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That whistle is your signal for the anniversary…of The Whistler…(Post)
On this date in 1942, radio’s best-known omniscient narrator took the first of what would be many strolls by night…and by the time that final curtain was brought down on The Whistler on September ...
Happy Birthday, Paul Frees!(Post)“Paul Frees is EVERYWHERE!” A cartoonist of my acquaintance adopted that statement as both a personal mantra and a tribute to the man born Solomon Hersh Frees in Chicago on this date in 1920. Fo ...
Happy Birthday, Frank Lovejoy!(Post)The actor fondly remembered by old-time radio fans as the reporter who covered the “night beat” for the fictional Chicago Star was born on this date in 1912. OTR devotees take pride in being able ...
Happy Birthday, Barbara Eiler!(Post)You’re familiar with the old cliché: a young girl leaves her hometown and heads for Hollywood, determined to become an actress…nay, not just an actress—a star! All that needs to be done is to han ...
The Robin Hood of Modern Crime(Post)His creator described him as “a buccaneer in the suits of Savile Row, amused, cool, debonair, with hell-for-leather blue eyes and a saintly smile.” That creator was author Leslie Charteris, and t ...
A ventriloquist…on the radio?(Post)On this date in 1936, The Royal Gelatin Hour’s Rudy Vallee introduced a very unusual guest:Why—people have been asking me for the last two days—why put a ventriloquist on the air? The answer is, ...
Happy Birthday, Andy Clyde!(Post)The actor who entertained fans on radio, television and in the movies as Hopalong Cassidy’s sidekick California Carlson was born on this date in 1892 in Blairgowrie, Scotland. Yes, Andrew Allan Cl ...
Happy Birthday, Fred Foy!(Post)Old-time radio historian Jim Harmon minced no words in his book Radio Mystery and Adventure and Its Appearances in Film, Television and Other Media: “He was the announcer, perhaps the greatest ann ...
Happy Birthday, June Foray!(Post)In 2009, Bear Manor Media published Did You Grow Up with Me, Too?: The Autobiography of June Foray. The titular performer—born June Lucille Forer in Springfield, Massachusetts on this date in 19 ...
Happy Birthday, anybody—here’s Morgan…(Post)Henry Lerner Van Ost, Jr. brashly entered this world in New York City on this date in 1915. We know him better as Henry Morgan…and it’s a good thing he was persuaded to change his name once he dec ...
Happy Birthday, Harlow Wilcox!(Post)If real life were like an old-time radio comedy program—and my gosh, don’t you think it should be?—I can’t think of any other individual that I would want to handle the announcing chores from week ...
Happy Birthday, Andy Devine!(Post)Actors Andy Devine and Broderick Crawford enthusiastically participated in their own stunts during the filming the 1940 Western When the Daltons Rode. One particular stunt almost sent Crawford to ...