On this date in 1942, radio’s best-known omniscient narrator took the first of what would be many strolls by night…and by the time that final curtain was brought down on The Whistler on September ...
Happy Birthday, George W. Trendle!(Post)“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, William Woodson!(Post)Old-time radio devotees can instantly recognize the unmistakable voice of William T. Woodson, born on this date in Glendale, California in 1917. For many years, Woodson was the individual who info ...
Happy Birthday, Alfred Hitchcock!(Post)It was a story that he frequently told in interviews: when Sir Alfred Hitchcock was only five years old, his father (who referred to his son as a “little lamb without a spot”) sent him to the loca ...
Happy Birthday, Les Damon!(Post)Lester Joseph Damon—born in Providence, RI on this date in 1908—was memorably described by my Radio Spirits colleague Elizabeth McLeod as “the prototype of the radio actor on the go.” From his ea ...
Happy Birthday, Portland Hoffa!(Post)It pains me to have to say this…but I have heard from many an old-time radio devotee that Portland Hoffa—born on this date in 1905—is an acquired taste. Her trademark high-pitched voice as husban ...
Happy Birthday, Edward G. Robinson!(Post)To start off our birthday tribute today…a bit of trivia: the “G” in actor Edward G. Robinson’s name stands for “Goldenberg”—for Eddie G. was born Emanuel Goldenberg in Bucharest, Romania one hundr ...
“The first man they look for, and the last they want to meet…”(Post)John William Cahn, Jr. was born on this date in 1920 in Lexington, Kentucky. He’s better known by his stage name, William Conrad. He remains a favorite among old-time radio fans for his incredib ...
Happy Birthday, Edmond O’Brien!(Post)Born 101 years ago on this date in New York City, Redmond O’Brien would go on to become one of the movies’ most beloved and respected character actors…after dropping the “r” in the first part of h ...
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 ...
Happy Birthday, Bing Crosby!(Post)At one time in the 1940s, the man born Harry Lillis “Bing” Crosby, Jr. in Tacoma, Washington on this date in 1903 was the top-selling recording star…the number-one box office attraction…and the mo ...
Happy Birthday, Benita Hume!(Post)When Jack Benny and his writers concocted the script that would introduce actor Ronald Colman as Jack’s “next door neighbor” on The Jack Benny Program, the writers’ first inclination was to hire a ...