Stars On Suspense (old Time Radio)

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).

Two-time Oscar nominee John Garfield broke out of the New York theatre scene, and his star burned brightly until he ran afoul of the House Un-American Activities Committee. Known for his intense performances and his battles with his studio to find stronger scripts, Garfield made memorable impressions in movies like The Postman Always Rings Twice and Body and Soul before his career - and his life - came to abrupt ends. We'll hear his two appearances on Suspense - "Reprieve" (AFRS rebroadcast from May 10, 1945) and "Death Sentence" (originally aired on CBS on November 4, 1948). Plus, George Burns writes him a bad check and Gracie Allen tries to fix it when Garfield visits their sitcom (originally aired on CBS on December 28, 1943).

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.