Old Time Radio
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The Tragic Death of Russ Columbo at Age 26
Russ Columbo on the cover of My Love (1932) Russ Columbo laughed as he watched the satisfied hundreds at the preview of the movie Wake Up and Dream, in which his caressing voice had won their instant approval. Life really began today. Just write 'Friday the 31st' in red because it starts Chapter 3 in the story of Columbo. And put it down that today Old Man Hard Luck lost my address. Everything good happened today. I made the first of my new broadcasts, I saw my first starring picture and I made ... (read more)Edgar Bergen First Performed with Charlie McCarthy at his High School
Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy on NBC radio I can't remember how old I was when I found out that Charlie McCarthy wasn't a real little boy. I doubt I really believed he wasn't a kid until I saw a photograph of Edgar Bergen with Charlie sitting on his lap in one of those radio-TV magazines. No matter -- Charlie remained as real a person to me as all those other wonderful radio folks I had met in the theater of the imagination during my youth. Charlie McCarthy was, of course, the creation of ... (read more)Maurice Zimm: Murder is My Business
Maurice Zimm wrote the story for Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) The man in the coroner's office glared at me. "What gave you the idea we freeze bodies?" he demanded. "That isn't exactly what I meant," I said hastily. "You see --." But it wasn't easy to explain. It never is! People give you that strange look when you tell them that you're trying to figure out an interesting way of committing murder. As a radio mystery writer, murder has become my business. I lie awake nights devising new ... (read more)KDKA in Pittsburgh Became the First Radio Station on Nov. 2, 1920
Logo used by KDKA in the 1920s Radio is so new to most of us that it seems incredible that anything connected with it could be having a sixth anniversary. But an interesting series of dates has been furnished by the Pittsburgh station, which will constitute the genesis of the history of broadcasting when it is written. It was Nov. 2, 1920, that KDKA first went on the air to do regular broadcasting, and the subject matter was the result of the Harding-Cox election. Other interesting first time ... (read more)Abbott and Costello's 1938 Radio Debut on the Kate Smith Hour
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in the movie Hold That Ghost (1941) A year and a half ago a couple of comics stepped up to the microphone of the Kate Smith Hour for a 10-minute, one-appearance guest performance. No one -- with the possible exception of the comics themselves -- had any idea that their appearance was anything other than the simple guest performance it seemed, for their comedy was rowdy, hilarious, low-born, and to use their own words, "the hokiest of hokum." Bud Abbott and Lou ... (read more)My Second Childhood, by Fanny Brice
Fanny Brice performing burlesque in around 1914 Most people start out as children and grow up to be adults. Me, I'm different. I started out as a grown-up and now I'm a child. At least, I'm a child to millions of radio listeners each Thursday night on NBC's Maxwell House Coffee Time. While I'm doing the characterization on the air, I really feel like the 7-year-old brat that Baby Snooks is. Snooks reminds me of a childhood that I never knew. The first five years of my life were spent in New ... (read more)George Hall and His Orchestra, Live from the Hotel Taft
George Taft and singer Dolly Dawn George Hall leads the popular dance orchestra in the grill of the Hotel Taft. His band broadcasts 11 times a week -- which means that it is heard more often than any other band on the air. Noon, night and morning its rhythms and harmonies are carried into all the cities and all the towns and the smart country hamlets where the Columbia Broadcasting System bears romance and inspiration to the organdied girlfriends of tuxedoed youths. It is a very good thing ... (read more)Book Covers All 1,693 Episodes of Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons
Bennett Kilpack, star of Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons on CBS In his previous books, author Jim Cox has written about two of radio's most prolific producers (Frank and Anne Hummert's Radio Factory), the last decade of the golden age of radio (Say Goodnight Gracie) and several radio programming genres (Radio Crime Fighters, The Great Radio Audience Participation Shows and The Great Radio Soap Operas). In his current book, Jim focuses his considerable research and writing talents on a single ... (read more)Bill Meredith, the Playwright of the Prairie
The WLS radio station logo in the 1930s When Bill Meredith and his best girl, Virginia Bauer, walked back and forth to Wheaton High School, they used to look longingly at a tiny house -- their dream house, they called it. Bill was planning to be an architect then and he saw the possibilities the little house had. Not many folks have their dreams come true when they are only 25 years old, but last fall shortly after Bill's 25th birthday, October 9, he and Virginia moved into their dream house, ... (read more)The Story of How Gus Van Met Joe Schenck
The comedy due Gus Van and Joe Schenck in the movie They Learned About Women (1930) Some men who sing direct their song to the girl they love. Some sing to a fancied ideal. Many carol out of sheer romance. A few sing solely for material reward. But different from any of these is the emotion which inspires the songs of Gus Van, interlocutor on the NBC Greater Minstrels. Van sings to a shadow -- the wraith of his former partner, Joe Schenck, whom he loved with a robust, masculine affection bred ... (read more)Subscriptions
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This blog has been published since May 29, 2020 (a span of 1,874 days).
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