Old Radio

On this day in 1935, Fibber McGee & Molly made its radio debut.

Sept 2 1941, the radio program "The Great Gildersleeve," a spinoff from "Fibber McGee and Molly" starring Harold Peary , debuted on NBC.

By definition, all Radio Stars are voice actors. No one had as many voices as Mel Blanc . Or perhaps, all those voices had Mel Blanc . Several voice actors have been called “the man of a thousand voices” with some degree of exaggeration. Mel's son, Noel, claimed that Mel's count was closer to 1500. Mel was born in San Francisco, the second son of Frank and Eva Blanc, on May 30, 1908. The family moved to Portland, OR, where Mel attended Lincoln High school. Mel has been always fond of making up voices and clowning. At the age of 16,  he decided to change his last name because a teacher warned him that he could end up that way, a Blank, a nothing. It is hard to imagine someone as good natured being kept down by such a prediction. He began working in vaudeville throughout the Northwest, and at 17 was the youngest orchestra conductor in the country. Mel's radio career began at KGW in Portland on the show The Hoot Owls. Mel became  popular with his ability to so many voic...

On this day in 1935, Fibber McGee and Molly debuts on NBC.

John Dunning, author of On The Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio , called Jack Kirkwood a "comic's comic." This was due to Kirkwood's passion and dedication to the craft, his great work ethic, and his background banging out jokes for years on the vaudeville circuit. The host of The Jack Kirkwood Show was born on this day in 1894. His show ran from '43-'53 under various named, and treated audiences to sketch comedy, including spoofs of Westerns and other genres of radio programs (this also according to Dunning). The veteran comic made appearances all over the dial, trading wits with Bob Hope and Edgar Bergen , and also guesting on Ozzie and Harriet , Hallmark Playhouse , and Fibber McGee and Molly . A happy birthday to Mr. Kirkwood!

Thanks for stopping by to help us celebrate the birthday of quintessential radio character actor William Conrad , who entered the world in 1920. If you're remembering Conrad as Matt Dillon from Gunsmoke you're probably in good company.  However, Conrad once estimated he'd played more than 7,500 roles.  How did he find the time?  We do know for sure that he appeared on Fibber McGee and Molly , Lux Radio Theater , Suspense .  He also spent a few years as the announcer for Escape , bringing listeners in and asking them if they'd like to get away. Resembling Orson Welles , Conrad was deep-voiced, a rugged man's man.  He was also a mainstay in the world of classic radio.

Jim Jordan , one of the great--and pioneering--comedy minds of all time, was born on this day in  1896. In his early days in radio, being able to perform as many voices as possible was important, and a way for a comic actor to maximize his earnings.  One of the first voices Jordan nailed down was an old man's, and from that he developed the character Luke Grey.  Radio aficionados and historians know that Luke Grey was the star of the 15-minute WMAQ program called "Smackout."  Grey was a corner store owner and teller of tall tales who would excuse his not having what the customer was looking for by saying he was "smack out." Fibber McGee grew out of Luke Grey a few years later.  Phrases like "Tain't funny, McGee," and "You're a hard man, McGee" began to resound throughout the land, and the popular show ran from 1935-'59.  In addition to Jordan's title character and his wife Molly, the show gave us endearing characters ...

April 16: Happy Birthday, Marian Jordan As a title for a program, Smackout has a distinctly current sound. It could be a particularly obnoxious reality show about to premier on MTV. Yet it was an early radio show from 1931 starring Marian and Jim Jordan, who we'd later know as Fibber McGee and Molly . And get this: the title came from a catch phrase "we're smack out of that" used by a character named Uncle Luke at his country store. The show ran four years, first on Chi-town's WMAQ and then on NBC. One fan was Ms. Henrietta Johnson Lewis, which trivia savants might know as a member of the family that owned the Johnson Wax Company, which would go on to sponsor Fibber. ("Look, Molly, there's no dull season for wax polish sales!") Since we're celebrating the day of Marian's birth:. She was born in Peoria, IL in 1898 and sang in a Catholic choir. Doing so is, of course, a good way to meet men, with one example being Jim Jordan. Legend...

January 3: Happy Birthday, Victor Borge Victor Borge was a Danish and American comedian affectionately known as “The Great Dane” and “The Clown Prince of Denmark.” Born in Copenhagen, Denmark, Borge was a talented pianist. He spent much of his younger years learning and playing concerts. When the Nazis occupied Denmark during World War II , Borge was playing a concert in Sweden and was able to escape to Finland. He traveled to America on the USS American Legion, the last ship to make it out of Petsamo, Finland. Borge didn’t speak any English when he arrived in America, but he quickly learned by “studying” in movie theaters. Rudy Vallee offered him an opportunity on his radio show, and Borge soon became part of Kraft Music Hall . He also made many guest appearances on Command Performance , Fibber McGee and Molly , Jubilee , and Mail Call . Victor never stopped working. He continued to perform and tour throughout his life. Even at the age of 90, Borge was still making 60 app...