Radio Soap Opera Discussion

[Paul Raven]

As of Feb 44 Mary Rutledge Holden was still on The Guiding Light according to newspaper promos.

[Bill Bauer]

 

Interesting. I wonder what she did after she married Ned in 1941. There's no storyline mentioned for her after that. I guess she just hung out. 

[Paul Raven]

HOLLYWOOD, Jan. 27. - Carlton E. Morse is going to hypo One Man's Family when it switches over from NBC to the Blue, January 30, by injecting more action. He feels that this will help keep the old listeners who will follow the show to the Blue, but will also keep the new crop of new dial -twisters tuned into the show.

At first, Morse was skeptical about fooling around with the airer, feeling that his old listeners might resent a faster pace for Family, which has been on more or less of an even keel for years. However, he has already injected a murder mystery angle into the show, launching it on last week's program.

Larger Cast Set

Morse will also have a larger cast than he has used before. He won't attempt to add permanent characters to the show. but will use different voices from week to week. He feels this will give greater variety and allow regular cast members more play on the emotional scenes. Outside of establishing theme, Morse has never gone much for music on Family. When it shifts to the Blue, however, he will try and set the mood of the show with special music, utilizing bridges throughout the script.

[Paul Raven]

Found one actor

Ricky Lawrence - Robert Ellis

 

[Paul Raven]

July 1944 Top Day Show: "Integrated" By Author

Marking another step toward welding "The Guiding Light," "Today's Children" and "Woman in White" more closely into a single presentation, Ed Prentiss, popular network announcer and actor, has been installed as master of ceremonies of the dramatic portion of the General Mills Hour (NBC, five -a -week, 1 p. m., WOW). Presentation of an m.c. to air -boss the serials follows the recent inauguration of a new drama device by Irna Phillips, author of the three programs, in which characters from one show are moved through one or both of the other broadcasts.

Prentiss' narrations are blended into the format of the 45- minute period as a dramatic bridge between the respective serials. Franklyn MacCormack continues as narrator -m.c. of "Hymns of All Churches," which fills the fourth portion of the hour, 11 a. m., Tuesdays through Fridays, on WOW.

 

Miss Phillips points out the m.c. was added "to give the listener an enlarged perspective into the dramas and their characters." She adds that the narrator also opens the way to another programming technique under contemplation in which each of the three shows will he scheduled for 10 to 20 minutes, depending on plot development, rather than the traditional 15 minutes. The conjunction of several basic facts conspire to make this situation unique. There is only one author for the three dramas, one sponsor, one producing unit and one network involved. Besides that, all three plots are contemporary, urban portraits.

Experiments In bringing the technique into full play, the prolific authoress pointed out that she has experimented with the character transfer to a small degree during past years. Miss Phillips also noted that one of her first major experiments was attempted in 1938, when, in terminating "Today's Children," she had the cast tune in a radio serial titled "Woman in White," the program's successor, in a script that called for the participation of both casts. "I think there are at least two good reasons why the same per- sons should be heard in more than one program," she said. "In the first place, each of us, as individuals, lives much more than 15 minutes a day. And so it seems logical that we should get more than a quarter -hour glimpse into the daily lives of radio characters. "Secondly, I believe that listener interest will be enhanced if the audience can hear its favorite artists in more than one program."

 

The innovation in serial- casting already is under way. Listeners to "The Guiding Light" and "Today's Children" are well acquainted with the character of Pete Manno, portrayed by Michael Romano, not only a real life lawyer, but also an attorney in the serials. Dr. Paul Burton (Ken Griffin), leading character in the forthcoming "Woman in White" serial, already has made his appearance in "The Guiding Light," and other characters slated to make the rounds of the serials in the near future are Mrs. O'Hearn (Helen Behmillor) and Dr. Jonathan McNeill (Sidney Breese) in "The Guiding Light" and "Woman in White," and Dr. Richard Gaylord (John Barclay), who will appear in all three serials from time to time. 

[Paul Raven]

There was an Angela Mason played by Ruth Rau around this time so I assume this is the Angie Manno character.

[slick jones]

I read the other day  that Mason was her maiden name, I've got it in a pile of notes here I'm going to start posting.  Very cool catch!

 

[Paul Raven]

NIELSEN- RATING' TOP RADIO PROGRAMS Week, Nov. 16 -22, 1952

WEEKDAY (Average For All Programs)

I Romance of Helen Trent (CBS) 7.8

2 Our Gal, Sunday (CBS) 7.8

3 Guiding Light (CBS) 7.7

4 This Is Nora Drake (Seeman) (CBS) 7.7

5 Ma Perkins (CBS) 7.6

6 Aunt Jenny (CBS) 7.5

7 Wendy Warren and the News (CBS) 7.2

8 Perry Mason (CBS) 7.0

9 This Is Nora Drake (Toni) (CBS) 6.7

10 Big Sister (CBS) 6.6

[allmc2008]

Radio_IN_DEFENSE_OF_DAYTIME_S(1).pdf

What I posted is an article co-written by Irna Phillips AND Elaine Carrington

 

[jam6242]

@slick jonesI found Bob McKee playing Greg Warner on GL, from 1943 (up to Jan. 1944, when he joined the army.

[jam6242]

Article about the 60th anniversary of radio soaps going off the air.

https://whav.net/2020/11/25/radio-actors-werent-very-thankful-60-years-ago-as-most-drama-and-comedy-came-to-an-end/

[Paul Raven]

"By Kathleen Norris" a Radio Heaven for Thesps; Plenty $$

NEW YORK, Sept, 28.-Juiciest radio  plum to fall to dramatic actors  in many a moon is  By Kathleen Norris which debuts Monday (30) On both the  Columbia Broadcasting System and the National Broadcasting Company. Program is nothing short of a radio actor's heaven, with cast drawing down at least $250 a week from this show alone and having plenty of time left for afternoon and evening shows.

Set up as follows: Program airs four times daily (counting two repeats) four times a week. Actors  get about $57 daily per minimum; as per American Federation of Radio Artists, and organist about $300 per week.

Program will be on the Columbia Network 10 - 10.15 am with repeat broadcast at 11.15 am and on NBC's Red network 10.15-10.30 am with repeat at 11.30 am.

These periods will  leave the actors free for additional work In the afternoon and evening hours.

 

First program to be aired is 'Mother' with Irene Hubbard playing lead with support from John Brewster, James Meighan and Anne Tiernan. Jay Hana directs. Show will he piped front studios of WHN  indie station. 

[Paul Raven]

The Story of Mary Marlin

If the demand for concert singers hadn't hit a new low in 1934, the Story of Mary Marlin might never have come into being. In the fall of that year a gloomy young woman was bus riding along Chicago's lake front. She was facing the world alone, with a daughter to support, and had no idea about how she was going to earn a living. Jane Crusinberry had returned to America the year before after two successful years as an opera singer in France and Italy. She found that her friends were scattered, that the depression was in full swing and singers were turning to other fields in order to eat. And so she spent rather a desperate year trying to adjust herself. Miss Crusinberry took the bus ride one morning to ponder ways to bring in a regular pay check. "I'll write) said Jane Crusinberry suddenly aloud, to the mild surprise of nearby passengers, and she hopped off the bus to catch the next one back home. On the way, she sketched out a synopsis of the post -marital adventures of two typical American people. She rented a typewriter and set to work as soon as she reached her apartment; The story of Mary Marlin is the result.

 

Born Harriet Jane McConnell in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Miss Crusinberry was a talented child who turned her hand to several different arts. She was soloist with the Episcopal Cathedral Boys' Choir when she was 12. Between solos and school work the youngster found time to write a play that stretched somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 acts and heaven only knows how many scenes. The drama was called "The Gatherers of Flame" and came to a grand climax when her hero suddenly ended it all by walking into the Ganges. When she was 15, Jane came to Chicago to audition for William Beard at the Chicago Conservatory of Music. He accepted her immediately as a pupil and in six months the youngster was singing professionally.

In the years that followed her life was highlighted by marriage, the birth of a daughter, six years of study in Europe and the final return to this country.

 

Miss Crusinberry sold her radio script almost as soon as it was out of the typewriter and the Story of Mary Marlin had an auspicious premiere by making its debut on the author's birthday, October 3, 1934. During its five years on the air the program has consistently maintained its rating as one cf the mostly popular dramatic serials, as well as one of the best known. Working on the theory that a story about the married life of two ordinary people would please listeners who didn't care for too much melodrama and radio fan who liked romance but not "mush" Miss Crusinberry built her story around the life of 35 -year -old Mary Marlin. Mary was born and brought up in Cedar Springs, Iowa, where she married her childhood sweetheart.

The story began after Mary and her Joe Marlin had been married for 14 years; when Mary had begun to show her 35 years and Joe had found his law office partnership with David Post all absorbing. Then Joe fell in love with his secretary and asked for a divorce. Alone, unloved, Mary fled to New Yok rather than face the gossip of Cedar Springs and the pity of ¡her friends. There she met Mme. Henriette, a childhood friend who had become the foremost beauty specialist in the country. Through Henriette's influence and efforts, Mary set about recapturing her youth and beauty. One day, glowing, alive and charming, looking ten years younger, Mary was dining in a New York restaurant when her ex- husband met her for the first time since their divorce. After long months they were reconciled and became the parents of a son, David, who is now four years old. Joe was elected senator from Iowa and was sent to Russia on a secret mission.

His plane crashed in the wilderness and since then no word has been heard either from or of him, although influential friends have detectives tracing the course of a mysterious white man into the interior of China. Present episodes are concerned with the search for Joe, who has lost his memory, and Mary's adventures. Mary herself has been appointed to her husband's place in the Senate, where she is carrying on Joe's ideal of "the great American dream." She is ardently supported by Joe's partner, David Post, who has fallen in love with Mary.

Rufus Kane, labor leader, has also fallen in love with Mary and he and his mother are convinced that she will marry him if he defeats Mary's friend, Frazer Mitchell, for the presidency of the United States. Frazer's wife, Bunny, is one of Mary's arch- enemies, although she consistently manages to blind Frazer to her pretty meannesses and her love for money and power. Bunny's present campaign to keep her husband's faith involves a scheme to adopt a child of the slums, one "Tootle."

 

Two other children are prominent figures in the current adventures of Mary Marlin, Timothy, a little blind boy who was ad0pted by Henriette, and young Bill Adams, son of life long friends of the Marlins. Timothy, at present, is living in the Marlin home.

 

The title role in the Story of Mary Marlin is played by Anne Seymour, one of radio's leading actresses. A descendant cf the Davenports, dramatic "royal family" whose theatrical history stretches back to 1740. Miss ,Seymour made her debut when she was 12 years old, taking part in a banquet scene in Helen Hays' "To the Ladies." Her grandparents were both in the cast. Her first appearance, which brought her public attention, was in 1928 when she played in Channing Pollick's "Mr. Moneypenny." Before the play closed she had appeared in 13 different roles. Later she appeared on Broadway with Ethel Barrymore in "School for Scandal" and in other plays including "The Husband Habit" and "At the Bottom." In 1933 Miss Seymour came to NBC to take the lead in Grand Hotel. She took over the role of Mary Marlin in 1937. The Seymour talents are not confined to acting; she is an expert in the art of directing and stage setting; she's invaluable in organizing summer stock companies and she serves as consultant for an eastern school which has recently inaugurated a course in radio dramatics.

Robert Grifin plays the part cf Joe Marlin, a role he has filled since the program first went on the air. Griffin began his career as a baritone soloist in "The Mission Play" in California and went from there into the Pasadena Community Playhouse. He was soloist at KNX in 1925 and later became head of the Homer Conservatory radio department at Kansas City. He left there to appear with ,Paul Muni in "This One Man" and went back to singing when the play closed. Griffin gave up singing in favor of acting shortly before he took over the role of Joe Marlin, currently he is rated as one of the most popular of NBC leading men.

Four outstanding child stars appear In the Marlin cast: Patti Willis, in the role of Davey Marlin; Frank Pacelli, as Timothy Franklin Adams, as Bill Adams and Rosemary Garbell, as Tootie.

Veteran character Phil Lord has the role of Frazer Mitchell and his wife, Bunny, is played by Fran Carlon. David Post is played by Carlton Brickert.

 

An example of the popularity of Mary Marlin is the story of an enterprising merchant in Akron, Ohio, who discovered women shoppers frequently stopped in to listen to the serial. He set out a few seats to accomodate them and found, a week later, that the women had passed the information among their friends and he was forced to quadruple the number of chairs and benches for their use. The program was awarded a plaque as outstanding among radio dramatic shows by the Conference of Club Presidents and Program Chairmen, representatives of 350 midwestem women's clubs. And just to show how far- reaching the program can be, Carrie Jacobs Bond, beloved American composer, chanced to tune In to one broadcast several years ago and .became a regular Marlin fan. She became so interested, in fact, that she wrote the author, only to discover that years ago, when Miss Crusinberry was making a concert tour under her maiden name, Miss Bond had met the teenage singer and become interested in her. It was through her that Jane had met several people who had become instrumental in her study of opera. As a fan, Miss Bond has gone to the length cf writing a beautiful child's prayer, which Davey Marlin recites frequently in the program.

Edited December 7, 2020 by Paul Raven

[mikelyons]

Would you mind reposting this PDF? Many thanks!

[allmc2008]

Here you go!

Radio_IN_DEFENSE_OF_DAYTIME_S(1).pdf