Old Radio

  December 25, 1934: For the first time, CBS broadcast the reading of the classic tale from Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol . Lionel Barrymore read the tale on The Campbell Playhouse . Since then, the reading of the tale became an annual radio annual event for years. Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English writer and one of the greatest novelists in history. His works continue to exist until today. Lionel Herbert Blythe was known as  Lionel Barrymore   the great-uncle of Drew Barrymore. He starred in many movies, such as The Mysterious Island (1929), Grand Hotel (1932, with John Barrymore), Captains Courageous (1937), You Cannot Take It with You (1938), Duel in the Sun (1946), and Key Largo (1948). He was featured on the AFRS Concert Hall  Radio Show , circa 1947 Lionel Barrymore  had broken his hip in an accident, hence why he played Gillespie in a wheelchair; later, his worsening arthritis kept him in the chair.The injury also pre...