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 ...
Happy Birthday, Henry Fonda!(Post)For actor Henry Fonda, the old “third time’s the charm” idiom certainly rang true in 1982. He was recognized by his peers at the Academy Awards ceremony that year and awarded the Best Actor in a L ...
“Lights out…everybody!”(Post)In the early years of Radio’s Golden Age, those individuals who worked in radio discovered fairly quickly that the medium was ideal for presenting horror tales—listeners reveled in stories guarant ...
Happy birthday, Gale Gordon!(Post)If you were to go to a dictionary to look up the meaning of the term “foil” as it relates to comedy—dollars to donuts says it would be accompanied by a picture of Gale Gordon, born on this date in ...
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 ...
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, Marvin Miller!(Post)Though his show business career of nearly half-a-century extended to radio, TV, and motion pictures, the actor-announcer born Marvin Elliott Mueller in St. Louis, Missouri on this date in 1913 is ...
Happy Birthday, Lionel Stander!(Post)Lionel Stander, the character actor best remembered by fans as chief-cook-and-bottle-washer Max on the TV detective drama Hart to Hart, also had a lengthy radio career—notably playing “stooge” to ...
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, Fran Carlon!(Post)Actress Fran Carlon—born in Indianapolis, Indiana on this date in 1913—was married to actor-announcer Casey Allen for many years. The couple even occasionally worked together on radio programs lik ...
Happy Birthday, Claude Rains!(Post)Claude Rains—born William Claude Rains in Clapham, London, England on this date in 1889—made his American film debut in one of the classic Universal Pictures horror films of the 1930s: The Invisib ...
Happy Birthday, Jim Jordan!(Post)During my formative nostalgia years, my sisters and I rarely went to the movies unless there was a “G” rating attached and “Disney” mentioned somewhere in the credits. We saw all the new Disney f ...
Happy Birthday, Louise Erickson!(Post)Actress Louise Erickson—born in Oakland, California on this date in 1928—becomes a nonagenarian today…and we at Radio Spirits couldn’t be more excited about celebrating the occasion. In the 1940s ...
The Honeymoon’s Not Over(Post)For a show that had a relatively short life on radio and television, The Bickersons has maintained a dominating presence in American pop culture. We use the term “Ozzie & Harriet” to describe a w ...
”The only national program that brings you authentic police case histories…”(Post)Radio’s resident “crime buster” was inarguably director-producer-writer Philips H. Lord, who gravitated to creating crime-themed programs. Perhaps the fate met by his first success over the airwav ...
Happy Birthday, Herb Vigran!(Post)The man born Herbert (some sources spell it “Herburt”) Vigran in Cincinnati, Ohio on this date in 1910 would become one of show business’ most distinctive character actors. His easily recognize ...