The Ravenna, Ohio native born on this date in 1912 had no way of knowing he would take on two acting jobs that would make him a hero to millions of kids glued to both radio and early TV screens.
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 ...
“They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate.” — President Franklin D. Roosevelt(Post)On this date in 1944, the landing operations of the Allied invasion of Normandy got underway in one of the most pivotal battles of World War II. The largest seaborne invasion in history, “Operati ...
Review: The Chance of a Lifetime (1943)(Post)With the manpower shortage during World War II, reformed safecracker-jewel thief Horatio “Boston Blackie” Black (Chester Morris) apparently feels that Rosie the Riveter can’t do it alone in this n ...
Happy Birthday, Frank Lovejoy!(Post)The actor fondly remembered by old-time radio fans as the reporter who covered the “night beat” for the fictional Chicago Star was born on this date in 1912. OTR devotees take pride in being able ...
A birthday valentine to Jack Benny(Post)Today is Valentine’s Day. You’ve been seeing TV commercials for weeks now, and I’ll bet dollars to donuts most of the stores had their Valentine’s Day displays up the day after New Year’s. Every ...
Happy Birthday, Richard Kollmar!(Post)From 1941 to 1949, Columbia Pictures entertained devoted moviegoers with a series of films based on a character created by author Jack Boyle in 1914. The Boston Blackie franchise was comprised of ...
What a revoltin’ anniversary this is!(Post)This past Monday, January 14th, marked the 107th birthday of actor William Bendix…who graced the silver screen during the 1940s/1950s in such movie classics as Wake Island (1942), Lifeboat (1944) ...
Happy Birthday, Morton Fine!(Post)Before embarking on a rewarding career as a radio, television and movie writer, Morton S. Fine—born a Christmas Eve baby in Baltimore, MD on this date in 1916—was a “jack-of-all-trades.” He worked ...
Happy Birthday, Alonzo Deen Cole!(Post)Before radio audiences eagerly anticipated each week the memorably unsettling sound of a creaking door (on Inner Sanctum Mysteries) or an ominous gong signaling that they should dim the lights (Li ...
Happy Birthday, Joan Banks!(Post)In 1949, at the height of the success of radio’s My Friend Irma, actress Cathy Lewis—who originated the character of roommate Jane Stacy on the popular sitcom—was forced to briefly hand over the r ...
Happy Birthday, Lou Merrill!(Post)An item in the September 25, 1939 edition of The Van Nuys News trumpets the motion picture debut of actor Louis Merrill—born in Winnipeg, Canada on this date in 1912. The blurb is a little hyperb ...
Happy Birthday, Ed Gardner!(Post)It was on a short-lived radio series entitled This is New York that comedian Ed Gardner found his creative muse…playing a pugnacious New Yorker who answered to “Archie.” Gardner was the show’s pr ...
Happy Birthday, Eddie “Rochester” Anderson!(Post)On this date in 1905, one of radio and television’s most prized sidekicks was born in Oakland, CA to a family of show business performers. His father, “Big Ed” Anderson, performed in minstrel show ...
Happy Birthday, Herbert Marshall!(Post)The man born Herbert Brough Falcon Marshall on this date in 1890 is revered by classic movie mavens as one of the premiere leading men in motion pictures in the 1930s and 1940s. Marshall graced s ...
Happy Birthday, Ann Sheridan!(Post)In Tinsel Town, she was known as “The Oomph Girl.” Ann Sheridan—born on this date in 1915—loathed the nickname. “Just being known by a nickname indicates that you’re not thought of as a true act ...