When “the Golden Age of Radio” came to what many recognize as its official end on September 30, 1962—there were only two major network dramatic offerings left standing. One was Yours Truly, Johnny ...
Happy Birthday, Hans Conried!(Post)The man born Hans Georg Conried, Jr. on this date in 1917 in Baltimore, Maryland is described by author Leonard Maltin in his book The Great American Broadcast as “one of the most prolific perform ...
Happy Birthday, Herbert Marshall!(Post)The man born Herbert Brough Falcon Marshall on this date in 1890 is revered by classic movie mavens as one of the premiere leading men in motion pictures in the 1930s and 1940s. Marshall graced s ...
Happy Birthday, Tony Barrett!(Post)An item in a November 1945 edition of Radio Mirror will give you an idea of just how busy the actor born Martin Lefkowitz on this date in New York City in 1916 was in the aural medium. As Tony Bar ...
“Out of the fog…out of the night…”(Post)It was on this date in 1941 that Captain Hugh “Bulldog” Drummond began what the announcer referred to as “his American adventures” on Mutual Radio. The need to stress “American adventures” stems f ...
Happy Birthday, Paula Winslowe!(Post)The untimely death of “platinum blonde” Jean Harlow at the age of 26 was devastating news to moviegoers…but since the motion picture business is a business, MGM (Harlow’s employer) soldiered on by ...
Happy Birthday, Nigel Bruce!(Post)If we can suggest a word association exercise for the old-time radio devotees and classic movie fans who drop by the blog on occasion…what would be the first thought to come to mind upon the menti ...
The Secret of the Whistler (1946) – “…who have stepped into the shadows…”(Post)In the sixth entry of Columbia’s popular Whistler film franchise—based on the CBS West Coast mystery program sponsored by Signal Oil—series star Richard Dix essays the role of Ralph Harrison, a ta ...
Happy Birthday, W.C. Fields!(Post)One of the funniest men to ever walk this planet was born one hundred and thirty-five years ago on this date; his birth name was William Claude Dukenfield, but modern audiences know him as W.C. Fi ...
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, Jack Webb!(Post)The infamous poaching of radio stars from NBC—known to old-time radio fans as the “talent raids”—was perpetrated by rival CBS. They seduced big names like Jack Benny, Red Skelton, and Amos & An ...
Happy Birthday, Phil Harris!(Post)The man who let audiences know what he liked about the South was born in Linton, Indiana on this date in 1904. Whenever wife Alice Faye would jokingly refer to him as “Wonga” on their popular radi ...