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Radio . Star Fro fit
'Hello, ii
GirF3 '??; v
JJOW many 'girls have listened to
a radio singer and thought,
'I can sing as well as that?' Thou
sands. But how many have gone
ahead and shoion the listeningi
public they could?
Count them on 'your fingers if you.
can. Lillian Warner is one of few.
She's a tiny, pretty, big-eyed Yan
kee blonde, very fascinating to listen
to. Just arrived in Perm, her ec
centric 'double' voice will be heard
from 6ML at 8.15 tomorrow flight.
She has been a stage and radio star
in New York, on tour through
Europe, and is now finishing a long
tour of the Australian capitals. Acid
she has a romantic story. .
Blues singer, balladist, yodeller,
she makes her living out of her '
voice, and has done so since she left
school. She was trained, but not
as a singer. As a telephone opera
tor.
When she joined the New York
Telephone Company she had to go
to school again and learn to talk.
Her salary was 15 dollars a week,
and all she had to do at first was say
'one— two — thrrrree,' and the names
of well-known firms. 'Diction,' she
said, talking to herself.
» . * *
'Real Soft'
'OTHERE were 1 300 girls at a sitting
?*? in the office wnen I started,'
she recalled. 'Step by step I learned
to operate, and talk distinct and
low — real soft. With the mouthpiece
just close, it was like talking into
a microphone. A New York tele
phonist says the number after you
in a special way. You ask for Cen
tral 2100. She says after you Cen
tral-one-hun-drrred,' ana so that fives
don't get mixed with nines, 'five'
(very clipped), 'niyun.'
The girls had to be efficient. Out
of the school they were sent to vari
ous offices, starting on evening work,
working up to day duty with a maxi
mum salary of 28 dollars, with gen
erous overtime.
Little Lillian was efficient. In the
New York telephone exchange a
competent operator handled about
400 calls in an 'hour. 'Real good
ones' could manage 600. Lillian was
one of these, and when a test was
made to see the maxiraum\a good
girl could manage, she took the
test.
But she had thought 'I can sing
as well as that,' and applied for an
audition in a small New York1 sta
tion. The American system of
achieving radio success is a very
different one from ours, s*he told.
Thousands of singers do what she
did — are permitted to sing without
payment until they attract attention
from the listening public and the
radio columns. Arthur Tracey, of
Miss Lilian Warner Help
Miss Lilian Warner
'Street Singer' fame, was singing at
the same small station, and envied
Miss Warner when one 'got her
break' first. Like some of the most
famous stars, like Richard Crooks,
for instance, her 'break' was in ad
vertising-sponsored broadcasts.
* ' * *
Personal
Appearance
CHE worked on the well-known
*^ Columbia network for three
years. She has been starred in :?
'personal appearances' with ''Bud-
dy' Rogers' band, and has toured
France.
In the Eastern States she made a
novel 'personal appearance,' doing
her whole act before the micro
phone in a temporary studio in a big
store window. After her Perth en
gagement she will return to the
United States.
But note 'her eccentric double
voice. Unlike most singers, she
only keeps it, she has been told,
while it is untrained!
$