370. Gracie Whitebread

March 9, 2018

Q: I’ve often wondered about Gracie Whitebread. Well, not that often, really, no really! Anyway, I cannot find anything of substance related to her on the Internet. Do you know if she played much of a role on the radio show? Have you heard what became of her?

A: Her real name was Gracie Weisbrot. I got an email from her grandson’s husband, who writes: “She was the voice of Gracie Whitebread on The National Lampoon Radio Hour. Her brother was Lenny Mogel [publisher and president of National Lampoon, Inc. during the 1970s—MS].  Gracie lived to be 106.  When the DVD box set came out a few years ago, I purchased it for Gracie and she got a thrill hearing herself again.  She would tell stories of working with John Belushi and the cast. Gracie and her husband were married in 1930 and divorced in the early 1970s.  She moved back to New York from Los Angeles.  She was already in her 60s and since she had time on her hands, Lenny asked her if she’d like to do office work at the Lampoon magazine.  That’s how she got the gig to play Gracie Whitebread.  Gracie died late Feb of 2015.  By the way, Lenny Mogel is still alive and lives in California.” Thanks, Todd!

Comments

There is a paucity of information on Gracie. She seems to have a similar voice to actress Rebecca Schull who played Fay Evelyn Schlob Dumbly DeVay Cochran on the TV show Wings. I'd love to know if it was her or not.

—Hoyt Clagwell

March 17, 2017 7:01 am

I recorded Gracie at Bell Sound, where the first 15 or so radio shows were done. (Your website's info is incorrect. The Lampoon's own studio was built around 3-4 months after the show started.) For some reason, everybody thought that her reading of "This is Gracie Whitebread speaking" was just hilarious.

—Warren Dewey

September 27, 2018 2:05 am

Thanks for posting, Warren. The info about the studio was probably from Hendra’s book. I’ll update it.

—Mark

September 27, 2018 8:02 am

Cue the celestial choir! FINALLY the solution to the mystery of the elusive Gracie Whitebread is revealed! HALLELUJAH!!! She really did have a rare gift to just sound hysterically funny even saying the most mundane things. She ought to have done more, but I suspect she'd have been poorly used elsewhere.

—Steve D.

June 19, 2021 11:41 pm

Original material (excluding quoted material) © 1997-2024 Mark Simonson.
Mark's Very Large National Lampoon Site is not affiliated with National Lampoon or National Lampoon Inc.
Click here for the real thing.