Starstruck by Leonard Maltin

Author:Leonard Maltin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: GoodKnight Books
Published: 2021-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

Those Thrilling Days of Yesteryear

As a child of the first television generation, I never understood my parents when they told me that they listened to radio before TV came along. What did they do exactly—look at the console? How could anything possibly take the place of TV?

Even later when friends of mine became fans of Old Time Radio, I remained immune. It never captured my imagination.

I can’t believe I am writing those words as in the years that followed, I would become a radio fanatic. I still don’t know how I could have missed the boat so completely.

I have my late friend Alan Barbour to thank for getting me started. When he learned that Alice’s favorite actor was Ronald Colman, he dubbed several cassettes of The Jack Benny Show that featured Colman and his wife, Benita Hume, who supposedly lived next door to Jack. We listened to these episodes while driving and found them hilarious. The more we heard, the more our appetite expanded. From Jack Benny we moved on to The Halls of Ivy, a more cerebral but very enjoyable show featuring Mr. and Mrs. Colman. Then it was Lux Radio Theater, Suspense, Dragnet, Escape, Gunsmoke, Yours Truly Johnny Dollar, and so on. (Our daughter became a fan of The Jack Benny Show when she was quite young and connected with the silliness of Dennis Day. She still enjoys it today and thinks one reason is that it didn’t rely on topical jokes like some other comedy programs.)

When we moved to L.A. we discovered a Sunday night program on public radio station KPCC hosted by two brothers, both blind, named John and Larry Gassman. Their show was followed by another featuring Bobb Lynes and Barbara Watkins. These good people, whom we got to know, not only played vintage shows but interviewed veterans of radio’s golden age. It was thanks to them that we discovered a group of dedicated enthusiasts called SPERDVAC: The Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Radio Drama Variety and Comedy. We attended our first meeting and watched in wonderment as a handful of veteran actors re-created classic shows, complete with music and live sound effects.

That’s when we got hooked, and when I get that interested in anything I have the urge to write about it. I started approaching some of the radio veterans to ask if I could interview them, and no one turned me down. It turns out that people who worked in “live” radio loved that medium and were happy to share their memories. Why not? There was plenty of work, real camaraderie, and a chance for character actors to play stalwart leading men and beautiful leading ladies. Looks didn’t matter: it all depended on your voice.

I sold an article to Smithsonian magazine and used it as a sampler to interest my editor at Penguin in doing a book. He wasn’t crazy about the idea but he knew how much it meant to me and ultimately agreed. I will always be grateful for that turn of events.

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