During the Golden Age of Radio, it was standard practice for the comedians headlining the most popular programs to work 39 weeks out of the year (which is kind of fitting when you work Jack Benny into the equation) and then take a summer break in the interim. Mr. District Attorney, one of the medium’s most […]
Posted on April 2, 2020, 8:00 am, by Ivan G. Shreve, Jr., under
Birthday,
Classic movies,
Classic television,
Radio adventure,
Radio crime,
Radio drama,
Radio mystery.
Actress Fran Carlon—born in Indianapolis, Indiana on this date in 1913—was married to actor-announcer Casey Allen for many years. The couple even occasionally worked together on radio programs like Radio City Playhouse and Theatre Five. On the day of their nuptials, another couple drove Fran and Casey to a secluded spot outside of North Tarrytown (the burg in which the […]
Posted on February 16, 2020, 8:00 am, by Ivan G. Shreve, Jr., under
Birthday,
Classic movies,
Classic television,
Radio comedy,
Radio crime,
Radio drama,
Radio mystery,
Radio variety.
Chester Morris starred in several Boston Blackie movies during the 1940s (Alias Boston Blackie, Boston Blackie and the Law, etc.). In a number of these films, Morris allowed his character Horatio “Boston Blackie” Black to be quite a skilled practitioner of prestidigitation. (That’s a fancy way of saying “magician.”) Chet had a lifelong love for magic, and he would […]
Posted on February 9, 2020, 8:00 am, by Ivan G. Shreve, Jr., under
Birthday,
Classic movies,
Classic television,
Radio comedy,
Radio drama,
Radio horror,
Radio mystery,
Radio variety.
In February of 2012, an auction by Nate D. Sanders Memorabilia successfully sold fifteen Academy Awards Oscars for a total of slightly over $3 million (a record-breaking amount at that time). The top ticket item was Herman Mankiewicz’s 1941 screenplay statuette for Citizen Kane, which went for $588,455. But I’m willing to bet that there were […]
Posted on January 30, 2020, 8:00 am, by Ivan G. Shreve, Jr., under
Birthday,
Classic movies,
Radio comedy,
Radio drama,
Radio mystery,
Radio variety.
“Why are you so extra nice to me?” asked sixteen-year-old Conrad Binyon of his mother in 1947. Ma Binyon wouldn’t admit it…but she was still trembling from her son’s recent experience involving a crash landing with a friend on an aviation trip to Arizona. Binyon—born Conrad Ambress Binyon on this date in 1931—had just become […]
Posted on January 6, 2020, 8:00 am, by Ivan G. Shreve, Jr., under
Anniversary,
Classic movies,
Radio adventure,
Radio crime,
Radio drama,
Radio mystery.
His creator described him as “a buccaneer in the suits of Savile Row, amused, cool, debonair, with hell-for-leather blue eyes and a saintly smile.” That creator was author Leslie Charteris, and the “buccaneer” in question was Simon Templar—a roguish ex-thief who had gone straight and now made it his mission to relieve the “ungodly” (those […]
Posted on December 16, 2019, 8:00 am, by Ivan G. Shreve, Jr., under
Classic movies,
Classic television,
Radio adventure,
Radio comedy,
Radio crime,
Radio drama,
Radio horror,
Radio mystery,
Radio variety.
She possessed one of the most distinctive voices heard over the radio airwaves—but you might be surprised to learn that the woman born Jennie Morgan on this date in 1880 had a rather highbrow show business career during her early years of performing. Jane Morgan made her name as a violinist and classical singer on stage and […]
Posted on November 29, 2019, 8:00 am, by Ivan G. Shreve, Jr., under
Birthday,
Classic movies,
Classic television,
Radio adventure,
Radio comedy,
Radio crime,
Radio drama,
Radio horror,
Radio mystery,
Radio sci-fi,
Radio western.
Actor Luis Van Rooten received a unique compliment on his thespic talents after his performance as a psychiatrist on ABC’s Exploring the Unknown in 1946. On the broadcast, Van Rooten’s character was treating an amnesia victim using hypnosis…and shortly after the program concluded, a woman telephoned him with a request. Her husband had been listening so intently to Luis’ performance that he had fallen into […]