Stars on Suspense (Old Time Radio)

Herbert Marshall returns to the podcast in stories of prewar and postwar Suspense . First, he's a schoolmaster blackmailed by a delinquent student in "The Victoria Cross" (originally aired on CBS on November 2, 1950). Then, he's on the run to avert an international crisis in a radio adaptation of "The Thirty-Nine Steps" (originally aired on CBS on March 3, 1952).

Though he was rarely the star of the show, Joseph Kearns was one of the most frequently heard voices on  Suspense . For years, he played supporting roles and introduced stories as the "Man in Black." He was one of radio's most versatile and talented character actors, but he also shined when he stepped into lead roles. We'll hear him in "Short Order" (originally aired on CBS on August 16, 1945) and...

John Lund plays a pair of villains - one reluctant and one cold and calculating - in two "tales well calculated to keep you in  Suspense ." Though he often played milquetoast characters on screen, Lund showed a knack for crime in his 13 visits to the program. We'll hear him in "Lunch Kit" (originally aired on CBS on June 9, 1949) and "Experiment 6-R" (originally aired on CBS on September 22, 1949)...

Jack Carson came out of the vaudeville comedy circuit and carved out a niche as an arrogant, but ignorant, know-it-all in films and on his own radio comedy show. But he could walk on the dramatic side of the street in movies like  Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and  Mildred Pierce and in his appearances on  Suspense . We'll hear him as a husband with murder on his mind in "Easy Money" (originally aired on...

One of the screen's most intense and engaging presences, Richard Widmark always turned in a terrific performance when he visited the Hollywood sound stage of Suspense . We'll hear the star of  Kiss of Death as a sailor suspected of a high seas murder in "Mate Bram" (originally aired on CBS on April 14, 1952) and as a western outlaw trying to outrun a posse in "The Spencer Brothers" (originally air...

For her final appearance on the podcast, we're going back to Claire Trevor's first visit to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." The Oscar-winning star of  Key Largo co-stars with Nancy Kelly in "A Tale of Two Sisters" (originally aired on CBS on February 8, 1945). Then, she recreates her big screen role of Dallas in  Stagecoach , presented on  Academy Award (originally aired on CBS on May 4,...

A big screen tough guy who could also play comedic and sensitive, Brian Donlevy carved out an impressive career on the big screen in movies like Beau Geste ,  The Great McGinty , and  The Glass Key . On radio, Donlevy starred as a two-fisted secret agent in  Dangerous Assignment and he made several visits to  Suspense . We'll hear him as a man falsely accused of murder in "The Black Path of Fear"...

As a sitcom dad, Robert Young always "knew best," but he was no slouch in the  Suspense department during his visits to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." We'll hear Young co-star with Virginia Bruce in "Celebration" (originally aired on CBS on September 23, 1948). Then he plays a killer hunting for the witness to his crime in "A Murder of Necessity" (originally aired on CBS on March 24, 19...

For over twenty years on radio, Jim and Marian Jordan (better known as "Fibber McGee and Molly") kept audiences in stitches with their unique blend of wordplay, running gags, and colorful characters. But the Jordans could also shine in dramatic roles - including their visits to  Suspense . We'll hear the couple recreate their roles in an encore production of "Backseat Driver" (an Armed Forces Radi...

We're saluting the late Kirk Douglas with all three of the legendary actor's performances on  Suspense . The star of  Spartacus and  Paths of Glory headlines "Community Property" (originally aired on CBS on April 10, 1947); "The Story of Markham's Death" (originally aired on CBS on October 2, 1947); and "The Butcher's Wife" (originally aired on CBS on February 9, 1950).

Loretta Young won an Oscar and delighted audiences in comedies, dramas, and thrillers before she entered the new frontier of television. Her long-running anthology series was a critical and audience favorite, and as host and performer she took home three Emmy awards. We'll hear "Lady Killer," her only visit to  Suspense (originally aired on CBS on March 2, 1950). Plus, she recreates her Academy Aw...

For her memorable performances in classic thrillers like "Sorry, Wrong Number" and "The Diary of Saphronia Winters," Agnes Moorehead earned the title "First Lady of  Suspense ." We'll hear the four-time Oscar nominee and queen of radio's outstanding theater of thrills in "The Chain" (originally aired on CBS on April 27, 1950) and as Lizzie Borden in "The Fall River Tragedy" (originally aired on CB...

It was said Ginger Rogers could do everything her dancing partner Fred Astaire could do, but backwards and in high heels. Her dazzling dances won over audiences, and her acting won her an Academy Award as she became one of Hollywood's most popular and highest-paid performers. We'll hear her as a woman trying to solve her sister's murder in "Vamp Till Dead" (originally aired on CBS on January 11, 1...

Van Johnson is back in the  Suspense spotlight in his final three visits to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." The star of  Battleground and The Caine Mutiny (and a Batman  TV villain) stars in "Salvage" (originally aired on CBS on April 6, 1950),  "Strange for a Killer" (a rehearsal for a show broadcast on CBS on March 15, 1951), and "Around the World" (originally broadcast on CBS on April...

Dane Clark prided himself on playing regular guys and described himself as "Joe Average." But his wasn't an average story: he broke out on the big screen opposite Humphrey Bogart (who gave the young actor his stage name) and he went on to a long career as a character actor on the big and small screens. We'll hear Clark in "The Singing Walls" (originally aired on CBS on September 2, 1943) and "Life...

Actor and director Robert Montgomery was part of the family on  Suspense . During the show's era as a sixty-minute series, the star of  Here Comes Mr. Jordan and  Night Must Fall , he was the master of ceremonies for "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." But he also starred in installments, including the two shows we'll hear today. Montgomery is the narrator and titular character in "The Lodge...

We wrap up 2019 with one of the biggest movie stars of all time - Humphrey Bogart. We'll hear the legendary leading man in his one and only visit to  Suspense -  "Love's Lovely Counterfeit" (originally aired on CBS on March 8, 1945). Then, we'll hear him recreate a pair of his film roles: in  The Maltese Falcon from  Academy Award (originally aired on CBS on July 3, 1946) and  Across the Pacific f...

In a bonus episode just in time for Christmas, we'll hear past "Stars on Suspense" Maureen O'Hara and Edmund Gwenn recreate their film roles as The Lux Radio Theatre presents an adaptation of the big screen holiday classic Miracle on 34th Street (originally aired on CBS on December 20, 1948).

One of Hollywood's biggest box office draws during the World War II years, Greer Garson earned seven Oscar nominations and one win for her memorable performances. We'll hear the British-born star in a holiday offering from  Suspense - "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" (originally aired on CBS on December 21, 1953). Plus, she recreates her role from  Random Harvest on  The Lux Radio Theatre (origi...

Clifton Webb's breakthrough role in  Laura earned him an Oscar nomination and a place in film history as one of Hollywood's most colorful character actors. And though he was best known for playing effete and arrogant snobs, Webb could also play loving fathers and heroes. We'll hear him in "The Burning Court" (originally aired on CBS on June 14, 1945). Plus, he recreates his performance as Waldo Ly...

Character actor and occasional screenwriter Hume Cronyn ( Shadow of a Doubt ,  Cocoon ) returns to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" in two stories of unhappy marriages that put the "death" in "till death do us part" - "The One Who Got Away" (originally aired on CBS on November 14, 1946) and "Make Mad the Guilty" (originally aired on CBS on June 5, 1947). Plus, we'll hear Cronyn and his rea...

Joseph Cotten - the charming serial killer of  Shadow of a Doubt - returns for two more visits to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" in tales of a missing wife and a deadly experiment. We'll hear "You'll Never See Me Again" (originally aired on CBS on September 14, 1944) and "The Earth is Made of Glass" (originally aired on CBS on September 27, 1945).

For his final visit to the podcast, legendary screen gangster and tough guy Edward G. Robinson stars as himself and "The Man Who Wanted to Be Edward G. Robinson" (originally aired on CBS on October 19, 1946). Then, we'll hear him as crusading newspaper editor Steve Wilson, always ready to wield the sword of the press, in the premiere broadcast of  Big Town (originally aired on CBS on October 17, 1...

Curly-haired character actor Sam Jaffe lent a memorable presence to everything from film noir ( The Asphalt Jungle ) to classic sci-fi ( The Day the Earth Stood Still ) to Disney musicals ( Bedknobs & Broomsticks ). The engineer and math teacher turned actor made only one visit to Suspense - an outstanding adaptation of Dorothy Sayers' "Suspicion" (originally aired on CBS on April 3, 1948).

Edmond O'Brien returns to the podcast in an hour-long installment of "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." The Oscar-winning character actor extraordinaire of  The Barefoot Contessa and  The Wild Bunch plays a man probing the strange death of a friend in "The Blind Spot" (originally aired on CBS on May 1, 1948).