Radio Trivia Unearthed

LADY ESTHER CONTROVERSY

Photograph, Bess Johnson (Private Collection) Both Casablanca and The Philadelphia Story were sponsored by an Illinois-based cosmetics company, makers of Lady Esther Face Cream. In its commercials, Lady Esther was portrayed by actress Bess Johnson. One of the few female announcers working in network radio at the time, Ms. Johnson stirred up quite a furor. In May 1938, Radio Guide magazine reported that some people believed that all radio commercials should be done by men. In the article "Should Radio Use Women Announcers," twelve writers gave the pros and cons of the female on-air voice. Regardless what the people thought of her as Lady Esther, it didn't discourage Ms. Johnson from making radio commercials. She later went on to make commercial announcements for Palmolive and other products.

COMICS TURN SUSPENSE-FUL

Photograph, Jack Benny (Private Collection) One of the most celebrated radio programs during the golden age was Suspense. Begun on CBS in 1942, Suspense remained one of the network's premier shows till its final episode, aired in 1962. The program featured some of the most famous stars in Hollywood: Orson Welles, Frank Sinatra, Peter Lorre, Cary Grant, and the great Agnes Moorhead. Surprisingly, Suspense did something else. It gave actors an opportunity to appear in roles entirely foreign to their character. Among the comedians who appeared in dramatic roles on Suspense were Bob Hope, Lucille Ball, Gene Kelly, and Jack Benny.

ONE WRITER, TWO HEPBURN HITS

Photograph, Katherine Hepburn & Cary Grant (Private Collection) Philip Barry, author of The Philadelphia Story, was also the author of Holiday, a 1928 Broadway smash that later became the first Barry-penned hit for Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant. Filmed in 1938, Holiday was the first of two films that brought Hepburn's career back from the brink of disaster. 1940's The Philadelphia Story was the second. Unlike his star actress, however, Barry did not go on to bigger and better things. Once favorably compared to the great Noel Coward as an author of "champagne" comedies, Barry died in relative obscurity in 1949 after producing no more commercially successful plays.

HEDY'S SECOND CHANCE

Photograph, Hedy Lamarr (Private Collection) Casablanca producer Hal B. Wallis originally considered Austrian-born actress Hedy Lamarr for the role of Ilsa Lund. Unfortunately for her career, the dark-haired temptress was then under contract to MGM, which wouldn't loan her to Warner Brothers. Besides, stated Lamarr, she didn't want to work with an unfinished script (the script was still being rewritten even as filming commenced). So, Ingrid Bergman was given the role, one that proved to be one of the high points of her career. Later, following the movie's success, Lamarr portrayed Ilsa in a 1944 Lux Radio Theater presentation, based on the movie script. (In that presentation, incidentally, Rick was portrayed by Alan Ladd, not Humphrey Bogart.)

SORRY, WRONG ACTRESS

When Hollywood went looking for an actress to cast in the role of the hysterical Mrs. Stevenson in Sorry, Wrong Number, they bypassed the part's originator, Agnes Moorehead. A veteran of Orson Welles' Mercury Theater On the Air, Moorehead played Mrs. Stevenson seven times on radio – each time to critical and popular acclaim. By the time the movie was to be made in 1947, Moorehead had already been nominated for two Academy Awards (The Magnificent Ambersons and Mrs. Parkington). Nevertheless, the studio wanted a "bigger" star and so turned to the reigning "Queen of Film Noire," Barbra Stanwyck. Previously nominated for three Oscars, Stanwyck was also nominated for Sorry Wrong Number. Later, Stanwyck joined Moorhead on television, where they both won Emmys for their portrayals of family matriarchs: Stanwyck on The Big Valley and Moorehead on Bewitched.

SCREEN GUILD MEMBERS AT PLAY

Photograph, William Bendix - 1948 (Private Collection) The Screen Guild Players radio programs featured just that: members of the Screen Actors Guild playing parts on the radio. Sometimes the actors would play the same characters they had played on screen, such as Kathryn Hepburn in The Philadelphia Story or William Bendix in The Babe Ruth Story. Other times, different actors would take over famous roles: Henry Fonda starring in Destry Rides Again instead of James Stewart, and Rosalind Russell replacing Greta Garbo in Ninotchka. With 528 episodes broadcast from 1939 through 1952, The Screen Guild Players offered one of the most successful, star-packed programs on radio.