Old Radio

  "Calling Dick Tracy! Calling Dick Tracy! Come in Dick Tracy!"  September 30, 1935: On this day The Adventure of Dick Tracy , adapted from a comic strip created by Chester Gould, was broadcast for the first time on the Mutual Radio Network. The show's duration was 15 minutes and could be heard from Monday through Friday at 5:45. The program was sponsored by Quaker Puffed Wheat and Quaker Puffed Rice. The wrist-radio wearing, straight-shooting detective made his debut in comic strips today in 1931. He leapt to radio in 1934, played by Bob Burlen, Barry Thompson, Ned Wever , and Matt Crowley. The program originated on NBC, moved to CBS briefly in 1935, then to Mutual, and finally to ABC in 1943, where he remained until 1948. The show was a 15 minute program. The broadcast was directed by Mitchell Grayson, Charles Powers, and Bob White. Starring in the show were Walter Kinsella as Pat Patton, Helen Lewis as Tess Trueheart and Andy Donnelly and Jackie Kelk as Juni

Well, you've heard today is Ed Sullivan 's birthday, and that has a special meaning for old time radio buffs.  Sure, Sullivan was one of the giants of the world of television, but he had a huge radio career too. He began with interview shows and with his program "Ed Sullivan Entertains."  This fifteen-minute show ran from fall of 1943 to summer of 1944.  On this program, sponsored by Mennen, the gossip columnist had spirited conversations with popular personages. One reason Sullivan may have resonated so well with the general public, particularly once he became a TV star, was that he didn't look or even sound like someone who'd make his living in front of a microphone.  He was too serious and seemed to be of a different world.  But as a TV host, he would go down in history as the man who hosted and introduced a panoply of amazing entertainers such as the Beatles, Elvis Presley, Pearl Bailey, The McGuire Sisters, Perry Como , Peggy Lee , you name 'em.

Thanks for stopping by to help us celebrate the birthday of quintessential radio character actor William Conrad , who entered the world in 1920. If you're remembering Conrad as Matt Dillon from Gunsmoke you're probably in good company.  However, Conrad once estimated he'd played more than 7,500 roles.  How did he find the time?  We do know for sure that he appeared on Fibber McGee and Molly , Lux Radio Theater , Suspense .  He also spent a few years as the announcer for Escape , bringing listeners in and asking them if they'd like to get away. Resembling Orson Welles , Conrad was deep-voiced, a rugged man's man.  He was also a mainstay in the world of classic radio.

St. Louis native Thomas Stearns Eliot was born on this day in 1888. He is a Nobel Prize-winning author and favorite of poets and other writers and readers.  He is best known for The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, Four Quartets, and The Waste Land. All of these have been performed on the radio at one time or another, with The Waste Land being a particular target.  Four Quartets was read on Columbia Workshop in 1946. Happy birthday, T.S.  Or, perhaps we should say ts.