| Lux Radio Theater | |
 Newspaper advertisement for the premier show on the NBC Blue Network, starring Miriam Hopkins. Ellen Miriam Hopkins ( October 18, 1902 – October 9, 1972) was an Oscar -nominated American actress
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| Genre | Anthology drama |
|---|---|
| Running time | 1 hour |
| Country |  United States |
| Languages | English |
| Home station | WJZ (10/14/34-06/30/35) CBS WABC (07/29/35-05/25/36) CBS (06/01/36-06/28/54) NBC (09/14/54-06/07/55) |
| TV adaptations | Lux Video Theatre (1950-1957) |
| Hosts | John Anthony, Albert Hayes, Cecil B. DeMille, William Keighley, Irving Cummings |
| Starring | Numerous Broadway and Hollywood stars |
| Writers | George Wells Sanford Barnett |
| Directors | Antony Stanford, Frank Woodruff, Sanford Barnett, Fred MacKaye, Earl Ebi, Norman Macdonnell |
| Recording studio | 1934–1936 New York City 1936–1955 Hollywood, Los Angeles, California |
| Air dates | October 14, 1934 to June 7, 1955 |
| No. An anthology series is a radio or television series that has a different story and a different set of characters in every episode The United States of America —commonly referred to as the English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States WABC (770 kHz known as "NewsTalkRadio 77" is a radio station in New York City. CBS Broadcasting Inc ( CBS) is an American radio and Television network. CBS Broadcasting Inc ( CBS) is an American radio and Television network. The National Broadcasting Company ( NBC) is an American Television network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Lux Video Theatre is a weekly Television Anthology series, produced from 1950 until 1959 Cecil Blount DeMille ( August 12, 1881 – January 21, 1959) was an Academy Award -winning American Film director The year 1934 in radio involved some significant events Events June 28 - Fireside chat: Review of the Achievements The year 1936 saw a number of significant events in Radio broadcasting. The City of New York The year 1936 saw a number of significant events in Radio broadcasting. The year 1955 saw a number of significant events in Radio broadcasting. Events 1066 - Norman Conquest: Battle of Hastings - In England on Senlac Hill seven miles from Hastings, the forces Year 1934 ( MCMXXXIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1099 - The First Crusade: The Siege of Jerusalem begins Year 1955 ( MCMLV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1955 Gregorian calendar) of series | 21 |
| No. of episodes | 926 |
| Audio format | Monaural sound |
Lux Radio Theater, one of the genuine classic radio anthology series (NBC Blue Network (1934-1935); CBS (1935-1954); NBC (1954-1955)) adapted first Broadway stage works, and then (especially) films to hour-long live radio presentations. Old-Time Radio (OTR and the Golden Age of Radio refer to a period of Radio programming lasting from the proliferation of radio broadcasting in the early 1920s until An anthology series is a radio or television series that has a different story and a different set of characters in every episode The Blue Network was the on-air name of an American radio production and distribution service from 1942 to 1945 which traced its formal origins back to 1927 CBS Broadcasting Inc ( CBS) is an American radio and Television network. The National Broadcasting Company ( NBC) is an American Television network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Broadway theater, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 39 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located It quickly became the most popular dramatic anthology series on radio, running more than twenty years.
Contents |
Early History
The program always began with an announcer proclaiming, "Ladies and gentlemen, Lux presents Hollywood!" Cecil B. DeMille was the host of the series each Monday evening from June 1, 1936, until January 22, 1945. Cecil Blount DeMille ( August 12, 1881 – January 21, 1959) was an Academy Award -winning American Film director Events 193 - Roman Emperor Didius Julianus is Assassinated 987 - Hugh Capet is elected Year 1936 ( MCMXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 565 - Eutychius is deposed as Patriarch of Constantinople by John Scholasticus. Year 1945 ( MCMXLV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar On one occasion, however, he was replaced by Leslie Howard. Leslie Howard ( April 3, 1893 - June 1, 1943) was an English stage and Academy Award nominated Film
Lux Radio Theater strove to feature as many of the original stars of the original stage and film productions as possible, usually paying them $5,000 an appearance to do the show. It was when sponsor Lever Brothers (who made Lux soap and detergent) moved the show from New York City to Hollywood in 1936 that it eased back from adapting stage shows and toward adaptations of films. British manufacturer Lever Brothers was founded in 1885 by William Hesketh Lever and his brother James The City of New York The first Lux film adaptation was The Legionnaire and the Lady, with Marlene Dietrich and Clark Gable, based on the film Morocco. Marlene Dietrich maɐˈleːnə ˈdiːtrɪç (December 27 &ndashMay 6) was a German -born American Actress, Singer and Entertainer Clark Gable (February 1 &ndashNovember 16) was an iconic American Actor nicknamed "The King of Hollywood" in his heyday Morocco (المغرب "al-Maghrib" officially the Kingdom of Morocco (المملكة المغربية is a country located in North Africa That was followed by a Lux adaptation of The Thin Man, featuring the movie's stars, Myrna Loy and William Powell. The Thin Man was the first of six comic detective Films starring William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles, a hard-drinking Myrna Loy ( August 2, 1905 – December 14, 1993) was an American Motion picture Actress. William Horatio Powell ( July 29, 1892 – March 5, 1984) was a three-time Academy Award -nominated American actor noted
Many of the greatest---or, at least, the most legendary---names in stage and film appeared in the series, most in the roles they made famous on the screen, including Abbott and Costello, Lauren Bacall, Lucille Ball, Ethel Barrymore, John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, Ingrid Bergman, Humphrey Bogart, Charles Boyer, James Cagney, Claudette Colbert, Ronald Colman, Gary Cooper, Joseph Cotten, Joan Crawford, Bing Crosby, Bette Davis, Dan Duryea, Frances Farmer, Errol Flynn, Ava Gardner, Cary Grant, Lillian Gish, Charlton Heston, Bob Hope, Vivien Leigh, Agnes Moorehead, Paul Muni, Vincent Price, Donna Reed, Ginger Rogers, Frank Sinatra, Ann Sothern, Barbara Stanwyck, James Stewart, Shirley Temple, Gene Tierney, Spencer Tracy, John Wayne, Jane Wyman, Orson Welles, Loretta Young, and Robert Young, among numerous others. William (Bud Abbott and Lou Costello (born Louis Francis Cristillo performed together as Abbott and Costello, an American comedy duo whose Lucille Ball (August 6 1911 – April 26 1989 was an American comedienne, film television stage and radio Actress, model, film Ethel Barrymore ( August 15, 1879 – June 18, 1959) was an Academy Award -winning American actress and a member of John Sidney Blyth Barrymore ( February 15 1882 – May 29 1942) was an American Actor, frequently called the greatest Lionel Barrymore ( April 28, 1878 – November 15, 1954) was an American Academy Award -winning actor of stage radio (ˈbærjman in Swedish but usually ˈbɝgmən in English (August 29 1915 &ndash August 29 1982 was a Swedish three-time Academy Award -winning and two-time Emmy Charles Boyer (28 August 1899 – 26 August 1978 was a four-time Academy Award -nominated French Actor who starred in a number of classic Hollywood James Francis Cagney Jr ( July 17, 1899 &ndash March 30, 1986) was an Academy Award -winning American Film Claudette Colbert ( IPA: /koʊlˈbɛɹ/ ( September 13, 1903 – July 30, 1996) was a French -born American stage Ronald Colman ( February 9 1891 &ndash May 19 1958) was an English Academy Award and Golden Globe -winning actor Frank James “Gary” Cooper (May 7 &ndashMay 13) was an American film actor and iconic star Joseph Cheshire Cotten ( May 15, 1905 – February 6, 1994) was an American Actor of stage and Film Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; ( March 23, 1905 - May 10, 1977) Crawford was signed to a motion picture Harry Lillis “Bing” Crosby ( May 3, 1903 &ndash October 14, 1977) was an Academy Award winning American Popular Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (April 5 1908 – October 6 1989 was an American actress of Film, Television and Theatre. Dapper Dan redirects here For the Prohibition gangster see Danny Hogan. Frances Elena Farmer ( September 19, 1913 &ndash August 1, 1970) was an American film television and theater actress Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn ( June 20, 1909 &ndash October 14, 1959) was an Australian Film Actor, most Ava Lavinia Gardner ( December 24, 1922 – January 25, 1990) was an Academy Award -nominated American actress Lillian Diana Gish ( October 14 1893 – February 27 1993) was an American stage screen and television actress whose Charlton Heston (born John Charles Carter; October 4 1923 &ndash April 5 2008) was an American Actor of Bob Hope, KBE KCSG ( May 29, 1903 &ndash July 27, 2003) was an American comedian and actor who appeared in Vivien Leigh Lady Olivier (5 November 1913 &ndash 8 July 1967 was an English actress. Agnes Robertson Moorehead ( December 6 1900 – April 30 1974) was an American Actress. Paul Muni ( September 22, 1895 – August 25, 1967) was an American Academy Award -winning and Tony Award -winning Vincent Leonard Price Jr ( May 27 1911 &ndash October 25 1993) was an American Film Actor, remembered Donna Reed ( January 27, 1921 - January 14, 1986) was an Academy Award -winning American actress. Ginger Rogers ( July 16, 1911 &ndash April 25, 1995) was an Academy Award -winning American film and stage actress Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra (December 12 1915 &ndash May 14 1998 was an American singer and actor Ann Sothern ( January 22, 1909 &ndash March 15, 2001) was an Academy Award -nominated American film and Barbara Stanwyck ( July 16, &ndash January 20,) was an American actress, a star of film and television known during her 60-year career as a James Maitland Stewart (20 May 1908 – 2 July 1997 popularly known as Jimmy Stewart, was an American Film and stage Actor Shirley Jane Temple (born April 23, 1928) is an Academy Award -winning Actress and Tap dancer, most famous for being an iconic Gene Tierney ( November 19, 1920 – November 6, 1991) was an American film and stage actress. Spencer Tracy ( April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was a two-time Academy Award -winning Actor of stage and John Wayne ( May 26, 1907 &ndash June 11, 1979) was an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award -winning American Jane Wyman ( January 5, 1917 &ndash September 10, 2007) was an American actress. George Orson Welles (May 6 1915 – October 10 1985 was an Academy Award -winning director, writer actor and producer for film stage radio and television Loretta Young ( January 6, 1913 &ndash August 12, 2000) was an American actress Bob or Rob(ert Young may refer to many people Bob Young, Canadian founder and CEO of Red Hat Bob Young (American football (1942&ndash1995
Among the men, Don Ameche -- eventually a radio star in The Bickersons -- appeared most often, with 18 Lux appearances, just ahead of Fred MacMurray's 17. Don Ameche (born Dominic Felix Amici; May 31 1908 – December 6 1993) was an American actor The Bickersons was a Radio comedy sketch series that began in 1946 on NBC with Don Ameche and Frances Langford, moving the following Frederick Martin MacMurray ( August 30, 1908 &ndash November 5, 1991) was an American Actor who appeared in over one Among the women, the honor went to Barbara Stanwyck with 15 Lux appearances, including her re-creation of her hit film Sorry, Wrong Number (itself borne of an earlier radio production, on CBS legend Suspense). Barbara Stanwyck ( July 16, &ndash January 20,) was an American actress, a star of film and television known during her 60-year career as a Sorry Wrong Number is a 1948 Suspense film which tells the story of a woman who overhears a plot for Murder. Suspense was a Radio drama series broadcast on CBS from 1942 through 1962 Loretta Young's 14 appearances were the second most among the women.
Though the show focused on film and its performers, perhaps inevitably several classic radio regulars appeared in Lux Radio Theater productions. Jim and Marian Jordan, better known as Fibber McGee and Molly, appeared on the show twice and also built an episode of their own radio comedy series around one of those appearances. Fibber McGee and Molly was a radio show that played a major role in determining the full form of what became classic old-time radio. Their longtime costar, Arthur Q. Bryan (wisecracking Dr. Gamble) made a few Lux appearances as well. Bandleader Phil Harris---a longtime regular on Jack Benny's radio hit---and his singing actress wife, Alice Faye, who had become radio comedy stars with their own show beginning in 1948, appeared in a Lux presentation. Phil Harris (born Wonga Philip Harris) ( June 24, 1904 – August 11, 1995) was an American Singer, Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky February 14, 1894 - December 26, 1974) was an American Comedian, vaudevillian Alice Faye (born Alice Jeane Leppert on May 5, 1915 - May 9, 1998) was an American actress and Singer Fred Allen, Jack Benny (with and without his wife, Mary Livingstone), George Burns and Gracie Allen were among the other radio stars who were invited to do Lux presentations as well. Fred Allen (born John Florence Sullivan May 31 1894 - March 17, 1956) was an American Comedian whose absurdist Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky February 14, 1894 - December 26, 1974) was an American Comedian, vaudevillian Mary is also the name of David Livingstone 's wife Mary Livingstone (born Sadye Marks, June 23, 1906, Seattle George Burns ( January 20 1896 &ndash March 9 1996; born Nathan Birnbaum) was an American comedian, Actor Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen ( July 26 1895 Allen used to claim that she was born in 1906 but when pressed for evidence she would say that her birth certificate
At least once Lux Radio Theater presented an adaptation of the film version of a radio series hit: The Life of Riley, featuring William Bendix as the Brooklyn-born, California-transplanted, stumbling but bighearted aircraft worker he already made famous in the long-running radio series (and eventual television hit) of the same name. The Life of Riley, with William Bendix in the title role was a popular Radio Situation comedy series of the 1940s that was adapted into a 1949 William Bendix ( January 14, 1906 – December 14, 1964) was an Academy Award -nominated American film Actor.
But also at least once Lux Radio Theater offered a presentation without any known performers---its 1942 adaptation of This is the Army included a cast strictly drawn from actual American soldiers.
Mercury Theatre on the Air -- which eventually made Orson Welles a force to be reckoned with, especially with the commotion his broadcast of The War of the Worlds (30 October 1938) provoked -- was initially a summer replacement series for Lux Radio Theater. Mercury Theatre was a Theatre company founded in New York City by Orson Welles and John Houseman.
DeMille's Clash With Unions
It was a clash over closed shop union rulings favoured by the old American Federation of Radio Artists that ended DeMille's term as Lux Radio Theater's host. A trade union or labour union is an organization of workers who have banded together to achieve common goals in key areas such as wages hours and working conditions forming The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA is a performers' union that represents a wide variety of talent including actors in radio and television as well as radio AFRA assessed members a dollar each to help back a campaign to enact closed-shop rulings in California. DeMille, an AFRA member but a stern opponent of closed shops, refused to pay because he believed it would nullify his opposition vote. When AFRA ruled those not paying faced suspension from the union, and thus a ban from appearing on the air, DeMille was finished---because he also refused to let anyone else pay the dollar for him. Lux Radio Theater auditioned, on the air, several hosts over the next year, until they settled on William Keighley as the new permanent host, a post he held from late 1945 through mid-1955. William Jackson Keighley ( August 4 1889, Philadelphia Pennsylvania - June 24 1984, New York New York) was an American
Final Years and TV Version
During its years on CBS in Hollywood, Lux Radio Theater was broadcast from the Lux Radio Playhouse located at 1615 North Vine Street in Hollywood, one block south of the famed intersection of Hollywood and Vine. The theater was later renamed The Huntington Hartford Theater, The Doolittle Theater, and is now the Ricardo Montalban Theater.
The Lux Video Theatre began as a live 30-minute Monday evening CBS series October 2, 1950, switching to Thursday nights during August, 1951. Lux Video Theatre is a weekly Television Anthology series, produced from 1950 until 1959 Events 1187 - Siege of Jerusalem: Saladin captures Jerusalem after 88 years of Crusader rule Year 1950 ( MCML) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. In September 1953, the show relocated from New York to Hollywood. In August, 1954, it jumped to NBC as an hour-long show on Thursday nights, telecast until September 12, 1957. Events 1213 - Albigensian Crusade: Simon de Montfort 5th Earl of Leicester, defeats Peter II of Aragon at the Year 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar) James Mason was the host in the 1954-55 season. James Neville Mason ( 15 May 1909 – 27 July 1984) was a three-time Academy Award -nominated British Actor who
See also
References
External links
- OTR Network Library: Lux Radio Theater (276 1936-55 episodes)
- Lux Radio Theater - OTR - Old Time Radio (108 episodes)
- Lux Radio Theater (1936-52) in The Internet Archive's Old-Time Radio Collection
- The Lux Radio Theatre Collection in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Margaret Herrick Library
- Lux Radio Theater: War Of The Worlds
- Lux Radio Theater (Australian version) at the National Film and Sound Archive
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