Stars on Suspense (Old Time Radio)

Best known for his strong, heroic performances on screen, Henry Fonda played presidents, farmers, cowboys, and killers with a quiet authority over a fifty year career. We'll hear the Oscar winner in "Summer Storm," his only appearance on Suspense (originally aired on CBS on October 18, 1945). Then, he creates the titular role in Young Mr. Lincoln on Academy Award (originally aired on CBS on July 10, 1946).

Big and small screen legend Mickey Rooney plays two small-time hoods yearning to be big and facing the consequences of their actions in these old time radio thrillers: "Alibi Me" from Suspense - his final appearance on "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" - (originally aired on CBS on January 4, 1951) and "Knee High to a Corpse" from The Hollywood Star Playhouse (originally aired on CBS on July 19, 1951).

To generations of radio, TV, and movie fans, Eve Arden lives in the halls of high school as Principal McGee of Grease or the titular Our Miss Brooks in one of radio's best comedies. But there was more to this talented comedienne than her sense of deadpan humor, as seen in performances in Mildred Pierce and Anatomy of a Murder. We'll hear Eve Arden get serious in "The Well-Dressed Corpse" (originally aired on CBS on January 18, 1951). Then, she's Madison High's favorite English teacher in the March 6, 1949 episode of Our Miss Brooks - "Miss Brooks Gets the Works."

For his final visits to Suspense, the great Orson Welles starred in an epic two-part adaptation of Curt Siodmak's "Donovan's Brain." Welles plays a scientist whose experiments into the power of the brain take a sinister turn and gives rise to a monster. The story originally aired on CBS on May 18 and May 25, 1944.

Whether she was locked in a surfside embrace with Burt Lancaster or dancing with Yul Brynner, Deborah Kerr turned in memorable performances on screen and earned six Oscar nominations over her long career. The star of An Affair to Remember and Heaven Knows, Mr. Allyson made only one appearance on Suspense as a beautiful thief in "The Lady Pamela" (originally aired on CBS on March 31, 1952). We'll also hear her in a thriller from the Hollywood Star Playhouse - "Haunt Me Not" (originally aired on NBC on August 17, 1952).

Singer, actor, director, producer - Dick Powell wore many hats during his career in Hollywood. Starting out in musical comedies, Powell reinvented himself as a tough guy film noir hero in the 1940s and he'd go on to a successful run as a director and producer on the big and small screens. We'll hear both of his Suspense appearances: "Slow Burn" (originally aired on CBS on February 23, 1950); and "Overdrawn" (originally aired on CBS on May 31, 1951).

Actress, singer, and World War II pin-up legend Betty Grable brings her "million dollar legs" to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." Ms. Grable stars in a twisting mystery about an invalid mother, a frustrated daughter, and poison - "The Copper Tea Strainer" (originally aired on CBS on April 21, 1949). Then, we'll hear her playing for laughs with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby in "Altar Bound," originally aired on The Gulf Screen Guild Theatre on CBS on February 23, 1941.

Oscar-winner Charles Laughton is back in more "tales well calculated to keep you in Suspense." We'll hear him co-star with his wife Elsa Lanchester in a radio adaptation of Agatha Christie's "The ABC Murders" (originally aired on May 18, 1943). Then, Laughton plays one of history's most notorious murderers in "Neil Cream, Doctor of Poison" (originally aired on CBS on September 17, 1951).

Eddie Bracken endeared himself to audiences with winning turns as lovable losers in comedies like The Miracle oft Morgan's Creek and Hail the Conquering Hero, but on Suspense he turned his "aw shucks" persona on its head for a series of shows as mysterious characters with sinister sides. We'll hear him in "The Visitor" (originally aired on CBS on May 11, 1944) and in "Elwood" (originally aired on CBS on March 5, 1947).

Suspense regular Richard Widmark is back in the saddle for two more old time radio thrillers. In "Tell You Why I Shouldn't Die" (originally aired on CBS on June 7, 1951), he's a pitchman trying to save his own life from an angry man with a gun. Then, Widmark stars in the story of an infamous and bloody Texas feud in "The Hunting of Bob Lee" (originally aired on CBS on October 29, 1951).

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.

Actress Agnes Moorehead - the "first lady of Suspense" - was born December 6, 1900. The legendary star won an Emmy and two Golden Globes, and she was nominated for four Academy Awards. Her credits include Citizen Kane, Dark Passage, Johnny Belinda, and Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte. But old time radio fans may know her best for two signature performances: she played "the lovely Margot Lane" opposite Orson Welles and Bill Johnstone on The Shadow and she starred in one of the most famous radio dramas of all time, "Sorry, Wrong Number." it was that show that helped to earn her the title of "first lady of Suspense" and she recreated the performance nearly ten times over the course of the series' long run.

Moorehead found early success on radio, but it did not translate into film work until she met Orson Welles. She was soon a member of his Mercury Theatre, and that connection led to her casting opposite Welles in The Shadow. In addition to appearing in the company's memorable Broadway shows, Moorehead starred in broadcasts of The Mercury Theatre On the Air. One of her best turns came as Mina Harker in the program's outstanding adaptation of Dracula.

When Welles took the Mercury Players to Hollywood in 1939, Agnes Moorehead came with him. She made her film debut as Charles Foster Kane's mother in Citizen Kane and she earned her first Oscar nomination for her turn in Welles' The Magnificent Ambersons. Moorehead's screen career took off like a rocket; she received a second Oscar nod and won a Golden Globe for Mrs. Parkington (1944) and got a third Academy Award nomination in 1948 for her supporting turn in Johnny Belinda.

Throughout the 1940s, she continued to work on radio. Moorehead made her first appearance on Suspense on the April 27, 1943 broadcast of "The Diary of Saphronia Winters," a show that co-starred her Mercury comrade Ray Collins. It would be the first of 32 visits to the Suspense microphone, and her second - which came just one month later - was the first production of "Sorry, Wrong Number." Moorehead's portrayal of a bedridden woman who - thanks to some crossed phone lines - overhears a murder plot still stands as a pitch perfect study in terror, and she recreated the role seven times between that first production and 1960.

"Sorry, Wrong Number" was certainly her best known production, Agnes Moorehead never failed to disappoint on Suspense. Some of this writer's favorite shows include "The Death Parade" (2-15-1951), a tale of a woman's frantic efforts to prevent a murder before time runs out; "The Trap" (6-16-1949), which finds Moorehead's character tormented by a phantom within her own house; and "The Evil of Adelaide Winters" (9-10-1951), the story of a dishonest spiritualist whose con proves to be a little too effective.

Moorehead's most iconic role didn't come on radio, or on the big screen for that matter. In 1964, she was cast as Endora, the mother of Elizabeth Montgomery's Samantha on the long-running sitcom Bewitched. Though she bemoaned the quality of the scripts (or lack thereof), Moorehead stayed with the show for the duration of its run and she earned six Emmy nominations for the performance. She would ultimately win the prize for a guest spot on The Wild Wild West as a dastardly matchmaker targeting powerful men.

Agnes Moorehead worked all the way up until her death in 1974, appearing in the earliest broadcasts of the radio revival The CBS Radio Mystery Theater.

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).

Gregory Hood, San Francisco importer and amateur detective. Frankie Remley, left-handed guitarist and incorrigible sidekick of Phil Harris. Detective Danny Clover, the cop with the soul of a poet. And Thomas Hyland, the droll "connaisseur of crime" who relayed true tales of murder. These are just some of the amazing radio creations of Elliott Lewis. The man dubbed "Mr. Radio" for his innovative work behind the scenes and his talent as an actor was born in New York City on November 28, 1917.

After he considered law and engineering careers, Lewis got into acting in college. During World War II, Lewis oversaw productions for the Armed Forces Radio Service. In 1943, when he was on leave from the Army, he married actress Cathy Lewis. They shared the last name before they tied the knot, and Mr. and Mrs. Lewis would go on to be one of the biggest couples in radio.

An in-demand actor, Lewis starred in The Casebook of Gregory Hood and he portrayed Captain Philip Kearney in the Mutual adventure drama The Voyage of the Scarlet Queen. He played Archie Goodwin to Francis X. Bushman's Nero Wolfe, and he almost landed the radio role of Sam Spade. But his most famous role was as Frankie Remley, the smooth-talking con man and affable partner of crime of Phil Harris on The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show. Lewis' shenanigans with Harris were a highlight of the program, and actress Jeanine Roose said the two men "had such good rapport and a genuine liking for each other." That relationship carried over into their performances, even after the Remley character was dropped and Lewis played the very similar role of "Elliott Lewis." Harris-Faye is one of the best comedies of the era, thanks in no small part to Lewis' zany presence as a comedic tornado.

Lewis turned to directing as he worked on Harris-Faye. One of his biggest gigs was taking the reins of "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." He directed hundreds of Suspense episodes between 1950 and 1954, and his tenure may be the best of the program's long run. Under Lewis, Suspense presented more adaptations of true stories and classic works of literature. The series performed cautionary tales about the dangers of reckless driving and substance abuse, and Lewis continued to work with Hollywood stars performing against type (including his co-stars Phil Harris and Alice Faye in a tense tale of accidental death and a lynch mob in "Death on My Hands").

Along with Suspense, Lewis directed the classic police procedural Broadway is My Beat and the darkly comedic anthology Crime Classics. In both of these productions - and in several episodes of Suspense - Lewis worked with the writing duo of Morton Fine and David Friedkin. Together, the trio delivered some of the best, most innovative radio drama of the later years of the era with lyrical dialogue, vivid sound patterns, and engrossing stories.

He was closely involved with the short-lived radio drama revival of the 1970s, directing Mutual's The Zero Hour and the Sears Radio Theater (later the Mutual Radio Theater). In 1980, Lewis turned mystery writer, penning eight novels about ex-cop turned private eye Fred Bennett. The Los Angeles Times hailed his first book Two Heads are Better as "a striking novelistic debut." Lewis enjoyed the process, saying "the writer is the actor, director, producer, wardrobe person, weatherman, location director, stunt and second unit director, crowd handler, transportation gaffer and everything else I've ever been around, all rolled up into one person."

Elliott Lewis passed away on May 23, 1990, survived by his second wife, radio actress Mary Jane Croft. (Elliott and Cathy divorced in 1958.) It's tough to imagine the radio era without Lewis. He was a key figure in evolving the medium and providing hours of entertainment that are just as riveting to hear today as they were more than a half century ago.

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).

Halloween is here again, and cable TV, streaming services, and the local movie theater are full of classic films with vampires, monsters, and other blood-thirsty killers out to scare the wits out of their audiences. But for me, even the scariest sights the big screen can conjure up could never compare with the thrills and chills doled out in the "theater of the mind." And few shows were better at conjuring up tension and terror than Suspense.

In honor of October 31st, and to help get you in the right mood for tricks and treats, here are my picks for the scariest episodes from "radio's outstanding theater of thrills."

The Hitch-Hiker – Orson Welles' first appearance on Suspense is one of his best, as well as one of the best spine-tinglers the series ever produced. Penned by Lucille Fletcher, radio's premiere author of chills and thrills, the story centers on a man making a cross-country drive as he is stalked by a stranger who always turns up on the side of the road looking for a lift. The driver's attitude towards the man grows from one of bemusement to one of terror, and it all culminates in a devastating surprise ending. The story was adapted years later by Rod Serling for a memorable first season episode of The Twilight Zone. (Originally aired on CBS on September 2, 1942; you can hear it in Episode 1 of Stars On Suspense)

The House in Cypress Canyon – The supernatural was rarely featured on Suspense, but there were a few memorable exceptions. The best of those may be "The House in Cypress Canyon," the story of a young couple plagued by a bizarre series of events once they move into a new house. Robert Taylor narrates the tale as a man struggling to accept the reality of his situation, and Cathy Lewis was rarely better than she was in the role of the man's wife – the real victim of the eerie effects of the house. It's a great example of the power of radio – particularly the use of sound effects – to create nail-biting terror throughout this episode. (Originally aired on CBS on December 5, 1946)

Ghost Hunt – In a terrific example of established personalities playing against type on Suspense, motor-mouthed game show host Ralph Edwards headlines "Ghost Hunt." In a pre-Blair Witch Project variation on a "found footage" story, Edwards' "Smiley Smith," a radio DJ, plans a stunt night to be spent in a haunted house. The owner of the house arrives the next morning to find Smith's tape recorder but no sign of the DJ. What will the owner hear when he plays the tape? (Originally aired on CBS on June 23, 1949)

On a Country Road – I don't know how many times I've heard this show, but it still unnerves me with each listen. Cary Grant and Cathy Lewis (one of the true MVPs of Suspense) star as a couple making their way home via shortcut (never a good idea on this show!) all while they listen to news of an escaped murderess on the loose with a meat cleaver. It's bad enough when their car breaks down on a dark road, but it gets even worse when a disheveled woman finds their car and begs for help. The tension stars almost immediately and never lets up – even through an ending that only means more trouble for the characters is on the way after the final music plays. (Originally aired on CBS on November 16, 1950; you can hear it in Episode 6 of Stars On Suspense)

Zero Hour – As Suspense entered the 1950s, science fiction stories became more frequent on the program, and several were adapted from the writings of genre giant Ray Bradbury. In "Zero Hour," Bradbury's story comes to riveting radio life. This broadcast of Suspense opens with an unusual disclaimer. Months before, the story had been presented on Escape and resulted in a deluge of complaint letters to CBS. Once you hear this story of an angelic little girl and her unusual new imaginary friend, you can see why audiences in the 1950s might have been unnerved by the tale. But listen fast…Zero Hour is at five o'clock! (Originally aired on CBS on April 5, 1955)

The Whole Town's Sleeping – Another story from Ray Bradbury, but the terror in "The Whole Town's Sleeping" is entirely human. William Conrad narrates the story of a woman's long walk home alone through her town – a town that is gripped with fear of a serial killer who has been preying on women. By this point in the Suspense run, big name Hollywood stars were making fewer appearances and the casts were populated almost entirely by the stalwart stable of west coast radio players. It proves that while the legends of Hollywood were great, they were not essential to creating thrilling tales. Here, Conrad and Jeanette Nolan as the protagonist use the power of their performances to keep the listener on the edge of their seat. Leave the lights on for this one. (Originally aired on CBS on June 14, 1955)

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).

Angela Lansbury, five-time Tony Award winner and three time Oscar nominee, was born October 16, 1925. She has enjoyed a long and successful career on stage, screen, and television, and she's still going strong. Generations of fans know her from her celebrated stage work (Sweeney Todd, Gypsy, Blithe Spirit, and so many more), her films (including what is arguably her best performance as the cold and calculating Mrs. Iselin in The Manchurian Candidate - the performance that earned her a third Oscar nomination), and her voice, perhaps most memorably when she sang the title song of Disney's Beauty and the Beast. And to a child of the 80s and a mystery fan like yours truly, she will forever be best-selling author and amateur sleuth Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote.

In honor of her birthday, here is "A Thing of Beauty," a May 29, 1947 episode of Suspense starring Angela Lansbury. This twisty tale features Hans Conried and Cathy Lewis in the supporting cast.

Actor Berry Kroeger, possessing one of the most distinctive and instantly recognizable voices of the radio era, was born October 16, 1912. Kroeger appeared on the big and small screens and the stage, but he got his start on radio. He announced for and appeared in supporting roles on Suspense and he played dastardly villains on The Shadow. This writer will forever associate Kroeger with a particularly chilling Shadow episode called "The Face." Kroeger played a handsome actor whose features were horribly and irreparably damaged in a plane crash. He began taking revenge on anyone who recoiled in horror upon seeing his new face, strangling and beating them beyond recognition.

Kroeger could also be heard on Escape, Dimension X, and Murder at Midnight. He was one of the first voices of "the Man in Black" on Suspense, and he also made a number of memorable appearances in the series itself. One of my favorites finds Kroeger starring opposite Lucille Ball in "A Little Piece of Rope." Lucy plays a woman who uses her looks to lure men into robberies, but she discovers her latest mark (Kroeger) is a serial killer wanted by the police. She tries to set a new trap while Kroeger hunts for the one woman who can identify him.

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.

William N. Robson, radio's "master of mystery and adventure" was born October 8, 1906. Robson was one of the most talented "behind the scenes" figures of the Golden Age of Radio, serving as producer, director, and occasional writer of programs across nearly every genre and throughout the entire era. Robson won six Peabody awards for excellence in broadcasting.

One of his first assignments in radio came on the series Calling All Cars, a presentation of true police cases dramatized for the airwaves. The success on that show led to a stint on The Columbia Workshop, one of the most celebrated and innovative dramatic programs of the day. (Years later, Robson would have a hand in the revival of the series in the final days of the radio era - The CBS Radio Workshop). Robson directed big screen stars Edward G. Robinson and Claire Trevor in the early seasons of Big Town and he won his first Peabody for The Man Behind the Gun, a powerful series presenting stories of soldiers on the front lines in World War II.

In 1947, Robson was the first producer and director of Escape, CBS' dramatic anthology "designed to free you from the four walls of today for a half hour of high adventure." The series presented adaptations of classic stories like "The Most Dangerous Game" and "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz" along with original tales of adventure. Like other talented men and women of the era, his career was unfairly maligned and derailed by the House Un-American Activities Committee, but he was able to return to regular work in radio by the mid 1950s.

From 1956 until 1959 - and during its final years as a west coast/Hollywood series, Robson was the producer and director of Suspense. During his tenure, Robson served as master of ceremonies in appearances at the top of the show. Robson would set the stage for the drama to follow, occasionally teasing elements of the story or introducing new performers to listeners. Much like Rod Serling on The Twilight Zone or Alfred Hitchcock on his TV series, Robson's on-air appearances helped to establish a tone that prepared audiences for whatever spine-tingling stories would play out over the next thirty minutes.

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).

Academy Award winner Charles Laughton, a legend of stage and screen, was born July 1, 1899. From Shakespeare to Agatha Christie, from the high seas to the courtroom, Laughton turned in many memorable performances, usually as pompous, larger than life characters (both heroes and villains). He played the title role in The Hunchback of Notre Dame and worked with Alfred Hitchcock in the director's last film made in England, Jamaica Inn. Laughton was married to actress Elsa Lanchester; the two appeared in several films together including Billy Wilder's Witness for the Prosecution. The classic courtroom mystery earned both Laughton and Lanchester nominations for Oscars. Today, Laughton is also fondly remembered for his one directorial outing - the engrossing, nightmarish noir The Night of the Hunter.

Charles Laughton made the first of his ten appearances on Suspense within a year of the launch of "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." We've heard a pair of his shows in Episode 19 of the podcast, but today in honor of his birthday here are a few more old time radio thrillers starring the great Charles Laughton.

"The ABC Murders" - Loosely adapted from the Agatha Christie story, this episode stars Laughton and his wife Elsa Lanchester in the tale of a mild-mannered man who may be a demented serial killer. (Originally aired May 18, 1943)

"Blind Date" - Laughton plays a creepy admirer keeping a showgirl in her dressing room with a knife in this tense outing co-starring June Havoc. (Originally aired September 29, 1949)

"Neil Cream, Doctor of Poison" - In this true crime tale from the pages of history, Laughton stars as one of the most infamous poisoners of all time. (Originally aired on September 17, 1951)

For more old time radio thrillers and legends of Hollywood, click here to subscribe to the "Stars On Suspense" podcast in iTunes.