Gadabout Gaddis Explained

Roscoe Vernon Gaddis (January 28, 1896  - October 21, 1986), known professionally as Gadabout Gaddis, was a 20th-century American fisherman and television pioneer.[1] Gaddis was born in Mattoon, Illinois and was nicknamed Gadabout by a boss who said he could never find him.[2]

Gaddis, an avid fisherman since his youth in Illinois,[3] was also a pilot and adventurer. He began his career in the early days of television by showing his home movies of his fishing expeditions.[4] In 1939 he briefly hosted a program about fishing on General Electric's experimental TV station W2XAD in Schenectady, New York.[2] When W2XAD became WRGB in the mid-1940s, Gaddis returned to the station to host Outdoors with Liberty Mutual, which was only the second sponsored television show (Lowell Thomas's being the first).[2] The show was eventually carried on 73 stations. Going Places with Gadabout Gaddis in the 1950s was less successful,[5] but beginning in the early 1960s Gaddis starred in The Flying Fisherman, also sponsored by Liberty Mutual.

The Flying Fisherman

The Flying Fisherman was a weekly program, usually broadcast on Saturday or Sunday afternoon, that showed Gaddis fishing in a different location each episode. The show's lone crew member was a cameraman who paddled alongside Gaddis in a nearby boat.[2] The shows were filmed without sound, and Gaddis would add his low-key and folksy narration in the studio.[5] The program had the look and feel of a home movie, which some analysts theorized was a major factor in its appeal to audiences.[2]

Not all programs showed Gaddis making a catch, including an episode shot at Thomas Lake in Colorado, where Gaddis filmed for five days without catching a fish.[2]

Gaddis was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1968.[3] Gaddis earned his Army Air Corps pilot's wings during World War I and flew himself to each filming location in his Piper Cherokee 235.[2] Each episode would open with a shot of Gadabout Gaddis landing his plane, but in reality it was his friend, Jack Phillipps, landing the plane in Gaddis's cowboy hat, as Gaddis could not "hit the mark"; i.e. he could not touch down on the spot required for the stationary camera to capture the landing.

Gaddis lived in Bingham, Maine, and Gadabout Gaddis Airport in that town[6] was his base of operations. The airport was built about 1950 and later bought by Gaddis.[7]

Works

Publications

Filmography

Television compilations

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Gadabout Gaddis - The Flying Fisherman . John Petrocelli . Salty Dog Seakayaking Webzine . April 5, 2013.
  2. Hobson, Dick. (1966, April 2-8). One day, Gadabout Gaddis posted a sign GONE FISHING and that was 56 years ago. TV Guide, pp 24-26.
  3. Web site: 'Gadabout' Gaddis, TV's 'Flying Fisherman,' Dead at 90 . October 21, 1986 . Associated Press . April 5, 2013.
  4. Book: Benson, James E. . Along Old Canada Road . April 5, 2013 . 2008 . Arcadia Publishing . 978-0738556659 . 8.
  5. Web site: Baby Boomer Hero: The Flying Fisherman . Robert Matarazzo . 2009 . Tackle. April 5, 2013.
  6. Web site: ME08 Gadabout Gaddis Airport . AirNav.com . April 5, 2013.
  7. Book: Sample . Tim . Bither . Ms. Stephen D. . Maine Curiosities, 3rd: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities, and Other Offbeat Stuff . April 5, 2013 . 3rd . 2011 . Globe Pequot . 978-0762761142 . 33 .
  8. Book: The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States: Feature Films, 1961-1970 . April 5, 2013 . 1997 . University of California Press . 978-0520209701 . 346 .
  9. Web site: A Recent Search Shows there are 5 Gadabout Videos Available . Gadabout Gaddis web site . April 5, 2013.

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