Stars On Suspense (old Time Radio)

Stage and screen star Victor Jory makes his final appearances on Suspense in a pair of episodes that didn't belong on "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." We'll hear the actor from Gone With the Wind and A Midsummer Night's Dream in "Old Army Buddy" (originally aired on CBS on September 8, 1957) and "Death Notice" (originally aired on February 8, 1959). Plus, he stars as a dogged detective in "You Take Ballistics," a Cornell Woolrich story adapted for the audition recording of The Hunters (from November 29, 1948).

Dorothy McGuire jumped from the Broadway stage to the big screen with acclaimed performances in Claudia and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. She earned an Oscar nod for her turn as a woman confronting her bigotry in Gentleman's Agreement and she'd later gain Disney fame as memorable moms in Old Yeller and Swiss Family Robinson. We'll hear her as a woman trying to reconstruct the night of a murder in "Last Confession" (originally aired on CBS on September 15, 1949). Then, she recreates her screen role in a radio adaptation of The Spiral Staircase on The Screen Directors' Playhouse (originally aired on NBC on November 25, 1949).

In his final visits to Suspense, Charles Boyer played two legendary lawmen from his native France. First, the four-time Oscar nominee plays Eugene Vidocq, the master thief who switched sides and became the head of the Sûreté. We'll hear "Vidocq's Final Case" (originally aired on CBS on September 29, 1952). Then, Boyer stars as Alphonse Bertillion, a policeman who used anthropology to develop a system of identifying criminal suspects. Boyer plays the innovative cop in "The Bertillion Method" (originally aired on CBS on April 26, 1954).

Stan Freberg was a master of satire and memorably sent up politics, history, and popular culture over his 70 years in show business. His spoofs of Dragnet, popular music, and history still hold up today, and he put his unique sense of humor to work as a successful advertising director. We'll hear the legendary performer in a rare dramatic radio turn as a murderer in "Alibi Me" (AFRS rebroadcast from April 20, 1958). Plus, we'll hear his signature wit in The CBS Radio Workshop (originally aired on CBS on August 31, 1956) and an episode of his classic radio comedy The Stan Freberg Show (originally aired on CBS on October 6, 1957).

Our annual birthday salute to Alfred Hitchcock isn't just a celebration of the legendary director and big screen master of suspense. It's also a tribute to his daughter, Patricia Alma O'Connell, who passed away on August 9th. We'll hear Patricia recreate her screen role in Strangers on a Train, recreated for the Lux Radio Theatre (rehearsal for the December 3, 1951 broadcast). Then, we'll hear Alfred Hitchcock as host and narrator in the audition recording of Once Upon a Midnight, a series that would have been a Hitchcock-led anthology series before his classic television show.

Actor and singer Robert Horton broke out with his stint on Wagon Train, where he spent several years on one of the top-rated TV shows in the country. But Horton left the show at the peak of its popularity to avoid typecasting and to pursue his singing career. During his years on the television frontier, Horton made two visits to Suspense. He played the titular condemned killer immortalized in song in "Tom Dooley" (originally aired on CBS on December 7, 1958) - featuring the ballad performed by the Kingston Trio! Then, he starred as an actor whose agent pressures him into taking on the real-life role of a murderer in "Spoils for Victor" (AFRS rebroadcast from May 24, 1959).

For the start of our sixth season, we're shining a spotlight on Suspense MVP Cathy Lewis. One of the busiest and most talented actresses of the era, Lewis was a standout supporting player on "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" in some of the program's greatest episodes. She proved just as strong when she stepped into starring roles. We'll hear her alongside husband Elliott in "Love, Honor, or Murder" (originally aired on CBS on June 29, 1950). Then, she stars in "The Murderess" (originally aired on CBS on March 27, 1956).

Charles Laughton stars in a pair of stories pulled from the pages of two great English writers. These tales of murder have plenty of dark comedy mixed in along with the corpses and crimes. First, a garden party results in an accidental homicide in Dorothy L. Sayers' "The Fountain Plays" (originally aired on CBS on November 23, 1944). Then, a man discovers a new hobby - murder - in John Collier's "De Mortuis" (originally aired on CBS on February 10, 1949).

Jackie Cooper began his career in Our Gang shorts and earned an Oscar nomination at the age of nine. After serving in the Navy during World War II, he continued acting on screen and embarked on a successful Emmy-winning career as a director. During his years in front of and behind the camera, he endeared himself to generations of movie fans as irascible editor Perry White in the Superman films. We'll hear him in three old time radio thrillers from Suspense: "The Clock and the Rope" (originally aired on CBS on December 5, 1947); "Remember Me?" (AFRS rebroadcast from August 24, 1958); and "The Amateur" (originally aired on CBS on May 3, 1959).

After making her first visits to Suspense in 1945, Joan Lorring returned to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" in 1960. By then, both the series and star had left Hollywood behind. The Oscar-nominee had transitioned to Broadway and television, and production of the show moved to CBS' New York studios. We'll hear Lorring in three 60s Suspense stories: "The Daisy Chain" (originally aired on CBS on June 26, 1960); "The Man Who Knew How to Hate" (originally aired on CBS on June 16, 1961); and "Witness to Murder" (originally aired on CBS on October 22, 1961).

It was ironic that Helmut Dantine broke out in Hollywood playing Nazis in wartime dramas; he'd been part of the anti-Nazi resistance in his native Austria and was imprisoned in a concentration camp because of those efforts. Fortunately, he secured his release and escaped to California, where he pursued acting on the stage and screen. We'll hear him plotting an assassination in "Russian New Year" (originally aired on CBS on January 13, 1957). Then, he co-stars with Nina Foch in "Headshrinker" (originally aired on CBS on October 26, 1958).

Michael O'Shea dropped out of school at the age of 12 and wound up on stages in the vaudeville circuit and in speakeasies before he arrived on Broadway. Hollywood came calling after an acclaimed stage performance and soon he was co-starring with Barbara Stanwyck. His film career waned in the early 1950s, but he continued to work on television and make headlines for his off-screen antics. We'll hear him in "Photo Finish" (originally aired on CBS on July 18, 1946) and "The Twist" (originally aired on CBS on September 11, 1947).

Actress and singer Virginia Bruce introduced a Cole Porter classic and starred as the quintessential showgirl in The Ziegfeld Follies, but studio politics hurt her career just as it was getting started. We'll hear her in an international manhunt for a missing heir in "The Cross-Eyed Bear" (originally aired on CBS on September 16, 1943). Then, Virginia Bruce is an amateur sleuth looking into a baffling robbery and murder in "The Locked Room" from John Dickson Carr (originally aired on CBS on January 27, 1944).

Through the 40s and 50s, Margaret Whiting was one of America's most popular singing stars. She recorded and performed through the 90s, but she took on relatively few dramatic acting roles. Whiting did, however, lend her powerful voice to four episodes of "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." We'll hear her star (and sing) in the dramatic recreation of the popular ballad "Frankie and Johnny" (originally aired on CBS on February 3, 1957). Then, she's a glamorous woman with murder on her mind in "The Well-Dressed Corpse" (originally aired on CBS on October 13, 1957).

Warren William, one of the kings of pre-Code Hollywood, won over audiences with his powerful portrayals of slightly unscrupulous characters. He was the first actor to play Perry Mason on screen, and he made nine films as The Lone Wolf, a reformed thief turned sleuth. For his one appearance on Suspense, William reprised the role of the Lone Wolf in "Murder Goes for a Swim" (originally aired on CBS on July 20, 1943).  Then we'll hear him as an attorney and investigator in "Midnight on the Moor" from the syndicated drama Strange Wills.

Character actor Keenan Wynn returns for his final appearances on Suspense in a pair of shows that show of the silly and serious sides of "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." First, Wynn co-stars with Hume Cronyn in a comedic tale of embezzlement - "Double Entry" (originally aired on CBS on December 20, 1945). Then, he stars in "The Night Reveals," Cornell Woolrich's tale of an arson investigator hunting a firebug (originally aired on CBS on April 18, 1946). Plus, Wynn and Anne Baxter visit Charlie McCarthy and friends (originally aired on NBC on September 23, 1945).

Phil Silvers broke out on Broadway before he became a household name as the scheming Sgt. Bilko on TV's The Phil Silvers Show. The funny man showed off another side of himself in "The Swift Rise of Eddie Albright" on Suspense (originally aired on CBS on April 3, 1947). Plus, we'll hear him welcome his buddy Frank Sinatra to an episode of radio's The Phil Silvers Show (originally aired on NBC on February 9, 1946).

The star of Shadow of a Doubt and The Third Man returns for more old time radio thrillers. Joseph Cotten stars in two tales of Suspense and plays three different characters. First, he plays a pair of twin brothers with a deadly case of sibling rivalry in "The Pasteboard Box" (originally aired on CBS on January 17, 1946). Then, Cotten may hold the key to the survival of an old enemy in Dorothy L. Sayers' "Blood Sacrifice" (originally aired on CBS on March 30, 1950). 

With her powerful, belting voice and inimitable stage presence, Ethel Merman became one of the biggest stars on Broadway and the queen of musical comedy. Her performances were acclaimed, and the songs she introduced onstage became standards - tunes like "I Got Rhythm" and "There's No Business Like Show Business." She made one visit to Suspense as a singer paired with a homicidal partner in "Never Follow a Banjo Act" (originally aired on CBS on February 1, 1954). Then, she's the emcee for a November 1, 1944 broadcast of Command Performance.

Jeff Chandler returns to the podcast in another pair of old time radio thrillers. First, he stars in a story set to the lyrics of a haunting ballad in "My True Love's Hair" (originally aired on CBS on October 19, 1953). Then, Chandler is on trial for crimes committed to preserve the anti-Nazi underground in "Death at Skirkerud Pond" (originally aired on CBS on February 8, 1954). Then, he shows off his comedy chops in Our Miss Brooks as Miss Brooks and Mr. Boynton join the Conklins for a weekend getaway (originally aired on CBS on August 21, 1949).