Ben Gage, was a radio singer and announcer. He sometimes dubbed the voice of non-singing actors. Gage looked a lot like actor James Arness and could imitate his voice perfectly. He is best remembered for his performance in 1959 Maverick episode with James Garner called "Gun-Shy" (with Gage as "Sheriff Mort Dooley" instead of "Marshal Matt Dillon") as well as "A Tale of Three Cities", "The Misfortune Teller", and "A Technical Error". He also performed a on Batman, Bonanza, F Troop, The Donna Reed Show, The Lucy Show, and Star Trek. Gage was married to swimmer/actress Esther Williams from 1945 to 1959 and they had three children.
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My father ran a restaurant in Appleton, Wisconsin, called the Checker Lunch from 1932 to 1942. It was located down the street from Lawrence College --the school Ben Gage attended. My dad hired Lawrence students during the Great Depression -- Ben briefly worked at the Checker Lunch. During one of Lawrence's Prom Nights, the Anson Weeks Orchestra from California was the guest big band. At that time, Ben was a crooner with the Lawrence student dance band and sometime during the evening, his fellow students encouraged him to sing a song with the Anson Weeks band -- the band leader agreed. He was offered a job based upon that impromtu audition and moved to California. A few years later, while living there, he hosted a short (15 minute?) radio program in which he would sing popular songs. The program was short-lived, but I was able to listen to a couple of episodes on my radio in Appleton, Wisonsin.
gtonnell, Welcome and Thank you for sharing your wonderful story with us.
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