1951 1952 Photograph Bandleader Horace Heidt Philip Morris Johnny Roventini

Description

This incredible find comes from my neighbor, whose grandma's cousin, Howard Knapp (seen right in this photo), was a well-connected, celebrity-knowing buyer of spirits for the A&P grocery chain in NYC in the 1940s and 1950s. In this photo, Mr. Knapp is joined by NBC radio's Philip Morris Playhouse on Broadway star and bandleader Horace Heidt and Philip Morris ad spokeman and bellhop Johnny Roventini. We are unsure who the woman in the photo is - she bears some resemblance to Heidt's wife at the time, but we are not convinced it is her. Perhaps it is someone else associated with the show.
Heidt has a rich catalogue of big band songs and stars with whom he worked in the 20s and 30s, among them Art Carney. His wiki page is most certainly worth the read! The Philip Morris Playhouse radio show jumped broadcasters a few times in its history. This NBC change only lasted about 16 weeks, from the end of 1951 to the first weeks of 1952, when Heidt came out of retirement to host the "on Broadway" version of the show, a talent contest for young people. It's perhaps possible that this photo was taken on opening night in October, 1951.
As mentioned in the condition statement above, the photo is still in its original matting and mounted on cardboard. It was in a simple black frame under glass, but we have removed that for the purposes of better photographing and cheaper and safer shipping - it would be a shame should the glass break and damage the photo, which is in great condition. Please write with any questions.