Radio: The Theatre Of The Mind
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This past week while on vacation, I was watching an old episode of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. One of his guests was the great actor Orson Welles. You may recall Welles as the creator of the radio show. "War Of The Worlds" and his role as Charles Foster Kane in the classic movie, "Citizen Kane", supposedly based on the life of William Randolph Hearst. And this reminded me again that radio, even in today's world, is still "the theatre of the mind".
During the show, Carson and Welles start talking about the early days of radio and the hard work it was to be an actor or part of the crew that helped produce the shows and create sound effects. You may have seen old black and white photos of people gathering around the radio after dinner to listen to their favorite show, whether it a comedy, mystery, drama, or even a western. People back then did listen carefully so as to allow their mind to create images of what was going on. Welles recalled how strict things were for actors when it came to interacting with advertisers. For example, if the advertiser was a certain brand of cigarettes (which was permitted on radio and TV until 1970) and the advertising agency/client spotted an actor with a different brand on them, that actor was dismissed from the show immediately and told never to come back. It was that competitive and serious.
The stage crew jobs were as difficult as the one the actors had. If you were part of the crew that recreated sound effects, such as creaky doors or sirens blaring, you had to be spot on cue. Since the shows were oftentimes live, you had to be on your game at all times. Anything less was not acceptable.
From 1974-1982, the CBS Radio Mystery Theatre aired over the CBS Radio Network, usually during evening hours. The radio drama was created by Himan Brown and hosted by actor E.G. Marshall. Marshall had that menacing voice that struck fear into your heart…."Come in!....I'm E.G. Marshall" along with the scary sound of a creaking crypt door. Actors that appeared on the show included Mason Adams, Fred Gwynne ("The Munsters"), Celeste Holm, Kim Hunter, and John Lithgow. The show also introduced to a new generation of listeners some of the actors who were radio voices earlier in their career, such as Anne Seymour, Virginia Gregg (who starred in numerous episodes of the TV version of Dragnet), and Alan Reed. Guest appearances were made by Richard Crenna, Joan Hackett, Margaret Hamilton (from The Wizard Of Oz), Casey Kasem, Agnes Moorehead (who was part of Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre On The Air), and Sarah Jessica Parker.
Locally, Newsradio 1080 KRLD (owned by CBS Radio, the copyright holder of this blog) aired the show. In 1974, I was 20 years old and it scared the heck out of me!
Here is a clip from the golden days of network radio that I hope you will enjoy:
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