The town of Vincennes, Indiana welcomed Richard Bernard “Red” Skelton into their midst on this date in 1913…and got the best of the bargain, because their favorite son spent most of his show busin ...
Happy Birthday, Anton M. Leader!(Post)Although he was born Anton Morris Leader in Boston, Massachusetts on this date in 1913, Mr. Leader was always informally known as “Tony” to his friends and colleagues. This occasionally results in ...
Happy Birthday, Dean Martin!(Post)“His vocal style was something of a cross between Crosby and Como, mixing with a helping of roguish sexuality that no one, not even Sinatra, could claim,” declares author Michael J. Hayde in his fa ...
Happy Birthday, Boris Karloff!(Post)Born on this date in 1887, William Henry Pratt no doubt had little inkling that he was destined to become a horror film icon and one of the silver screen’s most beloved performers. After being ed ...
Happy Birthday, John Brown!(Post)In the 1949 film The Life of Riley—based on the successful radio situation comedy created by Irving Brecher (who also directed and wrote the silver screen adaptation)—one of the series’ most popul ...
Happy Birthday, Milton Berle!(Post)At the height of his phenomenal fame on television as the star of The Texaco Star Theatre, Milton Berle was the target of a hilarious barb from fellow comedian Joe E. Lewis: “Milton Berle is respo ...
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 ...
Happy Birthday, Jim Backus!(Post)He was an actor who did it all: stage, television, movies…and for us fans of the aural medium, plenty of old-time radio. James Gilmore Backus arrived in Cleveland, OH on this date in 1913, and fo ...
Happy Birthday, Arthur Conan Doyle!(Post)As a medical student at the University of Edinburgh from 1876 through 1881, Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle—born in Edinburgh on this date in 1859—found himself fascinated by an instructor at that sch ...
Happy Birthday, William Gargan!(Post)In 1940, actor William Gargan—born in Brooklyn, NY on this date in 1905—received appreciative tribute from his peers when he was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his portrayal as a ...
Happy Birthday, Mary Lee Robb!(Post)Actress Mary Lee Robb’s first professional radio job in 1947 was a small one. She was hired to play Pearl, the daughter of Abner Peabody (Norris “Tuffy” Goff) on the long-running comedy serial Lu ...
Happy Birthday, Father Patrick Peyton!(Post)“The family that prays together stays together.” It’s a sentiment that we’re all very much familiar with, even if the program that popularized that phrase—Family Theater—may not be as well-known.
Happy Birthday, Humphrey Bogart!(Post)“The young man who embodies the sprig is what is usually and mercifully described as inadequate,” noted legendary critic Alexander Woollcott of an actor’s second appearance on Broadway in 1922 in ...
Happy Birthday, Art Van Harvey!(Post)The actor born Arthur Harvey Van Berschot in Chicago, Illinois on this date in 1883 had much in common with the fictional Victor Rodney Gook, the laid-back patriarch Art played for so many years o ...
Happy Birthday, William N. Robson!(Post)Though September 30, 1962 is often acknowledged as the date when The Golden Age of Radio ended, director-producer-writer William N. Robson had a decidedly different take in an interview with Dick ...
Happy Birthday, Barbara Jean Wong!(Post)It became one of old-time radio’s most cherished traditions. The annual Christmas broadcast of Amos ‘n’ Andy, in which family man Amos Jones tucks his daughter Arbadella into bed on Christma ...