Three, Numerology, and Name Changes..

Willis to Wyllis...
.When Wyliss Cooper returned from Hollywood after writing the screenplay for the motion picture 'Son of Frankenstein, curiously, he legally changed the spelling of his name from "Willis" to "Wyllis"..  'Radio Mirror' magazine appears to be the first
to mention it in 1940, saying "a numerologist advised him to change it" then Time magazine made a similar mention in 1941, but elaborated further that it was due to "his wife's numerological inclinations". Then in 1942  'Capital Times' newspaper in  Madison WI seemed to merge the two previous reports as: "..a numerologist told his wife it should be spelled Wyllis and he's done so ever since." 
                    Other than the brief passages in those publications, there appears to be no other specifics, no direct or indirect quotes from Cooper on the matter to be found anywhere...
Upon utilizing several present day numerology calculators found online, the results conclude that both spellings have virtually identical meanings in every respect.

" ...But there may have been another, more rational, reason for it. In mid-1939, the year of the change, Cooper lost a court case to NBC. Subsequently, his wages were garnished so the network could collect what he owed them... Judging by some of the NBC papers at the Wisconsin Historical Society, Cooper resisted paying and made things difficult for his creditors. I can't prove it, but I think it's possible he changed the spelling to make it a little harder to attach his money...
Or maybe our guy was just plain eccentric; it's hard to tell."
   - from a post by "MS', a senior member at quietplease.org
                   
But anyway... Speaking of Numerology, here's a bit of trivia before playing this posts featured episode..

Think Cooper Had a Thing for Three?...

• Three - Story about a man haunted by the number three.
• Three Sides to a Story - three participants in a seemingly lethal love triangle.
• The Third Man's Story- Story about Abel, the third man on earth.
• Adam and the Darkest Day - Story about the last three people on earth.
• How Are You, Pal? - About the three words he wants you to write down.
• Little Fellow - A carnival midget with a Egyptian amulate that'll grant three wishes.
• Three Thousand Words - A three foot dwarf and a ventriloquist,
• Thing on the Fourble Board - About a monster from three miles underground.
• Sketch for a Screenplay - 3 children reunite on battlefields of France during WWII.
• Very Unimportant Person - Three People on a plane, a world wide nuclear war below, they can't land, and running out of gas.
• Beezers Cellar - Three criminals trapped in a cellar and an expanding hole in the floor.
• Not Responsible After Thirty Years - After 3 years, a man is getting out of prison.
• Oldest Man in the World - Three friends seek shelter in a cave to escape a storm.
• Nothing Behind the Door - Three criminals break into an empty observatory building.
• The Ticket Taker - 3 murdering crooks have repeating encounters with "the ticket taker"
• I Remember Tomorrow- Three criminals want a time machine built.

 Perhaps I'm beginning to stretch the "three" thing to far now, but several of Coopers scripts do tend to carry the number! And speaking of three...

Quiet Please Episode #22,THREE
Original Air Date: Monday  November 10, 1947 on WOR
and Wednesday, November 12  1947 8:30 P.M on MBS. + WNDR
Summary:Story of a man, seemingly being pursued by the number three.. Pursuit leads to persecution as the number three continues to twist his perceptions of reality, eroding his sanity, to the point he believes it to be a threat to his very life. This story kind of hangs in mid-hair due to it's apparent lack of any solid final conclusion... It's basically a look at a man who's lost grip, and his circular hopelessness leading to madness. It's a story of his journey, without specifically knowing his final fate. Although I seen others review this episode unfavorably, I actually liked it.. Whimsical but suspenseful. Listen:
or Download mp3
Audio Quality:This is my cleaned up version.. I didn't originally intend to work the whole thing, I was just out to remove the thick scratch groove in the first 5 minutes.. I applied heavy processing to the music at the start, and then mild processing for the next 2 minutes or so. After that applied no processing at all, just removal of the heavy pops and clicks. particularly the heavy crackle during the mid point. The results is not perfect, but an improvement.