Old Radio

On Mar. 28, 1952, CBS took the air with The Doris Day Show, a radio program featuring an established recording artist and actress. The show used the format that was by then a staple: soothing musical numbers and then performances by guests, most of them stars of stage, screen, and air. Guests included Kirk Douglas , Ronald Reagan , Danny Thomas , and Ray Bolger . Howard Keel was probably the most frequent guest, with Gordon MacRae not far behind. As was the case with many of the big stars of the time period, Day also made plenty of appearances on the various big-name radio shows. The fetching singer-actress climbed the radio ladder with appearances on The Rudy Vallee Show, Command Performance , The Bob Hope Show, Kraft Music Hall and Stars For Defense. The songstress who gave us "Till The End of Times," "My Dreams are Getting Better All the Time," and "I Got the Sun in the Mornin'" lives on in the memories of old time radio fans.

February 6: Happy Birthday, Ronald Reagan Inventing the cotton gin was one of the only things Ronald Reagan didn't do. The actor, governor, and president actually began his career as a radio announcer. It all began for Dutch Reagan in 1932 when WOC from Davenport, Iowa needed someone to call the Iowa-Minnesota homecoming football game. He moved on to WHO , a Des Moines NBC affiliate. Known for sprinkling some humor into his presidential communiques, Reagan honed his comic style, in addition to his television appearances, on the radio. As he became a relatively big name on the tube, he began, as many TV stars did, appearing on some of the big radio shows. His appearance on Lux Radio Theatre teamed him future wife Jane Wyman for an adaptation of Nobody Lives Forever. The Gipper also guested on The Bing Crosby Show, The Burns and Allen Show , Suspense , and Colgate Sports Newsreel . Later, The Great Communicator would broadcast many presidential speeches .  Rea...

January 1: Happy Birthday,  Dana Andrews Dana Andrews is appropriately called “The Face of Noir.” Born on January 1st, 1909,  Dana  traveled as a young man to Los Angeles in 1931 to try to make it as a singer. The next nine years of his life were spent working numerous different jobs while he studied opera and acting.  He was sometimes best known for his radio role in I Was a Communist for the FBI . Finally, Andrews was offered a contract by Sam Goldwyn in 1940. His first roles included The Westerner, Ball of Fire, and The Ox-Bow Incident. One of his most famous roles was an obsessed detective in the movie Laura, a part he would reprise on radio on both Lux Radio Theater and Screen Guild Players . He also starred as a crooked cop in Where the Sidewalk Ends and as a soldier returning home in The Best Years of Our Lives, a part he played again on the radio program Screen Directors' Playhouse . Alcoholism took hold of Dana and his career in the 1950’s, He was r...

December 12: Happy Birthday, Frank Sinatra! Frank Sinatra ? was “Old Blue eyes”, part of the infamous Rat Pack , a crooner and an actor and he set the hearts of millions of women worldwide aflame. He was born in December of 1915 and passed away in 1998. In between stood the legacy of an icon on the build. If he wasn’t singing “Did It My way”, Sinatra was dallying with the ladies; both professionally and personally. Perhaps one of his favorite mediums was radio, as he both sang and did on-air interviews. Frank Sinatra was not shy about his talent and played it to the hilt with the media and the public. He sang for Capitol Records, performed in Las vegas and Atlantic City and made a number of motion pictures. He even won a best Supporting Actor role in From Here To Eternity. During his career, he performed with the big names; Harry James , Andrews Sisters , Dean Martin, Bob Hope and many more. Frank was married to 4 different women, and had 3 children with Nancy. Politically, Si...