Seventy years ago on this date in history, the literary sleuth created by Drexel Drake made his radio debut on the Blue Network with a series that would entertain listeners until November 29, 1954: The Adventures of the Falcon.  No one ever really explained to the radio audience’s satisfaction why a shamus named Michael Waring adopted the […]

One hundred and seven years ago on this date in New York City, Samuel and Margaret Benaderet welcomed one of radio and TV’s finest supporting comedic talents into the world.  Their daughter Beatrice—or Bea, as she was better known—would use her vocal gifts (including a one-of-a-kind giggle) on shows headlined by major radio-TV personalities like […]

The actor fondly remembered by old-time radio fans as the reporter who covered the “night beat” for the fictional Chicago Star was born 101 years ago today.  OTR devotees take pride in being able to identify certain voices while listening to broadcasts from long ago…and Frank Lovejoy had one that was unmistakable.  From his earliest […]

In 1930, Oswald George Nelson—who would have been celebrating his 107th birthday today—graduated with a law degree from Rutgers University in New Jersey, and was ready to hang out his shingle for business.  Sadly, the world would soon know one less lawyer…though there are no doubt a few of you reading this who are remarking that this […]

Georgia Ellis, the actress who co-starred on what is fondly remembered by legions of old-time radio fans as the definitive Gunsmoke (namely, the radio version), would have celebrated her ninety-sixth birthday today.  It was Ellis who first played the part of Kitty Russell, the Long Branch Saloon proprietress made famous by Amanda Blake when the […]

Seventy-two years ago on this date, radio audiences made their first visit to a dingy, dank East Side watering hole affectionately known as Duffy’s Tavern.  The half-hour sitcom, created by and starring Ed Gardner, would become show business’ most famous “place where everybody knows your name” until the television show Cheers premiered some forty years […]

If you were to go to a dictionary to look up the meaning of the term “foil” as it relates to comedy—dollars to donuts says it would be accompanied by a picture of Gale Gordon, born on this date in 1906 one Charles T. Aldrich, Jr. in New York City.  Gale, who would become one […]

Today is Valentine’s Day.  You’ve been seeing TV commercials for weeks now, and I’ll bet dollars to donuts most of the stores had their Valentine’s Day displays up the day after New Year’s.  Everyone proclaims it as “a holiday for love”—though some of the more cynical among us would argue it’s all a plot by […]