Olga Druce

Olga Druce was an American radio and television producer, public speaker, and actress.

Early years Born Olga Droshnicop, Druce was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Droshnicop, and she had a sister. Her father was a businessman in imports and exports. At Smith she chaired the Senior Dramatics Committee She also was a member of Phi Kappa Psi honorary society and the Dramatic Association Eternal Road, and Time of Your Life, before her interests changed, and she began to focus more on children. Another review of the same play said, "I recommend the quiet acting of Miss Druce as Nina, particularly."

In 1939, Druce was on the staff of the League Against Intolerance. For two years she ran the Harlem Interracial Youth Center while she worked with children in hospitals and schools.

Wartime activities During World War II, Druce wrote a sketch, Home Is Our Nation, that was presented by actors of the American Theatre Wing (ATW). She also was co-chair of the Committee for Youth in Wartime, which was sponsored by the ATW. The committee organized projects in which actors and theater technicians went to schools and settlement houses to teach adolescents about aspects of theatrical professions. In one example, ballerina Sono Osato, who was performing in One Touch of Venus on Broadway, went to the ATW-sponsored Youth Association in Harlem, where 40 youngsters wanted to learn about dancing and hoped to produce their own musical comedy revue. Druce also spoke at events for the United Service Organizations, American Red Cross, United States Office of War Information, and at bond drives.

Radio and television Druce considered drama to be "the most powerful, forceful educational medium". In her view, the educational impact of broadcast programs went beyond imparting facts to teaching children about human relations.

Druce wrote for The Adventures of Superman In November 1949, the Republic of Haiti recognized Druce with a luncheon and an award for her efforts to help Americans understand that republic better via an episode of that program. She also produced and directed programs such as Life Can Be Beautiful and When a Girl Marries.

When Druce became the producer of the television program Captain Video and His Video Rangers in April 1951, Under Druce's leadership, Captain Video veered away from the use of deadly weapons that were typical in other adventure programs on radio and TV. Such devices were replaced by ray guns, which incapacitated a person for a few minutes. Druce also replaced the show's writers, whose backgrounds were in TV, with science-fiction writers. Her production approach to the show included using fewer special effects than most children's shows used. She applied "the theory that the story such a program tells its kids is more important than trick shots."

Outreach Druce's concern with attitudes about children's programs on radio took her beyond the broadcasting studios. She spoke to legislators and educators on the topic She noted that radio was a business — not a charity — and said that most people did not think about buying products of sponsors whose programs they like. She made similar comments to local groups of the American Association of University Women and to community radio councils.

The Universal Heckler Druce wrote a play, The Universal Heckler, with input from representatives of the New York Committee on Mental Hygiene, the National Committee for Mental Hygiene, and the International Committee for Mental Hygiene. After the play's premiere at the American Orthopsychiatric Association's annual meeting in New York, it was described as a "sound piece of mental hygiene as well as a play of great entertainment value." The Universal Heckler was presented under the auspices of ATW as one of its efforts to produce short plays for events of community service.

After The Universal Heckler was performed five times in the United States, it was presented at the International Congress on Mental Health in London in 1948, which provided the first opportunity for most of the 500 delegates to witness "the theatre used as a media for psychological instruction". When she supervised children's programs, she did not allow use of "murders, blood, loud screams", which she described as "nightmare material" for children.

Druce produced The House of Mystery with an educational purpose in mind. Although its episodes dealt with "ghost stories in the usual suspenseful and exciting style", each episode concluded by demonstrating a rational explanation for seemingly supernatural activities. In one episode, work on an irrigation canal in Haiti ceased because workers feared offending a rain god after some men had "disappeared into what was apparently solid ground". The problem was resolved when the program's hero showed the workers that quicksand — not a rain god — caused the disappearance.