Roxanne Arlen, d. February 22, 1989

[robertc...@yahoo.com]

This is not an obit, but concerns an Internet search adventure on which
I embarked a few days back.

Anyone who's seen GSN's black-and-white vintage game shows is aware of
"Beat the Clock," TV's first hit game show which ran from 1950 to 1969.
The host of the proceedings in the early days was Bud Collyer, later
known for his work on "To Tell the Truth." During the show,
contestants, almost always a husband and wife, would race against a big
clock, which was prominently displayed on stage, to complete ridiculous
stunts before a buzzer sounded. The prize was invariably a Sylvania
TV, since Sylvania sponsored the show.

Now, our man Bud had as a hostess an attractive young blonde woman who
was introduced simply as "Roxanne." Roxanne was a big hit with both the
studio and TV audiences, and it has been said that Collyer was jealous
of her fame. In any case, seeing the show not long ago, I became
curious about what happened to Roxanne, and decided to go over to the
Internet Movie Database and see if I could find some information about
her. Sure enoiugh, she appears under the "Beat the Clock" cast listing
as Roxanne Arlen, and is reported to have died on this date.

Since the information there was skimpy, in the best IMDb tradtion, I
went out on the 'net looking for more.

At one site, "T.V. Acres", I found this note:

"Roxanne Arlen - The stage name of a beautiful and very statuesque
blonde starlet named Dolores Rosedale who in the 1950s was the
quintessential game show assistant. Roxanne, a former model, appeared
on both BEAT THE CLOCK/CBS/1950-58 where she photographed stunts; and
on TWENTY QUESTIONS/NBC/ABC/DUM/1949-55 where she was "The Miss Mennen
Girl. Her popularity at the time landed her a spot in the Macy's Annual
Thanksgiving Parade."

A visit to another site, called "The Curtis Files, produced the same
information: Roxanne was Roxanne Arlen. The site also offers stills
and a clip of Roxanne at work on the show. The URL is:

http://thecurtisfiles.com/clock.htm

The clip is the second one; the link appears at the end of the screen.

However, this tidy bit of information was about to get roughed up.

Later, I came across a site--didn't copy down the name or URL--which
said, in effect, that Roxanne Arlen and Dolores Rosedale were different
persons altogether--a fine piece of information to uncover after three
sources had told me otherwise. In response, I typed "Dolores Rosedale"
into the locator box, and came almost immediately on this site:

http://www.roxannerosedale.com/

The site, as you will see, supports the mistaken identity proposition,
and as proof offers pictures of the two women. Both are attractive in
much the same ways--curbaceous blondes-- but quite obviously different
people. The picture evidence convinced me, and I thought of all the
people out there in Cyberspace, the ones who care about such things,
who are sure that they know the fate of the hostess and model Roxanne.
I was left, though, with the same question as the site owner. If
Eoxanne Arlen, who died on this date in 1989, was not the "Beat the
Clock" girl and Dolores Rosedale was, whatever happened to Dolores?

We once discovered a good deal of information about one of the stars of
another black-and-white game show, Joan Alexander of "The Name's the
Same." It might be interesting to see what we can come up with about a
woman who was, a long, long time ago, one of the most famous women in
America.

[Brad Ferguson]

In article <1140586211.7...@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
<robertc...@yahoo.com> wrote:

> We once discovered a good deal of information about one of the stars of
> another black-and-white game show, Joan Alexander of "The Name's the
> Same." It might be interesting to see what we can come up with about a
> woman who was, a long, long time ago, one of the most famous women in
> America.

Theer are six women named Dolores, born on 20 March 1928, listed in the
SSDI. None of them is obviously Roxanne; their middle initials aren't
right, etc.

There are 34 entries for Thomas Roddy, and about half a dozen of them
could be her husband. Roddy is described as a "New York businessman,"
but none of the entries got his SS card in new York. However, four of
them did get their cards in Minnesota (where Roxanne was born) and two,
perhaps three, of them are the right age to have married her.

No significant Google hits on Jill Roddy, the name of Roxanne's
daughter, born in 1955.

[robertc...@yahoo.com]

I ran across this bit in a comment at the IMDb:

"Roxanne even had a Roxanne doll back in her 'Beat the Clock' days.It
sorta didn't look a whole lot like her, but she handed them to girls
that appeared on the show with their parents.The dolls had a camera
with strap that went around the doll's neck,much like the real Roxanne
did on the show; when a contestant would get covered in some gloppy
mess, she would dart out from offstage with camera at the ready to take
a snap of the laughable scene. Of course using the Sylvania blue dot
for sure shot flash bulb the sponsor was hawking.Wonder if there ever
was any film in that camera....and if so,where are those shots today? "

Apparently those dolls are still turning up in places like eBay,
according to an article on Ms. Rosedale in Wikipedia..

[thoma...@gmail.com]

As a kid growing up in Burbank, I knew Roxanne Arlen. Her then-husband, Dick Gilman, did business with my father and got to know him and Roxanne. We had dinners with them, went to their apartment, and they to our house. One time they "babysat" me, and I helped Roxanne learn her lines. I saw her in a play.

This is a good list of her activity and life: http://www.glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com/show/14/Roxanne+Arlen/register.php

March 56 entry: [Roxanne] is named "The Wiggle" by her manager, Abner Greshler, "who figures she can wiggle her way to stardom"

In the days of Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield, the nickname stuck.

[cutst...@gmail.com]

Thomas how’d Roxanne die? She can be seen in casting process for original perry mason. Talented and pretty, but doubtless caught up in sick Hollywood rat race. Thx

[MJ Emigh]

On Tuesday, February 21, 2006 at 11:30:11 PM UTC-6, Magnus wrote:
> Bud had as a hostess an attractive young blonde woman who
was introduced simply as "Roxanne." Roxanne was a big hit with both the
studio and TV audiences, and it has been said that Collyer was jealous
of her fame.<

That sounds a little odd. Collyer was already well-known before Beat The Clock. He was the voice on radio for Superman and Clark Kent, always getting credited at the opening and closing of the show. He was a name people knew. It's not as easy a gig as it may sound. With his voice alone, he had to convey that Kent was becoming Superman, and he did it very well. He also did the same voices for the animated Superman cartoons.

[A Friend]

In article <d4d4bd49-e85b-4d7e...@googlegroups.com>, MJ

Emigh <m...@mjmagician.com> wrote:

> On Tuesday, February 21, 2006 at 11:30:11 PM UTC-6, Magnus wrote:
> > Bud had as a hostess an attractive young blonde woman who
> was introduced simply as "Roxanne." Roxanne was a big hit with both the
> studio and TV audiences, and it has been said that Collyer was jealous
> of her fame.<
>
> That sounds a little odd. Collyer was already well-known before Beat The
> Clock. He was the voice on radio for Superman and Clark Kent, always getting
> credited at the opening and closing of the show.

No, he wasn't. In fact, Bud's identity was kept a secret until 1948,
when he introduced himself on the show as it launched a series of
anti-discrimination PSAs. Before that, the show had the stupid conceit
that Superman was playing himself -- a conceit also apparent in the
serials, where Kirk Alyn was credited as Clark Kent but Superman was
credited as Superman.

There's no evidence that Bud was jealous of Roxanne. Roxanne left Beat
the Clock in August of 1955 because she was having a baby -- her
daughter Ann, born that December. BTW Roxanne is still alive and will
turn 90 on March 20.

> He was a name people knew.

True. While Bud's role as Superman was an open secret, he worked on
many radio shows. His voice was distinctive and well-known.

Kellogg's cereals sponsored the radio series. There's some Kellogg's
art of the era in which Superman is made to look quite a bit like the
young Bud.

https://www.hakes.com/Auction/ItemDetail/201291/SUPERMAN-KELLOGGS-PEP-CE
REAL-STORE-ADVERTISING-STANDEE

[Charles Richmond]

On 3/8/2018 9:05 PM, A Friend wrote:
> There's no evidence that Bud was jealous of Roxanne. Roxanne left Beat
> the Clock in August of 1955 because she was having a baby -- her
> daughter Ann, born that December. BTW Roxanne is still alive and will
> turn 90 on March 20.

That's news ... because IMDb has Roxanne Arlen dying on February 22,
1989. Any convincing evidence that she is still alive???

--
numerist at aquaporin4 dot com

[A Friend]

In article <p7u3sj$1l0$1...@dont-email.me>, Charles Richmond

The Roxanne of Beat the Clock was not Roxanne Arlen. Roxanne did not
use a surname professionally. Roxanne's real name is Dolores Rosedale.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2174856/

Several sources have Dolores Rosedale currently living in her native
Minneapolis.

Roxanne Arlen is someone else entirely ... and if you look at Arlen's
IMDb page again, you'll see that Beat the Clock is not listed among her
credits. Also, Arlen was born almost three years after Rosedale.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0035161/

[martinjsxx]

There is a picture of a Roxanne Arlen with Red Buttons at a film premier on May 10, 2006. He died a few months later. IMDb which lists Roxanne Arlen as dying in 1989 also lists Red Buttons as her first husband. It would be a strange coincidence if he knew a different Roxanne Arlen in 2006.

[radioacti...@gmail.com]

Hey "A Friend":

You clearly have interesting sources, as you often post downright jim-dandy material; never knew that about Collyer not being credited as Kent much less Superman in the early years on radio.

And few in TV history had a better sign-off: "I'm Bud Collyer, reminding you always To Tell The Truth! "

BRYAN STYBLE/Florida

[Andrew Lennox]

I worked with Roxanne Arlen in London at the back end of the 1980s not long before she died. I was an actor in a fringe play that Roxanne directed. She was using her married name of Shaffer. I remember her telling me at the time that she had played Miss Electra in the movie "Gypsy'. Sadly, she was not only morbidly obese at the time I knew her, but she chain smoked throughout rehearsals. Although I can remember almost nothing of the production, I do recall she was a lovely lady and we got on very well.

[L Rogers]