John Booth Nesbitt (August 23, 1910 – August 10, 1960) was an actor,

narrator Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the ...

announcer An announcer is a voice artist who relays information to the audience on a broadcast media programme or live event either on radio or television. Television and other media Some announcers work in television production, radio or filmmaki ...

, producer and

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

. Nesbitt was best known as the narrator of the

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

series ''

Passing Parade ''The Passing Parade'', also known as ''John Nesbitt's Passing Parade'', was an American radio series created, written and narrated by John Nesbitt. It was adapted into an Oscar-winning series of MGM short subjects. In both formats, the series us ...

''.

Early years

Nesbitt, born John Booth Nesbitt on August 23, 1910, in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...

, was a grandson of actor

Edwin Booth Edwin Thomas Booth (November 13, 1833 – June 7, 1893) was an American stage actor and theatrical manager who toured throughout the United States and the major capitals of Europe, performing Shakespearean plays. In 1869, he founded Booth's Th ...

. His father worked in

British intelligence The Government of the United Kingdom maintains several intelligence agencies that deal with secret intelligence. These agencies are responsible for collecting, analysing and exploiting foreign and domestic intelligence, providing military intell ...

during most of Nesbitt's younger years, after which he worked as a lecturer on world topics. Eventually the father became a Unitarian minister, and the family moved to

Alameda, California Alameda ( ; ; Spanish for "Avenue (landscape), tree-lined path") is a city in Alameda County, California, United States, located in the East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), East Bay region of the Bay Area. The city is built on an informal archipe ...

. Booth attended

Saint Mary's College of California Saint Mary's College of California is a Private college, private Catholic college in Moraga, California, United States. Established in 1863, it is administered by the De La Salle Brothers. The college offers undergraduate and graduate programs w ...

and the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

Stage

Nesbitt was active in stock theater in Vancouver and Spokane, and he organized some little theater groups.

Radio

Nesbitt began working for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

in San Francisco in 1933. In 1935, he was an announcer at KFRC in San Francisco. His signature program, ''

The Passing Parade ''The Passing Parade'', also known as ''John Nesbitt's Passing Parade'', was an American radio series created, written and narrated by John Nesbitt. It was adapted into an Oscar-winning series of MGM short subjects. In both formats, the series ...

'', was first broadcast in 1936 and ended in 1949, sometimes in 15-minute episodes and sometimes in 30-minute episodes. At one time or another, it was carried on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

, Mutual,

NBC Blue The Blue Network (previously known as the NBC Blue Network) was the on-air name of a now defunct American Commercial broadcasting, radio network, which broadcast from 1927 through 1945. Beginning as one of the two radio networks owned by the ...

and

NBC Red The National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (also known as the NBC Red Network from 1927 to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in continuous operation from 1926 through 1999. Along with the NBC Blue Network, it wa ...

networks. ''The Passing Parade'' was also a segment on ''The

John Charles Thomas John Charles Thomas (September 6, 1891December 13, 1960) was an American opera, operetta and concert baritone. Biography John Charles Thomas was born on September 6, 1891, in Meyersdale, Pennsylvania. He was the son of a Methodist minister of ...

Show'' (1943-1946).Terrace, Vincent (1999). ''Radio Programs, 1924-1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 177. and on the summer replacement program, ''The Meredith Willson-John Nesbitt Show'' (1942). In the evening of June 6, 1944, known as D-Day in the Allied countries, Nesbitt broadcast a ''Passing Parade'' segment on CBS which captured the historical significance of the military invasion by imagining its story being retold 100 years in the future to schoolchildren. Joseph M. Koehler described Nesbitt's talent in a review in the July 31, 1943, issue of

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

: "His sense of the dramatic, uncanny timing and ability to discover the exact moment when drama must replace the spoken word combine to explain why he's radio's No. 1 story-teller." Nesbitt was also host of the anthology program ''So the Story Goes'', which was syndicated in 1945–1946.

Personal life

In 1940, Nesbitt bought the

Ennis House The Ennis House (also the Ennis–Brown House) is a residence at 2607–2655 Glendower Avenue in the Los Feliz, Los Angeles, Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles in California, United States. Designed by the architect Frank Lloyd Wright in the ...

and had it altered by

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright Sr. (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed List of Frank Lloyd Wright works, more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key ...

, adding a north-terrace pool and ground-floor billiard room, as well as the first heating system for the building.

Recognition

Nesbitt has two stars on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...

, one at 1717 Vine Street in the Motion Pictures section and one at 6200 Hollywood Boulevard in the Radio section. Both were dedicated February 8, 1960.

Death

Nesbitt died on August 10, 1960, in

Carmel, California Carmel-by-the-Sea (), commonly known simply as Carmel, is a city in Monterey County, California, located on the Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 3,220, down from 3,722 a ...

.Cox, Jim (2007). ''Radio Speakers: Narrators, News Junkies, Sports Jockeys, Tattletales, Tipsters, Toastmasters and Coffee Klatch Couples Who Verbalized the Jargon of the Aural Ether from the 1920s to the 1980s--A Biographical Dictionary''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 211.

Partial filmography

* ''

That Mothers Might Live ''That Mothers Might Live'' is a 1938 American short drama film directed by Fred Zinnemann. In 1939, at the 11th Academy Awards, it won an Oscar for Best Short Subject (One-Reel). Plot The short is a brief account of Hungarian physician Ig ...

'' (1938) Producer & Narrator * ''

Main Street on the March! ''Main Street on the March!'' is a 1941 American short historical film directed by Edward Cahn. It won an Academy Award at the 14th Academy Awards for Best Short Subject (Two-Reel). The 20-minute film gives a brief history of events in Europ ...

'' (1941) Producer & Narrator * ''

Of Pups and Puzzles ''Of Pups and Puzzles'' is a 1941 American short documentary film directed by George Sidney. It won an Oscar at the 14th Academy Awards, held in 1942, for Best Short Subject (One-Reel). Cast * John Nesbitt as Narrator (voice) * Eddy Chand ...

'' (1941) Producer & Narrator *''

The Woman in the House ''The Woman in the House'' is a 1942 short feature from MGM about an Englishwoman who becomes a recluse for forty years. It was the first American role for Australian film star Ann Richards and led to her being signed to a long term contract by MG ...

'' (1942) * ''

Stairway to Light ''Stairway to Light'' is a 1945 American short drama film directed by Sammy Lee. It was one of '' John Nesbitt's Passing Parade'' series. Set in Paris during the French Revolution, it tells the story of Philippe Pinel and his efforts in poi ...

'' (1945) Writer & Narrator * '' Goodbye, Miss Turlock'' (1948) Producer, Writer & Narrator * ''

Telephone Time ''Telephone Time'' is an American anthology drama series that aired on CBS in 1956, and on ABC from 1957 to 1958. The series features plays adapted from short stories by John Nesbitt who hosted the first season. Frank C. Baxter became the ...

'' (1956–1957) Host, Writer & Narrator

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nesbitt, John 1910 births 1960 deaths Film producers from British Columbia Canadian male film actors Canadian male screenwriters Male actors from Victoria, British Columbia Writers from Victoria, British Columbia 20th-century Canadian male actors 20th-century Canadian screenwriters Screenwriters from British Columbia