“There were many tight-fisted broadcasting officials in the Golden Age of Radio, but probably none more pernicious the George W. Trendle, the owner of WXYZ in Detroit.” So wrote author/Radio Spir ...
Happy Birthday, Penny Singleton!(Post)She had stiff competition for the film role that would make her a household name: actresses Gloria Blondell and Una Merkel had both been approached to breathe life into Blondie, the titular heroin ...
“And now, let’s see what’s going on down in Pine Ridge…”(Post)On this date in 1931, radio listeners paid their first visit to the sleepy little Arkansas hamlet of Pine Ridge to sit around the stove at the general mercantile known as “The Jot ‘Em Down Store.” ...
Happy Birthday, Alonzo Deen Cole!(Post)Before radio audiences eagerly anticipated each week the memorably unsettling sound of a creaking door (on Inner Sanctum Mysteries) or an ominous gong signaling that they should dim the lights (Li ...
Happy Birthday, Blake Edwards!(Post)If I enlisted you into playing a word association game and started the ball rolling by uttering “Blake Edwards”—chances are that you would respond with “Pink Panther”…for it was indeed Edwards who ...
Happy Birthday, Sydney Greenstreet!(Post)Despite appearances in only two dozen films in an eight-year time span, Sydney Hughes Greenstreet—born on this date in 1879—remains one of the motion picture industry’s best-remembered character a ...
Happy Birthday, Jean Vander Pyl!(Post)Universal Pictures brought a live-action version of the classic TV cartoon series The Flintstones to the big screen in 1994 and had the novel idea of casting Jean Vander Pyl (the actress who voice ...
Happy Birthday, Jack Johnstone!(Post)A September 24, 1938 edition of Radio Guide describes a “radio first” executed by actress Alice Frost and Jack Johnstone, the writer-producer of the popular Johnny Presents. The blurb describes ...
Happy Birthday, Eddie “Rochester” Anderson!(Post)On this date in 1905, one of radio and television’s most prized sidekicks was born in Oakland, CA to a family of show business performers. His father, “Big Ed” Anderson, performed in minstrel show ...
“…the bulkiest, balkiest, smartest, most unpredictable detective in the world…”(Post)On this date in 1943, the first of several attempts to introduce radio to one of the most memorable of literary sleuths got underway. Nero Wolfe, the well-upholstered creation of author Rex Stout, ...
Happy Birthday, Damon Runyon!(Post)The Oxford Dictionary defines the term “Runyonesque” as “of, relating to, or characteristic of Damon Runyon or his style, language, or imagery; especially characterized by plot or language suggest ...
Happy Birthday, Jack Moyles!(Post)While attending high school in his native San Francisco, actor Jack Moyles–born on this date in 1913–was quite the athlete, excelling at baseball, football, and tennis. But when he learned that a p ...
“If trouble is around, yours truly will most likely get a chunk of it.”(Post)On this date in 1949, actor Dick Powell whistled his very first rendition of “Leave it to Love” on NBC’s Richard Diamond, Private Detective—a light-hearted radio crime drama that successfully blend ...
Happy Birthday, Lionel Barrymore!(Post)It’s become a true holiday tradition, spending time with Lionel Barrymore–who was born Lionel Herbert Blythe in Philadelphia, PA on this date in 1878. One of Barrymore's iconic film roles was the ...
“Wildroot brings to the air the greatest private detective of them all…”(Post)Shamus devotees would no doubt have an engaging discussion as to whether Samuel Spade was the greatest private detective of them all, but old-time radio fans could probably come to a consensus tha ...
Happy Birthday, Gracie Allen!(Post)She was born Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen on this date in 1895, in “the city by the bay” (San Francisco, CA). Fortunately, to accommodate vaudeville marquees (and future billing in movies, ra ...