The legendary Fred Allen had words of high praise in his book Treadmill to Oblivion for long-time Fred Allen Show regular Minerva Pious, who was born on this date in either 1903 (according to most sources) or 1908 (according to her headstone) in Odessa, Kherson Governale (then Czarist Russia, nowadays part of Ukraine). Pious “was the most accomplished woman dialectician ever to appear in radio,” the comedian observed, admitting “I am an authority on Minerva Pious.” He continued to be effusive by noting, “There is no subtlety or inflection of speech associated with any nationality that Minerva cannot faithfully reproduce.”

The woman who would later be immortalized on Fred’s program as Jewish housewife Pansy Nussbaum in the “Allen’s Alley” segments of his show actually began her show business career as accompanist to a radio vocalist named Harry Taylor. Minerva was quite proud of the fact that she needed no music in front of her, relying on her ability to remember notes. Except one night…well, you can probably see where this is going. Minerva froze during the performance…and was fired. It was unquestionably the best thing that could have happened to her. Harry Taylor later changed his name to Harry Tugend and landed a job with Allen’s program as Fred’s assistant and director. When an actress who could do a Russian dialect was needed, Tugend remembered Pious (who was, after all, Russian). Minerva was on her way to becoming a character actress—a long way from her first appearance on stage as a child walk-on in an opera where her father sang the baritone lead.

Minerva Pious actually had a bit more acting experience than just the opera item on her resume. Before she settled on radio as her career, she had performed various character bits in New York stage productions and, while abroad, she dabbled in German and French dramatics in Salzburg. Still, her mastery of dialects was what kept her working on Fred’s weekly comedy broadcasts, whether it was The Salad Bowl Revue, The Sal Hepatica Revue, The Hour of Smiles, Town Hall Tonight, or The Texaco Star Theatre. It was on this last show that Allen would introduce the feature for which most old-time radio fans remember him best: “Allen’s Alley.” On December 6, 1942, the first four denizens to be interviewed were Senator Bloat (played by J. Scott Smart), John Doe (John Brown), Socrates Mulligan (Charlie Cantor) and Mrs. Nussbaum (Minerva). Mrs. N was the only original member of the group to remain through the various incarnations (which later saw the addition of Senator Claghorn, Titus Moody, Falstaff Openshaw, and Ajax Cassidy).

On radio, Pansy Nussbaum was a formidable housewife who would often reply to Fred’s greeting of “Ah, Mrs. Nussbaum…” with “You were expecting maybe Nat King Cohen?” or “You were expecting maybe the Fink Spots?” Adding a Jewish malapropal twist to the names of well-known celebrities would become the character’s trademark, in addition to her constant complaining about Mr. Nussbaum—“mine husband, Pierre.” Pious demonstrated many dialects on Allen’s program—Scandinavian, German, French…even Brooklynese! But it was her portrayal of Mrs. Nussbaum that kept listeners coming back each week, and Allen would later write: “Her Jewish housewife was never the routine, offensive burlesque caricature. Mrs. Nussbaum was a human being, warm, honest, understanding and—‘you should pardon the expression’—very funny.”

Minerva was often asked to reprise her Nussbaum character on a variety of other comedy-variety shows, which allowed her to trade yuks with the likes of Abbott & Costello, Jack Benny, Eddie Cantor, Bob Hope, Frank Morgan (The Fabulous Dr. Tweedy), Henry Morgan, Kate Smith, and Rudy Vallee. She appeared as a regular on both The Alan Young Show and Happy Island (with Ed Wynn) and guested on the likes of G.I. Journaland Mail Call. One of my favorite Pious appearances is on a January 22, 1947 broadcast of Duffy’s Tavern, in which Mrs. Nussbaum visits “where the elite meet to eat” and announces her intention to divorce husband Pierre. (John J. “No names, please” Anthony is also on hand in this episode, and he tries to give Mrs. N a little marital advice.) Rounding out Minerva’s radio resume are gigs on such shows as Behind the Mike, Columbia Presents Corwin, The Columbia Workshop, The Goldbergs, Life Can Be Beautiful(“Elsie Beebe”), The Pursuit of Happiness, The Radio Hall of Fame, and You Are There.

In the 1945 motion picture comedy It’s in the Bag!, viewers get an opportunity to see Minerva Pious in the Nussbaum role. In a delightful sequence, Fred Allen’s character (Frederick Floogle) is trying to track down a fortune hidden in one of five chairs (one of which was sold to Mrs. Nussbaum). For some people, the segment doesn’t work because, while Pious could create magic in front of microphone, in real life she stood only five-feet in her stockings and suffered from a bad hip that gave her a pronounced limp. Speaking only for myself, I love seeing the two of them working together in what is admittedly my favorite of Fred’s feature films.

Minerva’s contributions to the silver screen were few in number—she has bit roles in Love in the Afternoon (1957) and Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams (1973—which aired recently on TCM). Her most substantial movie turn was as “Rosie” in Joe MacBeth (1955)—a gangster version of the Shakespeare play. (She also contributed her wonderful voice to 1964’s Pinocchio in Outer Space.) Pious’ television appearances were even fewer: she performed on The Colgate Comedy Hour and The Chevrolet Television Theatre and appeared briefly on the daytime drama The Edge of Night as a landlady in the 1970s. Until her death in 1979, Pious was content to reminisce about Radio’s Golden Age in such television specials as The Great Radio Comedians (telecast in 1972).

In honor of what would have been Minerva Pious’ 108th/113th natal anniversary today, Radio Spirits would like to recommend that you check out our signature Fred Allen collection, The Fred Allen Show: a set that contains the very first trip down “Allen’s Alley” (the December 6, 1942 broadcast features George Jessel as guest). You’ll also find Minerva on Jack Benny vs. Fred Allen: The Feud and Jack Benny vs. Fred Allen: Grudge Match—two excellent compilations of broadcasts that focus on radio’s best-known verbal donnybrook between two of the medium’s greatest comedians. Happy birthday, Minerva! (“You were expecting maybe Hoagy Carbuncle?”)