Old Radio

Bios of Lucille Ball abound, and most people know at least a little bit about the famed comedienne. But on the occasion of her birthday, we get a chance to look at her contributions to oldtime radio . Her first big break was the chance to star in the radio program My Favorite Husband along with Richard Denning . The two played a Minneapolis couple, with Lucille's character Liz, being a goofball housewife. She signed each time with a cordial "Jell-O, everybody," to plug the sponsor, General Foods' Jell-O. The show would later make the jump to television. But what a lot of people may not realize is that she also made the rounds as a guest on just about any radio show you can name: The Kraft Music Hall , Screen Guild Theatre , Mail Call , The Campbell Playhouse , and The Gulf Screen Guild Theatre to name a few. Many things to many people, Lucille Ball was a giant of old time radio . Happy birthday, Lucille!

August 4, 1940: The CBS program ‘ Crime Doctor ’ presented Dr. Benjamin Ordway as a patient with amnesia. As the title character, Ordway portrayed both a criminal and a crime fighter. A smartly performed show,  Crime Doctor  was never missing interest or  drama . In this radio program, Ray Collins performs as Dr. Ben Ordway, a criminal with a dreadful situation of amnesia after a serious strike to his head. After developing a new lifestyle and new identification (and recuperating his memory with the help of a doctor), Dr. Benjamin Ordway becomes a participant of the parole panel. In early shows, twelve lucky jurors are chosen from the studio audience to determine the destiny of the criminal in each episode. The show later changed its format.

Before "Scooby Doo" or "Ace Ventura, Pet Detective," before PBS's "The Bloodhound Gang," came the original self-appointed crime-fighters, Mr. and Mrs. North . This dynamic duo, Jerry and Pam North of Greenwich Village, often ran around solving murders even though they weren't professional or trained detectives. While Joseph Curtin played Mr., Mrs. was, of course, today's birthday girl, Alice Frost . Early in Frost's career, she teamed with Walter O'Keefe in a comedy act, playing various characters. Before long, she was making appearances on some of the bigtime radio shows such as Lux Radio Theatre , Mercury Theatre , and The Campbell Playhouse . From there, it was the starring role in Big Sister and then her part in Mr. and Mrs. North . In addition, she played Martha Jackson on "Woman of Courage." We salute the memorable character acting of Alice Frost !

The Bogey to the Bacall of Myrna Loy , William Powell was born today, 1892. William Powell and Myrna Loy paired up for no less than fourteen movies, including TheThin Man , The Great Ziegfeld , and Manhattan Melodrama. It's enough to keep a man busy, but WP still had time to play roles in nearly a dozen episodes of Lux Radio Theatre , one of them an adaptation of The Thin Man .  He also lent his acting chops to The Cavalcade of America and The Kraft Music Hall .  And if you think Loy's partner never appeared on Suspense, think again.  He starred alongside John Dehner and Joseph Kearns in a 1953 adaptation of "The Man Who Cried Wolf."  Other Suspense appearances teamed him with Anne Morrison, Paula Winslowe , and Jack Kruschen. We salute the birthday of the late William Powell .

If the great comedian, George Burns , had a great love of his life...it was Gracie Allen . Miss Allen was born July 26, 1895 (at best guess as her birth records were lost in the great San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906) and through her illustrious career, she endeared herself to the hearts of millions of fans around the globe. She made her first appearance to the masses at the age of 3 when she performed with Eddie Cantor. As part of “The Four Colleens”, she and her sisters performed irish dances and eventually ended up on vaudeville with her older sister Bess. In 1922 she met a young comic vaudevillian named George Burns and teamed up...both on stage and in life. In their act, Gracie originally was the straight force of the duo, but as she was receiving the laughter for her less than “all there” approach to dialog. Gracie Allen became the focal point of the jocularity. In reality, Miss Allen had a keen I.Q. and  was very articulate. Their success on the stage carried the

Born July 25, 1898, Al Pearce would early on become a name to remember...both musically and comically. The man who eventually penned the catchphrase, “Nobody home, I hope, I hope, I hope,” as a nervous door to door salesman, came to be one of the early on favorites to reach America at home. Pearce began his work history as a real estate salesman; but also did sang on-air for a glee club in San Francisco in 1928. He would later change over to comedy for KFRC in the Bay area, doing a sketch as a nervous door-to-door salesman...Elmer Blurt. 1928 was a busy year as Al Pearce began the Happy Go Lucky Hour for KFRC as Pearce and his gang grew in popularity as a musical-comedy hour. In 1932, the program moved over to a new network, Blue Network, airing Saturday evenings and twice weekday evenings. By the mid-30’s, his program brought on-board talents such as Arlene Harris and Morey Amsterdam. Pepsodent came along as a new sponsor and the show continued strong on NBC . His program bounced

Raymond Chandler was born on this day in 1888. The names of his famous novels may not be as recognizable as that of his most famous protagonist, the detective Philip Marlowe . Marlowe, a sort of template for jaded detectives , was introduced in Chandler's novel The Big Sleep. The memorable character got his own radio show, The Adventures of Philip Marlowe , in 1947. Gerald Mohr is the best-known of the voices of Marlowe. Rayond Chandler himself was a self-taught writer, entering the craft after losing his job with the Dabney Oil Syndicate. He was a loyal and avid Los Angelino, making that city essentially a character in his prose. The hard-boiled detective story was a staple of old-time radio , and one of its best practitioners was Raymond Chandler.