“If I had known it would last this long, I would never have created the darn thing.” So observed John Meston, the writer who—along with director-producer Norman Macdonnell—can claim responsibilit ...
The Never-Ending Battle for Truth, Justice and the American Way(Post)The Man of Steel made his comic book debut in Action Comics on April 18, 1938, and less than a year later (in January of 1939), the costumed superhero creation of Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster wou ...
“The first man they look for, and the last they want to meet…”(Post)John William Cahn, Jr. was born on this date in 1920 in Lexington, Kentucky. He’s better known by his stage name, William Conrad. He remains a favorite among old-time radio fans for his incredib ...
“Across the rugged Indian Territory, rides a tall young man on a mission of mercy…”(Post)With the introduction of Gunsmoke to audiences in April of 1952, the “adult western” soon began to come into fashion on radio. Gunsmoke would soon be joined by The Six Shooter, a Western drama tha ...
“When man hunts man!”(Post)The Golden Age of Radio featured many programsthat, despite their excellence, failed to attract a large listening audience. There are any number of reasons to explain their lukewarm receptions—th ...
“Herewith, an Englishman’s account of life and death in the West…”(Post)On this date in 1958, a western — that old-time radio historian John Dunning once described (in Tune in Yesterday) as “the only serious rival to Gunsmoke in the radio Hall of Fame” — premiered over ...
“…there you will find…The Man Called X!”(Post)Before his long, distinguished career as a stage and motion picture actor, Herbert Marshall embarked on a variety of jobs (including accounting) that led up to his enlisting in the first World War ...
“...dedicated to man’s imagination…the theater of the mind…”(Post)From 1936 to 1943—and a brief revival in the 1946-47 season—The Columbia Workshop was the go-to program for experimental radio drama. The series began as an idea by one-time engineer Irving Reis, ...
Happy Birthday, Norman Macdonnell!(Post)One of old-time radio’s most important—and inarguably, most creative—director-producers was born on this date in 1916. A native of Pasadena, CA, Norman Macdonnell would use his experiences during ...
Happy Birthday, Lou Krugman!(Post)It seems odd that an actor who claimed to have emoted on over 10,000 radio broadcasts and provided voiceovers for 700 commercials doesn’t even rate an entry at Wikipedia…it’s a crime against the a ...
“Get me that man with the flat voice!”(Post)Comedian Fred Allen had worked himself up through the vaudeville ranks (he started out as “The World’s Worst Juggler” before realizing his talents lie in comedy) to Broadway productions like The L ...
The Man Who Taught America How to Sing(Post)The small town of Tyrone, Pennsylvania added Fredrick Malcolm Waring to its population on this date in 1909—of course, Fredrick would shorten his name to the friendlier “Fred,” and during his teenage ...