Stars on Suspense (Old Time Radio)

Before she was a TV star, and even before she kept audiences smiling with her radio comedy series, Lucille Ball delivered tough noir performances in episodes of Suspense . She was as talented in the world of drama and thrills as she was with slapstick and a punchline. The red-headed legend returns for two more "tales well calculated" – "The Ten Grand" (originally aired on CBS on June 22, 1944) and...

Two comedy legends trade jokes and laughs for thrills and chills when they visit "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." First, Bob Hope plays a man who has an appointment with a murderer in "Death Has a Shadow" (originally aired on CBS on May 5, 1949). Then, Milton Berle is an actor whose greatest role could keep him out of the electric chair in "Rave Notice" (originally aired on CBS on October...

Whether he was singing and dancing, breaking the law, or wielding a grapefruit, James Cagney never failed to deliver energetic, compelling performances on the big screen. The Oscar-winner gave audiences a series of memorable roles that are still admired – and imitated – today. For his first appearance on  Suspense , Cagney returned to the world of gangster drama in an hour-long radio adaptation of...

Bette Davis made only one appearance on  Suspense , but it was a doozy. The two-time Oscar winner and ten-time nominee stands as one of the biggest legends of old Hollywood with a career and tumultuous personal life that continues to fascinate fans today. We'll hear her in "Goodnight Mrs. Russell," originally aired on CBS on October 20, 1949. Plus, she reprises her award-winning role from  Jezebel...

Jack Benny sets down his violin and climbs out of his Maxwell for his final appearances on Suspense . Radio's most popular comedian returns to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" as a Martian on a mission in "Plan X" (originally aired on CBS on February 2, 1953) and a reluctant bank robber in "The Face is Familiar" (originally aired on CBS on January 18, 1954).

Ozzie Nelson and Harriet Hilliard were the stars of their own long-running radio and television sitcoms, but before they took their adventures to TV they made a pair of memorable appearances on Suspense . Playing effectively against type, the Nelsons showed listeners a different side of themselves in these tense, dramatic stories. We'll hear them in "Too Little to Live On" (originally aired on Dec...

Long before he wore the white coat of Marcus Welby, MD and even before Father Knows Best , Robert Young was a big screen star making visits to Suspense . Those only familiar with him from those kindly, classic TV characters may be surprised at the performances he gives on "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." We'll hear him in "The Night Reveals" (originally aired on CBS on December 9, 1943) a...

In two appearances on  Suspense , Danny Kaye traded singing, dancing, and his trademark silliness for thrills and chills. The star of  White Christmas and  The Secret Life of Walter Mitty  plays very effectively against type as a man plotting a murder and another framed for a killing. We'll hear "The Too-Perfect Alibi" (originally aired on CBS on January 13, 1949) and "I Never Met the Dead Man" (o...

Academy Award-winning actress Anne Baxter was a mainstay on stage and the big and small screens over her long career- from her first films at age 17 to her Oscar win for  The Razor's Edge and her nomination for the title role in  All About Eve . We'll hear two of her appearances on  Suspense : a story of jealousy and murder on Madison Avenue in "Always Room at the Top" (originally aired on CBS on...

Vincent Price returns to "Stars On Suspense" for two more installments from "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." The big screen master of horror lends his voice to these chilling mysteries that deliver surprising twists before the final curtain. We'll hear him in "Fugue in C Minor" (originally aired on CBS on June 1, 1944) and "The Hands of Mr. Ottermole" (originally aired on CBS on December...

Though his performances could be overshadowed by his turbulent personal life, Mickey Rooney was one of Hollywood's most celebrated and enduring performers with a career that spanned nine decades. He had matured past boyish roles when he made his first appearances on  Suspense  in 1949, but he turned in memorable performances as darker, more complex characters. We'll hear him in "The Lie" (original...

"Stars On Suspense" celebrates Valentine's Day with two radio thrillers starring real-life spouses. First, we'll hear Jim and Marian Jordan – better known to radio fans as "Fibber McGee and Molly." The two are miles away from 79 Wistful Vista in "Backseat Driver" (originally aired on CBS on February 3, 1949). Then, Phil Harris and Alice Faye trade music and comedy for a tense tale of a small town...

On the big screen, Charles Laughton earned acclaim and awards for playing larger than life characters – figures like the tyrannical Captain Bligh, King Henry VIII, and the cagey legal eagle Sir Wilfrid Robarts. He brought that stature to ten appearances on  Suspense . We'll hear Laughton in the dry, dark comedy "Wet Saturday" (originally aired on CBS on December 16, 1943) and "The Man Who Knew How...

The "first lady of Suspense " returns as Agnes Moorehead stars in two more well-calculated tales. First, we'll hear her in a production of the most famous play  Suspense  produced – and one of radio's all-time best dramas – "Sorry, Wrong Number." This version of the classic chiller first aired on CBS on February 24, 1944. Then, Agnes Moorehead plays a woman fighting a mysterious intruder in her ho...

Before he was an Academy Award nominated actor, Richard Widmark was a busy radio performer. Even after his big screen career took off, he remained active in radio and he made over a dozen appearances on Suspense . With his intense performances, he was equally effective as tormented heroes and demented villains. We'll hear him in "Too Hot to Live" (originally aired on CBS on October 26, 1950) and i...

In her appearances on  Suspense , Rosalind Russell traded the fast-paced banter of  His Girl Friday  for tense psychological drama. The five-time Golden Globe winner was a talented comedienne, but she was no slouch in the drama department as these radio plays demonstrate. We'll hear her in "The Sisters" (originally aired on CBS on December 9, 1948) and as a wife who suspects her husband is plottin...

Best known as the titular gunfighter in  Shane , Alan Ladd broke into stardom with his turn as a cold-blooded killer in the film noir classic  This Gun for Hire . He made four appearances on  Suspense , usually as tough, terse, hard-boiled characters. We'll hear Ladd as an ex-con framed for murder in "The Defense Rests" (originally aired on CBS on March 9, 1944) and as a man out to avenge his brot...

Peter Lorre returns in two more "tales well calculated to keep you in Suspense ." First, Lorre plays a down-on-his-luck boxing manager who concocts a murder scheme in "Of Maestro and Man" (originally aired on CBS on July 20, 1944). Then, just in time for the holidays, he stars as a henpecked husband with a deadly present for his wife in "Back for Christmas" (originally aired on CBS on December 23,...

Burt Lancaster – the circus acrobat turned Oscar-winning actor – played a variety of complex characters in a screen career that spanned five decades. After early work in action and adventure films, he expanded into meatier roles and worked with some of Hollywood's best directors. Lancaster made two appearances on Suspense , and we'll hear them both: "The Big Shot" (originally aired on CBS on Septe...

Oscar-winner Joan Crawford was one of Hollywood's all-time greatest stars, from her early days in the silent era to her award-winning turn in Mildred Pierce , all the way up to Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? in the 1960s. She made two visits to the Suspense microphone where she starred in a pair of tense psychological thrillers. We'll hear both, beginning with "The Ten Years" (originally aired on...

Tall, lanky, and with that unmistakable drawl, Jimmy Stewart made memorable impressions in classic films from It's a Wonderful Life to Mr. Smith Goes to Washington  to  Vertigo . Stewart was a polished radio performer, whether he was starring in his own western drama The Six Shooter or making visits to appear on Suspense . Though some of his best known screen roles are as upstanding, honest heroes...

The man himself – Orson Welles – is back at the microphone in two "tales well calculated to keep you in Suspense ." First, he's the dastardly General Zaroff, the master hunter who has his eye set on "The Most Dangerous Game" (originally aired on CBS on September 23, 1943). Then we'll hear Welles as an actor (imagine that!) in a tale of the stage, extortion, and revenge from beyond the grave in "Th...

One of Hollywood's top stars of the 1940s, Joseph Cotten was practically a member of the family on  Suspense , making 18 appearances between 1944 and 1959. The star of  Shadow of a Doubt  and  The Third Man  excelled at playing both noble heroes and charming villains, and he got to do both frequently on "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." We'll hear him in "Crime Without Passion" (originally...

Before he was Atticus Finch, Oscar-winner Gregory Peck made five trips to  Suspense . On "radio's outstanding theater of thrills," Peck was frequently cast as an everyman in over his head in dangerous situations, trying to keep his cool as events unraveled around him. We'll hear him as a husband dangerously smitten with a new housekeeper in "The Lonely Road" (originally aired on CBS on March 21, 1...

Before  I Love Lucy , Lucille Ball delighted audiences on radio in comedies and dramas, including six appearances on  Suspense . The red-headed comedienne took a break from her radio sitcom  My Favorite Husband  to visit "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." We'll hear her in "Dime a Dance" (originally aired on CBS on January 13, 1944) and "A Little Piece of Rope" (originally aired on CBS on O...