Ora Nichols
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Aurore Dolores Daigle Nichols (March 8, 1893 – November 13, 1951) was a pioneering
sound effect A sound effect (or audio effect) is an artificially created or enhanced sound, or sound process used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media. In m ...
s artist in American
radio broadcasting Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio signal, audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a lan ...
. She was the first woman to be the head of a sound effects department, and created many sound-producing methods. She worked with
Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American director, actor, writer, producer, and magician who is remembered for his innovative work in film, radio, and theatre. He is among the greatest and most influential film ...
, with whom she sometimes clashed.


Early life

Ora Nichols was born Aurore Dolores Daigle in
Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is the most populous city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, and its county seat. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ea ...
, on March 8, 1893.U.S. Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936–2007.Ancestry.com. ''Massachusetts, U.S., Marriage Index, 1901–1955 and 1966–1970'' atabase online Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.


Vaudeville and silent films

Nichols and her husband, Arthur, began their careers in
vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...
in 1905 as musicians, with Ora playing the
piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...
and Arthur playing the
violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...
. By the 1920s, vaudeville jobs were decreasing; the Nicholses then started to perform in-theater music for
silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...
s. They were required to provide sound effects in addition to music, and Arthur switched to playing
drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...
in order to be better able to produce various noises. They both came to find
sound design Sound design is the art and practice of creating auditory elements of media. It involves specifying, acquiring and creating audio using production techniques and equipment or software. It is employed in a variety of disciplines including filmmaking ...
more interesting than music.


Radio

In 1928, Arthur and Ora Nichols began working in radio, beginning at the Judson Radio Program Corporation and then moving to CBS Radio as unpaid freelance sound designers. CBS then hired them as paid staff, and they, in turn, hired George O'Donnell, a former vaudeville dancer, and Henry Gauthiere as assistants, creating the first sound effects department at an American radio network, located at 485
Madison Avenue Madison Avenue is a north-south avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, New York, that carries northbound one-way traffic. It runs from Madison Square (at 23rd Street) to meet the southbound Harlem River Drive at 142nd Stree ...
in
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
. Arthur focused on designing machinery to create sound effects, while Ora served as supervisor of the department, the first woman to fill such a role. According to sound effects expert Robert L. Mott, Ora Nichols quickly came to be one of the most influential women in radio content and style, ranking with
Kate Smith Kathryn Elizabeth Smith (May 1, 1907 – June 17, 1986) was an American contralto. Referred to as The First Lady of Radio, Smith became well known for her renditions of "God Bless America" and "When the Moon Comes over the Mountain". She began ...
,
Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart ( ; July 24, 1897 – January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer. On July 2, 1937, she disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to become the first female pilot to circumnavigate the world. During her li ...
, and
Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( ; October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, first lady of the United States, during her husband Franklin D ...
. The magazine ''Radio Stars'' named her one of the "Nine Greatest Women in Radio" in December 1934.
Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic, film historian, and author. He is known for his book of film capsule reviews, '' Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide'', published from 1969 to 2014. Maltin was the film criti ...
quotes the article as saying: "I investigated and discovered that Ora Nichols is the most important of any one on that list... She is head of Columbia's sound department. Six men work for her, take her orders. Since she has been with Columbia, Ora D. Nichols has invented 1,000 sounds." Mott credits Ora and Arthur as being "the two people most responsible for bringing sound effects to radio". Arthur Nichols died of a heart attack in 1931. Ora married drummer Lou Dorough in 1934. In 1935, Ora Nichols decided that she no longer wanted the administrative responsibilities of running the department, so CBS hired Walter Pierson to take over from her, and she returned to full-time work creating sound effects. Al Van Brackel, Max Uhlig, Vic Rubei, Ray Kremer, and Jim Rogan were hired as additional assistants. Ora Nichols died in
Richmond, New York Richmond is a town in Ontario County, New York, United States. The population was 3,380 at the 2020 census. The town is named after Abigail Richmond Pitts, an early settler. The town of Richmond is on the western border of the county, south of ...
, on November 13, 1951.Ancestry.com. ''New York, New York, U.S. Death Index, 1949–1965'' atabase online Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2017.


Work with Orson Welles

Some of Nichols' most significant work was with Orson Welles. In ''The March of Time'', she would tap out the "
SOS SOS is a Morse code distress signal (), used internationally, originally established for maritime use. In formal notation SOS is written with an overscore line (), to indicate that the Morse code equivalents for the individual letters of "SOS" a ...
" signal on a
telegraph key A telegraph key, clacker, tapper or morse key is a specialized electrical switch used by a trained operator to transmit text messages in Morse code in a telegraphy system. Keys are used in all forms of electrical telegraph systems, includ ...
. She provided sound effects for ''
The Mercury Theatre on the Air ''The Mercury Theatre on the Air'' is a radio series of live radio dramas created and hosted by Orson Welles. The weekly hour-long show presented classic literary works performed by Welles's celebrated Mercury Theatre repertory company, with mus ...
''. During production of the ''Mercury Theatre'' episode "
The War of the Worlds ''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells. It was written between 1895 and 1897, and serialised in '' Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and ''Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US in 1897. The full novel was ...
" in 1938, Nichols and Welles argued about how to produce sound effects; Welles wanted to use actual sounds, instead of mechanical imitations. Welles angrily called Nichols a "screwball", and she threw off her headphones and walked out of the studio.There are differing accounts of the incident. According to Mott (2005, p. 103), it was Henry Gauthiere who removed his headset, and he accompanied Nichols out of the studio. With airtime rapidly approaching for the live broadcast, Welles quickly apologized, and subsequently wrote Nichols a note saying: "Dearest Ora: Thanks for the best job anybody could ever do for anybody. All my love, Orson."


Techniques

Among the techniques that Ora Nichols invented are the use of an egg beater next to the
microphone A microphone, colloquially called a mic (), or mike, is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and publi ...
to mimic a
lawnmower A lawn mower (also known as a grass cutter or simply mower, also often spelled lawnmower) is a device utilizing one or more revolving blades (or a reel) to cut a grass surface to an even height. The height of the cut grass may be fixed by the ...
, chopping a
cabbage Cabbage, comprising several cultivars of '' Brassica oleracea'', is a leafy green, red (purple), or white (pale green) biennial plant grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. It is descended from the wild cabbage ( ''B.& ...
into a
wicker basket Wicker is a method of weaving used to make products such as furniture and baskets, as well as a descriptor to classify such products. It is the oldest furniture making method known to history, dating as far back as . Wicker was first documented ...
to sound like
decapitation Decapitation is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and all vertebrate animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood by way of severing through the jugular vein and common c ...
, and twisting a cast iron pan lid to evoke the door of an alien spaceship opening. In the radio series ''Buck Rogers in the 25th Century'', she banged on an
air conditioner Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C (US) or air con (UK), is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior temperature, and in some cases, also controlling the humidity of internal air. Air c ...
vent to mimic the sound of
rockets A rocket (from , and so named for its shape) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using any surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely fr ...
. Arthur Nichols built a sound-effects machine that was five feet high and two feet deep, with nine
motor An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gene ...
s. It produced such sounds as a bird chirping and a machine gun firing.


Notes


References

* * * * * * *: Earlier version: {{DEFAULTSORT:Nichols, Ora Sound effects artists Radio pioneers Women audio engineers 1893 births 1951 deaths People from Springfield, Massachusetts