- Details
-
Published on Tuesday, 04 September 2012 14:22
The Chicago-based Museum of Broadcast Communications (MBC) has a trio of events lined up over the next five weeks, which will be of interest to fans of local television.
Tomorrow, Wednesday, September 5th, the MBC will host a 100th birthday party* for famed Chicago media icon Studs Terkel. Being shown at this event will be some newly uncovered episodes of "Studs' Place," Terkel's improvised television show from 1949-1951. These videos were discovered in Terkel's basement after his passing in 2008 and recently restored. Adding commentary to the videos being shown will be Chicago Tribune columnist/WGN-AM host Rick Kogan, along with noted film/television producer and MediaBurn.org founder Tom Weinberg, both of whom had close relationships with Studs Terkel in the past. Attendees will be able to share their remembrances of Studs Terkel and share in some birthday deserts courtesy of Eli's Cheesecake. The "Studs Terkel 100th Birthday Celebration" will take place from 5:30pm-7:30pm.
(*Note: Studs Terkel's actual 100th birthday was on May 16th, so this celebration comes almost four months after the fact. Studs Terkel was never one to turn down a good party for himself, though, late or otherwise.)
On Saturday, September 22nd at Noon, the MBC will be presenting an afternoon with "The First Lady of Chicago Television" Lee Phillip Bell, along with her daughter, soap opera actress Lauralee Bell. Lee Phillip Bell hosted the long-running "Lee Phillip Show" on WBBM-TV (1952-1986). She and her husband William J. Bell created the CBS-TV soap operas "The Young and the Restless" and "The Bold and the Beautiful." Their daughter Lauralee Bell has played the role of Christine "Cricket" Blair on those two soap operas on and off since she was just 14 years old. The two will share with the audience stories of their careers and give a behind-the-scene look at soap operas. Lee Phillip Bell will also be autographing copies of the new book, "
The Young and Restless Life of William J. Bell," which she co-wrote with Michael Maloney.
UPDATE 9/8/12: The Lee Phillip Bell event has been canceled, but will be rescheduled. The MBC hopes to have a rescheduled date to announce in the near future.
On Saturday, October 6th at Noon, the MBC will have a special afternoon with legendary Chicago news anchor and political commentator Walter Jacobson. A fixture on Chicago television since the late 1960s, Jacobson will be there to talk about his long career, his future plans after
exiting WBBM-TV in a few months, and his new autobiography, "
Walter's Perspective: A Memoir of Fifty Years in Chicago TV News." The hardcover book is not officially released until October 8th, but Walter Jacobson will have copies for sale at this event, two days ahead of the release date, which he will be willing to autograph for attendees.
The Museum of Broadcast Communications is located at 360 N. State Street in downtown Chicago. There is no additional charge to attend these special events, other than the regular museum admission rates ($12 to general public and free to MBC members).
