Golden Age of Radio

Morton Downey 11:15 Tues.-Thurs.-Sat. WINS-MBS. Morton Downey is back on the airwaves for his favorite soft drink at 11:15 P.M. three times weekly, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, over the Mutual Network coast to coast. In a program which is entirely different from the homespun songs and poems which he used to broadcast during the daytime, Downey is now specializing in what he calls his own kind of sooth-singing: soft, sentimental ballads and tunes. With Downey on his new program are a quartet of male singers who provide soft, melodic background for Downey’s silvery voice, and an intimate orchestra of right under the skillful baton of Carmen Mastren. Born in Wallingford, Connecticut, the son of the local fire-chief, Downey is probably the Nutmeg State’s most famous good-will ambassador and most popular citizen. Nutmeggers remember him as the kid who used to sing at Elks’ benefits for nickels, accompanied by a friend who played the accordion. And they also st...

Howard Duff __struggles to appear as hard-boiled as he sounds when he plays the private detective of The Adventuresof Sam Spade , a creation of Dashiell Hammett which is heard over the Columbia Broadcasting System on Sunday evenings at eight o’clock, EST. He’s from Bremerton, Washington, and had spent six years with Seattle Repertory Theater, including Shakespeare, before he turned his talents toward radio. 

ON THE AIR TONIGHT: The Ask-it-Basket, with Ed East as master of ceremonies, on CBS at 8:00, rebroadcast to the West at 8:30, P.S.T.—sponsored by Colgate Dental Cream. Although it suffers from one of the worst titles ever devised by man, the Ask-It-Basket is one of radio’s most entertaining quiz programs. Its new master of ceremonies and head quizzer, Ed East, helps make it so. He’s a fat man, Ed East is, and doesn’t mind admitting it. Standing six feet one, he weighs 265 pounds, living proof that a life time in show business doesn’t always impart a lean and hungry look. Born in Bloomington, Indiana, Ed went to school with Hoagy Carmichael, who rose to fame later with his tune “Star Dust” and many other hits. Ed interrupted his own education when he was fifteen, by running away from home to join a carnival. He says he’s never regretted the act. In the carnival he started out as odd-jobs boy and finally worked his way up to being the barker for a high diver. Then the carn...

Ralph Edward __the Colorado farm boy who had got himself an education at the University of California and was on the air over NBC’s coast-to-coast network with his own Truth or Consequences program by the time he was twenty-six. He does not care what he does if it will make people laugh and plenty of people do. His listening audience is a laughing twenty-five million.

Clifton Fadiman __became m.r. of Information Please in 1927, while in the midst of his active career as editor, book reviewer and critic. He still crack, his verbal whip over the expert, on this program on Wednesday nights at 10:30 EST on the Columbia network, but says that If ever a question of cheese comes up he will switch to the receiving end; fine cheeses and wines are a hobby of his and he might “stump the experts”.

Say Hello To- FRANK FOREST—whose tenor voice is heard tonight at 6, E.S.T., on the Double or Nothing program over MBS. He’s a Minnesota boy who studied in Europe and later won acclaim singing in European opera, making his debut at La Scala in Milan. You’ve seen him in the movies, “Champagne Waltz” and “I’ll Take Romance.” He’s a bachelor, likes blondes, stands 5 feet 11 inches, and has dark hair.