Old Radio

December 9: Happy Birthday, Kirk Douglas ! Issur Danielovitch is considered one of the all-time leading American movie actors of all time. Issur, aka Kirk Douglas , holds the title of living all-time movie actor. Born in 1916, Kirk Douglas has spent over half a century as an actor, producer and author. As a youth, Douglas was on the wrestling team in college and worked as a gardener to pay for his college education. Kirk served in the military during WWII , which added credibility and expertise to the many war movies he performed in. Douglas’s career lent him opportunity to act in all types of movies; from a gladiator in Spartacus to riding the range with legendary John Wayne . Kirk Douglas made a few on-air radio appearances with certain legendaries, such as Jack Benny . Douglas was married twice and had four sons (including famous actor Michael Douglas), one of which he lost to a drug overdose in 2004. In his later years, Douglas returned to his religious roots of Judaism an

 December 9, 1940: The Longines Watch Company signed a contract with the FM experimental advertising station W2XOR in New York City for the first time and their radio advertisements were aired for 26 weeks and promoted the Longines time signals. Longines is a magnificence watchmaker based in Saint-Imier, Europe. Established by Auguste Agassiz in 1832, the company is held by the Piece of Swatch Group. Its wing-shaped logo is the most well-known logo for a company. Longines is recognized for its 'Aviators' watches. Longines offered electronic timers used at the first contemporary Olympic games in 1892. In 1899, Longines went to the Northern Pole with Arctic traveler Louis Amédée de Savoie. It was the first to use automated time keeping for the Federal Gymnastics at Basel in 1912. Today, Longines continues to be a well known name in game watches and chronographs.

December 7, 1952: My Little Margie featured Gale Storm in leading role and appeared for the very first time on CBS and remained on air for 3 years. TV form of this famous program was transmitted on June 16, 1952. My Little Margie first aired as a replacement for 'I Love Lucy'. It was sponsored by Phillip Morris, the cigarette company and then went on to alternating from CBS to NBC on radio and television simultaneously.

December 6, 1923: For the first time on this day a president's speech was aired on radio. President Calvin Coolidge made a speech to the joint session of the U.S Congress in Washington DC . <A HREF="https://www.otrcat.com/p/calvin-coolidge>John Calvin Coolidge, Jr.</A> (July 4, 1872 – January 5, 1933) was the 30th President of the United States (1923–1929), a former Republican lawyer from Vermont. <br /> <br /> The first broadcast of President Coolidge on the radio was his inauguration on December 6, 1923. He was the first President who broadcast a speech for the Congress on radio. On February 22, 1924 the President's political speech was presented on the radio. In 1927, Coolidge signed the Radio Act,  which created the  Federal Radio Commission.

December 6: Happy Birthday, Lynn Fontaine ! Lynn Fontaine was no flash in the pan film and stage actress. Born in December 1887, Ms Fontaine carried a heritage of screen/stage presence that spanned over 40 years . Lynn Fontaine married actor Alfred Lunt and performed together in many play dramas. her career brought her incredible regard as she would earn Tony, Emmy awards and be honored in 1980 at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. her longevity in acting was due in large part to her vision for quality performances and always having a part in how her characters would come through to the audience. During the 40’s and 50’s, Ms Fontaine lent her voice to multiple radio performances with the Theatre Guild of the Air radio Broadcast. These one-hour radio adaptations of plays were a hit on the American scene. Her husband created many of the supporting characters alongside of her on these acclaimed portrayals. Some of her celebrated performances included Taming of the Shrew

December 5: Happy Birthday, Alan Freed ! Chuck Berry sang it, Jerry Lee Lewis sang it...and Alan Freed “penned” it. “It” being rock-n-roll and  Alan Freed  was the Disc Jockey to bring the famous label to the forefront of America by mixing the radio airwaves with country, blues and jazz. Born in 1921,  Alan Freed  stepped over the line to attract the attention of America's youth and to see them as the hot demographic to pitch his music discovery towards. Freed wanted to be a bandleader, but when an ear infection destroyed that dream, the trombone player from Ohio focused in on radio. It was in his capacity as a disc jockey at various radio stations that Freed developed his appreciation for music and to bring to life the rich blends he was discovering and make it appreciated by the teenagers, then filtered to older folks. By 1958,  Alan Freed  would become embroiled in a scandal in the music business known as payola. major record companies would pay disc jockeys to play

December 4: Happy 91st Birthday, Deanna Durbin ! The silver screen era had some of the greatest talent available. In that recipe of “talent” was an actress named Deanna Durbin . Born in Canada in 1921, Miss Durbin was quick to be picked up by Universal Studios, as a teenager, and star with Judy Garland in Every Sunday. Her teen appeal struck a chord with millions of fans around the world. However, as she grew older and wanted to change her acting style from youth to more sophisticated, her appeal lost ground with the audience. People loved Deanna Durbin for her ability to be the precocious young girl and were not ready for her to evolve into something older. Besides acting, Deanna was also a talented singer, having recorded 50 plus recordings for Decca Records in the late 1930’s to 1940’s, which made their way onto the radio and heard around the country. Her name was also used in the title of a couple of heroine themed books. She continued to make movies until 1949; but, as he