He picked up the receiver on the first ring of the phone. “Johnny Dollar.”“Johnny? Pat McCracken, Universal Adjustment Bureau…”“Pat, if this is about an assignment…I’m going to have to take a rain ...
Happy Birthday, Lesley Woods!(Post)Actress Lesley Woods is described in author Jim Cox’s compendium The Great Radio Soap Operas as someone who “made a career out of playing mean-spirited first wives” in the world of daytime drama.
Happy Birthday, William Gargan!(Post)In 1940, actor William Gargan—born in Brooklyn, NY on this date in 1905—received appreciative tribute from his peers when he was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his portrayal as a ...
Happy Birthday, Irene Tedrow!(Post)I’d never be able to prove it in a court of law…but I’d be willing to gamble that when the need arose for an actress to play the part of a spinster or neighborhood busybody, Irene Tedrow was on ev ...
Happy Centennial Birthday, John Dehner!(Post)For an actor who once set out purposely not to be typecast in Western roles, John Dehner—born John Forkum one hundred years ago in 1915 in Staten Island, NY—appeared in a lot of oaters across the ...
Happy Birthday, Frances Robinson!(Post)“Danger’s my stock-in-trade,” observed George Valentine weekly on the popular Mutual crime drama Let George Do It. For actress Frances Robinson, who played George’s loyal gal Friday, Claire “Broo ...
Happy Birthday, Lamont Johnson!(Post)I’m certainly not the first person to observe that the best directors—whether they work in film, television, theater, or elsewhere—are often those with an extensive background in acting…and today’ ...
Review: The Phantom Thief (1946)(Post)Horatio “Boston Blackie” Black (Chester Morris…who later explains to a character in the film that he’s “of the Philadelphia Blackies”) returns to his humble bachelor environs to find a note from h ...
Happy Birthday, Basil Rathbone!(Post)Basil Rathbone was born on this date in 1892—and I’ll come clean right from the get-go: I am a tremendous fan of the actor’s work. Basil possessed a suavity and menace that made him one of the ci ...
Happy Birthday, Lurene Tuttle!(Post)“The First Lady of Radio.” That’s the fitting appellation given to actress Lurene Tuttle, born Lurene Susie Tuttle in Pleasant Lake, Indiana on this date in 1907. Lurene was, without question, a ...
Happy Birthday, Eleanor Audley!(Post)The epitaph on the headstone adorning the final resting place of actress Eleanor Audley reads: “A Kind Friend to All.” And while it’s undeniably true that Audley—born Eleanor Zellman on this date ...
Happy Birthday, Sir John Gielgud!(Post)Sir John Gielgud made his cinematic debut in a 1924 silent film, Who is the Man? Yet the celebrated actor, born in South Kensington, London on this date in 1904, really didn’t commit to a movie c ...
Happy Birthday, Marsha Hunt!(Post)Actress Marsha Hunt reminisced to writer-director-producer Roger C. Memos in 2014 that her mother Minabel took her to see a Joan Crawford film, No More Ladies (1935), when she was just a teenager.
Happy Birthday, William Spier!(Post)The man who brought listeners “radio’s outstanding theatre of thrills” (Suspense!) and “the greatest private detective of them all” (The Adventures of Sam Spade) was born in New York City on this ...
Happy Birthday, Gracie Allen!(Post)She was born Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen on this date in 1895, in “the city by the bay” (San Francisco, CA). Fortunately, to accommodate vaudeville marquees (and future billing in movies, ra ...
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 ...