One of the funniest men to ever walk this planet was born one hundred and thirty-five years ago on this date; his birth name was William Claude Dukenfield, but modern audiences know him as W.C. Fi ...
Happy Birthday, Charlie Cantor!(Post)The actor best known for making his weekly entrance on Duffy’s Tavern with a cheery “Duhhh…hello, Arch!” was born on this date in Worchester, MA in 1898. Charles “Charlie” Cantor was radio’s most ...
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, Mary Livingstone!(Post)Today’s birthday girl was born Sadye Marks 109 years ago on this date in Seattle, Washington—the daughter of newly arrived Jewish immigrants from Romania. Much of her childhood, however, was spent ...
The Never-Ending Battle for Truth, Justice and the American Way(Post)The Man of Steel made his comic book debut in Action Comics on April 18, 1938, and less than a year later (in January of 1939), the costumed superhero creation of Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster wou ...
Happy Birthday, William Johnstone!(Post)Old-time radio fans know that when Orson Welles made the decision to abandon his role as Lamont Cranston (aka The Shadow) and go on to better things (scaring the daylights out of listeners on Hall ...
Happy Birthday, William Johnstone!(Post)Old-time radio fans know that when Orson Welles made the decision to abandon his role as Lamont Cranston (aka The Shadow) and go on to better things (scaring the daylights out of listeners on Hall ...
“…the stars’ own theatre…”(Post)The glamour of the motion picture industry often disguised an uncomfortable truth—that it was an enterprise that rarely had any further use for those movie colony individuals who had fallen on ha ...
Happy Birthday, Eddie Green!(Post)If what I’m hearing are the familiar strains of “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling”—then we’ve apparently stumbled into old-time radio’s most famous watering hole, Duffy’s Tavern:ARCHIE: Eddie, uh…get me ...
Happy Birthday, Brian Donlevy!(Post)With the competition from that problem child called television and the government-enforced breakup of their production and distribution monopolies, the motion picture industry started to take a fi ...
Review: Radio Stars on Parade (1945)(Post)Effervescent chanteuse Sally Baker (Frances Langford) is a success at a nightclub owned by racketeer Lucky Maddox (Sheldon Leonard)—but when Maddox’s attentions start to drift towards a more amoro ...
Happy Birthday, Bob Bailey!(Post)Robert Bainter Bailey was born in Toledo, OH on this date in 1913. Though some would argue he never fulfilled his ambition to become a motion picture star, old-time radio fans will trump that card ...
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, 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, Ralph Bell!(Post)It would be no exaggeration to state that the actor born Ralph Scognamiglio in New Jersey (though sources also state his place of birth as New York City) on this date in 1915 had a lifelong love a ...
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.