Senator Beauregard
Claghorn was a popular radio character on the "Allen's Alley" segment
of "The Fred Allen Show". Senator Claghorn, portrayed by actor Kenny
Delmar, was a blustery politician whose home was usually the first at
which Allen would knock. Claghorn would typically answer the door with,
"Somebody, ah say, somebody knocked! Claghorn's the name, Senator
Claghorn, I'm from the south." His obsession was with The South, and he
would proudly point out his refusal to wear a "Union suit", for
example, or claim to drink only out of Dixie cups. When asked a
political question by host Allen, Claghorn would respond with a rapid
stream of talk, shouting, repetition, and bad puns. After a quip, the
senator would laugh uproariously, and quip one of his two catchphrases:
"That's a joke, son!" or "Pay attention now, boy!"
Kenny Delmar was already working on the Allen program as the announcer
when he introduced the Claghorn character, on the broadcast of October
5, 1945. He would remain on the show until it went off the air in 1949.
During this period, the character was oft mentioned or parodied on
other programs, especially that of Jack Benny, with fellow Southerner
Phil Harris usually playing the part (and Delmar himself guesting in
the role at least once). The most famous parody, which ironically has
outlasted its source in public memory, is the cartoon character Foghorn
Leghorn.
The senator had a life outside of radio, however. Delmar played the
character in commercials, in two records (I Love You, That Is and
That's a Joke, Son), and a theatrical film. The movie was titled It's a
Joke, Son (1947) and co-starred Una Merkel as his wife. Delmar even
played a thinly veiled version of Claghorn, retitled Senator Hominy
Smith, in the Broadway musical Texas Li'l Darlin. Ironically, however,
Delmar recalled that after Warner Brothers copyrighted Foghorn Leghorn,
he had to ask their permission to play the character elsewhere. In the
1960s, Delmar took his characterization and catch-phrases back as the
voice of The Hunter, a character on the animated series King Leonardo
and his Short Subjects.
|
