Stars on Suspense (Old Time Radio)

Bonita Granville's screen career was short, but she made the most of it. She earned an Oscar nomination at age 14, and she starred in four films as junior detective Nancy Drew before she switched gears to produce projects alongside her husband. We'll hear her only visit to  Suspense - "Bank Holiday" (originally aired on CBS on July 19, 1945). Then, she's plotting a murder for money in an episode o...

Lloyd Bridges' final appearances on  Suspense took him from the gym to his  Sea Hunt haunts on the ocean floor. But no matter where he went, murder was close at hand. We'll hear the star of High Noon  and  Airplane! in "Rub Down and Out" (AFRS rebroadcast from July 6, 1958) and "Deep, Deep is My Love" (AFRS rebroadcast from April 26, 1959).

Known to old time radio fans everywhere as Sam Spade, Howard Duff was one of the biggest names of the radio era. Not only was he a skilled dramatic and comedic actor in front of the microphone, he also worked in the Armed Forces Radio Service and - through his job - helped preserve hundreds of the shows we know and love today. The blacklist and Red Scare paranoia dinged his career, but he emerged...

We'll kick off a new year with the "First Lady of  Suspense !" Agnes Moorehead returns in a pair of old time radio thrillers, including her very first visit to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." She co-stars with Ray Collins in the first production of "The Diary of Saphronia Winters" (originally aired on CBS on April 27, 1943). Then, we'll hear her in "Death and Miss Turner" (originally air...

For our final podcast episode of 2020, we welcome Frank Lovejoy back to the podcast for two more old time radio thrillers. He stars as one of the west's most infamous outlaws in "The Shooting of Billy the Kid" (originally aired on CBS on April 28, 1952). Then, he's on trial for a crime he didn't commit in "Public Defender" (originally aired on CBS on April 20, 1953). Plus, we've got the first epis...

Christmas is almost here, and to celebrate here's a bonus episode light on suspense but heavy on the stars. We'll hear David Niven, Jane Greer, and Tyrone Power in the holiday favorite The Bishop's Wife , recreated for The Lux Radio Theatre (originally aired on CBS on December 19, 1949).

Raymond Burr was doing double duty when he starred in these installments of  Suspense . He could be seen every week on television in the earliest seasons of  Perry Mason , but he continued to lend his voice to radio dramas. We'll hear him in H.G. Wells' "The Country of the Blind" (originally aired on CBS on October 27, 1957). Plus, just in time for the holidays, Burr plays a gun-toting St. Nick lo...

Paul Lukas started his career in his native Hungary, but he found more stage and screen stardom when he journeyed to Hollywood. Lukas won an Oscar for his portrayal of a German anti-fascist in  Watch the Rhine , and he remained a regular presence on films and in television through the 1970s. We'll hear him in "Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble" (originally aired on CBS on April 6, 1943) and "Mr. Markh...

Susan Hayward earned five Oscar nominations and one win for her dynamic performances in stories pulled from real life. Hayward took home her Academy Award for her work as a woman sentenced to die for murder in  I Want to Live! and she brought that intensity to her two appearances on  Suspense . We'll hear her in  "The Dead Sleep Lightly," a mystery by John Dickson Carr (originally aired on CBS on...

Before he spent four seasons on a  Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea , Richard Basehart was a rising Hollywood star and made a visit to the  Suspense microphone. His performance elevates "The Perfectionist," a far-fetched episode about a killer forced to improvise during his perfect crime (originally aired on CBS on January 21, 1952). Then, Basehart stars as Joyce Kilmer, the poet and writer who met...

Leading man Robert Taylor made his  Suspense debut as a reporter who stumbles into the story of the century in "The Argyle Album" (originally aired on CBS on December 13, 1945). Then we'll hear him join Mary, Phil, Dennis, and Don when he guest hosts  The Jack Benny Program (originally aired on NBC on May 16, 1948).

Actress Lynn Bari enjoyed a long career on the big and small screens, and though she never really broke into the starring sphere she appeared in hundreds of films opposite some of the major stars of the era. Her specialty was playing "the other woman" - the man-hungry femme fatale who was always ready with a seductive look or a gun - and she won the admiration of GIs as one of the most popular pin...

Before he solved TV crimes as  Cannon , William Conrad was one of the titans of the golden age of radio. With his booming voice, Conrad gave life to the tough marshal of Dodge City Matt Dillon and hundreds of other characters - from historical figures like Nero, Blackbeard, and King Arthur to the ominous voice that introduced  Escape . We'll hear him star in a pair of  Suspense thrillers: "The Sho...

John Lund's big screen career started with a bang but faded by the mid-1950s. Still, he was able to display his versatility during his appearances on  Suspense . We'll hear him as a writer who finds inspiration in a real-life crime  in "The Man in the Room" (originally aired on CBS on May 11, 1950). Then, Lund plays a cop on the trail of a drug ring in "Melody in Dreams" (originally aired on CBS o...

I've saved the best - and scariest - for last. In our final Halloween Haunts bonus episode, we'll hear my pick for the most terrifying tale to ever air on "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." Robert Taylor and Cathy Lewis receive the housewarming gift from hell in "The House in Cypress Canyon" (originally aired on CBS on December 5, 1946).

Ray Bradbury brought science fiction into the mainstream with stories like  The Martian Chronicles , and his works were adapted for some of the best radio anthologies of the era. Stories from the author of Fahrenheit 451 and  The Illustrated Man inspired episodes of  Escape ,  X Minus One , and  Suspense . We'll hear two of his terrifying tales from radio's outstanding theater of thrills: "Zero Ho...

A car out of gas, a frightened couple, and a homicidal maniac on the loose - they all come together in "On a Country Road," still one of the most terrifying stories ever produced on  Suspense seventy years after it first aired. Cary Grant stars in this radio play designed for listening with the lights out (originally aired on CBS on November 16, 1950).

Lee J. Cobb was still a rising star in Hollywood - years before his Oscar-nominated turns in  On the Waterfront and  The Brothers Karamazov and his powerful performances in  12 Angry Men and  The Exorcist - when he made his only visit to  Suspense . We'll hear him as an artist in a deadly love triangle in "The Bet" (originally aired on CBS on November 8, 1945). Then he recreates his big screen per...

This week's scary story from  Suspense was made to be enjoyed with the lights out. Join Ralph Edwards as a DJ who spends a night in a haunted house for a radio show stunt and gets more than he bargained for in "Ghost Hunt" (originally aired on CBS on June 23, 1949).

Hungarian-born actor and director Cornel Wilde displays his versatility at the microphone in a pair of old time radio thrillers. First, he's a pyromaniac fighting his fascination with fire in "The Flame" (originally aired on CBS on October 15, 1951). Then, he's a murderer who charms his victim into taking a fatal ride in "Somebody Help Me" (originally aired on CBS on March 29, 1954).

Our month-long Halloween celebration continues with another Friday bonus episode. We'll hear another one of my picks for the scariest  Suspense episodes of all time. This week's installment pits Vincent Price, Ben Wright, and John Dehner against a horde of ravenous rats in "Three Skeleton Key" (originally aired on CBS on November 11, 1956).

Ezio Pinza sang on the stages of the greatest opera houses in the world, and he played nearly 100 characters over the course of his long career. When he left the Metropolitan Opera after 22 seasons, he moved to the Broadway stage where he took home a Tony for his role in  South Pacific . Sadly, he did very little dramatic radio acting, but he was terrific in his one and only visit to  Suspense . W...

With Halloween right around the corner, I've picked five of the most frightening episodes of  Suspense for bonus shows that are sure to get you in the trick-or-treating mood. Up first is Orson Welles in Lucille Fletcher's terrifying tale of horror on the highway - "The Hitchhiker" (originally aired on CBS on September 2, 1942).

Tony-winning and Oscar-nominated actress Nancy Kelly returns in two more old time radio thrillers. Best known as the mother of  The Bad Seed on stage and screen, Kelly lends her considerable talents and versatility to shows that find her playing a woman plotting to run off with her lover and another woman terrified by a nightmarish omen. We'll hear "The Taming of the Beast," co-starring Helmut Dan...

Frequently cast as characters from the Emerald Isle, Pat O'Brien was known as "Hollywood's Irishman in residence." Best known as the street tough turned priest in  Angels with Dirty Faces and as  Knute Rockne with his famous "Gipper" speech, O'Brien made two visits to  Suspense where he played a pair of cops. First, he tells the story of a cataleptic's date with the embalmer's knife in "Dead Ernes...