If Gloria Blondell—born in Manhattan, NY on this date in 1910—ever resented living in the shadow of older sister Joan, she rarely displayed any outside bitterness. This is not to say that occasion ...
Happy Birthday, Elvia Allman!(Post)“Speed it up a little!” That unforgettable line of dialogue from the classic I Love Lucy episode “Job Switching”—the one where Lucy and Ethel are working a conveyor belt at a candy factory, and re ...
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, Jim Backus!(Post)He was an actor who did it all: stage, television, movies…and for us fans of the aural medium, plenty of old-time radio. James Gilmore Backus arrived in Cleveland, OH on this date in 1913, and fo ...
Happy Birthday, Bret Morrison!(Post)Although it was often difficult to tell on radio, actor Bret Morrison—born in Chicago on this date in 1912—was considered quite the practitioner of sartorial splendor. (That’s just my fancy way of ...
Happy Birthday, Fanny Brice!(Post)Show business’ original “Funny Girl” was born Fania Borach in New York City on this date in 1891. As Fanny Brice, she dominated the worlds of stage, screen and radio: as a major headliner with the ...
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, Verna Felton!(Post)It’s a bit of a stretch but try to imagine Verna Felton—the actress who appeared on Jack Benny’s radio/TV show as Dennis Day’s mother and later as “Hilda Crocker” on December Bride—as “Baby Felton ...
Happy Birthday, Joseph Kearns!(Post)In the 1950s, with technological strides being embraced by the dying medium of radio, the Columbia Broadcasting System started using Hammond electric organs for “fill music” on their broadcast pro ...
Happy Birthday, Elliott Lewis!(Post)“Elliott Lewis was the greatest actor of them all,” declared veteran radio scribe E. Jack Neuman in an interview with Leonard Maltin. “He could break your heart with a word; his timing was impecca ...
Review: Boston Blackie Booked on Suspicion (1945)(Post)Businessman Arthur Manleder (Lloyd Corrigan) has just acquired a rare book store from owner Wilfred Kittredge (George M. Carleton)…but his investment is in jeopardy when Kittredge takes ill, and h ...
Happy Birthday, Claire Trevor!(Post)On March 24, 1949, actress Claire Trevor—born in Brooklyn, NY on this date in 1910—received one of the highest honors a performer can obtain from their peers in the motion picture industry: an Aca ...