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Wanna Buy a Duck?
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Home of the Joe Penner Project
It's here...the radio programs, the movies, the stage shows, the photos.
And despite the title,
everything's free. Even the duck.
What's New?
Added to the site in December 2008: Never Heard Joe Penner's Catchphrases? Or Wanna Hear 'Em Again?
Joe Penner had an all-too-brief but busy career in network radio, films, and on the stage, but he may be best known today
for one or more of his catchphrases (see this site's title for a prime example). Interestingly, most of his opportunities
(certainly his radio and film career) can be traced back to a single radio broadcast.
On July 13, 1933, he guested
on Rudy Vallee's Radio Program for Fleichmann's Yeast, an appearance which jump-started his radio career. The recording of
this show is a valuable (and funny) historic document because it features many of his soon-to-be famous catchphrases, such
as "Wanna buy a duck?", "You naaasty man," "Don't never doooo that," and "I dunno."
They're not as funny on the page,
so I've posted a link to a three minute selection from that first broadcast immediately below, as well as one to a more detailed
article about the Vallee show.
Click here to listen to Joe Penner!
Read more about Penner's Rudy Vallee appearance.
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Navigating this Site:
Click on any of the category links (below the "Wanna Buy a Duck?" title)
to explore the many facets of Joe Penner's career. You can discover more about his Films, some Cartoons featuring Penner caricatures, his Radio programs and Stage shows or check out Photos page for promotional and candid shots. To keep things fresh, I'll add a new picture from my collection each month. On
the Video Clips page, I share scenes from some of Penner's
features and shorts.
The Print page features two publications dedicated to Penner as well as several magazine articles written during his prime. The Biography page includes a wonderfully rare audio interview with Penner telling his own life story, and a scanned (and clickable) copy of a fairly comprehensive (and fairly accurate) story of Penner's life written in
1934. The Co-stars page features two longtime Penner associates (Hal Raynor/Heinz Rubel and Richard "Dick" Lane). Odds & Ends offers stuff that doesn't seem to fit anywhere else, and the Collectibles page focuses on Penner "products" of the era, some of which command top dollars today. The Why? page gives a brief summary of how I ended up doing this site in the first place, and the Links page will connect you to other sites and blogs of probable interest to Penner fans. Many of the major categories
also have subpages, so you can check things out in even more depth if you so desire. Don't
know who Joe Penner was? Well...there's probably no better place on the Internet or elsewhere to find out. Dive in!
One final word...please stop by the guestbook (below) to share a story or leave a comment, question or suggestion,
especially if you didn't find what you were looking for. And check back soon. This site's a true work in progress.
Search the Site for All Things Penner
There's a lot of information (written and visual) here, so try the site search function to locate what you're
looking for. Enter your search terms or criteria, then click the "this site" button before you hit search. I update
the site at least twice a month, but it seems to take Google a couple of weeks to recognize new stuff, so check back often.
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Note: The image at top is from Penner's second feature film, Paramount's Collegiate
(1936). The men in the photo are, from the left: Lynn Overman, Joe Penner, Ned Sparks and
Jack Oakie. The lower photograph
is from a 1934 episode of The Baker's Broadcast, Penner's radio program for
the NBC Blue network. That's band leader Ozzie Nelson over Penner's right shoulder.
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