actor , character name: Harry
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1943, role: actor , character name: Narrator
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1935, role: actor , character name: Narrator
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1935, role: actor , character name: Harry - Radio Announcer
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