Old Radio

On this day in 1933, The Lone Ranger made its radio debut!

On this day in 1933, The Lone Ranger debuts on Detroit radio.

On this day in 1880, W. C. Fields was born.

On this day in 1907, Dan Duryea was born.

On this day in 1927, Jack Benny and Sadye Marks (aka Mary Livingstone) were married.

  On this day in 1906, William Bendix was born. Producer Irving Brecher chose him to star in the role of Chester A. Riley in The Life of Riley .

On this day in 1918, Steve Dunne was born.

The Screen Directors' Playhouse premiered on this day in 1949. This anthology series broadcast adaptations of Hollywood movies.

On this day in 1926, George Burns & Gracie Allen were married.

January 7, 1926: This day is the wedding anniversary of the famous couple George Burns and Gracie Allen . They were married in Cleveland, Ohio by the Justice of the Peace. Burns and Allen were an American comedy duo. They performed together as a comedy team in vaudeville, films, radio, and television. The couple had great success in entertaining their fans for over four decades. Burns and Allen  met when they performed together at the Hill Street Theater in Newark, New Jersey in 1922.

On this day in 1945, The Saint premiered on NBC (with Edgar Barrier in the starring role). Subsequent versions of the program starred Brian Aherne, Vincent Price , Barry Sullivan and Tom Conway as Simon Templar .

On this day in 1935, Bob Hope show premiered on radio. Hope was known for his topical one liners, his rapid fire delivery, and for entertaining the troops all over the world.

On this day in 1950, Hopalong Cassidy premiered on radio. William Boyd starred as the beloved Western hero on radio, in films, and on television.

January 1, 1930: The NBC Blue Network broadcast The Cuckoo Hour for the first time. The Cuckoo Hour , aka The KUKU Hour and The Raymond Knight Cuckoo Hour, was created by radio comedian Raymond Knight. In 1927, Knight performed in the Broadway musical revue The Manhatters . He continued to write for NBC in 1929, when Bertha Brainard, NBC programmer, asked him to devise "something cuckoo." Knight presented the zany Cuckoo Hour , performing as Professor Ambrose J. Weems, who ran a radio station where he would give his views on current events and chat with his sidekick, Mrs. Pennyfeather. The Cuckoo Hour also starred Carl Matthews.