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 ...
The Older-And-No-Wiser Matter(Post)He picked up the receiver on the first ring of the phone. “Johnny Dollar.”“Johnny? Pat McCracken, Universal Adjustment Bureau…”“Pat, if this is about an assignment…I’m going to have to take a rain ...
Happy Birthday, Arthur Conan Doyle!(Post)As a medical student at the University of Edinburgh from 1876 through 1881, Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle—born in Edinburgh on this date in 1859—found himself fascinated by an instructor at that sch ...
Happy Birthday, Lesley Woods!(Post)Actress Lesley Woods is described in author Jim Cox’s compendium The Great Radio Soap Operas as someone who “made a career out of playing mean-spirited first wives” in the world of daytime drama.
“…there you will find…The Man Called X!”(Post)Before his long, distinguished career as a stage and motion picture actor, Herbert Marshall embarked on a variety of jobs (including accounting) that led up to his enlisting in the first World War ...
Happy Birthday, Minerva Pious!(Post)The legendary Fred Allen had words of high praise in his book Treadmill to Oblivion for long-time Fred Allen Show regular Minerva Pious, who was born on this date in either 1903 (according to most ...
Happy Birthday, Ona Munson!(Post)The effort to cast the motion picture adaptation of Margaret Mitchell’s classic novel Gone with the Wind is almost as epic as the content itself. For the role of madam Belle Watling, producer Dav ...
Happy Birthday, Paul McGrath!(Post)On May 29, 1945, radio’s popular Inner Sanctum Mysteries welcomed inside “the creaking door” a new host to replace the departing Raymond Edward Johnson. The new master of ceremonies who welcomed ...
Happy Birthday, Artie Auerbach!(Post)It was a cold January day in 1946 when Jack Benny, attending the Rose Bowl game, made the acquaintance of a hot dog salesman who enthusiastically peddled his wares with a cry of “Pickle in the mid ...
Happy Birthday, Charles Farrell!(Post)Unless you’re like me and have turned all of your extracurricular activity hours over to watching endless episodes of TV reruns, the name of actor Charles Farrell might not be an immediately famil ...
Happy Birthday, Barry Sullivan!(Post)When actor Barry Sullivan—born Patrick Barry Sullivan in 1912 on this date in New York City—was approached to star in Harbourmaster, a television series from the prolific Ziv studios, he had one q ...
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 ...
Happy Birthday, Staats Cotsworth!(Post)A newspaper man once referred to actor Staats Cotsworth—born in Oak Park, Illinois on this date in 1908—as “the Clark Gable of radio.” It was one of several nicknames Cotsworth would acquire duri ...
Happy Birthday, Bill Thompson!(Post)When he was five years old, actor Bill Thompson lost his voice campaigning around the country selling Liberty bonds (America had just entered World War I). Now, if you’ve ever listened to a broad ...
Happy Birthday, Edward Arnold!(Post)Here’s a tidbit of interesting trivia for classic movie fans: you know character great Edward Arnold as the personification of fat cat businessmen in many a vintage film, notably the Frank Capra-d ...
Happy birthday, Arch Oboler!(Post)My introduction to the man born on this date in 1909 goes all the way back to 1982. In listening to a local public radio station while attending college at Huntington, West Virginia’s Marshall Un ...