From their base in New York City, Bob and Ray affirmed that radio comedy was alive and well, despite the emergence of television, in the late 20th century. Bob Elliott (1923-) and Ray Goulding (1922-1990) were both born in Massachusetts, where they worked at local radio stations before World War II. Coincidentally, after the war they ended up at WHDH, Boston. Elliott was a morning disc jockey, and Goulding did the news. They developed an instant comedic chemistry. "I began staying in the studio," Goulding said, "and bailing him out with some chatter, what with all the awful records he had to play." Soon, the program director asked them to do a 25-minute comedy show before baseball games called Matinee with Bob and Ray. Elliott recalled, "They had to have that rhyme, and it's the only reason we're Bob and Ray and not Ray and Bob."

     In 1951 Bob and Ray sat in for Goulding's older brother Phil and Morey Amsterdam on WMGM, New York. That stint led to a successful audition for the National Broadcasting Company (NBC). The network offered them a 15-minute show each evening, and Bob and Ray moved to New York, where they remained for nearly 40 years. Soon they had a two-and-a­ half-hour morning show, a half-hour evening show, and a 15- minute live television program in addition to their original show. Early on the duo decided to call their program The Bob and Ray Show, a simple title that they continued to use throughout their career at NBC, which lasted until 1973, and on other stations and networks. The only exception was a TV game show, The Name's the Same, which they hosted for ABC television briefly in 1955.

     In 1953 Bob and Ray moved their television show to American Broadcasting Companies (ABC) and jumped to WINS radio for the next three years. They began a regular feature on the NBC Radio network program Monitor and developed an afternoon show for the Mutual Radio network. By 1956 they had landed at WOR, where they stayed off and on for more than 20 years. They also had a show on the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) Radio network in the late 1950s.

     Although radio was their primary medium, Bob and Ray also starred as "Bert and Harry" in a long-running series of television commercials for Piels Beer and became regular guests on both the Today and Tonight shows on NBC television. In 1970 they opened on Broadway with Bob and Ray: The Two and Only, a revue based on characters from the radio skits; they subsequently took the show on tour and released a live album of the performance. They appeared in two movies, Cold Turkey (1971) and Author, Author (1982), and published three books of scripts from their radio shows. They returned to the stage briefly in 1984 with sold-out performances at Carnegie Hall.

     In 1981 Bob and Ray were inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame and were named "Men of the Year" by the Broadcast Pioneers. The next year, the Museum of Broadcasting in New York presented a retrospective of Bob and Ray's career that set attendance records and was held over four months. During the 1980s more than 200 National Public Radio (NPR) affiliates carried The Bob and Ray Public Radio Show. They continued regular radio broadcasts until Goulding's death in 1990. Elliott still plays occasional bit parts on television, often in productions written by and starring his son Chris. Many classic Bob and Ray performances were recorded and remain in circulation.

    Humorists as diverse as Bob Newhart, Phil Proctor, and Roy Blount Jr. have paid homage to Bob and Ray. Their comedy has been described as wry, low-key, elegant, restrained, and seductive. The New York Times once called them "a couple of master comedians who live in a large, comfortable, friendly house right next door to reality." Kirkus Review applauded their ability "to take the stupid words right out of our mouths and, with sweet innocence, toss them in our faces."

     Typical Bob and Ray routines feature normal people who do bizarre things-the lighthouse keeper whose lighthouse is 40 miles inland, the professor of penmanship who teaches executives to write illegibly, a world champion low jumper, or the editor of Wasting Time magazine. Often the skit involves an interview in which the comedy hinges on one absurdity­ the frustration of waiting for answers from the president of the Slow Talkers of America, or the misprint on a script that causes the oblivious host to ask questions that his guest just answered. Recurring characters include the casts of the soap opera "Mary Backstayge, Noble Wife" and of the adventure serial "Tippy, the Wonder Dog"; pompous sportscaster Biff Burns; and the intrepid reporter on the beat, Wally Ballou, who always upcut his cue and thus began each feature:

Ballou standing here with a gentleman my staff tells me is one of the most unusual and interesting interviews we've ever lined up. I wonder if you'd tell us your name, sir?

Man: No, I'm afraid I can't do that ...

Ballou: You hiding from the police or something like that?

Man: No, I can't tell you my name because I am one of the very few people in America with a name that is completely unpronounceable.

Ballou: Well ...  could you spell it for us?

Man: That's all you can do with it. It's spelled: W-W-Q­ L-C-W.

Ballou: W-W-Q-L-C-W. Are you sure that's a name and not the call letters of some radio station?

Man: No, it's my name all right. But there's no way to pronounce it. I've been trying for years and it's got me beat.

Ballou: I certainly never heard it before. What nationality is it?

Man: Well, my grandfather came from Iraq, originally.

And I've got a hunch that when he changed the letters from the Arabic alphabet into English, he goofed something awful.

Ballou: I guess that could be. Do you still have relatives back in the old country?

Man: Oh yeah. Cousins ... and things like that. Ballou: And how do they pronounce the name? Man: They pronounce it Abernathy. (Elliott and Goulding, 1985)

Robert B. (Bob) Elliott. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, 26 May 1923. Studied at the Feagin School of Drama and Radio, New York City; served in the U.S. Army in Europe, 1943- 1946; worked at WHDH Boston, 1946-1951, where he met longtime partner Ray Goulding and began writing and performing radio comedy routines. Elliott and Goulding moved to New York in 1951, and their daily comedy programs became a staple of network and local radio for nearly 40 years. During the period, The Bob and Ray Show and the duo's sketches were heard on the NBC, ABC, Mutual, and CBS radio networks, as well as National Public Radio. Elliott and Goulding won George Foster Peabody Awards for their work in 1952 and 1957, and were nominated for Grammy Awards for recorded comedy in 1987 and 1988.