Full Steam Ahead

For an energetic fellow like Elliott Lewis, the great charm of radio is that it keeps a man busy. Lewis is producer, director and actor, or a combination of all three, on CBS-Radio's Suspense (Mon. 8 p.m.), Broadway Is My Beat (Sat. 7 p.m.) and Cathy and Elliott Lewis on Stage (Thurs. 8:30 p.m.). He also plays himself ("just for laughs") on the Phil Harris Show, a wisecracking role that he formerly played under the name of Frankie Remley. His wife, Cathy, works hard, too: she spends six days a week rehearsing and playing the part of Marie Wilson's long-suffering roommate in the radio & TV My Friend Irma. But she is beginning to weaken and, next fall, probably will not renew her TV commitments.

Why Paraphrase? Last week Elliott Lewis startled his Suspense listeners by producing, directing and acting in his own version of a two-part adaptation of Shakespeare's Othello. At first he planned to do a fast rewrite of Shakespeare, but a friend asked: "Why paraphrase? Have you got a better line than 'I hate the Moor'?" In stead, Elliott contented himself with cutting Othello from 146 minutes to 46. Instead of the usual thrill music, he used themes from Verdi operas as bridges between the action. As Othello, Elliott effectively portrayed the Moor's high-minded simplicity. Cathy played Desdemona as smoothly and efficiently as she plays her comedy roles in My Friend Irma. The real star of the first show was Richard Widmark as the villainous lago, full of silky menace and tortured hate. Lewis admits that his own "hammy ambition" is the chief reason for the attempt on Shakespeare, but he is quick to add: "I also think Othello is one of the finest suspense stories ever told."

Blocky (5 ft. 11 in., 200 Ibs.) Elliott Lewis began his busy life 45 years ago in Manhattan. He headed west to take a prelaw course at Los Angeles City College but soon drifted into radio acting, and remembers the late '305 as the beginning of "the wonderful decade for radio." He utilized his brash New York accent to get comedy roles with Jack Benny, Burns & Allen, Al Jolson, Ozzie & Harriet Nelson. By 1940 he was doing 22 shows a week, a mark he broke only during the war. As a master sergeant in the Armed Services Radio, he handled 120 shows at once and found time, during a furlough, to marry Cathy Lewis (a mutual friend had thought it a good gag to introduce them because they had the same last names).

Academic Life. Last year Elliott's capacity for work led him to teach two courses on radio at U.C.L.A. He found the experience pleasant but disillusioning: "I learned that there are commercial and sustaining shows in universities, too. The academic life is not as honest as I'd hoped it would be." Elliott and Cathy Lewis earn a combined gross income of $90,000 a year. By Hollywood standards, they live modestly in Beverly Hills (they are only now thinking of putting in a swimming pool). Elliott scarcely gives TV a passing glance ("The biggest TV development was enlarging the screen--that made it easier for people to see how bad the shows are"). He expects to continue pouring his considerable energies into radio: "What I want most is to have five shows a week on which I produce and direct. I have three now. Next fall maybe I'll have five. I just can't sit still."

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