Comedian Al Pearce became an established name in radio and was best known for playing Elmer Blurt, a self-conscious door-to-door salesman. The collection consists of script files, sound recordings, and photographs related to Pearce's radio career as well as a small amount of memorabilia.

Albert Walter Pearce was born July 25, 1898 in San Jose, CA. Pearce worked as a door-to-door insurance salesman for a time, but eventually went into the real estate business in San Francisco, CA with his brother Cal Pearce. In the late 1920s, Pearce got a position as a singer at a local radio station, KFRC. At KFRC, he was introduced to Jack Hasty who asked Pearce to play the lead role in a skit he had written, as Elmer Blurp (later changed to Elmer Blurt). Elmer Blurp was a character that Pearce easily identified with: a self-conscious salesman. In 1929, KFRC featured Pearce in The Happy-Go-Lucky Hour, which ran for four years. Pearce was joined on air by his brother Cal Pearce, Abe Bloom, Charles Carter, Jean Clarimoux, Edna Fischer, Tommy Harris, Norman Nielsen, Monroe Upton, Hazel Warner, and Cecil Wright.

8 boxes (4.0 linear ft.) 7 album boxes (3 linear ft.)

Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library, Performing Arts Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA Library, Performing Arts Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.