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Between 12 and 2PM, news, religious, and war programming filled the radio dial. Standouts included the Salt Lake City Tabernacle Choir and Organ at …
Saturday April 8th, 1944. New York City. It’s a rainy day before Easter and World War II news is dominating consciousness.
There are cracks in Germany’s foundation. On Tuesday April 4th, allied surveillance aircrafts …
In Breaking Walls episode 149 we’ll spend March of 1944 with Hal Peary and The Great Gildersleeve.
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Highlights:
• The Men And Women On The Front Lines of War War II in March 1944
• Hal Peary and the Birth of …
This is the trailer for The People's Recorder (https://www.peoplesrecorder.info/). Brought to you by the award-winning Spark Media, The People's Recorder is a national podcast on the 1930s Federal Writers' Project: what …
Hey everybody James Scully here, host of Breaking Walls. If you've been listening to this show for years on this RSS feed, I want you to know that …
On Sunday, March 19th, 1944 Germany forcefully occupied Hungary to prevent the country from making a separate peace agreement with the Soviet Union. …
By Sunday March 26th, 1944, with Easter only two weeks away, Gildy had decided to run for mayor. Naturally, he needed a good campaign photo to go with it. By this time, Peary had become a film star, starring as …
As the first day of Spring approached, Gildersleeve contemplated running for Mayor of Summerfield on March 19th.
Shirley Mitchell voiced Leila Ransom. Ken Carpenter, by then a famous announcer, was the Kraft …
On Wednesday March 15th, 1944 during battle, the allies dropped nearly one-thousand tons of bombs and two hundred thousand rounds of artillery on the Monte Cassino Monastery, while trying to storm the building. They …
By December of 1941 The Great Gildersleeve was such a hit that Kraft ordered thirteen weeks of repeats for eight more west-coast NBC stations to air …
Hal Peary was born Harrold José de Faria to Portuguese parents on July 25th, 1908. He was fourteen when, in January of 1923, he made his radio debut …
In Breaking Walls episode 148 we spend February of 1944 with America’s top comedian, Bob Hope, as he whisks himself around the country, entertaining troops and broadcasting to the masses.
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Highlights:
• Leslie …
Well, that brings our look at Bob Hope’s career in February of 1944 to a close. We’ll be staying in 1944 the remainder of the year and next month we’ll spend March 1944 with a program considered to be the first spin-off …
On February 29th, 1944 Bob Hope was supposed to be in Mobile, Alabama for the first leg of a tour. He was unfortunately grounded by a cold. Instead, …
On Friday February 25th, 1944 "Big Week," the allies six-day strategic bombing campaign against the Third Reich ended with a successful bombing of …
On Tuesday February 22nd, 1944 The Bob Hope Show took to the air with a special broadcast for the Coast Guard. The guest was Carole Landis.
Hope’s …
On February 15th, 1944 Bob Hope broadcast his program from Santa Ana’s Classification Center. His guest of honor was none other than good friend Bing Crosby.
In February of 1944 Frances Langford was twenty-eight years …
The week of February 13th, 1944 began with the Allies raiding Hong Kong and giving supplies to French resistance fighters.
The next day a British …
On Saturday February 12th, 1944, Ken Carpenter was announcer for a Command Performance guest-starring Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, and Judy Garland. Hope …
After Bob Hope’s program signed off at 10:30PM eastern war time, The Red Skelton Show signed on. It debuted on Tuesday October 7th, 1941. By …
On Tuesday February 8th, 1944 at 10 PM eastern time over WEAF, and at 7PM pacific time over KFI, Bob Hope’s Pepsodent Program signed on live, coast-to-coast from Oceanside, California.
The guest was Ginger Rogers, the …
If you’d have tuned your radio to NBC’s New York flagship, WEAF, at 7:30 PM on Tuesday February 8th, 1944 you’d have heard Ronald Coleman host the …
As February 1944 got underway the Soviet Leningrad Front was fighting a heavy ground war against the German eighteenth army in Estonia. The battle …
He was born Leslie Townes Hope on May 29th, 1903 in Eltham, England. The fifth of seven sons, his parents were William Henry Hope, a stonemason from Somerset, and Welsh mother Avis, a light opera singer who later worked …
In Breaking Walls episode 147 we go into the studio with Himan Brown for the CBS radio drama relaunch in 1974.
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Highlights:
• First a January 1974 World News Roundup
• Himan Brown’s Big Idea to Relaunch Radio …
This is the fifth episode of The CBS Radio Mystery Theater. Entitled "No Hiding Place," it was written by longtime writer of The Shadow, Sidney Slon. It stars Larry Haines, Jackson Beck, Anne Meacham, Sidney Walker and …
Well, that brings our look at the launch of The CBS Radio Mystery Theater to a close. We’ve spent the past five months making our way forward in time from 1957, to 1963, to 1973, and finally 1974.
But, next month on …
Cleveland Plain Dealer, July 28th, 1974 — CBS 'Theater's' Brown Burns about Serling
"I'm proud of every minute we're on the air...and I'll stand up …
On Monday January 21st, 1974 the just-heard Joe Julian co-starred with Paul Hecht, Joan Banks, Mary Jane Higby, Tony Roberts, and George Petrie in …
By the time The CBS Radio Mystery Theater debuted, the men and women associated with the show had been involved with each other for nearly forty …
On Thursday, January 10th, 1974 the crew of Skylab 4, which had been orbiting the earth for more than fifty days, was granted a day off. The week prior, during a televised news conference Mission commander Gerald Carr …
On Saturday, January 12th, 1974, the just heard Mason Adams starred alongside Joan Loring, Tom Keena, Sam Gray, and Alan Manson in the seventh episode of The CBS Radio Mystery Theater.
This aircheck comes from WOR and …
The New York Daily News was unenthusiastic in its review of the first two episodes, however the third episode caught their attention.
On the evening of Tuesday, January 8th, 1974 The CBS Radio Mystery Theater took to …
Tuesday, January 8th, 1974.
It’s a cold night in Brooklyn, New York. There’s snow in the forecast. We’re driving north on Shore Road, towards the Belt …
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2sZTlF006NpivktbnUVn-g
Hey everyone, James Scully here. Happy holidays! For those that don't know, once I get to 500 …
In Breaking Walls episode 146 we spotlight the Jay Kholos, Elliott Lewis, and Rod Serling series The Zero Hour in honor of the fiftieth anniversary …
Although The Zero Hour went off the air in the spring of 1974, the people involved didn’t stop working.
Rod Serling always kept a full schedule. His …
Once Mutual finished running the last of the Lewis-directed Jay Kholos episodes of The Zero Hour on March 14th, 1974, they went dark for six weeks. …
Associated Press, December 21st, 1973, New York City.
“The script appears strange at first. Its directions are for the ear, not the eye, and say things like: "DOORBELL ON. FOOTSTEPS. DOOR OPENED. TRAFFIC IN BG."
"That …
Hey everyone, James Scully here. This Saturday, December 16th, is the 188th anniversary of the Great Fire of 1835. It burned the entire financial …
One of the radio veterans featured in this episode was Byron Kane. Another was Paula Winslowe.
By October 1973, it was obvious that Jay Kholos …
Janet Waldo, famous for her portrayal of Corliss Archer as well as Judy Jetson, Penelope Pitstop, and Emmy Lou on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, was featured in this episode of The Zero Hour.
With AFTRA’s moving …
A year after his re-election, President Nixon was knee-deep in the Watergate scandal. On October 10th, 1973, VP Spiro Agnew resigned, pleading no contest to charges of tax evasion and money laundering, part of a …
Once Jay Kholos sold the show to various radio stations, it was generally up to those stations to sell the show to sponsors. In New York, The Zero …
Arizona Republic, June 11th, 1973
“If you loved the old radio shows, you'll like what KOOL-FM has in store for you. The station has bought the …
November 1st, 1973. The Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York City.
We’re listening in on a press conference hosted by the Mutual Broadcasting System. They’ve purchased the rights to air The Zero Hour from the just-heard Jay …
In Breaking Walls episode 145 it’s the fall of 1963 and network radio drama is dead while American life is changing.
If you’re listening to this in real time, this month marks the sixtieth anniversary of John F. …
Well, that brings our look at November 1963 through the eyes of Jean Shepherd and President Kennedy to a close. Frankly, I wasn’t completely sure …
On the morning of Tuesday November 26th, 1963 all regularly scheduled TV and radio programming resumed in the U.S.
President Johnson issued NSAM 273, …
On Friday November 22nd, 1963, New York’s Village Voice co-founder Dan Wolf’s office was swarmed with people. Journalist Jerry Tallmer later …
On Monday, November 25th, 1963, John F. Kennedy was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. NBC Radio was on hand with press coverage of the event.
Millions of viewers watched the funeral on live TV. …
On Saturday November 23rd, 1963, with the country in a state of shock and mourning, Music Director Erich Leinsdorf led the Boston Symphony orchestra in the compositions of Gluck, Wagner, and Beethoven.
John Kennedy was …
All regularly scheduled network programming from every radio and TV station around the country was immediately suspended. This audio comes from …
On Friday, November 22nd, 1963, President Kennedy awoke at 7:30AM. He ate a light breakfast with Jackie before going out by himself to the square in front of his hotel to address a crowd of a few thousand people.
…
On the morning of Thursday, November 21st, 1963 President Kennedy had breakfast with his children. He said goodbye to his daughter Caroline when she …
On November 19th, 1963, nine days before Thanksgiving, President Kennedy received a turkey from the Poultry and Egg Board. The President always …
On Sunday, November 17th, 1963, Frank McGee signed on for NBC’s Monitor with a look at Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address. Lincoln’s famous speech …
James Scully here. I wanted to let you know that I’m doing a webinar this Wednesday, November 8th, 2023 at 5:30PM with the New York Adventure Club on …
On Saturday November 9th, fans rioted at Roosevelt Field Raceway in Long Island, battling police and setting fires. At least fifteen were hurt and …
As November 1963 began, President Kennedy had emergency meetings on Vietnam. He also received members of the US Industrial Payroll Savings Committee …
Support For Breaking Walls is provided by our patrons. If you like the documentaries I've been producing, you can become a show supporter for as little as $1 here — https://www.patreon.com/TheWallBreakers
By 1960, Shep’s …
Jean Shepherd was born on July 26th, 1921 on the South Side of Chicago to Jean and Anna Shepherd. He grew up in Hammond, Indiana, which according to …
In Breaking Walls episode 144 we present part two of our mini-series on radio and the world in the fall of 1957.
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Highlights:
• The 1957 World Series
• Unit 99
• Sputnik, Bing Crosby, and Current Events
• The …
Next time on Breaking Walls, in honor of the sixtieth anniversary of John Kennedy’s Assassination, we spotlight Jean Shepherd and his November 1963 broadcasts.
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Highlights:
• The 1957 World Series
• Unit 99
• …
As the clock ticks toward All Hallow’s Eve, we’ll wind down where we began in last month’s episode of Breaking Walls, with the October 30th, 1957 episode of LIFE and the World on NBC.
The October 14th LIFE Magazine cover …
On October 21st, 1957 Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip visited New York City. It was the final stop on their tour. The next day they returned to the United Kingdom.
Meanwhile in Washington, President Eisenhower was …
You Bet Your Life, conceived by the just-heard John Guedel and hosted by comedian Groucho Marx, debuted over ABC’s airwaves on October 27th, 1947.
Three couples were brought onstage to be interviewed and quizzed by …
Hey everyone, James Scully here. I wanted to let you know I’ve got a walking tour on Sunday 10/22/2023 with The New York Adventure Club in …
On Sunday, October 20th, 1957 at 4:35PM eastern time, the just-heard Agnes Moorehead starred for the seventh time in Suspense’ adaptation of Lucille Fletcher’s harrowing story, “Sorry, Wrong Number.”
In this play, a …
As we covered in the previous episode, number 143, of Breaking Walls, In Little Rock, Arkansas on September 4th, 1957, nine African-American students …
On Wednesday October 9th, 1957 at 8PM eastern time, The Bill Kemp Show took to the air over ABC. Bill Kemp was born on July 10th, 1921 in Toronto, …
Stan Freberg was born on August 7th, 1926 in Pasadena, California. Shortly after graduating from high school, he found work as a voice actor in both …
In October of 1957, Algeria was in the midst of a war for Independence and control between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front.
The …
In October 1944, in conjunction with the Jewish Theological Seminary, NBC began one of the longest-running religious programs in radio history. It …
On Friday October 4th, 1957 the U.S. received confirmation of the USSR’s launch of Sputnik 1, the first artificial earth orbiting satellite.
It was a …
Unit 99, first aired over ABC’s KFBK Sacramento on August 23rd, 1957. The radio station was part of the McClatchy media empire along with The Sacramento Bee and other radio and TV stations, as well as newspapers in the …
At 12:45PM on Wednesday October 2nd, Game one of the 1957 World Series took to the air. It pitted The Milwaukee Braves against The New York Yankees from Yankee Stadium in The Bronx.
Bob Neal and Earl Gillespie were on …
In Breaking Walls episode 143 we begin a mini series on radio and the world in the fall of 1957.
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Highlights:
• LIFE and The World
• The Man from Tomorrow
• The American Forum of the Air
• Atomic Testing
• Pat …
Next time on Breaking Walls, we continue our 1957 mini series by picking up in October with Sputnik, Algeria, Queen Elizabeth’s royal tour, and dying radio drama.
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The WallBreakers:
http://thewallbreakers.com
…
In September 1957 baseball’s Dodgers, who’d called Brooklyn home since 1884, and Ebbets Field since 1913, played their final games in Flatbush. …
In September of 1957, Bing Crosby, now fifty-four years old, was gearing up to host the Edsel TV special and generating praise for his recent …
The man you’re listening to is William Froug. He was instrumental in bringing the CBS Radio Workshop back to the air. CBS was still airing dramatic programming on Sunday afternoons. In 1957 Froug became the VP of …
On Saturday, September 14th, 1957 The Grand Ole Opry signed on from WSM and the Ryman Auditorium.
WSM is a fifty-thousand-watt clear channel station located in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded by the National Life and …
Have you been enjoying Breaking Walls? If so, give the show a quick rating on whatever platform you listen, especially iTunes.
The man you just heard is Herb Vigran, being interviewed by Chuck Schaden in 1984. He’s about to be featured on Family Theater.
The show was created …
At 10:45 AM central time on the morning of September 11th, 1957, Howard Miller signed on from WBBM with fifteen minutes of music, and an interview with Steve Allen.
Howard Miller was born on December 7th, 1912 in …
On Saturday September 7th, 1957 Marilyn Van Derbur was crowned 1958’s Miss America in Atlantic City. She was a twenty-year old Phi Beta Kappa scholar …
The man you’re listening to is one of the most celebrated authors of the 20th-century: Ray Bradbury. By the spring of 1955 he’d authored more than one-hundred short stories and one novel, Fahrenheit 451, born out of a …
Labor Day is a U.S. federal holiday celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the contributions of laborers to the …
On September 1st, 1957 at 10:30PM eastern time over NBC, The American Forum of the Air signed on with a talk on the dangers of nuclear testing.
The day prior a nuclear test was conducted in Nevada, only roughly three …
August, 1957.
We’re driving east on Route 50 from West Sacramento in a 1957 Ford Skyliner. The convertible costs roughly three-thousand dollars, has …
Right now, experience New York City like you’ve never before. Will you make the right deal? Or fall to greed? But whatever you choose, just make sure you get out in time.
Out now on your favorite podcast app, Burning …
In Breaking Walls episode 142 we feature one of Brooklyn’s native sons, Bill Gargan, who made more than sixty films, and good money on radio in the …
While this brings our look at the life of William Gargan to a close, we’ll be staying in this time period for the next episode of Breaking Walls.
Next time on Breaking Walls, it’s the fall of 1957 and the world is in …
After Barrie Craig went off the air, Gargan continued to occasionally host Family Theater. He also made films Miracle in The Rain and The Rawhide Years. He starred on the west-coast stage in a version of The Desperate …
In September of 1954 as the last new episode of The Lone Ranger was broadcast, Barry Craig, Confidential Investigator took to the air on Tuesday September 7th at 8:30PM eastern time with an episode called “Ghosts Don’t …
On Tuesday August 31st, 1954 as President Eisenhower addressed the American Legion, it had been a busy ten days for American aviation.
On Sunday, August 22nd, Braniff Airways’ Douglas C-47-DL Skytrain crashed during a …
After eleven orders of thirteen Barrie Craig installments, production of the show moved from New York to Hollywood with the July 6th, 1954 episode. …
By 1954 ninety-eight percent of homes had a radio set. There were still nineteen million U.S. houses that could only be reached by radio.
Procter …
When Bill Gargan was fired from Martin Kane he planned to star in a Broadway rendition of Doctor Knock. In late September of 1951, Gargan signed a …
In 1949 Bill Gargan appeared in Dynamite for Paramount Pictures. It would be his last film until 1956. On March 3rd he appeared on Guest Star.
That …
During the War, Bill Gargan led a USO group that featured Paulette Goddard, Keenan Wynn, and accordionist Andy Arcari.
They toured China-Burma-India. …
William Gargan appeared in more than fifty films in the 1930s. In between, he and Mary’s second son, Leslie, was born on June 28th, 1933. The Gargans bought the late Jean Harlow’s house at 512 North Palm Drive for …
William Dennis Gargan was born to an irish-american Catholic family in Brooklyn, New York on July 17th, 1905. His parents—Bill and Irene—had seven …
In Breaking Walls episode 141, we finish a three part series on the radio career of Orson Welles by picking up as he left The United States for …
It seems fitting that the way in which Orson Welles described Alexander Woollcott is the same way many who knew Welles would have described him.
…
On Sunday January 1st, 1956 NBC’s Monitor broadcast New World Today.
1956 was a Presidential election year. At the time of this broadcast, Dwight Eisenhower, who’d had a heart attack in September, was still debating …
On February 13th, 1955 Orson Welles appeared on an episode of NBC’s Anthology in salute to Abraham Lincoln. Directed by John Malcom Brennen, produced …
On March 15th, 1955, Orson Welles premiered as Lord Mountdrago in the British Omnibus horror film, Three Cases of Murder. The film consisted of three stories, Welles appeared in the one titled after his character.
Ten …
In 1953 Orson Welles met Italian actress Paola Mori. She was twenty-four, beautiful, and had lived for eight months in a concentration camp during …
In September of 1952, Orson Welles worked with the BBC for a portrait of early American director Robert Flaherty. Flaherty, who directed the first docu-drama film, Nanook of the North in 1922, had passed away the …
One of the first projects Orson Welles undertook after moving to Europe was a film version of Othello. Despite Macbeth’s criticism, he was still …
In 1948 author Graham Greene was in Vienna getting a tour of the city, its back alleys, less-reputable nightclubs, and even its sewers. He was also …
In 1947, wanting to bring Macbeth to film, Welles teamed with producer Charles K. Feldman to convince Herbert Yates, President of Republic Pictures, to finance.
Welles guaranteed to deliver Macbeth on a budget of …
In Breaking Walls episode 140, we examine the under-appreciated radio career of the one and only Humphrey Bogart.
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Highlights:
• The Broadway …
That brings our look at Humphrey Bogart’s life and career to a close.
Next time on Breaking Walls? Well… next time we head to Europe to follow …
On Wednesday March 12th, 1952 at 9:30PM eastern time, Bogie and Bacall guest-starred on Bing Crosby’s CBS Chesterfield Show.
Two days later, Bogart’s next film, Deadline – U.S.A premiered in New York City. Bogie plays …
In 1951 Humphrey Bogart once again partnered with John Huston on an adaptation of C. S. Forester’s 1935 novel The African Queen.
Bogart plays the rough-and-ready Canadian mechanic Charlie Allnut, whose coarse behavior is …
On January 6th, 1949 Lauren Bacall gave birth to their first child, Stephen Humphrey Bogart, named in honor of his character in To Have and Have Not.
Meanwhile Bogart made Knock on Any Door and Tokyo Joe for his Santana …
In 1947 Humphrey Bogart signed a new Warner Brothers contract. It gave him limited script refusal and the right to form his own production company. He and Bacall soon made the thriller Dark Passage based on the 1946 …
Bogart and Bacall moved into a white brick mansion in Holmby Hills, and he bought a fifty-five foot yacht called the Santana from Dick Powell, …
In 1943 and 1944 Bogart went on War effort tours with his third wife Mayo Methot, making trips to Italy and North Africa. He produced shorts for The American Red Cross effort and the Victory Bond drive. The relationship …
In 1941, Warner Brothers story editor Irene Diamond was in New York when she discovered the script to an un-produced play called Everybody Comes to Rick’s. She convinced Hal Wallis to buy the rights to the script in …
Humphrey Bogart’s film success led to more radio appearances on comedy programs, giving Bogie the chance to show off his comedic timing. On June 3rd, 1941 Bogart appeared on The Bob Hope Show. The program had a rating …
As the 1940s got underway, bringing the U.S. closer to World War II, Humphrey Bogart drifted socially and professionally. That year he made four films: Virginia City, It All Came True, Brother Orchid, and They Drive By …
Despite his success in The Petrified Forest, Bogart signed a tepid twenty-six-week contract at five-hundred-fifty dollars per week. He was …
Humphrey Bogart was born to Belmont Bogart and Maud Humphrey on Christmas Day, 1899 in New York City. The eldest child, his father came from a long …
In Breaking Walls episode 139 we spotlight The Martin & Lewis show, and pay close attention to Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe.
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Highlights:
• Capital Gains and Thanksgiving on NBC
• The Nightclub Act
• …
Well, that brings our look at The Martin & Lewis Show to a close. Incidentally, we’ll be staying with this energy next month. I mentioned earlier that Dean made films with The Rat Pack. Frank Sinatra was also a …
By the summer of 1953 network radio was allocating increasing time to local affiliates. Budgets were shifting to TV. The final episode of The Martin …
Marilyn Monroe broke through as an actress in 1950 with small, but acclaimed roles in All About Eve and The Asphalt Jungle. She was then a mistress …
On Sunday November 5th, 1950 at 6PM, NBC launched a new ninety-minute star-studded program called The Big Show. Each episode cost over …
The U.S. spent the first ten months of 1949 in a recession. Competition for the advertising dollars was stiffer. There were now over …
Although their radio show got canceled, Martin and Lewis were concurrently guest-appearing in a My Friend Irma film. Irma was one of CBS’ top shows starring Marie Wilson. The movie debuted on August 16th, 1949.
Critics …
As part of NBC’s programming development, One-point-five Million dollars was allocated towards new shows. The network’s first major signing was Dean …
Jerry Lewis was born Jerome Joseph Levitch on March 16th, 1926 in Newark, New Jersey. His father was a Vaudevillian and his mother was a pianist for WOR.
By fifteen, Lewis had developed a "Record Act", miming lyrics to …
It’s 4PM eastern time on November 25th, 1948. Elgin Watches annual Thanksgiving Day special is on the air from NBC’s KFI in Hollywood. Don Ameche is …
In Breaking Walls episode 138 in honor of opening day, we’ll share stories, and sounds from Baseball history and the radio.
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Highlights:
• Dots and Dashes
• The Babe
• Mel Allen
• Dizzy
• The War
• Jackie
• The Death …
Well, that brings our episode of baseball stories to a close. But speaking of heroes and heroines.
Next time on Breaking Walls, it’s the 1950s and four people are taking the world by storm for different reasons. We’ll …
Radio ratings peaked in 1948 and the networks used excess profits to help launch TV. By 1950 NBC, CBS, and ABC were filling their entire primetime TV …
In 1954, it took a historic season to dethrone the Yankees who were five-time defending world champions. Although they won one-hundred three games, the Cleveland Indians won a then-American League record one-hundred …
1951 seemed like the season it would all finally come together in Brooklyn. The Dodgers were led by Catcher Roy Campanella, First baseman Gil Hodges, …
The man you just heard is acting legend Vincent Price. Price’s only continuous radio role was as star of The Saint where he played Simon Templar. …
In 1946, Babe Ruth, always a heavy smoker, began to experience severe pain over his left eye and difficulty swallowing.
Tests were bleak. Ruth had an …
Tuesday, April 15th, 1947. 12:30PM. It’s damp and overcast. We’re at Ebbets field in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York. The visiting Boston Braves are playing the Brooklyn Dodgers on opening day. We can smell …
As recounted by hall of famer Bob Feller, the summer of 1941 proved to be one of the greatest seasons in Baseball history. Ted Williams hit .401 for the Boston Red Sox — the last man ever to do so, while Joe Dimaggio …
Jerome Hanna "Dizzy" Dean was born on January 16th, 1910 in Lucas, Arkansas, only attending school into the second grade. He made his professional …
In 1939 the just-heard Mel Allen became the New York Yankees radio announcer. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama on February 14th, 1913. While attending the University of Alabama he became the public address announcer …
In forty-four seasons from 1921 to 1964, The New York Yankees won the World Series twenty times. The dynasty began with Babe Ruth’s sale from the Boston Red Sox after the 1919 season.
Ruth learned his craft in an …
If you’ve tuned into Breaking Walls episodes before, you know I rarely editorialize. I’m just the messenger bringing the news. The origins belong to men and women who gave radio their blood, sweat, and tears through …
In Breaking Walls episode 137 we celebrate the Irish by focusing on St. Patrick’s Day on the air.
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Highlights:
• Fred Allen — The End and the Beginning
• Beat the Band
• Burns and Allen at the NYC Parade
• Bill …
Well, that brings our look at St. Patrick’s Day to the close, but not to worry the green fields of the mind will remain in April.
Next time on Breaking Walls, in honor of Major League Baseball’s opening day, we take a …
Although Fred Allen’s death left an unfillable hole in mid-century comedy, it’s not as though there weren’t other humorists battling with networks …
By January of 1949 Fred Allen was worn out. He’d spent years battling with sponsors and with NBC. In December of 1948 his Sunday at 8:30 rating was a healthy 20 points, but after Edgar Bergen left NBC’s airwaves the …
Broadway Is My Beat first took to the air on CBS from New York on February 27th, 1949, starring Anthony Ross and directed by John Dietz.
After fifteen weeks, with Dragnet breaking new ground on NBC, CBS moved the show’s …
In 1944 Fred Allen had to quit the Texaco Star Theatre as a battle with high blood pressure forced him off the air. The next fall, in 1945, he returned to NBC Sundays at 8:30PM with The Fred Allen Show, sponsored by …
Jack Benny’s most famous Irish Tenor, Dennis Day was born on May 21st, 1916 in New York City and raised in the Throggs Neck section of The Bronx.
Day graduated from Cathedral Preparatory Seminary and attended Manhattan …
Bill Stern’s Colgate Newsreel first took to the air on December 5th, 1937 over NBC’s Blue network.
Born on July 1st, 1907, Stern began in vaudeville …
By the spring of 1941, George Burns and Gracie Allen had been married for fifteen years and on radio for nine. Their program had been officially titled The Burns And Allen Show in the fall of 1936, and they’d spent time …
Originally broadcast from Chicago, NBC’s Beat The Band began airing January 28th, 1940 at 6:30PM eastern time. It was sponsored by Kix Cereal.
…
In 1922 a twenty-eight-year-old Fred Allen, already a vaudeville veteran, was hired by J.J. Shubert for his broadway production of The Passing Show …
In Breaking Walls episode 136 we spotlight John Dehner and Have Gun, Will Travel.
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Highlights:
• John Dehner’s radio career
• Norman MacDonnell and Palladin
• The Radio Dial on Sunday November 23rd 1958
• A Matter …
Well that brings our look at the radio version of Have Gun Will Travel to a close. So, what’s in store for March?
Next time on Breaking Walls, in honor of St. Patrick’s Day and the luck of the Irish, we focus on radio …
By 1960, Have Gun and Gunsmoke were the last dramatic productions being recorded for CBS in Hollywood. Network radio drama was dying. The U.S. was …
Thirty-five of the first thirty-nine Have Gun Will Travel scripts were TV script adaptations. Beginning with episode forty, all new scripts were original for the radio version of the series.
The February 15th, 1959 show …
The February 9th, 1959 episode of Have Gun Will Travel was called “Killer’s Widow.” Among those featured was the just-heard Vic Perrin. Perrin worked closely with Norman MacDonnell on Gunsmoke and Fort Laramie.
On TV, …
On February 1st, 1959, Have Gun Will Travel broadcast an episode called “A Matter of Ethics.”
The program's opening was a four-note motif composed and conducted by Bernard Herrmann. The show's closing song, "The Ballad …
Sunday, November 23rd, 1958 was a sunny, cold day in New York. Conway Twitty had the nation’s top song with “It’s Only Make Believe.” The inside …
By 1958, Norman Macdonnell was a radio veteran with thousands of broadcast hours under his belt. He’d been producing and directing Gunsmoke since 1952. Gunsmoke’s radio show was one of the first to offer a more-accurate …
John Dehner was born John Forkum on November 23rd, 1915 in Staten Island, New York. His father Leroy was an artist. His career allowed John to attend …
In Breaking Walls episode 135 it’s February of 1958 and CBS has just launched a new western, Luke Slaughter, of Tombstone. It’s a forgotten sixteen episode gem. Five years earlier it might have been a hit.
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…
Despite the CBS sales team’s best efforts, national sponsorship for Luke Slaughter was non-existent. Only the May 4th episode managed to get sponsorship from O'brien Paints. All the components for an excellent series …
The front cover of the March 2nd, 1958 Sunday edition of The Los Angeles Times spoke of President Eisenhower’s recovery from a mild stroke. Two civilian airplanes crashed over Upland, killing four. Racehorse Round …
After Luke Slaughter signed off, Frontier Gentleman signed on with its fourth episode. It was called “Kendall’s Last Stand,” and was one of the most gripping shows in the run. John Dehner starred.
Five minutes of a Road …
When Luke Slaughter debuted on Sunday, February 23rd, 1958 over CBS, network radio had shifted focus. Car radios had become standard. That month, U.S. Radio Magazine reported fifty-five percent of all peak listening …
William Robson attracted talented people into Slaughter’s creative process. The going rate in 1958 for a radio script was four-hundred fifty dollars. …
In February of 1958, CBS’ Gunsmoke, considered by many to be the greatest western of all-time, was in its sixth radio year. The TV version was the medium’s most-watched show, with a rating of 39.6. Although the 1950s …
In Breaking Walls episode 134 we spend our holidays with one of the most-beloved figures of the twentieth century: Jack Benny.
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Highlights:
• …
As the curtain closed on 1949, Jack Benny had his most lucrative year to date. CBS was now the number one network in the country, and both were poised for big things in the oncoming TV era. Benny’s January 1950 rating …
On Christmas Day 1949, The Czech government outlawed all people who’d fled the country during the 1948 Communist coup. While Cary Grant and Besty Drake were married in a private ceremony.
At 5PM eastern time, CBS put on …
On Tuesday December 20th, Clark Gable and Sylvia Ashley were married at a ranch in Solvang, California. It was the fourth marriage for both of them. …
At 7PM eastern time on December 18th, 1949 Jack Benny took to the air with what had become a programming staple: His Christmas shopping episode.
The U.S. spent the first ten months of 1949 in a recession. Competition for the advertising dollar was stiffer. There were now over …
By December Jack Benny’s rating was up to 25.4, tops on radio. On December 11th, 1949, Jack attempted to make arrangements for his Texas benefit appearance. Notre Dame football coach Frank Leahy was the guest star.
To take advantage of Capital Gains laws, Jack Benny had formed his holdings into a corporation and sold it to CBS for Two-point-two-six Million …
By the time Mel Allen broadcast Game four of the 1949 world series at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn on October 8th, the world was in turmoil. The Yankees …
On December 23rd, 1948, CBS Chairman William Paley and CEO Frank Stanton broadcast a special closed circuit press conference to their affiliates and staff. The move was to officially announce that Jack Benny was …
James Scully here, wanting to remind you that Burning Gotham 002: Bankruptcy is now available in the Burning Gotham feed. You can subscribe (for …
BURNING GOTHAM 001: MOVING DAY
May 1st, 1835 — It’s a cold and rainy Moving Day. Every renter in New York is out on the street looking for lodging. …
In Breaking Walls episode 133 we spend Thanksgiving 1949 with the cast of I Love a Mystery.
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Highlights:
• Thanksgiving Eve, 1949
• Carlton E. Morse—Budget Stretcher
• The First Two I Love a Mystery Runs
• Mutual …
Well, that brings our look at I Love A Mystery to a close, but there’s no mystery about what people thought of the subject of our next Breaking Walls …
Chuck Schaden interviewed Tony Randall on September 16th, 1970 at the Ambassador Hotel in Chicago. Eight days later Randall’s new series The Odd Couple debuted on ABC. Randall played Felix Unger. The show ran for five …
Although the serial went off the air in 1952, in May of 1954 a new audition record was produced for CBS in Hollywood. With Russell Thorson back in …
Initially running at 7:45PM, Mutual moved I Love a Mystery to 10:15 in 1950. Although geared for teenagers, it was obviously not standard juvenile programming. Many listeners remembered tuning in under blankets with the …
Tony Randall was born Aryeh Leonard Rosenberg on February 16th, 1920 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He attended Northwestern University for a year before going …
Carlotta Mercedes McCambridge was born to farming parents in Joliet, Illinois on March 16th, 1916. She graduated from Mundelein College. McCambridge …
Thursday, November 24th, 1949 was Thanksgiving Day. It was clear and crisp in New York as Macy’s put on its twenty-third annual parade. Floats included The Chef’s Turkey Dinner, the Snowman, and Santa’s Sleigh. Milton …
In the summer of 1949 NBC-TV approached Carlton Morse with the possibility of coming to New York to put One Man’s Family on TV. Because the entire …
I Love A Mystery first took to the air Weekdays at 3:15PM on NBC’s West-Coast network in January of 1939.
Michael Raffetto starred as Jack Packard, head of the A-1 Detective Agency, with Barton Yarborough as Texan Doc …
On the eve of Thanksgiving in 1949, Russian diplomat Andrey Vyshinsky told the UN General Assembly Russia fully supported Communist China’s in …
In Breaking Walls episode 132 we go back to the late 1940s and say Happy Halloween with Mutual Broadcasting.
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Highlights:
• The Seedy Underbelly of Coney Island on The Crime Club
• Take a Ride with The Mysterious …
We’re going to stop here, but we’re not even close to finishing with I Love A Mystery. Next time on Breaking Walls, while we spend Thanksgiving with …
James Scully here. You’re about to listen to the pilot episode of a reimagined Frontier Gentleman, which was originally created by Antony Ellis for …
Carlton E. Morse’ I Love A Mystery first took to the air Weekdays at 3:15PM on NBC’s West-Coast network in January of 1939.
Michael Raffetto starred as Jack Packard, head of the A-1 Detective Agency, with Barton …
Murder By Experts debuted over Mutual on June 13th, 1949. Written by David Kogan and Bob Arthur, it quickly gained the respect and approval from the radio world at large.
Mystery writers like John Dickson Carr and Brett …
On Tuesday November 2nd, 1948 The United States held its forty-first presidential election. If you’d tuned into the results early in the evening, …
At 5PM Mutual’s most famous program, The Shadow signed on. The show was in its eleventh season on the air in 1948. Andre Baruch handled emcee duties while Grace Matthews played Margo Lane.
Bret Morrison was Lamont …
At 4:30PM on Sunday October 31st, 1948, True Detective Mysteries signed on. The program had a rating of 10.7. It was Mutual’s number two show overall. Based on items from True Detective magazine, the series was …
By October 31st, 1948, The Mutual Broadcasting System’s flagship WOR in New York was approaching its twenty-seventh anniversary. It was argued that no station matched its signal coverage. WOR-Mutual was known for its …
The 1948 DNC convened in July with President Truman’s approval rating as low as 32%. Northern Democrats pushed for a strong civil rights platform, …
In 1934 Chicago was the center for radio production. Writer and director Wyllis Cooper created a program for NBC affiliate WENR that drastically altered the tone of horror. Cooper had been writing advertising copy in …
Mystery is My Hobby originally came to Don Lee’s west coast airwaves in April of 1945, before going full network over Mutual that October as Murder …
Written and directed by Robert Arthur and David Kogan, The Mysterious Traveler first aired over the Mutual Broadcasting System on December 5th, 1943.
Mostly sustained, the show was heard on virtually every night of the …
By October of 1947, nearly eleven million babies had been born in the U.S. since the end of World War II. Young parents were staying home with their children. Movie attendance bombed.
The 1947-48 season had the largest …
In Breaking Walls episode 132 we spotlight Orson Welles’ time as The Shadow in 1937-38.
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Highlights:
• Orson Welles’ on The March of Time and …
In the fall of 1938 as Orson Welles was launching The Mercury Theater of The Air, radio character actor Bill Johnstone became The Shadow. Johnstone …
In late June 1938, Orson Welles was approached by CBS. He was offered a one-hour, network sustained time slot on Mondays at 9PM.
William Paley’s concept: A Mercury Theater of the air for a nine-week trial run. Unlike …
The success of The Shadow was shared by Blue Coal. Billboard reported that twelve months after the premiere their sales were up nearly eleven …
Orson Welles opened in Julius Caesar on November 11th, 1937. He also made time to perform in guest appearances elsewhere on radio with Tallulah …
On Halloween 1937, Benito Mussolini removed Italy’s foreign minister to France due to strained relations between the two countries over Italy's …
The September 29th, 1937 issue of Variety said “that melodramatic and at times astonishing crime fighter, “The Shadow,” returns to the ether to probably find a rather sizable slice of listeners waiting for him. In this …
On the October 24th, 1937 episode of The Shadow called “The Temple Bells of Neban,” Lamont meets an Indian woman and drug smuggler named Sadi Bel-Adda. She knows The Shadow’s true identity. She’s the niece of the man …
In the fall of 1937, Orson Welles was busy readying for a Mercury Theater broadway production of Julius Caesar. The agency Ruthrauff and Ryan …
The voice at the top of this clip is that of former WOR chief engineer Jack Poppele. The station went online on February 22nd, 1922.
In 1934, WOR became one of the flagship stations of the Mutual Broadcasting System. …
By late spring in 1937, the Federal Theater Project was under intense scrutiny for staging what some felt were too many left-leaning labor plays. In …
In 1930 publisher Street and Smith decided to try radio with hopes of boosting pulp sales. Each week a drama would be adapted from an upcoming issue …
In the spring of 1935, nineteen year-old Orson Welles was living in New York, appearing on stage in Katharine Cornell’s stock company and workin on …
In Breaking Walls episode 130 we head to the summer of 1947 to get to the bottom of NBC’s Philip Marlowe caper.
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Highlights:
• Who was Raymond Chandler?
• Who is Philip Marlowe?
• Van Heflin, Movie Star
• Radio …
Well, that brings our episode on The Adventures of Philip Marlowe to a close. We’re not leaving the genre though, just going back ten years in time to 1937.
Next time on Breaking Walls we spotlight Orson Welles’ one …
Raymond Chandler wrote three more Philip Marlowe novels: The Little Sister in 1949, The Long Goodbye in 1953, and Playback in 1958. He became a dual citizen of the U.S. and Great Britain.
His wife, Cissy died in 1954. …
In September, Bob Hope reclaimed his Tuesday night time slot and NBC’s Philip Marlowe radio adventures were over.
1947 was a good year for Van …
The August 8th episode of Philip Marlowe was called “Robin and The Hood.” Jeff Chandler guest-starred playing a dual role.
Born Ira Grossel in …
On July 8th, 1947, NBC broadcast an adaptation of “The King In Yellow,” originally published in Dime Detective Magazine in March of 1938. It’s a …
The June 17th, 1947 edition of Billboard Magazine reviewed the first Marlowe episode. It was noted that similar shows were expected to pull a rating …
The Adventures of Philip Marlowe debuted on NBC with “Red Wind” on June 17th, 1947. The 1938 short story is set on one of those evenings when the hot, dry Santa Ana wind gusts through Los Angeles, turning the mood sour.
…
By the middle of 1947, nearly eleven million babies had been born in the U.S. since the end of World War II. Young parents were staying home with their children. Homes with radios jumped six percent, car radios …
Van Heflin was born on December 13th, 1908 in Walters, Oklahoma. The son of a dentist, he began his acting career on Broadway in the late 1920s. Between 1928 and 1936 he appeared in. Mr. Moneypenny, The Bride of …
Philip Marlowe, born in Santa Rosa, California, is six feet tall and weighs one-hundred ninety pounds. He has dark wavy hair. In Chandler’s first Marlowe novel, The Big Sleep, set in 1936, he’s thirty-three. Marlowe had …
La Jolla, California. 1947. We’re at 6005 Camino de la Costa at the home of Raymond Chandler. It’s been three years since the fifty-nine year-old …
In Breaking Walls episode 129 we honor the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Roswell incident by focusing on Radio and the mid-century flying saucer …
By 1955 radio’s days as America’s chief entertainment medium were over. However, while radio drama was dying out, UFO sightings were becoming more prevalent. Some were so outlandish they were hard to believe. Others …
Roy Rogers was born on November 5th, 1911 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He spent much of the early 1930s performing with groups like Uncle Tom Murray’s …
Ralph Story was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan on August 19th, 1920. He served as a US Army Fighter Pilot during World War II and started a career in broadcasting after the war.
His big break came in 1948 when he was hired …
In October of 1952 You Bet Your Life was in the middle of its sixth season on the air and third over NBC. That month’s rating was 8.8, down significantly from its peak, but still good enough for fifth overall.
The …
Like with Germany, Korea was divided into occupation zones after World War II. The Soviets helped establish communism in the North, while the US supported the South. By June of 1950 fighting along the border had been …
On Saturday July 9th, 1949, Dangerous Assignment debuted on NBC starring Brian Donlevy as Steve Mitchell. Each week Mitchell was sent to a different …
On April 7th, 1950, Edward R. Murrow broadcast the CBS Special “Report on Flying Saucers.” By then, Murrow was long-known for his journalistic …
On Sunday April 2nd, 1950 at 7:30PM eastern time, The Phil Harris and Alice Faye Show took to the air over NBC. The Harris/Faye show peaked in December of 1948 with a rating of 26, but by this month it was down 8.5. …
On Tuesday nights at 9:30PM eastern time in the spring of 1950, Fibber McGee and Molly was NBC’s highest-rated show. They’d stuck with NBC while …
In the spring of 1950, network radio revenue was falling for the first time since 1933. There were now over twenty-six-hundred AM and FM stations …
Until March of 1950, most reported UFO observations were seen from a great distance. On March 16th, a physician and pilot — Dr. Craig Hunter of Berkeley Springs, West Virginia — saw one close up.
That same month, the …
The University of Chicago Roundtable grew out of arguments had by professors at the faculty club. In 1931 they were convinced their forum would make …
Early on the morning of February 25th, 1942 several aerial objects were spotted over Los Angeles. It triggered the firing of thousands of anti-aircraft rounds. This was ten weeks after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and …
In Breaking Walls episode 128 we wrap up our six month look at 1954 by ending in June with network cancellations.
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Highlights:
• The State of Radio and The Union
• The End of Escape with John Dehner
• News with …
Well, this brings our six-month look at 1954 to a close.
Jack Benny again had radio’s highest-rated show the following season in what would …
Even with James Stewart leading the cast and Jack Johnstone directing, without a national sponsor cancellation was around the corner for The Six Shooter. Unlike with CBS, it was uncommon for NBC to sustain shows for …
At network radio’s height, no dramatic show was more popular than CBS’ Lux Radio Theatre. Between 1936 and 1954 it never finished lower than eighth …
On Sunday June 13th, 1954 at 6PM Eastern, The American Forum of the Air signed on Mutual with a discussion on the 1954 midterm elections. The featured Senators were Republican Homer Ferguson of Michigan and Democrat …
On June 6th, 1954 Jack Benny closed his broadcast for the end of the season. Jack was going to headline in Dallas. The show featured a semi-rare appearance from Mary Livingston.
Although radio audiences were rapidly …
By June of 1954, the thirty-six year-old Elliott Lewis was producer/director of four shows and the star of two. His peers affectionately dubbed him …
Originally broadcast as The Adventures of Helen and Mary, radio’s preeminent children’s show first took to the air on September 7th, 1929 over CBS. It became Let’s Pretend on March 24th, 1934.
Hosted by “Uncle” Bill …
On June 4th, 1954 at 10PM, The Frank Edwards news program signed on from WOR in New York. During this month there were more than one-hundred-twenty major American cities with significant unemployment. The Secretary of …
As Escape and shows like it were canceled, there were fewer opportunities for radio’s west-coast actors on network sustained programs.
This episode, “An Ordinary Man” was written by Kathleen Hite and starred John Dehner …
By June 1954 network radio drama was facing huge sponsor disinterest. Shows canceled in the first half of the year included The Quiz Kids, Dr. …
In Breaking Walls episode 127 we keep on with our look at 1954 by picking up in May during one of the most important months of the decade.
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Highlights:
• The Big Sound in Nashville
• Everett Sloane and The 21st …
At 3PM on Sunday, May 30th, 1954, Anthology signed on NBC. Directed by John Malcom Brennen, produced by Steve White, and announced by Harry …
On Friday May 28th, 1954 as beaches and public parks opened for Memorial Day weekend, families hopped in their cars, turned on the radio dial, and heard the continuing testimony of McCarthy’s Attorney Roy Cohn during …
Inheritance was a joint production of NBC and The American Legion at the height of The Red Scare. It first took to the air on April 4th, 1954.
The American Legion was at the forefront of The Red Channels pamphlet which …
On Sunday May 23rd, 1954 at 6PM Eastern, The American Forum of the Air signed on Mutual with a discussion on the Supreme Court Decision of Brown …
Bob Hope joined NBC’s red network in December of 1937. For the next ten years he starred on The Pepsodent Program, racking up the top-rated show five consecutive seasons between the fall of 1942 and the spring of 1947.
…
James Butler “Bill” Hickok was born on May 27th, 1837 in LaSalle County, Illinois. An excellent marksman from a young age, in 1855 he became a Kansas …
Carlton E. Morse’ I Love A Mystery first took to the air Weekdays at 3:15PM on NBC’s West-Coast network in January of 1939. Michael Raffetto starred as Jack Packard, head of the A-1 Detective Agency, with Barton …
On Friday, May 14th, 1954 President Eisenhower gave a news conference, immediately opening the floor to reporters for general questions.
The day prior The World Chess Championship was won by Mikhail Botvinnik in Moscow. …
Meet Mr. McNutley first took to CBS’ airwaves on September 17th, 1953. Ray Milland played Ray McNutley, English professor at Lynnhaven College. …
As the US began May of 1954, there was word that a new Soviet bomber had the ability to reach the United States. It was displayed for the public for the first time at the Moscow May Day Parade.
On May 7th, the Battle of …
In Breaking Walls episode 126 we continue our mini-series in April of 1954.
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Highlights:
• Eisenhower talks fear
• Lum and Abner’s April Fools’ …
Next time on Breaking Walls, as the weather heats up in May of 1954, Brown vs. The Board of Education delivers a landmark decision. It decreed racial …
In April 1954, Phil Harris and Alice Faye were in the midst of their last season on the air. The husband-wife duo had been starring together on radio since 1946. Harris spent the better part of the last decade working …
In January 1953, Joseph McCarthy began his second term as U.S. Senator from Wisconsin as the Republican Party regained control of the Senate. …
As The Jack Benny Program moved into the spring of 1954, the comedian was still seen as a ratings boon. Through the years, Benny made little tweaks to his team without losing his audience.
Bob Crosby replaced Phil …
April 18th, 1954 was both the first day of Passover and Easter Sunday. In Los Angeles, the weather was warm and foggy. The front page of The LA Times predicted record crowds at Easter services.
The Major League baseball …
Willard Waterman had been portraying Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve since the fall of 1950 when Harold Peary left the program.
In the spring of 1954 …
In 1954, CBS Radio’s documentary unit presented a special feature series on a variety of hot-button topics. On April 11th, illegal Immigration from …
By April 1954, Himan Brown had been involved in radio for more than two decades. He’d directed, produced, or created shows like Inner Sanctum …
In April 1954 Bill Froug was supervisor for a new CBS series called Night Watch. The show attempted to take Dragnet’s realism to the next level. It …
In October 1944, in conjunction with the Jewish Theological Seminary, NBC began one of the longest-running religious programs in radio history. It …
As the United States entered April 1954 with the cold war at its height, Congress and The President authorized the founding of the U.S. Air Force …
In Breaking Walls episode 125 we continue our mini-series in March of 1954.
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Highlights:
• Edward R. Murrow Sees It Now
• Perry Mason Busts The Syndicate
• The 1954 DNC in Florida
• Cathy and Elliott Lewis Can’t …
As March drew to a close, Mutual Broadcasting’s Frank Hemingway took to the air on March 30th with the evening news from KHJ in Los Angeles.
___________
With the hydrogen bomb in development, Russia wanted to join NATO. …
The eighth-annual Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Broadway Theatre were held at the Plaza Hotel’s Grand Ballroom on March 28th, 1954. Broadcast on radio by NBC, it was emceed by Ben Grauer and Faye Emerson.
…
By March of 1954 Bing Crosby’d been in the public eye for more than two decades. He had numerous hit records, and won an Oscar for best actor in Going My Way in 1944.
On Radio, Bing helped usher in primetime …
In March of 1954, Escape was still airing on CBS. Although it was frequently dropped and moved around the network schedule, it was popular and cheap …
Often written by the just-heard E. Jack Neuman, the fourth actor to voice Johnny Dollar, John Lund, grabbed the role in November of 1952.
Lund had …
It Pays To Be Married was a daytime game show in which married couples told stories of obstacles they overcame to build a healthier relationship. …
You Bet Your Life, conceived by John Guedel and hosted by comedian Groucho Marx, debuted over ABC’s airwaves on October 27th, 1947.
Three couples were brought onstage to be interviewed and quizzed by Groucho. Each couple …
As radio audiences left for TV, Elliott Lewis continued to champion radio as a stronger dramatic medium. On Thursday January 1st, 1953, he and wife …
On March 6th, 1954, 1952’s Democrat Presidential nominee, Adlai Stevenson gave a dinner speech at the Florida DNC.
In 1952 Stevenson was a heavy underdog against Dwight Eisenhower. He carried only nine states, but did …
As the United States entered March 1954, U.S. officials announced a successful hydrogen bomb test, while four Puerto Rican nationalists opened fire …
In Breaking Walls episode 124 we pick up our 1954 mini series in February. We’ll focus on radio programming and national news from that month.
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Highlights:
• Radio Billings Are Down. Now What?
• Dragnet—Still …
Well, that brings February to a close, but for many of these topics, we’ve only just begun. Next time on Breaking Walls, it’s March of 1954, and Senator Joseph McCarthy’s four-year anti-communist tirade begins to come …
Airing on CBS since 1949, Edgar Bergen’s 1954 Sunday at 9:30PM eastern rating was 4.7, twelfth overall. His show was sponsored by Lanolin Plus. On …
Stars over Hollywood broke one of radio's strongest prejudices: That Saturday daytime was a programming wasteland.
When Paul Pierce, CBS production …
During 1952 and 1953, the U.S. experienced an outbreak of roughly ninety-five thousand polio cases, with a death count of over forty-six hundred. …
When Mr and Mrs North took to the air on Tuesday February 23rd at 8:30PM for CBS, it had radio’s sixth-highest overall rating. With a 6.1 it topped Dragnet, which aired in direct competition on NBC.
Jerry and Pam North …
Originating as a USO activity created by Canadian Don Reid for World War II soldiers, The College Quiz Bowl was developed into a radio show by Reid …
In February of 1954, Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy was touring the circuit, giving speeches entitled “Twenty Years of Treason.” He claimed that President Eisenhower didn’t want a whitewash government and the …
In February of 1954, Jack Benny was in the midst of his sixth year on CBS, and his twenty-second in radio.
Although his TV program was in the midst of its fourth season, his radio show was still airing in the familiar …
During the 1953-54 season, NBC Chicago’s WMAQ and the Speech Department at Northwestern University, jointly broadcast a series of radio essays entitled Americana. Each episode explored a facet of American life or …
The first voice you'll hear is that of Lee de Forest. The second is of Bill Froug. Producer/Director Bill Froug spent the early 1950s in charge of The Hallmark Hall of Fame. The show began in the 1940s as Radio Reader’s …
When ABC radio took out a Broadcasting Magazine ad in 1954 touting their year-over-year sales growth, they juxtaposed theirs against the decline of the other three networks’ in the same period. It painted a bleak …
For those who wanted Breaking Walls episode 123 in the traditional format.
___________
In Breaking Walls episode 123 we open 2022 with a six-part mini-series on radio business and programming in 1954. We’ll begin with …
Next time on Breaking Walls, we move into February and discuss polio, falling ratings points, and radio profit margins.
___________
The reading …
Back in July of 1935, head of RCA David Sarnoff asked friend and inventor Edwin Howard Armstrong to remove his experimental FM equipment from RCA’s …
Amanda Randolph was born on September 2nd, 1896 in Louisville, Kentucky. Her father was a methodist minister and her mother a teacher, but she would …
By the mid 1950s, smog was becoming a serious problem in American cities, especially Los Angeles. On January 15th, 1954 KNX broadcast a special called “The Troubled Air.”
___________
Residents of Los Angeles suffered from …
Although Jack Benny spent his TV time on September 13th, 1953 dreaming of being with Marilyn Monroe, on January 15th, 1954 she was officially taken off the market. That day she and retired baseball star Joe DiMaggio …
Under the sponsorship of Heinz Foods, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet moved to ABC’s potent Friday night schedule on October 14th, 1949. Ozzie …
People are Funny debuted on April 10th, 1942 on NBC. It was created by gameshow maven John Guedel. He was a jack of all trades who’d spent time as a …
When Gunsmoke was sponsored for a single broadcast on November 21st 1952, by Chrysler Plymouth, the show drew a good rating against ABC’s This is Your FBI, and was heard by roughly 8 million people.
After eighteen months …
The United States entered 1954 in an uncertain position. Years of racial discrimination were coming to the forefront. In May, Brown vs. the Board of …
This is a snippet from Breaking Walls Episode 98: Christmas Week 1947 with Radio's Biggest Stars
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For the four major radio networks, 1947 was a year or record business:
ABC saw a 7.25% gross billings increase. …
In Breaking Walls episode 122 we spend the holidays in the old west with Jimmy Stewart, director Jack Johnstone, and The Six Shooter.
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…
On Easter Sunday in 1982, Dennis Day was a guest of John Dunning's radio show for 71KNUS in Denver. The two spoke about Day's life and career, which naturally led to his association with Jack Benny. In this clip, Dennis …
In Breaking Walls episode 121, we finish our Americana mini-series by coming home for November’s festivities. We’ll cheer for the home team, taste the best turkey dressing, and remember what’s most important with some …
In Breaking Walls episode 120, we continue our Americana mini-series in autumn with a host of harvest-centered radio programing. We’ll warm by the fire and listen in on stories from some of the medium’s most prominent.
…
In Breaking Walls episode 119 we continue our Americana mini-series by bringing our appetites to the diner. We’ll hear stories from some of radio’s best and center ourselves around shows taking place in establishments.
…
Conductor Howard Barlow, who'd later go on to be known as "the voice of Firestone," was conducting in-studio for CBS during their first big broadcast in 1927.
In this clip, recorded for Westinghouse's 50th anniversary in …
Barbara Walters interviewed George Burns for 20/20 in 1979. During the course of the interview George spoke about marrying Gracie while performing on the vaudeville circuit.
In August of 1982 SPERDVAC (www.sperdvac.com) hosted a CBS panel at the Thousand Oaks Library in California. The panel featured some of the best known radio character actors of the 1940s and 1950s.
When the panel was …
Corey Ford was an American humorist, author, outdoorsman, screenwriter, and occasional member of the famed Algonquin Round Table in New York City. He penned several famous works, including the 1946 Cloak and Dagger. It …
In September of 1972, former NBC engineer and producer Aldo Gizalbert sat down with Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran for their Hartford, CT-based WTIC …
On August 6th, 1976 Chuck Schaden sat down with Norman Corwin for a conversation about the latter's life and career (full interview here). During the …
On August 14th, 1945 after the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan accepted the United States' terms of surrender, officially ending World War II.
That evening, Norman Corwin produced a special broadcast …
In the winter of 1945 there were many soldiers who were still injured and recovering in army hospitals across the world. To help pay back its war …
This clip, from early in the 1950s during Edward R. Murrow's This I Believe CBS Radio program takes aim at Senator Joseph McCarthy during the height …
At a SPERDVAC meeting on March 14th, 1992 which featured Jeanette Nolan, Mary Jane Croft, and Sam Edwards, radio legend Jeanette Nolan explained how …
On the August 4th, 1949 episode of CBS' Escape, "You are isolated on a remote plantation in the crawling Amazon Jungle and an immense army of …
In the early 1990s, Red Skelton was a guest of Canadian television host Dini Petty's talk show. They spoke about his life and career. In this clip, Red Skelton explains how comedian Ed Wynn got him started in show-biz …
Breaking Walls is the podcast on the history of American network radio broadcasting. It focuses on people, places, stories, and events from the …
In Breaking Walls episode 118 we hit the road with part one of an Americana mini-series. We’ll gas up with some of radio’s best and examine shows taking place at America’s filling stations.
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Highlights:
• Al …
On October 7th, 1971 Chuck Schaden interviewed famous host and emcee Ralph Edwards about his life and career (full interview here - …
In the July 23rd, 1956 episode of Yours Truly Johnny Dollar starring Bob Bailey, Dollar receives a telephone call from Ralph Kearns of Great Plains …
In the July 19th, 1952 episode of Gunsmoke, Doc Holiday comes to Dodge City. Holiday is a gunman, but on the right side of the law and a friend of …
On May 10th, 1986, SPERDVAC (https://www.sperdvac.com/) was host to a This is Your FBI Panel and show recreation which featured creator Jerry Devine and several actors, including Parley Baer, Peggy Webber, and Lou …
In August of 1982 SPERDVAC (http://www.sperdvac.com) hosted a CBS panel at the Thousand Oaks Library in California. The panel featured some of the best known radio character actors of the 1940s and 1950s. One of them, …
On August 9th, 1986, Lawrence Dobkin, Don Diamond, and Lilian Buyeff were guests of SPERDVAC (http://sperdvac.com/) for a conversation about their lives and acting careers.
During the chat, the conversation swung around …
On the July 12th, 1951 episode of Dragnet, Detective Sergeant Joe Friday is assigned to burglary detail. A gang of clever thieves has been at work …
In 2010 Walden Hughes of SPERDVAC and YesterdayUSA Radio interviewed longtime NBC Staff Writer Ernest Kinoy on his radio experiences. It wasn't long before the conversation got around to X-Minus-One, a program Kinoy …
By the summer of 1951, Martin and Lewis had become the biggest act in show business, with both blockbuster film roles and a touring act selling out …
On March 12th, 1983, SPERDVAC (https://www.sperdvac.com/) hosted a conversation with actors Herb Ellis and Herb Vigran. During the course of their chat, Herb Ellis spoke about his friendship and working relationship …
On the Independence Day, 1948 episode of CBS' high-adventure drama, Escape, "you are spurring a lathered horse through darkened streets, trapped by two hostile armies, with a kit of magic in your pocket, and the …
Actor Parley Baer was interviewed in the mid 1970s for a Gunsmoke radio documentary by WAMU's John Hickman. During one of their conversations Baer …
On the July 2nd, 1955 episode of Gunsmoke, Marshall Matt Dillon arrives back in Dodge to discover a new bank has opened in town. The owner is Drew …
On the June 30th, 1957 episode of Yours Truly Johnny Dollar, George Reed from Floyd's of England (like Lloyd's of London) calls Johnny to investigate …
In late 1972, Vincent Price sat down with Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran for WTIC's The Golden Age of Radio (full interview here - …
In Breaking Walls episode 117 we blast off with NBC in the fall of 1955 and spotlight its premiere science fiction series, X Minus One. We’ll listen …
On the debut episode of NBC's Monitor on June 12th, 1955, Dave Garroway sat down for an interview with Marilyn Monroe. He'd heard she was permanently moving to New York, but was surprised to hear where she really wanted …
In 1976 John Hickman of WAMU put together an outstanding five-part documentary on the history of Gunsmoke. One of the people interviewed was Gunsmoke director Norman Macdonnell. Macdonnell directed the series during its …
On the June 18th, 1955 episode of Gunsmoke, Lucy Middlecamp is a former dance hall girl who married Ethan Hunt, a soon-to-be preacher.
Chester never …
On the 1st anniversary of Dragnet's debut, Detective Sergeant Joe Friday is assigned to Robbery Detail. Women are being beaten and robbed. The victims have been unable to identify the criminals.
It’s Friday’s job to get …
On April 28th, 1971, Chuck Schaden interviewed radio legend and the original Great Gildersleeve, Hal Peary (full interview here - …
On December 13th, 1973 Chuck Schaden sat down with radio writer Phil Leslie (full Conversation here -…
On the June 9th, 1955 episode of Fibber McGee and Molly, after Fibber discovers the couple has an extra $22.50 ($225.50 today) in their checking …
Radio Actress Fran Carlon speaks about why radio actors and actresses needed to be on their toes for script cuts and news cutaways during World War II.
On March 12th, 1983 Herb Ellis and Herb Vigran were guests of SPERDVAC (http://www.sperdvac.com) for a conversation about their intersecting lives and careers in radio, film, and TV. During the course of the …
In 1971 Jim Jordan, better known as Fibber McGee, sat down with Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran for WTIC's the Golden Age of Radio to talk about his …
For Westinghouse's 50th Anniversary in 1970, longtime NBC radio announcer Ben Grauer spoke about being on his toes with news relays during World War II.
Born in New York in 1908, he was a child actor who became an NBC …
On Friday April 1st, 1955, NBC's President Sylvester "Pat" Weaver held a closed circuit press conference for NBC affiliates to announce a new weekend …
In 1982, radio actor Byron Kane was a guest of SPERDVAC (http://www.sperdvac.com) in California for a conversation about his life and career. During …
In 1975, long-time New York radio actor Staats Cotsworth sat down with Ed Corcoran at a radio convention to chat about his career. This interview was …
Enjoy this classic 1968 musical bumper from NBC's Monitor, and tune into Breaking Walls Episode 116: The Launch of NBC’s Monitor (1955) to learn more about this seminal radio programming service that ran for almost …
In Breaking Walls episode 116, it’s June of 1955 and network radio is in uncharted territory. TV’s encroachment has the entire industry looking for new ideas. We’ll focus on the launch of one of the most …
On November 24th, 1954 Fred Allen was a guest of Tex and Jinx's New York talk show for a discussion about his life and career. It was recorded on a grey, rainy Wednesday before Thanksgiving in Peacock Alley at The …
On May 25th, 1943 Agnes Moorehead guest-starred on The Columbia Broadcasting System's Suspense. The play was the very first broadcast of Lucille …
In January of 1976, famed radio director William N. Robson was a guest of Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran's on WTIC's The Golden Age of Radio (full …
Escape, CBS’s high-adventure anthology, debuted on July 7th, 1947.
During its erratic seven year run it was shifted and dropped frequently, almost …
On the May 17th, 1959 episode of Gunsmoke, Cora meadows and her young son Tad are visited by a dying man named Rourke, who is seeking refuge at their …
Detective Sergeant Joe Friday is assigned to Robbery detail. A United States mail truck is held up and robbed. Twenty-two sacks of registered mail …
Barbara Walters interviewed George Burns for 20/20 in 1979. During the course of the interview George spoke about how Gracie forever altered his life.
On the May 12th, 1949 episode of Burns and Allen, Burns is still convinced that he has no place in TV. He's been trying to conceal his anxiety from Gracie, but she can see that all is not well with her little man. Burns …
In 1982, John Dehner was an in-studio guest of Neil Ross' at KMPC for a conversation about his acting career. During the course of the chat, Dehner explained how be became an actor.
The May 11th, 1958 episode of Frontier Gentleman took J.B. Kendall to Chugwater, Wyoming Territory. There is a rail station for the Cheyenne and Black Hills stage line and because of a rain storm Kendall, ever the …
In September of 1975 Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran of WTIC's The Golden Age of Radio sat down with famed New York actor Joseph Julian for a …
Jean Shepherd was a guest of David Letterman on March 10th, 1982. In this clip he tells funny stories about growing up in Hammond, Indiana.
In August of 1971 Hans Conried was a guest of Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran for the 17th episode of WTIC's The Golden Age of Radio (full interview here …
On the May 2nd, 1953 episode of Broadway is My Beat, Danny Clover is about to go home for the day when he finds Lila Royce at the front desk, reporting her sister missing. Margaret's apartment has been torn apart, and …
In March of 1983 radio actors Herb Vigran and Herb Ellis were guests of SPERDVAC (http://www.sperdvac.com) to talk about their radio careers. During the course of the conversation, Herb Vigran shed some much needed …
For CBS's 50th Anniversary broadcast in 1977, CBS Chairman William S. Paley spoke about why he loved radio. Paley grew CBS from a ragtag group of near-bankrupt affiliates into one of the world's leading broadcast …
In Breaking Walls episode 115, we focus on one of the last experimental programs on the air, The CBS Radio Workshop, and the man at its Hollywood …
This is a snippet from Breaking Walls Episode 96: Halloween On The Air (1943 - 1953)
___________
On August 31st, 1941, Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve stepped off a train in the town of Summerfield, bringing with a now …
In September of 1974 east-coast radio actor Mandel Kramer sat down with Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran for WTIC's The Golden Age of Radio (the full …
Shortly after CBS debuted Frontier Gentleman in February of 1958, a second new western show, Luke Slaughter of Tombstone, debuted on Sunday February 23rd, 1958 at 2PM eastern time.
Sam Buffington starred in the title …
On September 23rd, 1989, legendary radio and tv announcer and interviewer Mike Wallace was a guest of Chuck Schaden's (full interview here - …
In the April 20th, 1958 episode of Frontier Gentleman, starring John Dehner, J.B. Kendall meets Wild Bill Hickok and sits in on a card game that becomes part of American history.
For more information on Antony Ellis' …
On August 5th, 1976, Chuck Schaden was a guest at Arch Oboler's home for a conversation about the noted writer and director's career (full interview …
On the April 15th, 1951 episode of The Jack Benny program, Jack's in trouble with the IRS for spending $17 on entertainment. The trouble began the …
On August 9th, 1986, Lawrence Dobkin, Lillian Buyeff, and Don Diamond were guests of SPERDVAC for a conversation about their radio careers. During the course of the conversation, Dobkin (who started in New York before …
On the April 12th, 1953 episode of Dragnet, Detective Sergeant Joe Friday is assigned to Robbery Detail. Somewhere in the city a man has been making phony calls, endangering the lives officers. With a simple dime, this …
It's bargain day at the Bon Ton department store in Wistful Vista. Naturally Fibber McGee is caught in the crowds. He has to be saved by Molly. …
This is the May 14th, 1954 episode of Bob Hope's radio show featuring Grace Kelly in a rare radio appearance by the Hollywood star. Ms. Kelly was …
At the end of the Sunday, May 6th, 1956 episode of Fort Laramie entitled "Never the Twain," CBS broadcast a promotional spot for Yours Truly Johnny …
In 1976 John Hickman of WAMU put together an expansive five-part audio documentary on the history of the radio version of Gunsmoke, complete with cast and production crew interviews, show clips, and reflections.
During …
In 1976 Desi Arnaz appeared on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show to promote his newly released autobiography, "A Book." In this clip, Desi jokes about his …
In 1963, during the height of Perry Mason's television fame, Raymond Burr sat down with Jack Webster for an interview about his career and the changes that playing Perry Mason brought into his life. During the course of …
In Breaking Walls episode 114, as America moves to the suburbs in the mid-1950s, we move with them and examine a radio western called Fort Laramie. Although it only aired for ten months, it’s one of the most critically …
At 4:30PM on March 20th, 1949 Robert Trout took to the air for NBC with five minutes of news, sponsored by Pillsbury.
As Spring of 1949 began five of radio’s top-ten programs aired on CBS, four on NBC, and one on ABC. …
This is a snippet from Breaking Walls Episode 90: The Hollywood People Behind Radio’s Baby Boomer Boom (1945 - 1954)
___________
By 1951 director …
Jack Benny’s most famous Irish Tenor, Dennis Day was born on May 21st, 1916 and raised in the Throggs Neck section of The Bronx, New York City—The second of five children born to Irish immigrants Patrick & Mary …
In 1982 Vic Perrin was a guest of Neil Ross' for his KMPC radio show for a conversation about Vic's life and career. During the course of the conversation, Mr. Perrin recounted a funny story about a writer who was still …
In 1976 Orson Welles was a guest of Johnny Carson's on the Tonight Show for a segment on Orson's life and career (full segment here - …
On September 3rd, 1970 Chuck Schaden interviewed Jack Benny backstage at the Mill Run Playhouse in suburban Niles, Illinois (full interview here - …
In 1948 a syndicated Coca-Cola sponsored version of the soap opera Claudia, starring Katharine Bard and Paul Crabtree produced an episode for airing …
This is a snippet from Breaking Walls Episode 91: The Hollywood Radio Western Renaissance (1954 - 1980).
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One of the only western series of note …
In 1967 musician and composer Rex Koury sat down for a documentary interview with John Hickman on Gunsmoke. During the course of the chat he explained how he came to be associated with the show, and how he composed the …
When the 1939 World’s Fair opened in Flushing Meadows, David Sarnoff was there to share the spotlight with President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Fiorello LaGuardia, Mayor of New York City.
Sarnoff announced, via a single …
In 1970 Orson Welles was a guest of Dick Cavett's for a great interview about the artist's life and career. During the course of the show, Welles …
During Sunday March 9th, 1958's episode of Luke Slaughter of Tombstone, CBS dedicated the network-sustained show's mid-episode break spot to a promo for the upcoming episode of Frontier Gentleman.
The two shows ran back …
During the Korean War, NBC sent reporters to talk to the soldiers on the front lines during the conflict. This is some of what they said.
In Breaking Walls episode 113 it’s September of 1953 and Elliott Lewis is one of the busiest men in radio. He’s the producer/director of four shows …
At the close of the November 30th, 1947 episode of The Jack Benny Program, Jack Benny spoke eloquently about the problems teachers were facing in the post-War world. His plea mirrors many we might hear today.
In 1982, John Dehner was an in-studio guest of Neil Ross' at KMPC for a conversation about his acting career. During the course of the chat, Dehner shed some light on oncoming stereo audio in the late 1950s and early …
On August 14th, 1982, SPERDVAC (http://www.sperdvac.com/) hosted a conversation with some of radio's most famous character actors: Harry Bartell, Vic Perrin, John Dehner, Virginia Gregg, Parley Baer, and Peggy Webber.
…
On Easter Sunday in April of 1982, Dennis Day was a guest of John Dunning's on 71KNUS Newstalk radio program in Denver, CO. They spoke about Day's life and career—especially his quarter-century association with Jack …
This is a snippet from Breaking Walls Episode 91: The Hollywood Radio Western Renaissance (1954 - 1980).
—————
After Have Gun, Will Travel went off the …
In 1955 when Gunsmoke debuted on television they turned to John Wayne for a one-minute promo spot to give the show credibility.
When Wayne heard that …
In Breaking Walls episode 112, we finish our five-part mini-series by examining NBC’s business and programming during the 1949-50 radio season in the wake of the CBS talent raids by examining the steps NBC took to …
In 1982, SPERDVAC hosted a panel discussion with some of CBS's well-known Hollywood radio character actors. During the discussion, Harry Bartell told …
On May 5th, 1982, actor Vic Perrin was a guest of Neil Ross' for his KMPC program. During the course of the interview, which touched on many subjects, the conversation turned to Barton Yarborough, who passed away …
Radio legend and Chief Engineer Jack Poppele (02.04.1898 - 10.07.1986) recalls his part in the launch of WOR on 2.22.1922 during an interview he gave in 1970.
WOR took to the air from Bamberger's department store in …
Impresario Samuel 'Roxy' Rothafel in rehearsal for his radio show to be broadcast from Radio City in New York City, 1932. In this clip, Roxy Rothafel stands at microphone onstage in front of orchestra talking to comic …
This is a snippet from Breaking Walls Episode 94: Radio And The Drugstore/Malt Shop (1940 - 1955) For the full story, listen to Breaking Walls …
At 1PM on a rain-soaked Wednesday before Thanksgiving on November 24th, 1954, Fred Allen appeared on NBC's Tex and Jinx Show out of the flagship WRCA in New York. It was recorded near Peacock Alley at The …
During a 1980s Interview with John Dunning for 71KNUS in Denver, Dennis Day explained how he came to be hired by Jack Benny and the interview process.
This photos shows Dennis with Jack and Margaret Truman.
Dick Powell was born on November 14th, 1904 in Mountain View, Arkansas. He’d been an A-list crooner in the 1930s, starring in both musicals and comedies at Warner Brothers and Paramount. He was also the emcee of radio’s …
This is Jack Benny's first program for CBS after leaving NBC at the end of 1948. It aired, live, coast-to-coast at 7PM eastern time on January 2nd, …
On November 20, 1958 head of CBS William S. Paley received an award for his thirty years of work in the field of programming.
Paley had purchased a …
On August 9th, 1986, actor and director Lawrence Dobkin was part of a SPERDVAC ( www.sperdvac.com ) panel along with Don Diamond and Lilian Buyeff to discuss their lives and careers. During the course of the …
In Breaking Walls episode 111 we resume our mini-series in January of 1949. CBS is now the nation’s number one network, and NBC is left to come up with programming answers. We’ll focus on the shows they launched in the …
December 26th, 1948 was a seminal day in radio history. NBC had dominated Sunday’s prime time ratings for every season since the late 1920s. Now, in …
In the fall of 1948, CBS programmed radio’s "Outstanding Theater of Thrills," Suspense, opposite the Kraft Music Hall at 9PM on NBC, and took with it …
At 10AM eastern time on the morning of Wednesday, December 22nd, 1948, Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians signed on NBC with the most expensive daytime show on radio.
Waring’s enormous glee club gave his show a …
At 9:30PM on December 21st, 1948, Jim and Marion Jordan signed on NBC. The couple was in the midst of their tenth consecutive season with a top-three rated show. That month, their rating was 26.6.
That night, Jim Jordan …
On December 20th, 1948 at 7PM eastern time, The Chesterfield Supper Club took to the air on NBC, featuring a rotating cast of singers Perry Como, Jo Stafford, Peggy Lee, and Mary Ashford and the Satisfiers.
Como …
This is the last episode of Jeff Regan, Investigator starring Jack Webb. The following month, Webb intimated to Radio Life Magazine that his days …
The Greatest Story Ever Told came to the air on January 26th, 1947. It was ambitious, with a full orchestra and sixteen-person chorus. It dramatized …
On March 12th, 1983, SPERDVAC (http://sperdvac.com/) hosted a conversation with actors Herb Ellis and Herb Vigran. During the course of their chat, Herb Ellis spoke about his friendship and working relationship with …
In our remastered Breaking Walls Episode 75 we go back in time to the beginning of radio to tell the story of how this medium began. This episode was originally released on 2/1/2018.
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Highlights:
* Why the …
In February of 1973 Don Ameche sat down with Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran for their WTIC Golden Age of Radio program for a conversation about his life …
In this interview clip, Jack Benny speaks about why he got along so well with his writers and how he became an easy character to write for.
The Wednesday December 7th, 1955 Ernest Kinoy adaptation of Isaac Asimov's "Nightfall," as broadcast for Daniel Sutter's production of X Minus One on NBC from New York. It aired on the 14th anniversary of Pearl Harbor …
Brooklyn-born bandleader Vincent Lopez (12.30.1895 – 9.20.1975) talks about his first night on the air for WJZ on November 27, 1921. Lopez, who began leading his own band at age 17, was 25 at the time. Lopez worked …
In 1970 Westinghouse put together a retrospective on the history of radio broadcasting in honor of the 50th anniversary of KDKA broadcasting the 1920 election returns.
Years prior, Dr. Frank Conrad, who received numerous …
In May of 1974, radio, film, tv, and theater veteran Arnold Moss was a guest of Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran's on WTIC's The Golden Age of Radio (full …
In 1976 Orson Welles was a guest of Johnny Carson's on the Tonight Show for a segment on Orson's life and career (full segment here - …
In 1965 while Fran Sinatra was recording his album, "September of My Years," he allowed CBS to record the process, and gave Walter Cronkite an unprecedented interview on his life. During the course of the interview, …
In Breaking Walls episode 110 we continue our mini-series on the 1948-49 radio season by focusing on news and programming during Christmas week, 1948.
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Highlights:
• Jack Benny: Leaving for CBS
• A northeast …
Orson Welles and Agnes Moorehead star in the October 24th, 1937 episode of The Shadow, originally broadcast from WOR in New York over the Mutual …
In November of 1972, Vincent Price sat down with Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran for WTIC's The Golden Age of Radio to discuss his career (full interview …
On March 17th, 1984 radio actor Willard Waterman was a guest of Chuck Schaden's for an interview about his life and career (full chat here - …
John Reagan McCrary Jr. was born on October 13th, 1910 in Calvert, Texas. He graduated in 1932 from Yale and began working for The New York Daily …
The team of Jack Webb and writer Dick Breen were at their best in Pat Novak, For Hire. It was a cult, hard-boiled detective hit that existed almost …
In Breaking Walls episode 109 we continue our mini-series on the 1948-49 radio season by focusing on news and programming from Thanksgiving Day, 1948.
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Highlights:
• Tex and Jinx for WNBC with photographer …
On October 31st, 1948 at 4:35PM from WNBC in New York, Living 1948 took to the air with a drama called “Let’s Sit This One Out” focused on registered voters who don’t vote.
Living 1948 was conceived as a “radio mirror” …
The show starts with Dennis singing the hit from the score Pale Face entitled Buttons & Bows.
Well there’s nothing more thrilling to a red-blooded man on a crisp October morning than to be crouched beside a lovely …
The CBS Western Luke Slaughter of Tombstone came to radio at a time when both sponsorship and listenership were at an all-time low. The program lasted just sixteen episodes. It was nationally sustained by CBS, but local …
This is a snippet from Breaking Walls Episode 108: Halloween 1948—Dewey Vs. Truman
____________
Halloween 1948 was windy in New York. While John Dewey headlined the New York Daily News, in Brooklyn, James Edward Heller …
On February 11th, 1929, the very first broadcast of The Edison Hour took to the airwaves over NBC's Blue Network from their WJZ New York City studios.
With Edison's company manufacturing radios, it was thought to be a …
At 8:30PM Pacific Time on October 31st, 1948, live from KNX Hollywood studios, Rocky Jordan re-debuted on CBS. It was a revival of A Man Named …
Famed radio announcer André Baruch served in the original invasion of North Africa during World War II and spent almost four years overseas before …
On December 13th, 1973, Chuck Schaden sat down with Bret Morrison for a chat about his life and career (full interview available here - …
John Bradley Gambling (4.9.1897 – 11.21. 1974)was the host from 1925 to 1959 of "Rambling with Gambling" on WOR. In an interview from 1970 he talks about how he was hired by WOR in 1925 and how his early-morning …
In August of 1971, radio and television character actor Hans Conried spoke with Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran for WTIC's Golden Age of Radio (full …
In Breaking Walls episode 108 we go back to October 31st, 1948 and open a five-part mini series on that season’s business and programming.
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Highlights:
• You Are There
• Dewey V Truman
• Let’s Sit This One Out
• …
In 1979 Elliott Lewis teamed up with fellow radio veteran Fletcher Markle for a unique method towards reviving dramatic radio. The buying network …
On February 17th, 1975 Chuck Schaden interviewed well-known radio announcer Ken Carpenter about his life and career (full-interview here - …
The story begins at a police headquarters in an eastern metropolis. In a small shabbily furnished office Horace Striker, a patrol officer for the …
Lorenzo Jones was a successful departure for Frank and Anne Hummert—a comedy serial that enjoyed fine ratings from beginning to end with …
On September 16th, 1948 Gregory Peck guest-starred as Ridge Fowler in Suspense, radio's outstanding theatre of thrills. It's a story about a student on his way home from Berkley. He hitches a lift. A canary yellow …
On April 9th, 1960, Jean Shepherd told a great story about an old man and a batting cage for his WOR radio show. The batting cages Shepherd speaks of …
In January of 1986, KRLA broadcast a tribute to Ricky Nelson after his tragic death in a plane crash on New Year's Eve 1985. One of the people spoken to was Jack Wagner, famous as the Malt Shop Man on The Adventures of …
In Breaking Walls episode 107, we go back to school with the Nelson family and find out why David and Ricky joined the program, and how it affected …
On Saturday, April 16th, 1960, Jean Shepherd took to the air over WOR airwaves in New York City. Jean was in his usual talkative mood. On that Saturday he'd reported to work only to find the lock had been changed in his …
In the fall of 1935 Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra was the featured band on The Baker's Broadcast, starring Robert Ripley of soon-to-be Ripley's "Believe it Or Not" fame. The program was produced and directed by Ed …
On August 14th, 1982 SPERDVAC (http://sperdvac.com/) was host to a panel of radio actors and actresses which included Parley Baer, Harry Bartell, …
On January 21st, 1974, Ozzie Nelson was a guest of James Day for a conversation about his life and career. Ozzie was doing media rounds for his self-titled autobiography. During the course of the chat, Ozzie talked …
This is a BBC recording of Royal Air Force Pilot and Group Captain Leonard Cheshire describing what he witnessed upon viewing the detonating of the second atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Nagasaki on August 9th, 1945.
On November 5th, 1947 Ozzie & Harriet Nelson were guests of Bing Crosby on his transcribed ABC Philco Radio Time program. Ozzie later recollected …
In August of 1971, radio, television, and cartoon character actor Hans Conried sat for an interview with Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran for their WTIC …
On January 21st, 1974, Ozzie Nelson was a guest of James Day for a conversation about his life and career. Ozzie was doing media rounds for his self-titled autobiography. During the course of the chat, James Day asked …
On March 17th, 1984 radio actor Willard Waterman was a guest of Chuck Schaden's for an interview about his life and career (full chat here and it's a …
In the early 1980s, the legendary Eve Arden was a guest on John Dunning's 71KNUS Old Time Radio program from Denver, Co. During the course of the conversation, they spoke about Our Miss Brooks and Eve's original Mr. …
In Breaking Walls episode 106, we join Eve Arden at Madison High School and find out why we all love Our Miss Brooks.
——————————
Highlights:
• Who is …
James Scully here, presenting a trailer for Christopher Affonco Bradley’s new podcast, Crime Is Up, a hybrid podcast featuring original crime fiction …
On September 7th, 1944, Olivia De Havilland starred in an episode of Suspense called "Voyage Through Darkness" as Judith Webster, who found herself embarked upon a journey in to darkness.
It is 1939 shortly before …
In January of 1976 famed radio director William N. Robson was a guest of Dick Bertel and Ed Corcorcan for WTIC's The Golden Age of Radio (full …
This is the third episode of Jeff Regan, Investigator, starring Jack Webb. The series grew out of the groundswell of success that Webb had voicing Pat Novak, For Hire, and later Johnny Modero: Pier 23. It aired on CBS’ …
On April 9th, 1948 actress Shirley Booth recorded an audition for a new show to be entitled, Our Miss Brooks. Booth turned the part down, feeling that the script wasn't funny enough.
When the part was later offered to …
On April 28th, 1971, Chuck Schaden interviewed radio legend and the original Great Gildersleeve, Hal Peary (full interview here - …
This is audio recorded at Coney Island in the summer of 1932 of fairground rides, carnival barkers, and general fun-time ambience.
This is a snippet from Breaking Walls EP92: Radio And Coney Island (1906 - 1960)
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On Friday, April 11th, 1947, CBS debuted a new situation comedy called My Friend Irma.
Marie Wilson starred as Irma Peterson, a …
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