July 12, 1946 The Adventures of Sam Spade debuted on ABC

On this day in 1946, The Adventures of Sam Spade debuted on ABC.

December 5: Happy Birthday, William Spier

A happy birthday this time, not to an actor or a commander of the microphone, but to a writer and producer, William Spier.  Lovers of Adventures of Sam Spade and Suspense have enjoyed the good work of Spier.

Born today in 1906, Spier started his writing career as a critic for the magazine Musical America.  After foraying into radio in 1929, he decided he'd like to stay in the medium a bit longer. He got a job as a director of the news show The March of Time.  It began as a WLW (Cincinnati) program that gave voice to materail from Time magazine.  It eventually evolved into The March of Time, on which talented actors dramatized the day's big news stories.  Spiers got a chance to work with huge stars such as Everett Sloane, Orson Welles, Lionel Barrymore, Nancy Kelly, and Joseph Cotten.

From there, it was a stint as the chief of the writing department at CBS, a gig that led to his producership of Suspense and then The Adventures of Sam Spade.

So let's salute this talented behind-the-scenes man.

March 6: Happy Birthday, Virginia Gregg

March 6: Happy Birthday, Virginia Gregg

She had gun and she traveled, even if Virginia Gregg didn't have one of the lead roles in the radio drama Have Gun--Will Travel. She played Miss Wong, the girlfriend of Hey Boy (Ben Wright), a booksmart, somewhat sophisticated gal.

Have Gun Will Travel was a rare beast that began as a television series and then went to radio. Both versions were wildly successful, and some of the credit for the success of the radio show goes to the quality of the cast. Gregg was already a big name in radio before the show began airing. As was the case with many performers of the day, she made the rounds of many different series such as The Adventures of Adventures of Sam Spade, Lux Radio Theatre, Johnny Dollar, and Dragnet.

Virginia Gregg was born on Mar. 6, 1916 in Harrisburg, Illinois, and died in Encino, CA on Sept. 15, 1986.