Stars On Suspense (old Time Radio)

Ozzie Nelson and Harriet Hilliard were the stars of their own long-running radio and television sitcoms, but before they took their adventures to TV they made a pair of memorable appearances on Suspense. Playing effectively against type, the Nelsons showed listeners a different side of themselves in these tense, dramatic stories. We’ll hear them in “Too Little to Live On” (originally aired on December 26, 1947) and “Going, Going, Gone” (originally aired on November 23, 1950).

Long before he wore the white coat of Marcus Welby, MD and even before Father Knows Best, Robert Young was a big screen star making visits to Suspense. Those only familiar with him from those kindly, classic TV characters may be surprised at the performances he gives on “radio’s outstanding theater of thrills.” We’ll hear him in “The Night Reveals” (originally aired on CBS on December 9, 1943) and “You’ll Never See Me Again” (originally aired on CBS on September 5, 1946).

In two appearances on Suspense, Danny Kaye traded singing, dancing, and his trademark silliness for thrills and chills. The star of White Christmas and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty plays very effectively against type as a man plotting a murder and another framed for a killing. We'll hear "The Too-Perfect Alibi" (originally aired on CBS on January 13, 1949) and "I Never Met the Dead Man" (originally aired on CBS on January 5, 1950).

Academy Award-winning actress Anne Baxter was a mainstay on stage and the big and small screens over her long career- from her first films at age 17 to her Oscar win for The Razor's Edge and her nomination for the title role in All About Eve. We'll hear two of her appearances on Suspense: a story of jealousy and murder on Madison Avenue in "Always Room at the Top" (originally aired on CBS on February 20, 1947; and in the dramatization of a legendary folk song in "The Death of Barbara Allen" (originally aired on CBS on October 20, 1952).

Vincent Price returns to “Stars On Suspense” for two more installments from “radio’s outstanding theater of thrills.” The big screen master of horror lends his voice to these chilling mysteries that deliver surprising twists before the final curtain. We’ll hear him in “Fugue in C Minor” (originally aired on CBS on June 1, 1944) and “The Hands of Mr. Ottermole” (originally aired on CBS on December 2, 1948).

Though his performances could be overshadowed by his turbulent personal life, Mickey Rooney was one of Hollywood’s most celebrated and enduring performers with a career that spanned nine decades. He had matured past boyish roles when he made his first appearances on Suspense in 1949, but he turned in memorable performances as darker, more complex characters. We’ll hear him in “The Lie” (originally aired on CBS on April 28, 1949) and “For Love or Murder” (originally aired on December 8, 1949).

“Stars On Suspense” celebrates Valentine’s Day with two radio thrillers starring real-life spouses. First, we’ll hear Jim and Marian Jordan – better known to radio fans as “Fibber McGee and Molly.” The two are miles away from 79 Wistful Vista in “Backseat Driver” (originally aired on CBS on February 3, 1949). Then, Phil Harris and Alice Faye trade music and comedy for a tense tale of a small town lynch mob in “Death On My Hands” (originally aired on CBS on May 10, 1951).

On the big screen, Charles Laughton earned acclaim and awards for playing larger than life characters – figures like the tyrannical Captain Bligh, King Henry VIII, and the cagey legal eagle Sir Wilfrid Robarts. He brought that stature to ten appearances on Suspense. We’ll hear Laughton in the dry, dark comedy “Wet Saturday” (originally aired on CBS on December 16, 1943) and “The Man Who Knew How” (originally aired on CBS on August 10, 1944).

The “first lady of Suspense” returns as Agnes Moorehead stars in two more well-calculated tales. First, we’ll hear her in a production of the most famous play Suspense produced – and one of radio’s all-time best dramas – “Sorry, Wrong Number.” This version of the classic chiller first aired on CBS on February 24, 1944. Then, Agnes Moorehead plays a woman fighting a mysterious intruder in her house in “The Trap” (originally aired on CBS on June 16, 1949).

Before he was an Academy Award nominated actor, Richard Widmark was a busy radio performer. Even after his big screen career took off, he remained active in radio and he made over a dozen appearances on Suspense. With his intense performances, he was equally effective as tormented heroes and demented villains. We'll hear him in "Too Hot to Live" (originally aired on CBS on October 26, 1950) and in "A Murderous Revision" (originally aired on CBS on December 3, 1951).

In her appearances on Suspense, Rosalind Russell traded the fast-paced banter of His Girl Friday for tense psychological drama. The five-time Golden Globe winner was a talented comedienne, but she was no slouch in the drama department as these radio plays demonstrate. We’ll hear her in “The Sisters” (originally aired on CBS on December 9, 1948) and as a wife who suspects her husband is plotting her murder in “Consideration” (originally aired on CBS on February 2, 1950).

Best known as the titular gunfighter in Shane, Alan Ladd broke into stardom with his turn as a cold-blooded killer in the film noir classic This Gun for Hire. He made four appearances on Suspense, usually as tough, terse, hard-boiled characters. We’ll hear Ladd as an ex-con framed for murder in “The Defense Rests” (originally aired on CBS on March 9, 1944) and as a man out to avenge his brother’s murder in the western drama “A Killing in Abilene” (originally aired on CBS on December 14, 1950).

Peter Lorre returns in two more “tales well calculated to keep you in Suspense.” First, Lorre plays a down-on-his-luck boxing manager who concocts a murder scheme in “Of Maestro and Man” (originally aired on CBS on July 20, 1944). Then, just in time for the holidays, he stars as a henpecked husband with a deadly present for his wife in “Back for Christmas” (originally aired on CBS on December 23, 1943).

Burt Lancaster – the circus acrobat turned Oscar-winning actor – played a variety of complex characters in a screen career that spanned five decades. After early work in action and adventure films, he expanded into meatier roles and worked with some of Hollywood’s best directors. Lancaster made two appearances on Suspense, and we’ll hear them both: “The Big Shot” (originally aired on CBS on September 9, 1948) and “The Long Wait” (originally aired on CBS on November 24, 1949).

Oscar-winner Joan Crawford was one of Hollywood’s all-time greatest stars, from her early days in the silent era to her award-winning turn in Mildred Pierce, all the way up to Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? in the 1960s. She made two visits to the Suspense microphone where she starred in a pair of tense psychological thrillers. We’ll hear both, beginning with “The Ten Years” (originally aired on CBS on June 2, 1949) followed by “Three Lethal Words” (originally aired on CBS on March 22, 1951).

Tall, lanky, and with that unmistakable drawl, Jimmy Stewart made memorable impressions in classic films from It’s a Wonderful Life to Mr. Smith Goes to Washington to Vertigo. Stewart was a polished radio performer, whether he was starring in his own western drama The Six Shooter or making visits to appear on Suspense. Though some of his best known screen roles are as upstanding, honest heroes, Suspense gave Jimmy Stewart the opportunity to play desperate men in dangerous situations. We’ll hear him in “Consequence” (originally aired on CBS on February 21, 1946) and “Mission Completed” (originally aired on CBS on December 1, 1949).

The man himself – Orson Welles – is back at the microphone in two “tales well calculated to keep you in Suspense.” First, he’s the dastardly General Zaroff, the master hunter who has his eye set on “The Most Dangerous Game” (originally aired on CBS on September 23, 1943). Then we’ll hear Welles as an actor (imagine that!) in a tale of the stage, extortion, and revenge from beyond the grave in “The Dark Tower” (originally aired on CBS on May 4, 1944).

One of Hollywood’s top stars of the 1940s, Joseph Cotten was practically a member of the family on Suspense, making 18 appearances between 1944 and 1959. The star of Shadow of a Doubt and The Third Man excelled at playing both noble heroes and charming villains, and he got to do both frequently on “radio’s outstanding theater of thrills.” We’ll hear him in “Crime Without Passion” (originally aired on CBS on May 2, 1946) and “Fly By Night” (originally aired on CBS on September 28, 1950).

Before he was Atticus Finch, Oscar-winner Gregory Peck made five trips to Suspense. On “radio’s outstanding theater of thrills,” Peck was frequently cast as an everyman in over his head in dangerous situations, trying to keep his cool as events unraveled around him. We’ll hear him as a husband dangerously smitten with a new housekeeper in “The Lonely Road” (originally aired on CBS on March 21, 1946) and as a man who may have murderous multiple personalities in “Murder Through the Looking Glass” (originally aired on CBS on March 14, 1949).

Before I Love Lucy, Lucille Ball delighted audiences on radio in comedies and dramas, including six appearances on Suspense. The red-headed comedienne took a break from her radio sitcom My Favorite Husband to visit “radio’s outstanding theater of thrills.” We’ll hear her in “Dime a Dance” (originally aired on CBS on January 13, 1944) and “A Little Piece of Rope” (originally aired on CBS on October 14, 1948).