Old Radio

A dancer as a child and actress and sex symbol as an adult, Rita Hayworth was born Margerita Carmen Cansino on this day in 1918. Star of Gilda, Pal Joey, and Separate Tables, the stunning brunette was also once married to Orson Welles and romantically involved with Prince Aly Khan, Aga Khan's son. But let's allow others to worry about her lovelife, her scandals and intrigues.  We're here to celebrate her radio performances: there were many.  She appeared on The Lux Radio Theatre , Gulf Screen Guild Theatre , The Pepsodent Show (hosted by Bob Hope ), Suspense , and Command Performance .  On these top-flight shows, she acted alongside Cary Grant , Cecil B. DeMille, George Burns , and Angela Lansbury . Hayworth was dashing and sensual, and has been recognized by collective memory as one of the great film actresses of all time.

Scandalous author, incurable wit, and patron saint of cheeky wags, Oscar Wilde was born on this day in 1854.  His work became a mainstay on radio, with plays such as An Ideal Husband, The Importance of Being Earnest, and The Picture of Dorian Gray being regularly adapted. His biting aphorisms make his work ideal for delivery by comedic radio actors.  Though he may have found the sentiment trite, we bid a happy birthday to playwright Oscar Wilde.

Hold on to your hats, buckaroos and buckarettes: today, we're bidding happy birthday to a public relations man!  It's no pretty business, working to protect corporations and other often-guilty parties. But in addition to that line of work, Tex McCrary is often credited with being one of the pioneers of the radio talk-show format. Born as John Reagan McCrary on this day in 1910, Tex broadcast two radio shows with his wife, Jinx.   Subjects were as weighty as venereal disease and the A-bomb .  On their show " Meet Tex and Jinx ," the couple broadcast from a catbird seat just outside New York City's Waldorf-Astoria hotel.  They would grab celebs coming and going from the swanky lodging and cajole them into appearing on the air.  Thus the modern talk show was born.

October 11, 1948: America’s afternoon radio soap opera The Brighter Day showed up in the town of Three Rivers and remained on radio for 6 years. The program was based on Dennis and his children. Famous actors like William Redfield and Hal Holbrook were part of the program. Show’s sponsors Blue Cheer detergent, Ivory Soap flakes and Hazel Bishop Lipstick are still seen in the market today. The Brighter Day was a radio soap opera that owed its beginning to the series Joyce Jordan, MD , where Joyce introduced the character of Liz Dennis. Liz's character became so popular that it resulted in the discontinuation Joyce's series. The soap had both a  radio and TV series, which were aired simultaneously. Other characters that gave life to the story included Liz's sisters Althea, Barbara, and Patsy, and their father Reverend Richard Dennis.

October 9, 1935: On this day, for the first time CBS aired a half hour drama titled Cavalcade of America . The dramatic radio series featured famous actors in the leading roles and was narrated by Thomas Chalmers. The story of the drama was about obscure incidents and people in America n history. Donald Voorhees was the orchestra leader. The program was aired from 1935 to 1953 and moved from CBS to NBC in 1939. The DuPont Company was the only sponsor of the program for the entire duration with its famous slogan, "Better things for better living through chemistry..." Cavalcade of America  was an anthology drama series, although it occasionally presented a musical. Cavalcade of America documented historical events through people's stories of courage, initiative and achievement, completed with good dramatizations of the human spirit's triumph against all odds.