Stars on Suspense (Old Time Radio)

Oscar-winner Edmond O'Brien was one of Hollywood's most colorful character actors, making memorable appearances in The Killers, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Seven Days in May, and more. He brought a tough, hard-boiled intensity to his Suspense appearances: as a reporter on the trail of a story worth killing for in "The Argyle Album" (originally aired on CBS on September 4, 1947) and as a gambler framed for murder in "Muddy Track" (originally aired on CBS on November 11, 1948).

Sophisticated and charming on screen, three-time Oscar nominee William Powell showed a different side in his performances on Suspense. His desperate characters - men on the run with greed and murder in their hearts - are miles away from his witty roles in The Thin Man films and My Man Godfrey. We'll hear Powell in "Give Me Liberty" (originally aired on CBS on October 21, 1948) and "The Escape of Lacey Abbott" (originally aired on CBS on January 19, 1950).

In her third and final performance on Suspense, four-time Oscar nominee Rosalind Russell is new bride whose marriage falls in the shadow of her grandfather's murder. We'll hear her in "When the Bough Breaks" (originally aired on CBS on May 3, 1951). Then, Russell reunites with Cary Grant in a radio recreation of His Girl Friday from The Gulf Screen Guild Theatre (originally aired on CBS on March 30, 1941).

A comedian's ability to keep audiences in stitches didn't mean he couldn't deliver a strong dramatic performance, and our stars this week prove that to be the case in their appearances on Suspense. Ed "Archie" Gardner of Duffy's Tavern is a crook hiding out among the ranks of the Spanish Civil War in "The Palmer Method" (originally aired on CBS on April 20, 1944). Then, Red Skelton isn't clowning around - he's a man obsessed with a mystery woman in "The Search for Isabel" (originally aired on CBS on November 3, 1949).

Alan Ladd returns to the podcast for the end of his run on Suspense. Ladd's big break came in film noir classics like This Gun for Hire, and his characters in these two radio thrillers are cut from the same cloth as the hard-boiled residents of those movies. We'll hear "One Way Ride to Nowhere" (originally aired on CBS on January 6, 1944) and "Motive for Murder" (originally aired on CBS on March 17, 1950).

Oscar and Emmy winner William Holden was one of Hollywood's biggest stars for decades, with his performances as cynical, conflicted men winning acclaim and awards. Whether he was the washed up screenwriter of Sunset Boulevard or the reluctant hero of The Bridge on the River Kwai, Holden kept audiences engrossed. We'll hear two of his visits to Suspense, beginning with the New Orleans jazz murder mystery "Blood on the Trumpet" (originally aired on CBS on November 9, 1950). Then he stars in a cautionary tale about the hell on wheels that are hot rods in "Report on the Jolly Death Riders" (originally aired on CBS on August 27, 1951).

For her final appearances on Suspense, Lucille Ball was joined by her then-husband Desi Arnaz. But unlike I Love Lucy, where they played for laughs, Lucy and Desi were cast in radio thrillers: tales of greed and menace. We'll hear one of those shows – "The Red-Headed Woman," originally aired on CBS on November 17, 1949. Then, we'll hear an episode of My Favorite Husband, the Lucille Ball radio sitcom that led to the creation of I Love Lucy (originally aired on CBS on January 28, 1949).

Best known for crooning and comedy, Dennis Day shows off his dramatic side in a pair of thrillers from Suspense. The longtime cast member of The Jack Benny Program plays a beatnik who thinks a murder wrap is a gas in "Like, Man, Somebody Dig Me" (an Armed Forces Radio Service rebroadcast of an episode from August 16, 1959). Then, in a story just in time for the holidays, Day is a man who turns to crime for the money he desperately needs to care for his family in "Christmas for Carol" (originally aired on CBS on December 21, 1950). And as a special holiday bonus, we'll hear Dennis Day in his natural element in a Christmas episode of A Day in the Life of Dennis Day (originally aired on NBC on December 25, 1946).

Generations of viewers knew Lloyd Nolan from B-movies of the 1940s and later in television appearances through the 1980s. The Emmy winning star worked steadily in a fifty-six year career, always elevating material with his performances, whether he was playing heroes (like private eye Michael Shayne) or heavies. He had the opportunity to play bad guys of varying levels of villainy in his appearances on Suspense. We'll hear Nolan in "Heart's Desire" (originally aired on CBS on March 22, 1945) and "Murder for Myra" (originally aired on CBS on August 9, 1945).

Horror icon Vincent Price is back on Suspense in two more old time radio thrillers - including one of the scariest the medium ever produced. We'll hear Price as an artist with a dangerous muse in "The Name of the Beast" (originally aired on CBS on April 11, 1946). Then, you'll want to leave the lights on for "Three Skeleton Key" (originally aired on CBS on November 11, 1956). In this classic chiller, Price narrates the story of a lighthouse under siege from thousands of ravenous rats.

You'd never guess J. Carrol Naish hailed from New York. Celebrated as "Hollywood's one-man U.N.", Naish could convincingly play characters from all around the world. He played Italian immigrant Luigi Basco in the delightful radio comedy Life with Luigi, and he earned two Oscar nominations over his career. In his appearances on Suspense, Naish put his talents for accents and dialects to good use. We'll hear him in "Footfalls" (originally aired on July 12, 1945) and "Commuter's Ticket" (originally aired on CBS on August 1, 1946).

Tough big screen leading man Dana Andrews made four visits to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills," and the star of Laura, Where the Sidewalk Ends, and The Best Years of Our Lives made memorable impressions as both heroes and villains. We'll hear him as a writer plotting the perfect murder in "Two Birds With One Stone" (originally aired on CBS on May 17, 1945) and as a cop pursuing a psychotic killer in an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's "The Crowd" (originally aired on CBS on September 21, 1950).

With her glamorous looks and her mellifluous accent, Marlene Dietrich kept audiences captivated on stage and screen in her native Germany and later in Hollywood. She was one of the biggest stars of the World War II era, and she would go on to deliver indelible performances in Touch of Evil and Witness for the Prosecution. We'll hear Marlene Dietrich in her only Suspense appearance: "Murder Strikes Three Times" (originally aired on CBS on February 16, 1950). Then, she stars as a singer and spy in an episode of the international adventure drama Time for Love.

The "first lady of Suspense" returns to the podcast as Agnes Moorehead stars in two more old time radio thrillers. In these two shows - one a blend of comedy and crime and the other a tense psychological drama - Ms. Moorehead demonstrates why she made more appearances on the program than any other guest star. We'll hear "Post Mortem" (originally aired on CBS on April 4, 1946) and "The Thirteenth Sound" (originally aired on CBS on February 13, 1947).

Oscar winner Van Heflin made memorable appearances in Johnny Eager, 3:10 to Yuma and Shane, and he lent his powerful presence to the radio role of Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe. In nine visits to Suspense, he played complex heroes and despicable heels, and sometimes his characters were blends of both. We'll hear him in "Three Blind Mice" (originally aired on CBS on January 30, 1947) and "The Lady in the Red Hat" (originally aired on CBS on November 30, 1950).

For Halloween, "Stars On Suspense" presents two of the biggest names in horror cinema – Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff starring in "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." Lugosi plays a psychologist with a murderous theory he plans to test in "The Doctor Prescribed Death" (originally aired on CBS on February 2, 1943). Then, Karloff is a Scotland Yard man who's new case has strange ties to his own past in "Drury's Bones" (originally aired on CBS on January 25, 1945).

Fredric March was one of the most celebrated stars of stage and screen, a man whose performances earned him a pair of Oscars and two Tony Awards. Equally at home in comedy and drama, March brought to life characters ranging from Dr. Henry Jekyll and his monstrous alter ego Mr. Hyde to a beleaguered president fighting for peace in Seven Days in May. We'll hear him in two appearances on Suspense: first as a thespian out to find his daughter's killer in "Actor's Blood" (originally aired on CBS on August 24, 1944) and then as a fire inspector whose latest case hits close to home in "The Night Reveals" (originally aired on CBS on May 26, 1949).

With scintillating performances in Gilda and more, Rita Hayworth was a box office draw and a pin-up idol of the 1940s and 1950s. But there was more to Hayworth than her gorgeous looks and her status as a Hollywood "love goddess." She was an accomplished dancer and a terrific actress, and she had the chance to show off in her lone appearance on Suspense. We'll hear her as a murderess contending with a blackmailer in "Three Times Murder" (originally aired on October 3, 1946). Then we'll hear her playing for laughs opposite George Burns and Gracie Allen in an episode from March 21, 1944.

We bid adieu to Peter Lorre as the star of Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon, and M makes his final appearances on "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." First, he's a mysterious count who makes a dangerous offer to his niece's suitor in "The Devil's Saint" (originally aired on CBS on January 19, 1943). Then, Lorre plays a demented killer recounting his life story to a room full of terrified hostages in "Nobody Loves Me" (originally aired on CBS on August 30, 1945).

When William Bendix visited Suspense, it was anything but a "revoltin' development." Best known as bumbling sitcom patriarch Chester A. Riley in The Life of Riley, Bendix could show off the dramatic chops he displayed on the big screen when he appeared on "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." We'll hear him as a job seeker who finds more than he bargained for in "Three Faces at Midnight" (originally aired on CBS on February 27, 1947) and as a safecracker trying to keep his son from a career in crime in "The Gift of Jumbo Brannigan" (originally aired on CBS on March 1, 1951).

Angela Lansbury is a three-time Oscar nominee and a five-time Tony winner, and she's still going strong. The legend of the stage and screen is known to generations of fans for her memorable film roles in The Manchurian Candidate, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and Beauty and the Beast, her stage turns in Gypsy, Sweeney Todd, and Mame, and her twelve seasons as mystery writer and amateur sleuth Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote. We'll hear her one and only appearance on Suspense – "A Thing of Beauty" (originally aired on CBS on May 29, 1947) – and we'll hear her in a dramatic performance from Stars Over Hollywood ("The Experiment," originally aired on CBS on May 24, 1952).

In a career that spanned five decades, Glenn Ford brought to tough, masculine characters on screen. Ford was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood in the 1950s with memorable performances in film noirs like Gilda and The Big Heat and westerns like 3:10 to Yuma. He continued to make impressions on screen through the 1970s with his turn as Jonathan Kent in Richard Donner's Superman. We'll hear Glenn Ford in two episodes of Suspense – "End of the Road" (originally aired on CBS on February 6, 1947) and "Murder and Aunt Delia" (an AFRTS rebroadcast of an episode from February 17, 1957).

Kirk Douglas played heroes, villains, and morally ambiguous characters in between in a career that spanned six decades. He earned three Oscar nominations and turned in intense and memorable performances in Spartacus, Gunfight at the OK Corral, Seven Days in May, and many more. But in 1947, Kirk Douglas was a rising Hollywood star when he made two visits to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." We'll hear him as a man plotting to keep a newfound fortune out of his wife's hands in "Community Property" (originally aired on CBS on April 10, 1947) and as a washed-up writer who hopes to pass off a master's work as his own in "The Story of Markham's Death" (originally aired on CBS on October 2, 1947).

In an extra-large edition for our 50th podcast episode, we welcome Orson Welles back to the show for three of his visits to Suspense. In the fall of 1943, Welles starred in several episodes of "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" in a special engagement. He appeared in some of the best thrillers from literature by some of the best authors of the genre, and this week we'll hear three shows from that run: Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Lost Special" (an AFRS rebroadcast of an episode from September 30, 1943); Agatha Christie's "Philomel Cottage" (originally aired on CBS on October 7, 1943); and "Lazarus Walks" (an AFRS rebroadcast of an episode from October 19, 1943).

In a special bonus episode of Stars On Suspense, we salute the late, great Jerry Lewis. Though he never made any visits to "radio's outstanding theatre of thrills," Lewis was a radio star in a popular comedy series alongside his longtime partner Dean Martin. As a tribute to the legendary comedian, we'll hear a pair of programs from The Martin and Lewis Show featuring songs from Dean, madcap antics from Jerry, and special guests Boris Karloff and Jeff Chandler.

Fred MacMurray may be best known to generations of movie and TV fans for his family-friendly roles in classic Disney films and the long-running sitcom My Three Sons. But there was a darker side to his performances - a side MacMurray showed in fantastic performances in Double Indemnity, The Caine Mutiny, The Apartment, and more. We'll hear Fred MacMurray in two "tales well calculated to keep you in Suspense." First, he's a drummer in a Prohibition-era jazz band in "The Windy City Six," a tale of tommy guns and the roaring twenties (originally aired on CBS on February 8, 1951). Then he's in a crippled B-29 bomber over Korea in "The Flight of the Bumblebee" (originally aired on CBS on May 19, 1952).

After making a name for himself in the United Kingdom, James Mason came across the pond to Hollywood. With his silvery voice and leading man looks, Mason was a natural for polished character roles as heroes and villains in movies liike Lolita, A Star is Born, North by Northwest, and more. We'll hear him in two visits to Suspense, beginning with Agatha Christie's "Where There's a Will" (originally aired on CBS on February 24, 1949) and as a Scotland Yard man after a crafty killer in "Banquo's Chair" (originally aired on March 9, 1950).

Despite a tragically short career, Laird Cregar made his mark with several memorable big screen performances in films like This Gun for Hire and The Lodger. With his massive frame, Cregar was a natural fit as "heavies," but he appeared in a variety of roles in comedies, adventures, and historical dramas. But it was frustration with his size that led him to a dangerous crash diet - one that ultimately took his life. We'll hear Cregar in both of his visits to Suspense - "The Last Letter of Dr. Bronson" (originally aired on CBS on July 27, 1943) and "Narrative About Clarence" (originally aired on CBS on March 9, 1944).

Joan Fontaine earned acclaim for her performances in classic films like Rebecca and Suspicion, and she appeared on the stage and the big and small screens for nearly sixty years. Like her sister, fellow actress, and bitter rival Olivia de Havilland, Joan Fontaine won an Academy Award but also picked up two additional nominations for her dynamic screen work throughout the 1940s. She made only one visit to Suspense - "Lovebirds" (originally aired on CBS on March 3, 1949) an engrossing mystery about a wife who plots to help her invalid husband on his way to the great beyond. We'll also hear her recreate her Oscar-nominated role in a radio version of Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca (originally aired on The Lady Esther Screen Guild Theatre on May 31, 1943).

Perennial Suspense favorite Joseph Cotten is back in two more "tales well calculated." The popular star of Shadow of a Doubt appears first as a man tormented by the sight of a corpse that no one else can see in "The Thing in the Window" (originally aired on CBS on December 19, 1946). Then, he's a lawyer who's presumed dead with a scheme to collect his own life insurance in "The Day I Died" (originally aired on CBS on June 30, 1949.

Ray Milland's screen career stretched from the 1930s to the 1970s, earning him an Oscar and leaving a series of memorable performances in The Lost Weekend, Dial 'M' for Murder, and more. A talented director as well as an actor, Milland continued to work on both sides of the camera for movies and television. In two of his five visits to Suspense, we'll hear him as a cop trying to cover up a murder in "Night Cry" (originally aired on CBS on October 7, 1948) and as a man whose empty pockets land him in jail in "Chicken Feed" (originally aired on CBS on September 8, 1949).

A real-life hero in Hollywood, Herbert Marshall lost a leg in World War I before he went on to a long career on the stage and screen. The handsome, debonair actor made a name for himself as a romantic lead and later as a character actor. In addition to twenty appearances on Suspense, Marshall starred on radio as a globetrotting secret agent in The Man Called X and made the rounds on radio comedies. We'll hear him as a writer out for revenge against his son's killer in "The Beast Must Die" (originally aired on CBS on July 13, 1944) and in a real-life story of a solider blackmailed into treason in "Betrayal in Vienna" (originally aired on CBS on October 8, 1951).

Olivia de Havilland won two Oscars during her six decade screen career, and she's still making news today. The star of Gone With the Wind and The Adventures of Robin Hood was a true legend of old Hollywood, but she only made one visit to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." We'll hear her in a shipboard thriller in "Voyage Through Darkness" (originally aired on CBS on September 7, 1944) and in a radio creation of one of her award-nominated roles in Hold Back the Dawn from Academy Award (originally aired on CBS on July 31, 1946).

Some of the twentieth century's best singers made visits to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" during the twenty year run of Suspense. This week, we'll hear two of them in uncharacteristic dark and dramatic roles. First, Frank Sinatra is a deranged madman tormenting Agnes Moorehead in "To Find Help" (an Armed Forces Radio Service rebroadcast of an episode from January 18, 1945). Then, Rosemary Clooney stars and sings in "St. James Infirmary Blues" (originally aired on CBS on February 23, 1953), a tale of crime and love in the Roaring Twenties.

With his leading man looks and his mellifluous voice, Ronald Colman was a star of both the silent and talking eras of Hollywood. His appearances on radio gave the Oscar winner a chance to put that voice to good use, whether he and his wife Benita Hume were clowning around with Jack Benny or whether Colman was making one of his six visits to Suspense. We'll hear him in "August Heat" (originally aired on May 31, 1945) and "A Vision of Death" (originally aired on March 8, 1951).

A star in front of and behind the camera, Ida Lupino was one of Hollywood's first female directors and producers. She turned in memorable performances in movies like High Sierra and On Dangerous Ground before she established her own production company and embarked on a long career of directing for the big and small screens. We'll hear Ida Lupino in "Summer Night" (originally aired on CBS on July 15, 1948) and "The Bullet" (originally aired on CBS on December 29, 1949).

Cary Grant returns to the podcast for one last "tale well calculated to keep you in Suspense." We'll hear the legendary leading man in "The Black Path of Fear" (an Armed Forces Radio Service broadcast of an episode originally aired on CBS on March 7, 1946). Then, he recreates his big screen role from Alfred Hitchcock's Suspicion in The Lady Esther Screen Guild Theatre (originally aired on CBS on January 21, 1946).

Gene Kelly dances his way to "radio's outstanding theatre of thrills" in two shows that are miles away from his screen persona. The star of An American in Paris and Singin' in the Rain leaves his dazzling footwork at the door for a pair of tense, well-calculated tails: "Thieves Fall Out" (originally aired on CBS on November 16, 1943) and "Death Went Along for the Ride" (originally aired on CBS on April 27, 1944).

Gregory Peck returns to "Stars On Suspense" in two old time radio thrillers – a pair of tales about the dangers that can lurk on the highway. First, Peck thumbs a ride with the wrong man in "Hitch-Hike Poker" (originally aired on CBS on September 16, 1948). Then, he's a grieving father looking for revenge on a drunk driver in "Nightmare" (originally aired on CBS on September 1, 1949).

Glamorous leading lady Lana Turner had a career that spanned five decades from her discovery at a Hollywood café all the way up to her final television appearances. But the Oscar-nominated actress had a tumultuous personal life – including a murder scandal – that could overshadow her screen work. In her two appearances on Suspense, Turner showed off her versatility in a pair of very different roles. We'll hear her as a woman terrorized by a painting in "Fear Paints a Picture" (originally aired on CBS on May 3, 1945). Then, she's a detective investigating her own husband in "The Flame Blue Glove" (originally aired on CBS on December 15, 1949).

One of the great gangster stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood, Edward G. Robinson excelled at playing all types of characters over his fifty year career. From Nazi hunters to cagey sleuths to desperate criminals, Robinson delivered memorable performances with a signature style that is still imitated today. We'll hear him in an unusual double role as himself and as "The Man Who Wanted to Be Edward G. Robinson" (originally aired on CBS on September 30, 1948). Then, he's a man out to profit from his alleged demise in "You Can't Die Twice" (originally aired on CBS on March 31, 1949).

Known as "the queen of film noir," Claire Trevor was amazing on screen as tough dames and gun molls (including Murder, My Sweet and her Oscar-winning turn in Key Largo). But the actress could play more than noir as she demonstrated over long career in movies like Stagecoach and The High and the Mighty. We'll hear two of her visits to Suspense - a series where she got to put her talent at playing tough women to good use: "The Plan" (originally aired on CBS on May 16, 1946) and "The Blue Hour" (originally aired on CBS on September 25, 1947).

Before she was a TV star, and even before she kept audiences smiling with her radio comedy series, Lucille Ball delivered tough noir performances in episodes of Suspense. She was as talented in the world of drama and thrills as she was with slapstick and a punchline. The red-headed legend returns for two more "tales well calculated" – "The Ten Grand" (originally aired on CBS on June 22, 1944) and "A Shroud for Sarah" (originally aired on CBS on October 25, 1945).

Two comedy legends trade jokes and laughs for thrills and chills when they visit "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." First, Bob Hope plays a man who has an appointment with a murderer in "Death Has a Shadow" (originally aired on CBS on May 5, 1949). Then, Milton Berle is an actor whose greatest role could keep him out of the electric chair in "Rave Notice" (originally aired on CBS on October 12, 1950).

Whether he was singing and dancing, breaking the law, or wielding a grapefruit, James Cagney never failed to deliver energetic, compelling performances on the big screen. The Oscar-winner gave audiences a series of memorable roles that are still admired – and imitated – today. For his first appearance on Suspense, Cagney returned to the world of gangster drama in an hour-long radio adaptation of James M. Cain's "Love's Lovely Counterfeit" (originally aired on CBS on January 17, 1948).

Bette Davis made only one appearance on Suspense, but it was a doozy. The two-time Oscar winner and ten-time nominee stands as one of the biggest legends of old Hollywood with a career and tumultuous personal life that continues to fascinate fans today. We'll hear her in "Goodnight Mrs. Russell," originally aired on CBS on October 20, 1949. Plus, she reprises her award-winning role from Jezebel in a production from Academy Award (originally aired on CBS on March 30, 1946).

Jack Benny sets down his violin and climbs out of his Maxwell for his final appearances on Suspense. Radio's most popular comedian returns to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" as a Martian on a mission in "Plan X" (originally aired on CBS on February 2, 1953) and a reluctant bank robber in "The Face is Familiar" (originally aired on CBS on January 18, 1954).

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).