Old Time Radio Shows

Lurene Tuttle worked on so many shows that she was called "the most heard woman in America", and she also helped to organize the union which allowed radio actors to make a living wage. The American labor movement rose in the closing decades of the nineteenth century and gained traction in the first two of the twentieth. Although collective bargaining and the other tools of the movement would lead to the high standard of living workers expect and deserve today, the Socialist elements of these tactics gave rise to the First Red Scare in the aftermath of the Great War and the Russian Revolution. The first Scare made 'Communist' an obscenity in the American vernacular, leading almost inevitably to McCarthyism and the Hollywood Blacklist. The specter of Communism overshadows what the labor movement truly was – not workers trying to overthrow the industries and bosses they were working for but demanding workplace dignity, safety, and a living wage in exchange for the wor...

Some of our favorite and most prominent women at the radio microphone as  actors include: Agnes Moorehead - the first lady of SUSPENSE! Mercedes McCambridge Lurene Tuttle  Arlene Francis   Mary Jane Higby  Natalie Park  Virginia Gregg Anne Elstner  Virginia Payne  Mary Margaret McBride: The "Oprah" of her time with the largest radio audience  Ora Nichols: The mother of sound effects. She founded the craft of radio sound effects, although it would eventually become a male-dominated portion of radio  Peg Lynch: The best comedy writer in radio who also starred in her own shows  (Mary) Kathleen Hite: The first woman writer on the CBS westerns who would go on to write nearly all of the "Ft. Laramie" scripts and later, many TV westerns  Betty Mandeville: Directed "The FBI in Peace and War" thus becoming the first woman to direct a crime show in prime time  Ruth Woodman: Creator and writer of " Death Valle...