Shamus devotees would no doubt have an engaging discussion as to whether Samuel Spade was the greatest private detective of them all, but old-time radio fans could probably come to a consensus that The Adventures of Sam Spade—which premiered sixty-seven years ago on this date—was one of the greatest private eye programs of them all […]

The man who let audiences know what he liked about the South would have celebrated his 109th birthday today.  When wife Alice Faye would jokingly refer to him as “Wonga” on their popular radio comedy program, she was, in fact, addressing him by his given birth name: Wonga Phil Harris.   Phil Harris was a […]

Veteran actor Gerald Mohr was born 99 years ago on this date.  Before his premature death in 1968, at the age of 54, Mohr left behind an amazing legacy of work in movies, TV…and old-time radio.  He had one of the most distinctive voices on radio—and, audiences today can still listen to him emote as […]

In the 1949 Looney Tunes short Curtain Razor, cartoon star Porky Pig channels his inner Major Bowes by auditioning acts at a talent agency.  One client, a turtle, brags that he is “the man of a thousand voices”—and goes through his repertoire (including Lionel Barrymore and Bugs Bunny) for the porcine agent.  The only problem […]

The actor who would be celebrating his ninety-sixth birthday today is indisputably best remembered for two iconic television series—Perry Mason (1957-66) and Ironside (1967-75).  But, old-time radio fans know that Raymond Burr was a rather accomplished radio performer as well…and classic movie buffs fondly recall Mr. Burr as one of the silver screen’s most memorable […]

Seventy-one years ago on this date, radio’s best-known omniscient narrator took the first of what would be many strolls by night…and by the time that final curtain was brought down on The Whistler on September 22, 1955, it would be no small exaggeration to say that he was pretty much exhausted after all that walking.   Okay…I’m […]

Seventy-six years ago on this date, a program that would soon become the number one radio show in the nation premiered over the Red network of NBC.  The Chase and Sanborn Hour was big-time radio: it featured the likes of Nelson Eddy, Don Ameche, Dorothy Lamour and W.C. Fields—all of whom were audience pleasers at […]

Eighty-two years ago on this date, radio listeners paid their first visit to the sleepy little Arkansas hamlet of Pine Ridge to sit around the stove at the general mercantile known as “The Jot ‘Em Down Store.”  An emporium run by partners Columbus “Lum” Edwards (played by Chester “Chet” Lauck) and Abner Peabody (Norris “Tuffy” […]