On this date in 1935, bandleader Oswald George Nelson (we know him as “Ozzie Nelson”) tied the knot with Peggy Sue Snyder (we know her as “Harriet Hilliard”), the female vocalist that he hired for ...
Review: One Mysterious Night (1944)(Post)It costs only a dollar—1/100th of a C-note—to gaze at a display of precious gems at the Carleton Plaza Hotel, an event that’s fundraising for the war effort…and that features the Blue Star of the ...
Happy Birthday, Kenny Delmar!(Post)The man born in Boston, Massachusetts on this date in 1910 would soon make a big name for himself as the long-winded stooge for a well-known radio comedian who also had roots in the Boston-Cambrid ...
“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 ...
Happy Birthday, Eleanor Audley!(Post)The epitaph on the headstone adorning the final resting place of actress Eleanor Audley reads: “A Kind Friend to All.” And while it’s undeniably true that Audley—born Eleanor Zellman on this date ...
Happy Birthday, Rosa Rio!(Post)In Leonard Maltin’s old-time radio memoir The Great American Broadcast, veteran announcer Jackson Beck recalled a most amusing anecdote involving today’s birthday celebrant. “There was a time Ros ...
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 ...
The Man Who Taught America How to Sing(Post)The small town of Tyrone, Pennsylvania added Fredrick Malcolm Waring to its population on this date in 1909—of course, Fredrick would shorten his name to the friendlier “Fred,” and during his teenage ...
Review: Boston Blackie Goes Hollywood (1942)(Post)Though the title of the fourth entry in Columbia’s Boston Blackie series—which stars Chester Morris as reformed safecracker/jewel thief Horatio Black, the hero created by pulp fiction author Jack ...
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 ...
Happy Birthday, Harold Peary!(Post)Fans of old-time radio might get a kick out of watching an old Perry Mason rerun, “The Case of the Lover’s Gamble,” which turns up on Me-TV every now and then. At the risk of spoiling the ending, t ...
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, Janet Waldo!(Post)One of old-time radio’s true blue veterans—not to mention one of the preeminent voice artists of any generation—celebrates her 89th birthday today, having been born on this date in 1924. Janet Wa ...
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.
“C’mon folks, these are the jokes!”(Post)Mention “Milton Berle” to any baby boomer and chances are they’ll immediately think of the frenzied mirthmaker who entertained audiences Tuesday nights, in the newly inaugurated Golden Age of Tele ...
Happy Birthday, Tol Avery!(Post)Actors, when they’re very lucky, concentrate on their chief profession: acting. The less fortunate thesps, however, often have to have a sideline to ensure there are groceries in the pantry on a r ...