Stars On Suspense (old Time Radio)

In his final Suspense appearance, Brian Donlevy played a doctor coming to the aid of a man recently returned from the dead. The Oscar nominee stars in "Lazarus Walks" (originally aired on CBS on October 31, 1946). Then, we'll hear him recreate his role as a derelict who winds up in the governor's mansion from The Great McGinty on Academy Award (originally aired on CBS on April 20, 1946).

Irish-born actor Dan O'Herlihy broke out on the big screen when he earned an Oscar nod for the title role in Robinson Crusoe. Over the course of his career, he worked steadily on in films and on television, including his memorable role of "The Old Man" in Robocop and a recurring part on Twin Peaks. We'll hear him in two starring turns on Suspense - "Strange for a Killer" (originally aired on CBS on June 15, 1958) and Rudyard Kipling's "The Man Who Would Be King" (originally aired on CBS on May 31, 1959). Plus, O'Herlihy plays a pair of roles opposite Vincent Price in "Greed Causes Murder," an adventure of The Saint (originally aired on Mutual on August 14, 1949).

Katina Paxinou came to the United States at the outset of World War II, unable to return to her native Greece. The theatre star made a big Hollywood debut with her Oscar and Golden Globe-winning performance in For Whom the Bell Tolls, but her film career was short-lived as she returned to her homeland to continue her work on the stage. We'll hear her in the wartime espionage drama "The Woman in Red" (originally aired on CBS on April 6, 1944). Then, she pays a visit to Bing Crosby and The Kraft Music Hall (originally aired on NBC on June 1, 1944).

Dane Clark prided himself on playing average joes on the big screen, and in the two episodes we'll hear this week he plays a pair of men caught up in murder. One falls into a trap, and the other plots the perfect crime, but both are in tales well calculated to keep you in Suspense. We'll hear Clark in "A Guy Gets Lonely" (originally aired on CBS on April 5, 1945) and "This Will Kill You" (originally aired on August 23, 1945).

When Suspense was revamped as an hour-long series, two-time Academy Award nominee and director Robert Montgomery was on hand as producer, host, and occasional star. He took the lead role in the program's first sixty-minute installment - an adaptation of Cornell Woolrich's "The Black Curtain" (originally aired on CBS on January 3, 1948).

Hitchcock leading man, sitcom star, wartime flight instructor, and godson of a Wright Brother - Robert Cummings wore many hats during his life and career. The Emmy-winning actor made a pair of visits to Suspense ten years apart playing both an innocent man caught up in a crime and its cover-up and a seasoned criminal trying to stay out of the clutches of the police. We'll hear him in "The Dead of the Night" (originally aired on CBS on November 16, 1944) and "Want Ad" (originally aired on CBS on January 25, 1954).

For his final appearances on Suspense, Vincent Price starred in an encore production of one of the scariest shows of the series, as well as an adaptation of a classic short story.  We'll hear him in "Three Skeleton Key" (originally aired on CBS on October 19, 1958) and "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" (originally aired on CBS on July 19, 1959). Plus, Price stars in a terrifying tale of life and death in the jungle from Escape - "Blood Bath" (originally aired on CBS on June 30, 1950).

Hailed as the "Queen of the B-movies," Marie Windsor carved out a career playing tough femme fatale roles in noir dramas like The Narrow Margin and The Killing. Her brassy, sultry aura made her a natural fit for those characters, and she put her talents to work in her one visit to Suspense as a woman caught in a love triangle with deadly results. We'll hear her in "Script by Mark Brady" (originally aired on CBS on March 22, 1959). Plus, we'll hear her alongside Frank Lovejoy and Ted de Corsia in an all-star production of Escape, "Danger at Matacumbe" (originally aired on CBS on March 24, 1950).

Before his Oscar-nominated turn in The Defiant Ones and before he wore a dress and wooed Marilyn Monroe in Some Like It Hot, Tony Curtis made his one and only visit to Suspense. Curtis starred as a college basketball player approached to throw a game in "The McKay College Basketball Scandal" (originally aired on CBS on September 24, 1951). Plus, Curtis clowns around with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in an episode of their comedy show (originally aired on NBC on February 29, 1952).

Burly character actor Alan Hale was a regular presence in films through the 30s and 40s, lending support to stars like Barbara Stanwyck, Basil Rathbone, Humphrey Bogart, and - in over a dozen films - Errol Flynn. Hale made one visit to Suspense as a colorful con man in "The Leading Citizen of Pratt County" (originally aired on CBS on May 30, 1946). Plus, we'll hear Hale and Flynn in "Allergic to Ladies," a presentation of the Gulf Screen Guild Theatre co-starring Jane Wyman (originally aired on CBS on November 24, 1940).

B-movie leading man Dennis O'Keefe grew up in a vaudeville family and embarked on a screen career - both starring in films and writing them. We'll hear the star of T-Men, Brewster's Millions, and Cover Up in a pair of Suspense shows that find him playing both hero and heel: "The X-Ray Camera" (originally aired on CBS on October 13, 1947) and "Very Much Like a Nightmare" (originally aired on May 25, 1950).

For her final visit to Suspense, Dame May Whitty recreated a performance she'd memorably played on stage and screen. In this hour-long adaptation of Emlyn Williams' play Night Must Fall (originally aired on CBS on March 27, 1948), Whitty reprises her Oscar-nominated role opposite Robert Montgomery.

Bonita Granville's screen career was short, but she made the most of it. She earned an Oscar nomination at age 14, and she starred in four films as junior detective Nancy Drew before she switched gears to produce projects alongside her husband. We'll hear her only visit to Suspense - "Bank Holiday" (originally aired on CBS on July 19, 1945). Then, she's plotting a murder for money in an episode of the syndicated anthology drama Obsession.

Lloyd Bridges' final appearances on Suspense took him from the gym to his Sea Hunt haunts on the ocean floor. But no matter where he went, murder was close at hand. We'll hear the star of High Noon and Airplane! in "Rub Down and Out" (AFRS rebroadcast from July 6, 1958) and "Deep, Deep is My Love" (AFRS rebroadcast from April 26, 1959).

Known to old time radio fans everywhere as Sam Spade, Howard Duff was one of the biggest names of the radio era. Not only was he a skilled dramatic and comedic actor in front of the microphone, he also worked in the Armed Forces Radio Service and - through his job - helped preserve hundreds of the shows we know and love today. The blacklist and Red Scare paranoia dinged his career, but he emerged and continued to work in film and television through the 1980s. We'll hear him in "A Murderous Revision," an unaired recording of a show that was scrapped when he was branded a Communist (recording dated October 13, 1951) and "Eyewitness" (originally aired on CBS on December 16, 1956).

We'll kick off a new year with the "First Lady of Suspense!" Agnes Moorehead returns in a pair of old time radio thrillers, including her very first visit to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." She co-stars with Ray Collins in the first production of "The Diary of Saphronia Winters" (originally aired on CBS on April 27, 1943). Then, we'll hear her in "Death and Miss Turner" (originally aired on November 17, 1952).

For our final podcast episode of 2020, we welcome Frank Lovejoy back to the podcast for two more old time radio thrillers. He stars as one of the west's most infamous outlaws in "The Shooting of Billy the Kid" (originally aired on CBS on April 28, 1952). Then, he's on trial for a crime he didn't commit in "Public Defender" (originally aired on CBS on April 20, 1953). Plus, we've got the first episode of Lovejoy's radio drama series Night Beat (originally aired on NBC on February 6, 1950).

Christmas is almost here, and to celebrate here's a bonus episode light on suspense but heavy on the stars. We'll hear David Niven, Jane Greer, and Tyrone Power in the holiday favorite The Bishop's Wife, recreated for The Lux Radio Theatre (originally aired on CBS on December 19, 1949).

Raymond Burr was doing double duty when he starred in these installments of Suspense. He could be seen every week on television in the earliest seasons of Perry Mason, but he continued to lend his voice to radio dramas. We'll hear him in H.G. Wells' "The Country of the Blind" (originally aired on CBS on October 27, 1957). Plus, just in time for the holidays, Burr plays a gun-toting St. Nick looking for revenge in "Out for Christmas" (originally aired on CBS on December 21, 1958).

Paul Lukas started his career in his native Hungary, but he found more stage and screen stardom when he journeyed to Hollywood. Lukas won an Oscar for his portrayal of a German anti-fascist in Watch the Rhine, and he remained a regular presence on films and in television through the 1970s. We'll hear him in "Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble" (originally aired on CBS on April 6, 1943) and "Mr. Markham, Antique Dealer" (originally aired on CBS on May 11, 1943).