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December 4, 1933: The start of 'Ma Perkins' 27-year radio run

  December 4, 1933: Ma Perkins shifted its broadcast from WLW to the NBC Red radio network. Later on, the show’s fame led it to be transmitted on both NBC and CBS. Ma Perkins    was a 15-minute radio soap opera that aired on bothNBC (1933-1949) and CBS (1942-1960) during its 27-year run, during  which it had more than 7,000 episodes. The lead character was portrayed by actress Virginia Payne.  In the show,  Ma Perkins  was a widow who lived in the town of Rushville.  She had three children named John, Fay, and Evay, who were played by Gilbert Faust, Isabel Krehbiel (and later Rita Ascot), and Dora Johnson (and later Kay Campbell and Laurette Fillbrandt), respectively. The story focused on Ma Perkins' interaction with her children and townmates.

November 30, 1926: Happy Birthday Richard Crenna

If anyone had the acting prowess to change characterizations over the years, that was embodied in Richard Crenna . Born November 30, 1926, Crenna started his early years as a character actor for radio, eventually moving on to film and television . He grew up in Los Angeles and served his tour of duty as a radio operator in WWII . Upon his return after the conflict, Crenna attended college and took up acting. Richard Crenna began his radio legacy on The Great Gildersleeve as Walter “Bronco” Thompson. He played that role for 9 years, 1948-1957. His stimulus as a comic actor carried him over to do a duel run on another radio program from 1948 to 1952, as Walter Denton on Our Miss Brooks . His portrayal as the affable and naive Mr Denton played well in attracting him handle television roles in similar character positions. He performed on the I Love Lucy program and   George and Gracie . In both guest star roles Crenna hit his mark as a “lacking worldly wisdom, but sure willing to learn

November 29, 1950: Dick Haymes plays pilot Dockery Crane in the ABC premier, 'I Fly Anything'

November 29, 1950: Vocalist Dick Haymes played the role of freight pilot Dockery Crane in the ABC program I Fly Anything . The program survived for only a short period, which forced Haymes to get back to singing, where he earned his good name. Dick Haymes was an Argentine singer who made a name for himself in the states. His work as a vocalist allowed him to join a number of big bands, and he was popular on old time tadio and television.

November 25, 1945: The Fred Allen Show' airs for the First Time

 November 25, 1945: A parody of the Gilbert and Sullivan classic, The Lass That Loved a Sailor, went on air on The Fred Allen Show . The parody was named ‘The Brooklyn Pinafore’ and was performed by American baseball infielder Leo Ernest Durocher and actress Shirley Booth.

November 24, 1944: The FBI in Peace and War goes on air for the First Time on CBS

  November 24, 1944: The FBI in Peace and War went on air on CBS for the first time. Its fourteen year broadcast made it one of radio’s longest-running crime shows. The FBI in Peace and War   was the 8th most popular show on radio at the time, following Dragnet . The show was adapted from the Frederick Collins' book of the same name.

November 23: Happy Birthday, Boris Karloff

November 23: Happy Birthday, Boris Karloff Unlike a lot of radio stars who would go on to careers in television or film, Boris Karloff was a star of the silver screen before embarking on a radio career. He is best known for starring as Frankenstein 's monster in the 1931 opus Frankenstein (as well as in some sequels). He would later cross over and appear in many radio shows. He hosted The Boris Karloff Show in 1957, with episodes such as "The Vampire's Grave," " Shakespeare 's Hometown," and "The White House." Shows on which he appeared as a guest include " Bergen & McCarthy ," " Inner Sanctum ," " Lights Out ," " Martin and Lewis ," " Jack Benny Program" and more. To these shows he lent his distinctive, deep, slow, spooky drawl. Later in his life he would play many voice roles, including that of the narrator of "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas ." Karloff's birth

November 20: Happy Birthday, Judy Canova

The Beach Boys rarely surfed; Creedence Clearwater Revival, for all their Bayou songs, weren't from that region; and Judy Canova , sometimes called The Ozark Nightingale, did not hail from the Ozarks.  She wasn't even from Georgia, which means that the act Three Georgia Crackers, which she had with her brother Zeke and sister Annie was another marketing ploy. Judy played the role of the country innocent to the hilt, and found success at a young age.  Before long, the hoky act--with Judy yodeling, singing, and picking a gee-tar--had ironically made Broadway . She then became a big radio star.  She started on Rudy Vallee 's The Fleischmann Hour and then landed her own show, appropriately called The Judy Canova Show. This included music and skits and stories about pigs.  Some advertisements featured a pencil sketch of Judy in a straw hat and pigtails, looking not unlike the mascot for the Little Debbies snacks that would fatten a nation a little later. Today marks t

November 19: Happy Birthday, Alan Young!

November 19: Happy Birthday, Alan Young ! Before his well-known role opposite "The Famous Mr. Ed," this British actor starred in a radio show bearing his name. The Alan Young Show took the air in 1944, a radio summer replacement . This NBC show was a sitcom, featuring Alan Young trading quickfire burns with his girlfriend, Betty, played by Jean Gillespie and then Louise Erickson. Jim Backus would eventually join the cast, playing Hubert Updike III. Episode titles include "Books," "Raising Rabbits," "Landscaping," "Cucamunga Killer," and "Alan, the Movie Star." The action took place in a little cottage in Van Nuys, CA. advertisements for the 7:30 Friday shows promised "FUN!" Raised in Scotland and Canada,  Young  became enamored of radio when he was bedridden with acute asthma. Reaching adulthood, he broke into the business on a Canadian show called "Stag Party." Later, after starring in T

November 15, 1926: The Form of New Radio Network

November 15, 1926: On this day, 24 radio stations were aired for the first time from the National Broadcasting Company. The program was broadcast from the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City for 4.5 hours continuously. This day is known as the birthday of network radio. Announcing the National Broadcasting Company, Inc. ads were published in numerous publications in September, 1926. The network's debut broadcast followed on November 15th. The new NBC had an advisory board that consisted of nationally prominent citizens. The advisory board  held an initial meeting on February 28, 1927, discussing concepts for the first steps of the company. These meetings were recounted in a privately published Memorandum of Minutes.

Nov 11: Happy Birthday, General George S Patton

Happy Birthday to the famed US General, George S. Patton! Known as "Bandito", "Old Blood and Guts", and simply "The Old Man", George S. Patton was one of the most successful and notable commanders of WWII. His incredible drive and lust for battle he told troops as they stormed Normandy , "Keep on advancing… whether we go over, under, or through the enemy." He was known for colorful language and motivating fighting men when they needed it most. He said, "Courage is fear holding on a minute longer." Enjoy this 1945 broadcast of These Are Our Men about "Old Blood and Guts"

November 11, 1938: Kate Smith sings 'God Bless America'

November 11, 1938: On this date, Kate Smith recorded the American patriotic song "God Bless America" for the first time and later became closely identified with this song. The lyrics were written by Irving Berlin twenty years before  Kate Smith   sung them on the radio. Kate Smith  was best known for her rendition of this song, which was written by Berlin while he was working for the US Army. Five years later, due to the popularity of this rendition, it was featured in the musical show entitled "This is the Army,"  which  featured other songs also composed by Berlin.

November 7, 1937: Jean Hersholt starred as the famous 'Dr. Christian' on CBS

  November 7, 1937: The Vaseline sponsored  the radio show Dr. Christian premiered on this date on CBS. Jean Hersholt starred in the leading role of caring  Dr. Christian   remaining on air until 1954.  His assistance nurse, Judy, was played by Rosemary De Camp, Laureen Tuttle, Kathleen Fitz and Helen Kleeb. The theme song of the series was "Rainbow on the River." Dr. Christian   was a radio series broadcasted on CBS until 1954. It starred Jean Hersholt as the title character, a physician who worked in the small but peaceful town of River's End. Hersholt's role as Dr. Christian was so popular among people that some of them actually sent mails asking for medical advice.  The series inspired the making of six films and one television series.

November 5: Happy Birthday, Roy Rogers!

Leonard Franklin Slyke, better known by his stage name of Roy Rogers , was born on November 5th, 1911 in the Midwest city of Cincinnati, Ohio. Slyke began his career by moving to California to sing, performing in the music group the Sons of the Pioneers. After making his first film appearance in 1935, he steadily worked in western films. While working on a film with Gene Autry in 1938, Slyke was rechristened Roy Rogers after Autry walked out on his contract. Roy came from a shortening of Leroy and Rogers came from the last name of Will Rogers, an American cowboy and humorist . His radio show, The Roy Rogers Show , ran for 9 years before moving to TV from 1951-1957 and starred his wife, Dale Evans . Over the years it changed its format. Originally it appeared as western music and variety show. There was always an element of action in the programs, and usually the episodes are broken up with songs, performed by The Sons of the Pioneers. Rogers, “King of the Cowboys,” passed away on

November 2: Happy Birthday, Burt Lancaster

In the world of show biz bios, you can either be a lower-working class kid from Bumble Bluffs, Illinois who hopped on a tomato truck and rode out to L.A. hoping to make it big, or you can come from one of the big cities and be drawn to the entertainment world around you. Burt Lancaster wasn't from Bumble Bluffs.  He was born in New York City and was very affected by Joan Crawford and Lon Chaney in the 1927 silent film The Unknown.  From there it was a stint working for the circus (OK, maybe he was a bumpkin from the corn belt), Hollywood, and eventually his huge roles in Elmer Gantry, Atlantic City, and The Birdman of Alcatraz. If you were a radio listener at the time and you wanted to hear Burt's voice, you could tune in to The Bob Hope Show , Hedda Hopper 's Hollywood , Lux Radio Theatre , and The Cavalcade of America .

Happy Halloween - Enjoy some Free Old Time Radio

Happy Halloween - Click here to enjoy some Free Old Time Radio...

October 29: Happy Birthday, Jack Pearl

Vass You dere, Sharlie?  That was the question, at least from Jack Pearl 's Baron Munchhausen character to the straight man, Charlie, brought to life by Ben Bard and the Cliff Hall, who didn't always believe the good Baron's tall tales. Pearl, born in one of the world's show biz capitals, New York City, started in Vaudeville and took his comedy act to radio in 1932 on The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air .  It was on that program that the outlandish German caricature, Baron Munchhausen, was born.  Let's recall, though, that he also starred as the host of The Lucky Strike Hour from '32-'34. Today we celebrate the 1894 birth of the comedy star Jack Pearl.

October 27, 1947: This is Nora Drake' started its decade-long run on NBC

October 27, 1947: Radio soap opera   This is Nora Drake  debuted on NBC. The show mainly revolved around solving domestic, communal, and child upbringing issues. The program reached its end in January of 1959. Airing for over a decade, This is Nora Drake  featured the story of Nora, portrayed initially by Charlotte Holland and then later by actresses Joan Tompkins and Mary Jane Higby.

October 26: Happy Birthday, Winston Churchill

October 26: Happy Birthday, Winston Churchill One of the most quotable men of all time, Winston Churchill , contributed to old time radio with his amazing speeches. One such speech came on the occasion of Hitler 's invasion of Russia on June 22, 1941. " Hitler is a monster of wickedness," Churchill intoned into BBC microphones, "insatiable in his lust for blood and plunder. So now, this bloodthirsty gutter snipe must launch his mechanized army at the new fields of slaughter, pillage, and devastation." Also broadcast on the BBC were speeches that go by the titles "War of the Unknown Warrior," "Give Us the Tools," and "These are Great Days," "We Shall Never Surrender." Some rumors hold that it wasn't Churchill himself who delivered the speeches, but an actor, perhaps Norman Shelley, who did actually claim to have done so. In either case, it was Churchill who wrote the inspiring words. The Prime Minister&#

October 22: Happy Birthday, Joan Fontaine

The lovely Joan Fontaine led a colorful and unusual childhood, alternately living in California and Japan. As soon as she struck adulthood she began auditioning for Hollywood film roles, racking up a spree of parts in B-movies.  A breakthrough role was in Hitchcock 's Rebecca, in which she co-starred with Laurence Olivier. The radio producers new she even sounded pretty, and snapped her up for parts in adaptations of contemporary dramas.  In this capacity, she appeared on Lux Radio Theater , Screen Guild Theater , and Theater Guild on the Air . Born in 1917, Fontaine is now an American treasure.

October 21: Happy Birthday, Carleton Young

Ohhh, do we gave a good one today!  If you're a knowledgeable devotee of radio's yesteryear, you live for a figure like Carleton Young.  He was the star of a strange, obscure and short-lived radio series called Whisperer .  If you remember this one, you're doing well!  Young's character was the lawyer Philip Gault, who'd gotten into a car accident in which his voice had been reduced to a creepy whisper. He figured while he was at it, he'd infiltrate organized crime cells and lead them to the police. As interesting as that sounds, Young's output as an actor across his career was just as colorful, including parts it a panoply of projects included Jules Verne 's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Reefer Madness , the original (1937) Dick Tracy , and From Here To Eternity.  We wish a happy birthday to Mr. Young, who got started on this day in 1905.

October 20: Happy Birthday, Arlene Francis

Today marks the day on which, in 1907, " What's My Line " regular Arlene Francis was born. Francis was a New York native and a Finch College graduate, who achieved a relatively painless entry into show business. Her first big play appearance was when she was a mere 21, and she would go on to act in 25 Broadway plays. Radio-wise, the fetching starlet joined the cast of the intelligent and challenging game show " What's My Line ?"  The show was hosted by John Charles Daly and featured, along with Francis, high-brow personages such as Bennett Cerf and Dorothy Kilgallen . One thing to recall about " What's My Line ?" is that in addition to the main guessing game, the panelists also attempted to divine the identity of a mystery guest at the show's end.  MG's included Jimmy Stewart , Orson Welles , Marlene Dietrich and a host of others. Thanks for the memories, Arlene!

October 19: Happy Birthday, John Lithgow

Terms of Endearment, The World According to Garp, Footloose, and Shrek.  Not a bad resume for an actor, and all of these film credits belong to John Lithgow. The serious and cerebral-appearing Lithgow also appeared in many episodes of CBS Radio Mystery Theater.  Not long before his all-important roles in Garp and Endearment, Lithgow lent his voice to such episodes of RMT as "Alien Presences," "The Dagger of Almohades," and "Portrait of an Assassin." Another tidbit is that Lithgow played Yoda on NPR adaptations of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.  We wish him a happy birthday!

October 18, 1943: Debut of Perry Mason Radio Program

October 18, 1943: Debut of Perry Mason on the Radio ! Isn't it true that America's favorite courtroom drama began on radio today in 1943? Isn't it true that the author of the novels on which it is based withdrew his support for a primetime version of the daily serial version? Isn't it true that the radio version later came to TV transformed into "the Edge of Night"? Isn't it true it's Perry Mason? Well, isn't it? Earl Stanley Gardner despised the  Perry Mason   radio version of his work, and would only support a TV version if it adhered more closely to his novels, which it did with Raymond Burr in the lead role.

October 17: Happy Birthday, Rita Hayworth

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.

October 16: Happy Birthday, Oscar Wilde

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.

October 13: Happy Birthday, Tex McCrary

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 'The Brighter Day' debuted on CBS

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: The Premiere of Cavalcade of America

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.