Old Radio

May 1, 1947: Fred Allen was the most frequently censored artist of his time. He was suddenly cut off the air while joking about the legendary network vice president. Fred Allen was cut off rudely a number of times by his own network, NBC . Nevertheless, the most serious instance occurred when he called NBC vice presidents "molehill men." His exact line was "they came to work every morning at 9 o'clock and found a lot of molehills on their desks; then they had until 5 o'clock to make mountains out of them…" The incident sparked serious strife within the network. The fight leaked out to the press, and Fred Allen took revenge against his censors by blasting them again with vicious statements, to which the network again reacted. From there, other shows started to join the feud.

Eve Arden was born--as Eunice Quedens, on this day in 1908. However, we know her as Our Miss Brooks , the star and title character of the long-running radio series about a witty and wise school teacher. The show actually hauled in an award from The National Education Association for its sympathetic portrayal of teachers. On Our Miss Brooks , Mrs. Brooks interacted with the bio teacher, Mr. Boynton ( Jeff Chandler ), Principal Conklin ( Gale Gordon ), and Walter Denton, one of her wacky students, played by Richard Crenna . For her efforts, Eve Arden won a Radio Mirror magazine readers' poll for best comedienne of 1948-49. Though her own series was her claim to fame, Arden also guested on The Danny Kaye Show , and The Lux Radio Theater .

April 28, 1947: Heavily starred Studio One went on air for the first time on CBS. The show, having no sponsors, remained on CBS just for a year. Studio One   was a show that featured adaptations of great stories, novels, films, and plays. Despite being a really great show, it was cancelled after just a season. The reason was rumored to be linked to Fletcher Markle's refusal to hire famous actors and actresses, since he wanted the show to become popular because of the stories, not because of the stars. The show, nevertheless, produced first-class entertainment. Ironically, it developed into a show called  Ford Theater , which starred well-known Hollywood personalities.

April 27, 1932:  Ed Wynn , the Texaco fire chief, graced the airwaves for the first time on Texaco Star Theater. Wynn, who enjoyed popularity as a vaudeville performer, gave as a condition to his switch to radio, that a live audience react to his humor.His condition was granted by the network and so began Wynn's career as the first true superstar of radio. Ed Wynn was hosted a popular radio show  on Tuesday nights for most of the 1930s. The radio show was heard in North America and sponsored by Texaco gasoline. On the show Wynn played  as the " Texaco Fire Chief ". He was often seen wearing a fireman's helmet. For this show, Wynn would turned down the offer form The Wizard in MGM's adaptation of The Wizard of Oz , to play a role on that show.

The Michael Jordan of broadcast journalism. The Beethoven. The Ben and Jerry's. The google. Yet Edward Murrow has one up on all of them by having a high school named after him. Edward Murrow was a man of principle, toiling feverishly to uphold journalistic integrity and high standards and to use reporting as a tool for supporting and enhancing democracy. Bringing the horrors of World War II and the tyrannies of Hitler and Stalin into American living rooms, Murrow adopted a very descriptive style filled with visual imagery. Upon returning from his daring European coverage of WWII , Murrow recorded an album called I Can Hear It Now , an account of his wartime experiences. His life was cut short in 1965, but he lives on as a pioneer and standard-setter for broadcast journalism.

  April 24, 1949: Dick Powell played the lead in detective in the radio drama ‘Richard Diamond, Private Detective’ on NBC. The drama lasted on radio for four years. Well-known actor, singer and studio boss,  Dick Powell began to produce his own movies in the 1950s.  He died from lymphoma in his fifties.

William Shakespeare 's biggest claim to fame was...being William Shakespeare . He was born on this day in 1564, so let's take a moment to celebrate performances of Shakespeare works on old time radio . Orson Welles was a lover of the classics who cut his teeth as a stage actor acting in several Shakespeare classics. He produced and directed several, including some for the Federal Theatre Project in the early 1930's. On the air, he brought Shakespeare to life on his program Columbia Workshop , with adaptations of Hamlet and As You Like It. Shakespeare's plays were adapted on such programs as I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again, Suspense, and Theatre Guild . References to Shakespeare characters and phrases inspired titles of episodes of Gunsmoke , First Nighter , and Favorite Story . He is too big a figure in arts and literature not to have made his imprint on old time radio. Happy Birthday, Bard.