This is an iHeart Podcast. Popsicles, sprinklers, a cool breeze. Talk about refreshing. You know what else is refreshing this summer? A brand new phone with Verizon.
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Offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply. IceCube's Big Three is the surprise hit of the summer. This Saturday, 4 p.m. Eastern on CBS with playoff elimination on the line, the most physical, fiercest, and competitive basketball in the world. Miami's Michael Beasley and Lance Stevenson must win to make the playoffs and breakout star Dwight Howard of the LA Riot will battle Gary Payton's Boston squad in a du-a-dime match for both teams.
Six teams are allowed for four spots and all must win. There's no crying in the big three and the no-hold spot action starts Saturday at 4 p.m. Eastern, 1pm Pacific. Presented by iHeart. Barcelona Crypto is on Kraken.
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Crypto trading involves risk of loss and is offered to U.S. customers through Payward Interactive Inc. Terms and Conditions Apply. You heard it before many times. Water is life.
But do you know that almost half of the homes on the Navajo Reservation do not have clean running water? With your support, St. Bonaventure Indian Mission and School is ready to give water to Navajo families.
So we invite you to help provide this precious gift of life to those in need. Contrary to many average Americans, Navajo families survive on just 10 gallons of water per day. You can help support St. Bonaventure's water delivery program by going to stbonaventuremission.org. Uh This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories, the show where America is the star.
And the American people. And to search for the Our American Stories podcast, go to the iHeartRadio app. Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Billie Mae Richards is the Canadian actress best known for voicing Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. The special first aired on December 6, 1964, on NBC.
Here's Billie Mae to share her story. I go back almost over 75 years now. I've been in every kind of chill business. I'm quite proud of the work in the Navy show I'm a part of. the war effort in World War II.
We went all across Canada and back and then overseas. And we did a command performance for the King and Queen and went into Paris and we played for the American troops in Paris. and then Brussels and Amsterdam and into Germany.
So after the World War Two, that is, so you know how long ago it is, I took my credits from the Navy and uh I joined uh Lauren Green's Academy of Radial Arts and he of course is a very famous Canadian and he did um Bonanza. That was a great series. And uh so I joined uh the Academy of Radio Arts because I I had already done stage work and I was a musician and an actor and everything, but I didn't know the technique for actually for radio and drama.
So that's why I went there. And out of that I graduated and everybody that heard me gave me a part of the child.
So that's where I my first big show was a big drama and on the State series in in Canada.
So that it just went from there.
So I spent 25 years in the CBC doing school broadcasts. And then when the cartooning came our way, then it was just sort of a natural progression. to go into voice work because you're not you know i'm not a i'm not a television actor and certainly not now Hey, uh, Clarice? Hey, after breakfast, would you... Would you?
Rudolph, you get back here. It's your turn, you know. Yeah, I gotta go back. Would you wanna go with me? Uh-huh.
Rudolph? I think you're cute. A cute. I cute. Magnificent.
I'm cute! I'm cute! She said I'm cute! Just want you to know that I'm still cute! Yeah.
Well, I I see Hermie once in a while. And I always wanted to be like Hermie. I wanted to be independent. And he wanted to be a dentist.
So we were mistress together. Hey, what? What do you say we'd both be independent together, huh? You wouldn't mind m my Red nose? Not if you don't mind me being a dentist.
It's a deal.
So that was fun, you know.
So the the whole show was fun to do. And it was all Canadian. All the voices are Canadian except for Burr Eyes. And I'll say, what? I thought it was an American show.
No. No. Well, it was partly Bernard Cowan. He was directing it along with Jules Bass. And they came up to Toronto because we we have all the voices from radio because our radio never died.
You know, it's it kept on with because of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. You know, we'd all been still working in uh in radio. we had the voices for radio because tho the the puppets are actually three-dimensional and they have to be filmed, you know, one little teeny movement at a time with the 3D puppets, you might say, but they're not puppets. They're they're moved. Each little teeny little bit as they move through the snow, for instance, the snowman goes through the snow and he's He's the snow is pushed in front of him.
It's a it's a unique process that Rankin and Bass first developed and they went on to do other ones of course. The shows I did were all aimed for children because that's all I ever did were were uh boys' voices, so like Care Bears and things like that. You know, and I don't tell anybody either because it spoils the illusion, especially for children. I hate to say it, you know, especially now. Oh, I have children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
They think it's wonderful. They when they were little, they went to school and told their teacher that their m their mother was for a doll. And the teacher looked at them and said, Oh, yes, dear, of course.
So we get on with the work now, you know. Yeah.
Yeah, but I sometimes I I uh go to schools and uh It's very good to teach kids how important it is to learn to read, not only for pleasure, but there actually is a side of that that can be a profession.
So it's it's uh it's a boost for children and in the reading and uh that's when your character voice experience fine. Then you can say, by the way, we thought it'd go one year, maybe two at the most and that was it. But that's, you know, that's fine. Look what's happened to it. It's you realize it would it had become a classic.
You know, sort of like, um, you know, Wizard of Oz. You know, it's that that type of uh show that has a it has a moral to it and uh you know everything works out in the end and So I mean there you go. What more can you ask? You know, it all worked out in the end. It revived Rudolph from being just the song.
and a little Christmas book. And made it into something that could be watched every Christmas. It became a Christmas classic because. You know, my grandchildren even now are, you know, so they're almost beyond it, but they still watch because they say, oh, but it's so cute. Yeah.
Yeah, Rudolph is also, of course, I'm Rudolph in Rudolph Shiny New Year and the one that's Christmas in July with Frosty the Snowman.
So whenever there's a Rudolph, that's my voice. Rudolph, with your nose so bright. Won't you guide my sleigh tonight? It will be an honor, sir. And it was wonderful to see it all put together with the actual figures because we didn't really know what they were going to look like.
So it was a really fun thing and I'm very proud that it's been on this long. There are not too many people that can say that.
So it's really great. But I enjoy the work that I do and I'm quite happy. And that's good enough for me. And a terrific job on the production, editing, and storytelling by our own Greg Hangler. the story of the woman who voiced Rudolph here.
on Our American Stories. Mm. Here at Our American Stories, we bring you inspiring stories of history, sports, business, faith, and love, stories from a great and beautiful country that need to be told. But we can't do it without you. Our stories are free to listen to, but they're not free to make.
If you love our stories in America like we do, please go to ouramericanstories.com and click the donate button. Give a little. Give a lot. Help us keep the great American stories coming. That's ouramericanstories.com.
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Eastern on CBS, with playoff elimination on the line. The most physical, fiercest, and competitive basketball in the world. Miami's Michael Beasley and Lance Stevenson must win to make the playoffs, and breakout star Dwight Howard of the LA Riot will battle Gary Payton's Boston squad in a du-a-dime match for both teams. Six teams are allowed for four spots, and all must win. There's no crying in the big three, and the no-hold spot action starts Saturday at 4 p.m.
Eastern, 1 p.m. Pacific. Presented by iHeart. Every day has a to-do list, but adding enjoy Belveda to yours can help you knock out the rest of it. Belveda breakfast biscuits are a tasty and convenient breakfast option when paired with low-fat yogurt and fruit that provide steady energy all morning, while Belveeta Energy Snack Bites give you the perfect mid-morning refuel.
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Toa Ina. We all know that water is life. An average American household consumes over 300 gallons daily. 40% of Navajo families residing on a reservation the size of West Virginia struggle to survive on less than 10 gallons of water per day. Yearly, St.
Bonaventure Indian Mission and School delivers over 1.5 million gallons of clean water to these families. You can help support St. Bonaventure's water delivery program by going to stbonaventuremission.org. This is an iHeart podcast.
