Press & broadcasting / Film & TV / Theatre & dance
James Jewell
1906–1975 · radio director, producer, actor
Corktown-raised WXYZ dramatic director who helped shape The Lone Ranger, chose its William Tell Overture theme and gave Tonto the word 'kemo sabe'.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan- Died
Chicago, Illinois
aged 69- Detroit years
- 1906–1938
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Jewell was born in Detroit and grew up around his mother's grocery store in Corktown. He learned the theater from the bottom, as a stagehand, assistant treasurer and bit player at Jessie Bonstelle's stock theater, and toured with summer stock, vaudeville, burlesque and even a marionette troupe before entering radio in 1927. His brother, a cornetist in the WXYZ orchestra, brought him to the station in 1930. Owner George Trendle disliked his announcing but made him dramatic director, and Jewell's stock company, the Jewell Players, became the voices of the station's dramas. He was part of the team that worked out The Lone Ranger, picked Rossini's William Tell Overture as its theme, and borrowed 'kemo sabe' from Camp Kee-Mo-Sah-Bee, his father-in-law's boys' camp on Mullet Lake. He directed The Lone Ranger and The Green Hornet until 1938, then moved to Chicago's WBBM, where he directed Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy.
Highlights
- Grew up in Corktown, where his mother ran a grocery
- Began as a stagehand at Jessie Bonstelle's stock theater in Detroit
- WXYZ dramatic director, 1930s–1938
- Chose the William Tell Overture as The Lone Ranger's theme
- 'Kemo sabe' came from his father-in-law's Camp Kee-Mo-Sah-Bee
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Worked here · 1930s–1938
Maccabees Building (former WXYZ studios)
WXYZ's studios, where Jewell directed The Lone Ranger and The Green Hornet with his stock company.
Lived here · 1900s–1920s
Corktown
Detroit's oldest neighborhood, where his mother operated a grocery store (address not documented).