Old Time Radio Shows

 "The world's greatest living radio actress.” That is how none other than Orson Welles described radio legend Mercedes McCambridge . The renowned actress earned this high praise by starring in such popular radio shows as The Guiding Light , Pretty Kitty Kelly and Big Sister . Her cross-over success in film and television came from her roles in All the King’s Men , A Farewell to Arms, Bonanza, Bewitched, Charlie’s Angels and a voiceover in The Exorcist. Over the course of her career, she would share the screen with Joan Crawford , Orson Welles , and twice with Elizabeth Taylor . For her work in All the King’s Men, her very first feature film, Ms. McCambridge won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Acting seemed to be Ms. McCambridge ’s destiny from early on. Born Carlotta Mercedes McCambridge in Joliet, Illionis in 1916, she attended Mundelein College on a drama scholarship. Her sophomore year, Mercedes performed in the Verse Speaking Choir, a group of sixteen women who...

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...

For all the glitter of Stardom and the dreams of making it big in the entertainment world, the streets of Hollywood (and the halls of Radio City, for that matter) are littered with the crumpled dreams of forgotten stars and starlets. It is not our role in these reports to pass judgement on the dreamers and their ambition. We can only hope that despite some of the horrific episodes in their lives, these celebrities found some of the joy that their performances brought to us. Mercedes McCambridge had been called "the world's greatest living radio actress" by Orson Welles , among others. Though far from unattractive, McCambridge didn't seem to have the bombshell good looks required for a Hollywood A-list leading lady. She did find success in character and supporting roles. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in All the King's Men (1949), and was nominated again in the 1956 Liz Taylor/Rock Hudson/James Dean classic Giant . It is easy...