Al Pearce (1898-1961)
Hollywood Personality
Edited by
Larry Pearce
11/21/23
A few weeks ago I received an e-mail from my brother with an attached photo taken by his granddaughter, my great-neice. She had been touring Hollywood, and specifically the Walk of Fame, and stepped on a sidewalk star for an Al Pearce. Pearce is her family name and is covered extensively on this website. She took a picture and sent it to her dad, who forwarded it to me. For all the research I’ve done on Pearces from all parts of the world, in every line of work, I had never heard of Al Pearce. Oh, my father had a cousin named Albert Pearce, who was a well-known Butler County, PA, Jewel Tea man, but according to the famous actor’s bio, the spelling of his last name was originally “Pierce,” or as my mother Ruth would say, “He was a ‘pie’ Pearce.” Long story short, I Googled “Al Pearce” and there was lots of information and photographs. Let’s begin with his biography from the Los Angeles Times in 1961 just after his death from complications of abdominal surgery:
Albert W. Pearce was born on July 25, 1898, in San Francisco and became one of radio’s most successful entertainers. His daytime program, “The Happy Go Lucky Hour with Al Pearce and his gang,” began on KFRC, San Francisco, in 1926 with the sound of his famous knock on a housewife’s door and his remark, “Nobody at home, I hope, I hope, I hope.” The program featured one of the first live studio audiences and soon spread to LA and Fresno. With the advent of television in 1946, he took his show to an even larger audience on Channel 2.
One older gentleman was quoted as saying, “I remember Al Pearce when he lived on Wabash Avenue in San Bernardino and had a pet raccoon and was marketing his brand of barbeque sauce. He was quiet and polite.”
What a pleasant discovery to find this fellow broadcaster and writer! I hope we’re related. Research continues.
Hollywood Walk of Fame
Last revised: 11/21/23