On this date in 1890, actor-comedian Frank Morgan came into this world…born Frances Phillip Wupperman in New York City. The youngest of eleven children (six girls, five boys), the Wupperman family w ...
“Visualize ace counterspy of them all as David Harding…”(Post)On this date in 1942, the man who brought Gang Busters and Mr. District Attorney to radio consoles “added one more jewel to his Triumvirate of Tension,” according to historian Jim Harmon in The Gre ...
Happy Birthday, Groucho Marx!(Post)If comedian Groucho Marx—born Julius Henry Marx in New York City on this date in 1890—had achieved his childhood ambition of becoming a doctor…well, the world would know a little less laughter. F ...
“Who knows…what evil…lurks in the hearts of men…”(Post)My introduction to old-time radio came about in the 1970s, when the “nostalgia boom” was well underway. WOUB, Ohio University’s FM radio station, had a feature that aired every Monday night entitled ...
“Better things for better living, through chemistry…”(Post)A dilemma faced E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, a Wilmington, Delaware firm founded in 1802 as a gunpowder mill. It was that whole gunpowder thing, of which DuPont manufactured plenty during ...
Happy Birthday, Robert Readick!(Post)Actor Frank Readick’s voice is a familiar one to those fans who remember old-time radio--he was one of the busiest thesps in the aural medium, starring on such programs as Smilin’ Jack and Meet Mr ...
“...dedicated to man’s imagination…the theater of the mind…”(Post)From 1936 to 1943—and a brief revival in the 1946-47 season—The Columbia Workshop was the go-to program for experimental radio drama. The series began as an idea by one-time engineer Irving Reis, ...
Happy Birthday, Sir Ralph Richardson!(Post)There’s a hilarious story (possibly apocryphal, so we make no claims as to its accuracy) concerning Sir Ralph Richardson, who was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England on this date in 1902.
Happy Birthday, Bret Morrison!(Post)Although it was often difficult to tell on radio, actor Bret Morrison—born in Chicago on this date in 1912—was considered quite the practitioner of sartorial splendor. (That’s just my fancy way of ...
Happy Birthday, Vincent Price!(Post)If actor Vincent Price—born Vincent Leonard Price, Jr. on this date in St. Louis, Missouri in 1911—had decided to ignore the call of the footlights and pursue honest work, it’s safe to say his fut ...
“Howdee, Straight Shooters! Howdee!”(Post)The man born Thomas Hezikiah Mix in Mix Run, Pennsylvania in 1880 became a Western legend during the 20th century…and he did it using the same good old fashioned skill as Buffalo Bill Cody: salesm ...
Happy Birthday, William Johnstone!(Post)Old-time radio fans know that when Orson Welles made the decision to abandon his role as Lamont Cranston (aka The Shadow) and go on to better things (scaring the daylights out of listeners on Hall ...