I found a super bad-quality version of this online in a 2001 copy of the Catholic newsletter The Anchor. The original post listing all the celebrities in this picture with Bobby is still available if you scroll down a bit. But I ordered the hard copy of this article, and even though it's still not horribly clear, it's better than the copy I found online. I love how, in the sea of polite, subdued smiles, Bobby is the only one big-smiling. I hope you can see it! Such a great show-off of his warm and friendly personality.
So I came to discover that almost all the celebrities in this picture were a part of a Triumphant Hour broadcast in 1952 (which is accurate to the age I thought Bobby was in this pic). This was a Family Theater Easter broadcast that actually ran for several years. Bobby apparently took part in it in 1948 and 1954 in addition to this year. It grieves me that no copies of this -- not even a transcript -- can be found now.
This picture may have been taken after the celebrities recorded for the show.
Bobby was definitely a person of faith, as is evidenced by the "religious" nature which was ascribed to him by many who knew him (Brian Keith O'Hara told us about some of this in the Yahoo Group dedicated to Bobby about ten years ago). He was said to have been mostly nondenominational, but "leaned Catholic." His mother told us about the bust he sculpted of Jesus, and went on to tell about his uncle being a Baptist minister and his aunt having been killed by South American natives on the mission field. These things may have attributed to his desire to learn more about God. I talked about the likelihood of his growing up Presbyterian here. If his dad was Catholic, as he appeared to be, and his mother was Baptist, Presbyterian was probably a good blend of the two. As he got more involved in the Beatnik culture, he seems to have dabbled in some mysticism and likely took some theological side roads for awhile, but the literature found at his death indicates a revisiting of his Christian roots.
I'd love to hear more about his faith, in his own words... but I digress! As this was a picture taken on or around Easter, it felt fitting to repost today, and to talk a little more about.
Happy Spring to my lovely, faithful readers!
So I came to discover that almost all the celebrities in this picture were a part of a Triumphant Hour broadcast in 1952 (which is accurate to the age I thought Bobby was in this pic). This was a Family Theater Easter broadcast that actually ran for several years. Bobby apparently took part in it in 1948 and 1954 in addition to this year. It grieves me that no copies of this -- not even a transcript -- can be found now.
This picture may have been taken after the celebrities recorded for the show.
Bobby was definitely a person of faith, as is evidenced by the "religious" nature which was ascribed to him by many who knew him (Brian Keith O'Hara told us about some of this in the Yahoo Group dedicated to Bobby about ten years ago). He was said to have been mostly nondenominational, but "leaned Catholic." His mother told us about the bust he sculpted of Jesus, and went on to tell about his uncle being a Baptist minister and his aunt having been killed by South American natives on the mission field. These things may have attributed to his desire to learn more about God. I talked about the likelihood of his growing up Presbyterian here. If his dad was Catholic, as he appeared to be, and his mother was Baptist, Presbyterian was probably a good blend of the two. As he got more involved in the Beatnik culture, he seems to have dabbled in some mysticism and likely took some theological side roads for awhile, but the literature found at his death indicates a revisiting of his Christian roots.
I'd love to hear more about his faith, in his own words... but I digress! As this was a picture taken on or around Easter, it felt fitting to repost today, and to talk a little more about.
Happy Spring to my lovely, faithful readers!
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