Old Time Radio
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Jack Benny Tells on Wife Mary Livingstone
Jack Benny and Mary Livingstone in Radio and Television Mirror magazine I'm glad of this opportunity to write the lowdown on Mary Livingstone, because at home or on the air I never get the chance to say anything. There's a gal that always has to have the last word, and trouble is, it's usually funny. Yes, Mary and I have our differences, but about the only time we ever really clash is on Wednesday night. As far as I'm concerned the only good thing about that program is Kenny Baker, who, ... (read more)NBC Announcer Ben Grauer's Book Collection Goes Back to 1555
Ben Grauer in DC's Real Fact Comics 9 (1946) Reporting an eclipse of the sun from the jungles of Brazil, giving listeners a tense description of the state-by-state returns during a hotly contested presidential election, commentating with quiet dignity on the next selection of the NBC Symphony orchestra, bringing the theatre into your own living rooms each weekday morning on his WNBT Footlights and Klieglights program and covering the news wherever and whenever it happens is the day-by-day job ... (read more)Radio: The Cure for Juvenile Delinquency
Monitor brand wooden radio from the 1920s Justice James Church Cropsey, one of the leading jurists of the state of New York, recently sentenced several young men, some of them scarcely more than boys, to long terms in Sing Sing Prison. Justice Cropsey, in making an address from the bench, offered the following to the boys: We can lessen the crimes in our midst by giving our attention to the youths. They need a man's guiding hand and helpful personality. They need the example of a true man's ... (read more)The Great Radio Detectives of the 1950s
Variety Detective cover in December 1939 Richard Diamond, Private Detective is a tough private eye played to perfection by a former crooner Dick Powell. Before he started specializing in rugged roles such as the famous CBS sleuth, Dick had built up a world-wide reputation as a singer. Born in Mountain View, Arkansas, he was spotted in Hollywood in 1933 and spent the next 10 years starring in musicals. He wanted a change -- and got it in Murder, My Sweet, his first detective role. In 1945, Dick ... (read more)Last Call for Radio's Grand Central Station on CBS
Grand Central Station producer and director Hiram Brown in 1943 After more than 16 years of good entertainment, the voice of Grand Central Station on CBS is no longer heard in the land. What stilled it was not any sudden drying up of human interest drama in Manhattan's great railroad terminal, but rather the fact that Grand Central on the radio just couldn't compete any longer with the overwhelming force of TV playhouses. No doubt about it, the radio theaters are dwindling. Which is too bad ... (read more)How Jeff Chandler Was Discovered in Hollywood
Jeff Chandler and Eve Arden in Our Miss Brooks I first saw Jeff Chandler 12 years ago when he was Ira Grossel from Brooklyn. He was enrolled in the Feagin School of Dramatic Arts in New York. At the time I was a talent scout for 20th Century-Fox. It was part of my job to make the rounds of dramatic schools, searching for new talent. To me Jeff was a big, gawky kid. He didn't seem to coordinate too well, a common failing of tall guys. But there was an arresting quality about the boy, a kind of ... (read more)How Nelson Eddy Got in Hot Water with Two Coffee Companies
Nelson Eddy in Maytime (1937) They were all in a dither and it was Nelson Eddy's fault. By "they" I mean Chase and Sanborn and Maxwell House (they make coffee, or haven't you heard), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the National Broadcasting Company, a couple of advertising firms and a round dozen lawyers. It was Nelson's fault because he really should have arranged to be two young men, each with a Voice. Then he could have sung on two rival radio programs with everything lovely. As it was, conferences ... (read more)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)Subscriptions
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This blog has been published since May 29, 2020 (a span of 1,428 days).
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