Word: finney
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...Hollywood's top stars looked down on a spotlighted auction ring for a notable equine event. On the block was the first lot of thoroughbreds from Cinemogul Louis B. Mayer's famed stable. As the sale began, L.B. jokingly whispered in the ear of Announcer Humphrey S. Finney: "I found Clark Gable as an extra and converted him into the biggest thing in pictures. Now I'm going to convert Finney into the biggest salesman in the horse business...
Thanks to the sale's Hollywood-like showmanship, prices soared to unheard-of highs; Harry Warner paid $200,000 for Stepfather and $135,000 for Honeymoon. In that and four subsequent sales, the Mayer horses were sold for $4,500,000, the biggest sum ever racked up by Finney' as announcer (i.e., sale manager) for New York's Fasig-Tipton...
Last week Mayer's predictions came true. As control of Fasig-Tipton Co., the biggest private auctioneer in the horse business, passed to new owners,* Humphrey Finney became executive vice president and general manager. He will continue as announcer (an official who works with an auctioneer at horse sales...
Announcer Finney works as a teammate with Auctioneer George Swinebroad, a 51-year-old veteran who can sniff out a bid almost before the buyer has made up his own mind. Finney is the master of purple prose, Swinebroad the maker of split-second decisions with the hammer...
...Race. In warming up his audience with a description of a horse, Finney speaks slowly and distinctly, well aware that'many of the older members of the audience may be deaf and that the younger bloods, like as not, have just had four or five Martinis. Often when the bids hang after a quick runup, Finney interrupts the proceedings with a little spice. "Come on, gentlemen," he will say, "you're surely not going to let this fine horse go for only $7,500. Why, this filly is worth twice as much as the bid, just to breed...