“The young man who embodies the sprig is what is usually and mercifully described as inadequate,” noted legendary critic Alexander Woollcott of an actor’s second appearance on Broadway in 1922 in ...
Happy Birthday, Tommy Cook!(Post)One night in 1941, child actor Tommy Cook was determined to see the Republic cliffhanger serial Jungle Girl. You see, he had a part in that motion picture as a native boy, Kimbu, so he stealthily ...
Happy Birthday, Don Diamond!(Post)The actor born Donald Alan Diamond in Brooklyn, NY on this date in 1921 was in real life a rather nondescript individual…but that is precisely the quality you want when you’ve decided you want to ...
Happy Birthday, Billy Idelson!(Post)When Vic and Sade writer-creator Paul Rhymer decided to add a third character to his program in July of 1932, he had only one phone call to make. You see, that third addition was going to be for ...
“…the bulkiest, balkiest, smartest, most unpredictable detective in the world…”(Post)On this date in 1943, the first of several attempts to introduce radio to one of the most memorable of literary sleuths got underway. Nero Wolfe, the well-upholstered creation of author Rex Stout, ...
The Happy Anniversary Matter(Post)Who would have guessed that on this date in 1949, the premiere of a half-hour program about an independent investigator who specialized in following up on insurance claims would wind up as one of ...
Happy Birthday, Maurice Tarplin!(Post)A 1946 issue of Radio Mirror noted that “practically everyone connected with the Boston Blackie show is a former athlete.” Radio Mirror was not publishing “fake news”: the show’s star, Richard Ko ...
Happy Birthday, James Stewart!(Post)James Maitland Stewart, the Academy Award-winning actor beloved by theatergoers as “the boy next door” was born on this date in Indiana, Pennsylvania in 1908. Jimmy took home Oscar gold for his un ...
Happy Birthday, Paula Winslowe!(Post)The untimely death of “platinum blonde” Jean Harlow at the age of 26 was devastating news to moviegoers…but since the motion picture business is a business, MGM (Harlow’s employer) soldiered on by ...
Happy Birthday, Edward G. Robinson!(Post)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, Jeff Corey!(Post)In May of 2017, the memoirs of character actor Jeff Corey—born Arthur Zwerling in Brooklyn on this date in 1914—were published to much critical acclaim. Written with his daughter Emily, Improvisi ...
Happy Birthday, Clark Gable!(Post)In Hollywood, he was reverentially referred to as “The King.” William Clark Gable, born in Cadiz, OH on this date in 1901, would celebrate an acting career that spanned over 35 years—23 of them w ...
Happy Birthday to the Chairman of the Board!(Post)Francis Albert Sinatra—Oscar-winning actor, Grammy-winning recording artist, and star of the Emmy Award-winning television special Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music (1965)—was born on this date i ...
Happy Birthday, Ray Noble!(Post)The mention of “Ray Noble” to an old-time radio fan no doubt conjures up memories of the English bandleader who was the orchestra maestro on Edgar Bergen’s long-running radio comedy program through ...
Happy Birthday, Alfred Hitchcock!(Post)It was a story that he frequently told in interviews: when Sir Alfred Hitchcock was only five years old, his father (who referred to his son as a “little lamb without a spot”) sent him to the loca ...
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 ...