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 ...
Happy Birthday, Joseph Kearns!(Post)In the 1950s, with technological strides being embraced by the dying medium of radio, the Columbia Broadcasting System started using Hammond electric organs for “fill music” on their broadcast pro ...
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 ...
Review: Alias Boston Blackie (1942)(Post)It’s Christmas Eve, and reformed safecracker Horatio “Boston Blackie” Black (Chester Morris) has arranged for a vaudeville troupe to entertain the prisoners at his “alma mater” in the spirit of fe ...
”Stories start in many different ways…”(Post)Habitual old-time radio listeners have no difficulty identifying their favorite actors and actresses; while some radio thesps possessed the talent to disguise their voices in the roles they were a ...
Review: Boston Blackie’s Chinese Venture (1949)(Post)No sooner has Horatio “Boston Blackie” Black (Chester Morris) dropped off a bundle of dirty clothes to his laundryman, Charley Wu, when frenemy Inspector Farraday (Richard Lane) wants a few answer ...
“…the courage, the devotion, the adventure of love…all strung on the bright thread of…Romance!”(Post)On the subject of the Golden Age of Radio, one word frequently comes to mind: versatility. Its dramatic shows often presented tales well-calculated to keep you in…Suspense! (If you listened to Bob ...
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 ...
A (Birth)Day in the Life of Dennis Day(Post)Shortly after its premiere in 1932, The Jack Benny Program started a tradition of featuring tenor vocalists to entertain during the musical portions of the show. James Melton, Frank Parker, and M ...
Happy Birthday, Shirley Temple!(Post)There’s a classic Jack Benny Show telecast from the 1960s (but really…aren’t they all classics?) where Jack, having ordered a “Shirley Temple” (a non-alcoholic drink made with ginger ale and grena ...
Happy Birthday, Andy Devine!(Post)Actors Andy Devine and Broderick Crawford enthusiastically participated in their own stunts during the filming the 1940 Western When the Daltons Rode. One particular stunt almost sent Crawford to ...
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 ...
“...the happiest, merriest married couple in radio…”(Post)According to an anecdote in Leonard Maltin’s The Great American Broadcast, director-producer Himan Brown (who would later make his name frightening audiences with the successful radio program Inne ...
“Dad-rat the dad-ratted…”(Post)On this date in 1940, one of radio’s best-remembered running gags was introduced…and it was as simple as opening up a closet door. The March 5, 1940 broadcast of The Johnson Wax Program with Fibbe ...
“I get ten a day and expenses…they call me the Lyon’s Eye.”(Post)During his stint at San Francisco’s KGO in the mid-1940s, John Randolph “Jack” Webb earned his initial radio bona fides as the star of Pat Novak for Hire, a West Coast crime drama whose adherence ...
“…the official broadcast from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation…”(Post)Author Frederick Lewis Collins’ book The FBI in Peace and War became such a huge best seller in 1943 that a radio adaptation premiered the following fall. The series was created by Louis Pelletier ...