Billie Clevenger; Popular NBC Staffer Was 105

Billie Clevenger, 105, veteran chief telephone operator of NBC’s Hollywood studios and aide to Ralph Edwards. Born Aug. 16, 1895, the daughter of a Methodist minister, she sang in a Salvation Army Band and, when her father was chaplain at San Quentin, in San Francisco nightclubs. She began working for NBC in 1937 and became the confidant of everyone from mail room clerks to such entertainers as Bob Hope. She staunchly protected celebrities’ private phone numbers, once refusing even to give Jack Benny’s number to George Burns. Regularly in charge of secret telephone lines to Ralph Edwards’ popular “This Is Your Life” program, she was herself surprised and featured on his Dec. 9, 1952, national telecast. On hand to congratulate her, in addition to friends and family, were such notables as Hope, Jim and Marian Jordan, who were better known as Fibber McGee and Mollie, Billie Burke and Jimmy Durante--who quipped that NBC stood for “nifty Billie Clevenger.” After retiring at age 65 from NBC, Clevenger worked for Ralph Edwards Productions 20 more years, and until age 90 answered his fan mail from her home. An avid Dodger fan, Clevenger was honored by Vin Scully and the Dodger Stadium Club on her 100th birthday. On Dec. 21 in Arroyo Grande, Calif.