Stars on Suspense (Old Time Radio)

With scintillating performances in Gilda and more, Rita Hayworth was a box office draw and a pin-up idol of the 1940s and 1950s. But there was more to Hayworth than her gorgeous looks and her status as a Hollywood "love goddess." She was an accomplished dancer and a terrific actress, and she had the chance to show off in her lone appearance on Suspense . We'll hear her as a murderess contending wi...

We bid adieu to Peter Lorre as the star of Casablanca , The Maltese Falcon , and M makes his final appearances on "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." First, he's a mysterious count who makes a dangerous offer to his niece's suitor in "The Devil's Saint" (originally aired on CBS on January 19, 1943). Then, Lorre plays a demented killer recounting his life story to a room full of terrified hos...

When William Bendix visited Suspense , it was anything but a "revoltin' development." Best known as bumbling sitcom patriarch Chester A. Riley in The Life of Riley , Bendix could show off the dramatic chops he displayed on the big screen when he appeared on "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." We'll hear him as a job seeker who finds more than he bargained for in "Three Faces at Midnight" (or...

Angela Lansbury is a three-time Oscar nominee and a five-time Tony winner, and she's still going strong. The legend of the stage and screen is known to generations of fans for her memorable film roles in The Manchurian Candidate , Bedknobs and Broomsticks , and Beauty and the Beast , her stage turns in Gypsy , Sweeney Todd , and Mame , and her twelve seasons as mystery writer and amateur sleuth Je...

In a career that spanned five decades, Glenn Ford brought to tough, masculine characters on screen. Ford was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood in the 1950s with memorable performances in film noirs like Gilda and The Big Heat and westerns like 3:10 to Yuma . He continued to make impressions on screen through the 1970s with his turn as Jonathan Kent in Richard Donner's Superman . We'll hear Gle...

Kirk Douglas played heroes, villains, and morally ambiguous characters in between in a career that spanned six decades. He earned three Oscar nominations and turned in intense and memorable performances in Spartacus , Gunfight at the OK Corral , Seven Days in May , and many more. But in 1947, Kirk Douglas was a rising Hollywood star when he made two visits to "radio's outstanding theater of thrill...

In an extra-large edition for our 50th podcast episode, we welcome Orson Welles back to the show for three of his visits to Suspense . In the fall of 1943, Welles starred in several episodes of "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" in a special engagement. He appeared in some of the best thrillers from literature by some of the best authors of the genre, and this week we'll hear three shows fro...

In a special bonus episode of Stars On Suspense, we salute the late, great Jerry Lewis. Though he never made any visits to "radio's outstanding theatre of thrills," Lewis was a radio star in a popular comedy series alongside his longtime partner Dean Martin. As a tribute to the legendary comedian, we'll hear a pair of programs from The Martin and Lewis Show featuring songs from Dean, madcap antics...

Fred MacMurray may be best known to generations of movie and TV fans for his family-friendly roles in classic Disney films and the long-running sitcom  My Three Sons . But there was a darker side to his performances - a side MacMurray showed in fantastic performances in  Double Indemnity ,  The Caine Mutiny ,  The Apartment , and more. We'll hear Fred MacMurray in two "tales well calculated to kee...

After making a name for himself in the United Kingdom, James Mason came across the pond to Hollywood. With his silvery voice and leading man looks, Mason was a natural for polished character roles as heroes and villains in movies liike Lolita, A Star is Born, North by Northwest, and more. We'll hear him in two visits to Suspense, beginning with Agatha Christie's "Where There's a Will" (originally...

Despite a tragically short career, Laird Cregar made his mark with several memorable big screen performances in films like This Gun for Hire and The Lodger . With his massive frame, Cregar was a natural fit as "heavies," but he appeared in a variety of roles in comedies, adventures, and historical dramas. But it was frustration with his size that led him to a dangerous crash diet - one that ultima...

Joan Fontaine earned acclaim for her performances in classic films like  Rebecca and Suspicion , and she appeared on the stage and the big and small screens for nearly sixty years. Like her sister, fellow actress, and bitter rival Olivia de Havilland, Joan Fontaine won an Academy Award but also picked up two additional nominations for her dynamic screen work throughout the 1940s. She made only one...

Perennial  Suspense  favorite Joseph Cotten is back in two more "tales well calculated." The popular star of  Shadow of a Doubt  appears first as a man tormented by the sight of a corpse that no one else can see in "The Thing in the Window" (originally aired on CBS on December 19, 1946). Then, he's a lawyer who's presumed dead with a scheme to collect his own life insurance in "The Day I Died" (or...

Ray Milland's screen career stretched from the 1930s to the 1970s, earning him an Oscar and leaving a series of memorable performances in  The Lost Weekend ,  Dial 'M' for Murder , and more. A talented director as well as an actor, Milland continued to work on both sides of the camera for movies and television. In two of his five visits to  Suspense , we'll hear him as a cop trying to cover up a m...

A real-life hero in Hollywood, Herbert Marshall lost a leg in World War I before he went on to a long career on the stage and screen. The handsome, debonair actor made a name for himself as a romantic lead and later as a character actor. In addition to twenty appearances on Suspense , Marshall starred on radio as a globetrotting secret agent in The Man Called X and made the rounds on radio comedie...

Olivia de Havilland won two Oscars during her six decade screen career, and she's still making news today. The star of  Gone With the Wind and  The Adventures of Robin Hood was a true legend of old Hollywood, but she only made one visit to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." We'll hear her in a shipboard thriller in "Voyage Through Darkness" (originally aired on CBS on September 7, 1944) and...

Some of the twentieth century's best singers made visits to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" during the twenty year run of  Suspense . This week, we'll hear two of them in uncharacteristic dark and dramatic roles. First, Frank Sinatra is a deranged madman tormenting Agnes Moorehead in "To Find Help" (an Armed Forces Radio Service rebroadcast of an episode from January 18, 1945). Then, Rose...

With his leading man looks and his mellifluous voice, Ronald Colman was a star of both the silent and talking eras of Hollywood. His appearances on radio gave the Oscar winner a chance to put that voice to good use, whether he and his wife Benita Hume were clowning around with Jack Benny or whether Colman was making one of his six visits to Suspense . We'll hear him in "August Heat" (originally ai...

A star in front of and behind the camera, Ida Lupino was one of Hollywood's first female directors and producers. She turned in memorable performances in movies like High Sierra and On Dangerous Ground before she established her own production company and embarked on a long career of directing for the big and small screens. We'll hear Ida Lupino in "Summer Night" (originally aired on CBS on July 1...

Cary Grant returns to the podcast for one last "tale well calculated to keep you in Suspense ." We'll hear the legendary leading man in "The Black Path of Fear" (an Armed Forces Radio Service broadcast of an episode originally aired on CBS on March 7, 1946). Then, he recreates his big screen role from Alfred Hitchcock's Suspicion in The Lady Esther Screen Guild Theatre (originally aired on CBS on...

Gene Kelly dances his way to "radio's outstanding theatre of thrills" in two shows that are miles away from his screen persona. The star of An American in Paris and Singin' in the Rain leaves his dazzling footwork at the door for a pair of tense, well-calculated tails: "Thieves Fall Out" (originally aired on CBS on November 16, 1943) and "Death Went Along for the Ride" (originally aired on CBS on...

Gregory Peck returns to "Stars On Suspense" in two old time radio thrillers – a pair of tales about the dangers that can lurk on the highway. First, Peck thumbs a ride with the wrong man in "Hitch-Hike Poker" (originally aired on CBS on September 16, 1948). Then, he's a grieving father looking for revenge on a drunk driver in "Nightmare" (originally aired on CBS on September 1, 1949).

Glamorous leading lady Lana Turner had a career that spanned five decades from her discovery at a Hollywood café all the way up to her final television appearances. But the Oscar-nominated actress had a tumultuous personal life – including a murder scandal – that could overshadow her screen work. In her two appearances on Suspense , Turner showed off her versatility in a pair of very different rol...

One of the great gangster stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood, Edward G. Robinson excelled at playing all types of characters over his fifty year career. From Nazi hunters to cagey sleuths to desperate criminals, Robinson delivered memorable performances with a signature style that is still imitated today. We'll hear him in an unusual double role as himself and as "The Man Who Wanted to Be Edward...

Known as "the queen of film noir," Claire Trevor was amazing on screen as tough dames and gun molls (including Murder, My Sweet and her Oscar-winning turn in Key Largo ). But the actress could play more than noir as she demonstrated over long career in movies like Stagecoach and The High and the Mighty . We'll hear two of her visits to Suspense - a series where she got to put her talent at playing...