1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,360 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Menkey's Cabinet of Curiosity is a production 2 00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:13,560 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world 3 00:00:13,760 --> 00:00:17,360 Speaker 1: is full of the unexplainable, and if history is an 4 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:20,880 Speaker 1: open book, all of these amazing tales are right there 5 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:26,920 Speaker 1: on display, just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to 6 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:36,800 Speaker 1: the Cabinet of Curiosities. What makes a great spy? In 7 00:00:36,840 --> 00:00:40,240 Speaker 1: the movies, it's someone sexy or suave, who can blend 8 00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:42,240 Speaker 1: in with a crowd or win a pile of money 9 00:00:42,280 --> 00:00:45,400 Speaker 1: at baccarat. It's the person who has no family waiting 10 00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:47,640 Speaker 1: at home and can dash off to Europe or the 11 00:00:47,640 --> 00:00:50,200 Speaker 1: Middle East as soon as their country calls them to duty. 12 00:00:50,720 --> 00:00:53,880 Speaker 1: In reality, spies aren't like the movies at all, and 13 00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:56,960 Speaker 1: throughout history they have come from the unlikeliest of places. 14 00:00:57,440 --> 00:01:01,200 Speaker 1: In his autobiography, Confessions of a Danger Risk Mind game 15 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:04,240 Speaker 1: show host and creator Chuck Barris claimed to have been 16 00:01:04,319 --> 00:01:08,040 Speaker 1: an assassin for the CIA during the nineteen sixties and seventies. 17 00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:13,480 Speaker 1: Moburg was another unexpected spy. The third child of Bernard 18 00:01:13,520 --> 00:01:16,480 Speaker 1: and Roseberg, Moe grew up in Harlem in New York City. 19 00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:19,240 Speaker 1: Around nineteen o two, when he was almost four, he 20 00:01:19,319 --> 00:01:22,160 Speaker 1: started playing catch with the neighborhood policeman who would patrol 21 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:24,680 Speaker 1: his block. Of course, he didn't want to spend all 22 00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:27,440 Speaker 1: his time playing with grown ups, so Berg asked his 23 00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:31,520 Speaker 1: mother if he could go to school with other children instead. 24 00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:34,120 Speaker 1: His family moved out of Harlem just across the river 25 00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:37,399 Speaker 1: to Newark, New Jersey. His father had bought a pharmacy there, 26 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:40,840 Speaker 1: starting a new chapter of their lives. Berg did eventually 27 00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:44,000 Speaker 1: attend school, and he was a modest student, but his 28 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:47,039 Speaker 1: passion was split between his studies and the sirens call 29 00:01:47,200 --> 00:01:51,040 Speaker 1: of baseball. From his time on his high school's nineteen 30 00:01:51,160 --> 00:01:54,840 Speaker 1: eighteen dream team to his championship winning years at Princeton, 31 00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:58,720 Speaker 1: Berg became an all star player. However, they weren't playing 32 00:01:58,760 --> 00:02:01,280 Speaker 1: baseball in the war, and Burg was more than just 33 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:06,520 Speaker 1: a talented athlete. He also studied seven languages, including Greek, Sanskrit, 34 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:09,880 Speaker 1: and German. His mind made him a valuable asset to 35 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:13,720 Speaker 1: American intelligence agencies. He was tasked with gathering photos of 36 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:17,120 Speaker 1: enemy territories for the US, after which he was stationed 37 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:19,480 Speaker 1: in South America to keep an eye on how American 38 00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:22,720 Speaker 1: troops were faring there. With no clear threat coming from 39 00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:25,360 Speaker 1: that part of the World, Berg was moved once again, 40 00:02:25,880 --> 00:02:29,079 Speaker 1: this time to the Office of Strategic Services, which would 41 00:02:29,120 --> 00:02:33,600 Speaker 1: eventually evolve into the United States Central Intelligence Agency the CIA. 42 00:02:34,320 --> 00:02:38,560 Speaker 1: Berg helped plan paramilitary operations in Yugoslavia, as well as 43 00:02:38,600 --> 00:02:42,040 Speaker 1: the abduction of Italian rocket scientists on a mission known 44 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:45,640 Speaker 1: as Project Larson. In fact, he spent much of his 45 00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:48,880 Speaker 1: middle years traveling the world, jumping out of planes and 46 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:53,040 Speaker 1: persuading nuclear physicists to defect from their countries and build 47 00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:56,560 Speaker 1: bombs for the United States. Though despite his brilliant mind 48 00:02:56,600 --> 00:02:59,880 Speaker 1: and charming personality, this spy didn't get his start in 49 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:03,400 Speaker 1: government work during World War One. He volunteered after the 50 00:03:03,480 --> 00:03:06,840 Speaker 1: Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in nineteen forty one, the 51 00:03:06,919 --> 00:03:10,720 Speaker 1: start of America's involvements in World War Two. So what 52 00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:13,720 Speaker 1: did the man in his forties who studied seven languages 53 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:18,320 Speaker 1: do before the war? Why play baseball? Of course. Recent 54 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:21,400 Speaker 1: college graduate mo Burgh signed up with the Brooklyn Robbins 55 00:03:21,440 --> 00:03:24,840 Speaker 1: in June of nineteen three, almost ten years before they 56 00:03:24,840 --> 00:03:27,840 Speaker 1: would change their name to the Brooklyn Dodgers. He played 57 00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:30,480 Speaker 1: one season with the Robbins, then moved to Paris, where 58 00:03:30,480 --> 00:03:34,000 Speaker 1: he attended over thirty classes at the Sorbonne. Along the way, 59 00:03:34,040 --> 00:03:37,320 Speaker 1: he developed a strict routine of reading ten newspapers a day, 60 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:40,360 Speaker 1: from first page to last. Though he loved baseball, it 61 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:42,880 Speaker 1: was not his main focus. He spent much of his 62 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:45,800 Speaker 1: time touring Europe while his teammates began training for the 63 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:49,840 Speaker 1: next season, and the Robins manager Wilbert Robinson took notice. 64 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:52,440 Speaker 1: Burg wasn't much of a hitter anyway, so he was 65 00:03:52,520 --> 00:03:55,840 Speaker 1: moved to the Minneapolis Miller's, then to the Toledo mud Hens, 66 00:03:56,080 --> 00:03:58,680 Speaker 1: until finally the Chicago White Sox took him on as 67 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:02,000 Speaker 1: a catcher in nineteen twenty six, and Berg refused to 68 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:04,040 Speaker 1: give up the kind of life he'd grown accustomed to. 69 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:06,520 Speaker 1: He told his new owners that he wouldn't start with 70 00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:08,880 Speaker 1: the team until May, as he had to finish his 71 00:04:08,960 --> 00:04:13,280 Speaker 1: first year of Columbia Law school. Ever, the overachiever, it seems, 72 00:04:14,080 --> 00:04:16,320 Speaker 1: they offered him a bigger paycheck the following year if 73 00:04:16,360 --> 00:04:18,880 Speaker 1: he would abandoned law school and attend spring training with 74 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:22,240 Speaker 1: the rest of the team. Berg refused, punished for his 75 00:04:22,320 --> 00:04:24,919 Speaker 1: decision by spending much of the next season on the bench. 76 00:04:25,400 --> 00:04:27,960 Speaker 1: It wasn't until an August game against the Yankees when 77 00:04:27,960 --> 00:04:31,039 Speaker 1: he finally got his chance to shine as catcher. He 78 00:04:31,080 --> 00:04:33,839 Speaker 1: went up against the heaviest hitters of the time, including 79 00:04:33,880 --> 00:04:37,239 Speaker 1: Babe Ruth and Lou Garrig. His performance from that point 80 00:04:37,279 --> 00:04:39,279 Speaker 1: on helped him earn a spot as the White Sox 81 00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:44,160 Speaker 1: starting catcher. Unsurprisingly, as his sports career continued to trend upward, 82 00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:48,159 Speaker 1: his legal education suffered. He did not graduate with his 83 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:51,320 Speaker 1: class in ninete, but he did pass the bar exam 84 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:54,000 Speaker 1: in New York and earned his law degree the following year. 85 00:04:54,880 --> 00:04:58,080 Speaker 1: Berg continued to play ball until the late nineteen thirties, 86 00:04:58,240 --> 00:05:00,800 Speaker 1: ending his career with the Boston Red Side. He went 87 00:05:00,880 --> 00:05:04,160 Speaker 1: on radio game shows where he demonstrated his intelligence, and 88 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:07,760 Speaker 1: he helped his country win World War Two. Sadly, Berg 89 00:05:07,880 --> 00:05:10,320 Speaker 1: didn't do much after the war. He lived with his 90 00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:12,919 Speaker 1: siblings and was asked to write a memoir about his 91 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:16,480 Speaker 1: time as both and athletes and a spy. He declined. 92 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:20,200 Speaker 1: Moburg died in a hospital bed in New Jersey in 93 00:05:20,279 --> 00:05:23,360 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy two. The nurse who had been attending him 94 00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:26,520 Speaker 1: recalled his last words as being, how did the Mets 95 00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:31,279 Speaker 1: do today? For those wondering they won? Just in case 96 00:05:31,520 --> 00:05:46,159 Speaker 1: you are curious, As we move up in the world, 97 00:05:46,320 --> 00:05:49,400 Speaker 1: it's important to remember where we came from, our roots, 98 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:52,680 Speaker 1: the people who raised us and shaped our lives. For many, 99 00:05:52,800 --> 00:05:55,560 Speaker 1: those people might be our parents. For others, they could 100 00:05:55,640 --> 00:06:00,320 Speaker 1: be an uncle's grandparents or neighbors. For Archie Leech, all 101 00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:02,880 Speaker 1: he had to do was look down from the top 102 00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:06,560 Speaker 1: of his stilts. Archie was born in Bristol, England, in 103 00:06:06,640 --> 00:06:10,080 Speaker 1: nineteen o four. His father, Elias, worked at a clothing factory, 104 00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:13,160 Speaker 1: and his mother, Elsie, made ends meet as a seamstress. 105 00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:15,360 Speaker 1: He also had an older brother who had died of 106 00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:19,760 Speaker 1: tuberculosis before he was born. Archie had a rough childhood 107 00:06:19,800 --> 00:06:22,520 Speaker 1: growing up and avoided his father, who tended to drink 108 00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:25,599 Speaker 1: to excess. His domineering mother, on the other hand, pushed 109 00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:28,360 Speaker 1: him toward the arts. She sometimes took him to the movies, 110 00:06:28,440 --> 00:06:31,480 Speaker 1: where he'd stare up at the slapstick antics of Charlie 111 00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:34,880 Speaker 1: Chaplin or the death defying feats of Buster Keaton. He 112 00:06:35,080 --> 00:06:38,919 Speaker 1: cherished those moments a break from his otherwise melancholy life. 113 00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:42,560 Speaker 1: When he wasn't in school or at the cinema, Elsie 114 00:06:42,640 --> 00:06:45,560 Speaker 1: made him take piano lessons. She had been suffering from 115 00:06:45,600 --> 00:06:48,400 Speaker 1: clinical depression since the death of her first son, A 116 00:06:48,480 --> 00:06:51,880 Speaker 1: condition she'd never gotten treatment for, and so it festered 117 00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:56,200 Speaker 1: inside her, slowly destroying her relationship with Archie. Though deep 118 00:06:56,200 --> 00:06:58,800 Speaker 1: down she loved her son, she had trouble showing it. 119 00:06:59,279 --> 00:07:02,120 Speaker 1: Later in life. Archie believed her behavior stemmed from a 120 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:04,800 Speaker 1: fear of losing him, as she had with her firstborn. 121 00:07:05,720 --> 00:07:09,040 Speaker 1: Mr Leach admitted Elsie to a mental facility when Archie 122 00:07:09,080 --> 00:07:11,320 Speaker 1: was just nine years old. He told his son that 123 00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:14,360 Speaker 1: his mother was away on what he called a long holiday, 124 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:17,960 Speaker 1: one she would never come back from. Archie's already strained 125 00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:21,560 Speaker 1: relationship with his mother was destroyed by her sudden vacation, 126 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:24,040 Speaker 1: and when it was reported that she had died, he 127 00:07:24,160 --> 00:07:27,600 Speaker 1: was unable to get the closure he desperately needed. It 128 00:07:27,640 --> 00:07:30,520 Speaker 1: wasn't until his father was on his deathbed years later 129 00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:34,600 Speaker 1: when he finally learned the truth Elsie was still alive. 130 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:38,280 Speaker 1: As Archie got older, he returned to the one place 131 00:07:38,320 --> 00:07:43,200 Speaker 1: he felt safe, the arts, specifically the theater. By nineteen seventeen, 132 00:07:43,280 --> 00:07:45,920 Speaker 1: he was working in theaters all over Bristol as a 133 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:49,040 Speaker 1: production assistant. Though he'd been a smart student, he had 134 00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:52,560 Speaker 1: gotten expelled from school for getting caught in the girl's bathroom. 135 00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:55,240 Speaker 1: Not to worry though Archie had a plan. He had 136 00:07:55,280 --> 00:07:58,400 Speaker 1: become friendly with the troop of acrobatic dancers known as 137 00:07:58,400 --> 00:08:01,720 Speaker 1: the Penders thanks to his time working in theater. He 138 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:05,320 Speaker 1: had no intention of continuing his education. Instead, he wanted 139 00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:08,040 Speaker 1: to be a performer, and Bob Pender was only too 140 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:11,480 Speaker 1: happy to oblige. So Archie's father, Elias, worked out a 141 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:14,160 Speaker 1: deal with Mr. Pender, who would take Archie under his 142 00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:17,280 Speaker 1: wing and train him as a stilt walker. He teach 143 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:20,239 Speaker 1: him how to dance, provide room and board while on tour, 144 00:08:20,520 --> 00:08:24,160 Speaker 1: and pay him for his performances. By nineteen twenty, Archie 145 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:26,760 Speaker 1: and the Penders had made the jump from small English 146 00:08:26,840 --> 00:08:30,120 Speaker 1: playhouses to the New York Hippodrome. The venue could hold 147 00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:33,480 Speaker 1: almost six thousand people who filled the seats twelve times 148 00:08:33,480 --> 00:08:35,760 Speaker 1: a week for nearly a year to watch Archie and 149 00:08:35,800 --> 00:08:40,160 Speaker 1: the Pender's leap and dance across the stage. That was 150 00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:43,120 Speaker 1: the young leeches introduction to the world of vaudeville. For 151 00:08:43,160 --> 00:08:45,720 Speaker 1: the next several years, he toured with different groups in 152 00:08:45,760 --> 00:08:49,040 Speaker 1: places like St. Louis and Cleveland. It wasn't long before 153 00:08:49,040 --> 00:08:52,760 Speaker 1: he was starting in major Broadway productions and getting noticed too. 154 00:08:53,160 --> 00:08:55,360 Speaker 1: The next logical step for the up and coming actor 155 00:08:55,800 --> 00:09:00,120 Speaker 1: was a jump from the stage to the screen. He 156 00:09:00,160 --> 00:09:02,280 Speaker 1: did a screen test for Paramount, which led to a 157 00:09:02,360 --> 00:09:05,679 Speaker 1: studio contract pain four hundred and fifty dollars a week. 158 00:09:06,080 --> 00:09:09,960 Speaker 1: There was just one problem. His name, Archibald Leach, wasn't 159 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:13,120 Speaker 1: going to draw people to the movies. Paramount manager B. P. 160 00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:16,880 Speaker 1: Schulberg told him to change it to something more all American, 161 00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:20,559 Speaker 1: and so Archie, borrowing a page from Gary Cooper, came 162 00:09:20,640 --> 00:09:23,040 Speaker 1: up with the perfect name, one that would grace the 163 00:09:23,080 --> 00:09:26,680 Speaker 1: pages of magazines and newspapers for years to come. The 164 00:09:26,760 --> 00:09:30,079 Speaker 1: star of Bringing Up Baby and His Girl Friday would 165 00:09:30,080 --> 00:09:33,280 Speaker 1: no longer go by Archie Leech from Bristol. He would 166 00:09:33,320 --> 00:09:39,760 Speaker 1: be forever immortalized as Carrie Grant. I hope you've enjoyed 167 00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:43,520 Speaker 1: today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for 168 00:09:43,600 --> 00:09:46,360 Speaker 1: free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show 169 00:09:46,440 --> 00:09:51,440 Speaker 1: by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created 170 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:54,800 Speaker 1: by me Aaron Manky in partnership with How Stuff Works. 171 00:09:55,200 --> 00:09:58,360 Speaker 1: I make another award winning show called Lore, which is 172 00:09:58,440 --> 00:10:01,840 Speaker 1: a podcast, book series, end television show, and you can 173 00:10:01,920 --> 00:10:04,280 Speaker 1: learn all about it over at the World of Lore. 174 00:10:04,520 --> 00:10:11,640 Speaker 1: Dot com and until next time, stay curious yeah h