The 1950s witnessed the growth of television as an entertainment medium. But not everything was westerns, police dramas and situation comedies. A few pioneers were venturing into educational TV, and Dr Frank Baxter of the University of Southern California was one of them.
Frank Baxter and the University of Southern California
Francis Condie Baxter was born on May 18, 1896 on Newbold, New Jersey. Son of a salesman, one of his first jobs was to hand glasses of water to parched opera patrons—some sources say the singers themselves—at Philadelphia’s Hammerstein Opera House. His college education was somewhat interrupted by America’s entry into World War I..
In 1918 Baxter served in the Army Medical Corps and escaped unscathed, save for the time when a case of salmon landed on his foot. He once recalled with typical humor that “it gives me a picturesque limp on rainy days”
He eventually became a Professor of English Literature at USC in 1930. Within a few short years he was one of the most popular lecturers on campus, something of a legend in his own time. Dr Baxter had a real passion for his subject, and this enthusiasm was infectious. The professor gave yearly public readings at Christmas to packed auditoriums—so packed overflow crowds would even stand in the rain, listening to his presentations in the rain via loudspeakers.
Dr. Baxter’s Shakespeare on TV
In 1953 Los Angeles station KNXT-TV wanted to show the television critics that the small screen was not a mindless wasteland. Though the sitcoms and other such shows were their bread and butter, they’d allow USC to broadcast a Shakespeare show on Saturday mornings for college credit. Video students would plunk down $12 to take English 356A, Shakespeare on TV. The Bard would be the subject, but the real star was Frank Baxter. He was a phenomenon—a scholar, bald and bespectacled, who had genuine charisma. Baxter was amazed at the response. He originally thought, half joking, that he’d get an audience of three—“two retired librarians and a bedridden man.” His shows actually attracted 400,000 people.
Baxter was honored with two Emmys for his work, the first of a series of awards he’d garner over the next decade. He also hosted a number of other shows, including Omnibus, and Then and Now
Frank Capra and Our Mr. Sun
American Telephone and Telegraph, the parent company of Bell Telephone, decided to develop a series of science shows tailored to the general public. Veteran Hollywood director Frank Capra, best known for such movies as It Happened One Night and Mr Smith Goes to Washington (1939), was tapped to produce the shows. The concept was bold —science facts would be made more understandable and entertaining by the use of animated graphics. But the real novelty would consist of cartoon characters interacting with live actors. The first of the series, Our Mr. Sun aired in 1956. Frank Baxter was “Dr Research,” an obviously generic scientist. Actor Eddie Albert was “Mr. Fiction Writer,” who concocts a “magic screen” where he and Baxter convince a cartoon sun (voiced by Marvin Miller) and “Father Time” (essayed by Lionel Barrymore) that humans do appreciate the workings of the universe, and are trying to understand it.
The Bell Science Series
The first program attracted some 24 million viewers, a resounding success, Other programs followed, each with Dr Baxter playing a scientist. Hemo the Magnificent (1957), The Strange Case of the Cosmic Rays (1957) Meteora: Unchained Goddess (1958), Gateways to the Mind (1958), The Alphabet Conspiracy (1959), The Thread of Life (1960), and About Time (1962). The last show, The Restless Sea (1964), was a Disney production that did not use Dr. Baxter. In Hemo, Cosmic Rays, Unchained Goddess, and Meteora, actor Richard Carlson replaced Albert as “Fiction Writer.”
The programs, which were filmed in Technicolor, enjoyed new life as 16 mm audio-visual presentations to elementary, middle, and even high schools throughout the country. Many were used regularly until the early 1980s, and portions are occasionally used in some classes to this day. It was Frank Baxter’s wonderful ability to entertain, and to make complicated subjects seem simple, that made the Bell Series a resounding success. Dr Baxter died in 1982 at the age of 85. He is an icon to the many millions of people who can fondly remember sitting in a darkened classroom, watching him explain the wonders of nature and the universe.
Sources:
- David Stewart, “Frank Baxter, Television’s First Man of Learning" Current Magazine January 29, 1996
- “Sentimentalist” Time magazine, Dec 26, 1949
- Cecil Smith, “Frank Baxter: He Gave Meaning to the Googlebox" Los Angeles Times, January 31, 1982.
Eric Niderost - Eric Niderost teaches U.S. and California history at Chabot Community College in California. As a freelancer he has 300 published magazine ...
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