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Happy Birthday, Grace Matthews!(Post)
Grace Matthews was a drama queen. Okay, that sounds a bit churlish, in light of what that bit of slang means nowadays—what I should emphasize is that the actress born in Toronto, Canada on this d ...
When superheroes meet(Post)In 1940, DC Comics handed out a 96-page comic book entitled New York World’s Famous Comics as a souvenir to kids attending the World’s Fair that same year. On the comic book cover, the two biggest ...
“From Times Square to Columbus Circle…the gaudiest, the most violent—the lonesomest mile in the world…”(Post)By the beginning of the 1950s, radio crime drama began to develop a new breed of program that, in the words of old-time radio historian Jim Cox, “witnessed a forbidding side of law enforcement in ...
Happy Birthday, Norris Goff!(Post)One-half of the comedy team that served as my introduction to old-time radio was born one hundred and ten years ago on this date. With his lifelong partner Chester Lauck, Norris “Tuffy” Goff comp ...
Leave Us Not Forget This Anniversary(Post)On this date in 1941, radio audiences made their first visit to a dingy, dank East Side watering hole affectionately known as Duffy’s Tavern. The half-hour sitcom, created by and starring Ed Gardn ...
Happy Birthday, Edgar Barrier!(Post)Life in motion pictures was never easy for actor Edgar Barrier. It wasn’t that the work was difficult—it’s that whenever Edgar appeared in a movie, it was even money that he wouldn’t make it to t ...
The Green Hornet (1940): Coming to a Saturday near you!(Post)Since the days of the nickelodeons, serials (or “chapter plays,” as they were also called) entertained motion picture audiences by spreading out a story over several installments, generally 20-30 ...
“Fortune: Danger!”(Post)It’s safe to say that without author Dashiell Hammett, the crime rate in Radio Land would be at risk of going on an uptick. Hammett’s legendary gumshoe Sam Spade—introduced in his novel The Maltes ...
Happy Birthday, Brace Beemer!(Post)On April 8, 1941, an actor named Earle Graser was killed in an automobile accident. A tragic event to be sure, but what compounded this tragedy was that Graser had a devoted fan following as the ...
“Somewhere along the line a murderer makes a mistake—it’s my job to find that mistake.”(Post)“Philo Vance/Needs a kick in the pance” Ogden Nash once rhymed in a memorable couplet. Nash’s editorial comment was addressing the one-time popularity of author S.S. Van Dine’s famed sleuth. Afte ...
Happy Birthday, Alfred Hitchcock!(Post)On this date in 1899, Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was born in Leytonstone—part of Essex at the time of his birth, now part of London. The youngest of three children of greengrocer William Hitchco ...
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 ...