Old Radio

F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is widely regarded as one of the greatest American novels of all time.  Fitzgerald gained a reputation as being urbane and sophisticated and a chronicler of the international experience of young socialites like him. His relationship with his wife Zelda caught the nation's attention and helped define some of the panache of the Roaring Twenties . In addition to Gatsby, Fitzgerald is the author of This Side of Paradise and The Beautiful and the Damned .  Since he was a celebrity author and author of legendary work, it was inevitable that his prose would be widely adapted for radio. We salute Francis Scott Fitzgerald's birth on this day in 1896.

Happy Birthday, Mickey Rooney !

September 22, 1943: Vocalist Kate Smith ’s campaign on the radio for war bonds came to an end. She accumulated an enormous thirty nine million dollars in thirteen uninterrupted hours of radio broadcast. Kate was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom due to her talents on radio and off. She was a spokesperson for many products and spread a message of peace.

  September 21, 1948: The comedy series Life With Luigi aired for the first time on CBS. J. Carroll Naish appeared in the lead role. He also starred as Luigi Basko in the TV form of the show in 1952. Life with Luigi was a radio sitcom that aired on CBS for four and half years, beginning in September of 1948 and ending in March 1953. It featured the story of Luigi Basco, an immigrant from Italy who became a newly-naturalized citizen of the United States. Irish-American actor J Carroll Naish was given the lead role. Other characters on the show included the German Shultz (played by Hans Conreid ), an immigrant and Luigi's classmate in his English class, and Pasquale (played by Allan Reed ), an Italian-American who had a daughter named Rosa, whom he always set up with Luigi.

September 20, 1953: Jimmy Stewart was starred as Britt Ponset on the Western in his first appearance in an NBC program radio western ‘ The Six Shooter ’. The well-known parts of the show were when Stewart would whisper during high drama scenes. Only 39 episodes aired on this show, lasting only one season. The classic radio western ended well, with Stewart's character proposing marriage.

September 19, 1932: On this day in 1932, what could be described as just a plain day, Just Plain Bill premiered on CBS. As the program's tag line said, it was "The real life story of people just like people we all know." Just Plain Bill was a serial soap opera with elements of suspense. The suspenseful aspect made  Just Plain Bill  rather unique. The show's story lines were more engaging than the classic soap opera standard. The show ran for 15 minutes, Monday through Friday at 7:15 PM, and centered on (just plain) Bill Davidson and daughter Nancy, in (just plain) Hartville. Everybody in town came to Bill with their problems, since Bill was the town barber. and Bill helped his town mates set things straight. For the first time, it was not the usual organ that was played for the intro music, but a harmonica. Hall Brown played the instrument, performing "Darling Nellie Gray," the introduction music of Just Plain Bill . Hal also performed the closing theme

When people talk about African-American show biz pioneers such as Sammy Davis, Jr., Sidney Poitier, and Hattie McDaniel, it's a bit surprising that Eddie "Rochester" Anderson 's name doesn't come up a bit more often.  Anderson was the first Black actor to land a regular spot on the prevailing media of the time, radio. In 1937, Anderson played the role of a porter on The Jack Benny Program  and the rest is history.  He would later land the role of Benny's personal house man, Rochester.  The cachet from this huge radio program would allow the actor and comedian to land subsequent television roles. Anderson was born into a show business family in Oakland, CA, the son of a minstrel performer and a tightrope walker. While Anderson started performing at a young age, it was a job outside of show business that would affect his later life.  Working as a newspaper salesman, he was in the habit of trying to shout as loud as possible to help his sales, and as a r

When people talk about African-American show biz pioneers such as Sammy Davis, Jr., Sidney Poitier, and Hattie McDaniel, it's a bit surprising that Eddie "Rochester" Anderson 's name doesn't come up a bit more often.  Anderson was the first Black actor to land a regular spot on the prevailing media of the time, radio. In 1937, Anderson played the role of a porter on The Jack Benny Program  and the rest is history.  He would later land the role of Benny's personal house man, Rochester.  The cachet from this huge radio program would allow the actor and comedian to land subsequent television roles. Anderson was born into a show business family in Oakland, CA, the son of a minstrel performer and a tightrope walker. While Anderson started performing at a young age, it was a job outside of show business that would affect his later life.  Working as a newspaper salesman, he was in the habit of trying to shout as loud as possible to help his sales, and as a r

While one of the personages we salute today is an optimistic newsman, the other is Hank Williams , a crooner of songs of loneliness and despair, who died a tragic death. However, Williams was born on this day in 1923 in Mount Olive, Alabama. A mere fourteen years later, the young Williams (born Hiram but now going by Hank) was a host of a 15-minute radio program on Montgomery's radio station WSFA. Williams would go on to be the leading figure in country music, to this day recognized as the genre's patriarch and leading practitioner.  He recorded such classics as "Hey, Good Lookin'," "Cold, Cold Heart," "Why Don't You Love Me?"  and "Your Cheatin' Heart." Williams made many memorable performances on one of the nation's premier music showcases, "Grand Ole Oprey."  He also turned in white-hot musical performances on " Mother's Best Flour Show " and "Health and Happiness."  You left

September 9, 1946: Heart's Desire , a giveaway contest program on the Mutual Broadcasting System, was hosted by Ben Alexander. This radio quiz show program was transmitted nationwide over Mutual Broadcasting System for a half hour five days a week. Initially it was a supporting program of MBS. Later,  Phillip Morris & Company Limited began to sponsor half of the show. It was on the air for approximately two years.

  September 8, 1944: Ed Wynn made his come back to radio when he made his first appearance on NBC Blue network in Happy Island after 7 years. Ed started his own network called the Amalgamated Broadcasting System. Sadly, the station only survived for 5 weeks. This sent Ed into a deep depression and he stopped working.

Today marks the 1943 debut of the thrilling crime show Molle Mystery Theater (later to be known simply as Mystery Theatre).  Its debut episode splashed onto the airwaves with some fanfare. Fans and media members alike were drawn to its premise and promise of skimming just the cream of classic mystery stories from the greatest authors. Airing an adaptation of Poe 's Tell-Tale Heart marked an auspicious beginning. Molle Mystery Theatre would go on to adapt the works of Raymond Chandler, W.W. Jackos, Sax Rohmer, Wier Mitchell and others.

September 6, 1920: Radio Station WWJ in Detroit broadcast a prizefight  for the first time. In the fight, Jack Dempsey was beaten by his opponent Billy Miske by a KO in round 3 in Benton Harbor, MI On August 20, 1920, The Detroit News formally started the operation of a radio station with the call sign 8MK, a name assigned by the United States Department of Commerce Bureau of Navigation, On October 13, 1921 the station had a limited commercial license and changed the call letters to WBL. On March 3, 1922, the call letters were changed again to WWJ. The call letters are still used today. WWJ is now owned by CBS.