US Old Time Radio Trivia

1. Who played Richard Diamond on the radio?

From Quiz Richard Diamond, Private Detective

Answer: Dick Powell

Born Richard Ewing Powell on November 14, 1904 in Mountain View, Arkansas, USA, second of three sons to Ewing and Sallie Rowena Thompson Powell., Dick Powell was a movie star during Hollywood's golden age. Even before being signed by Warner Bros. in 1932, he had already had a varied career as soda jerk, singer with the touring territorial band of Charlie Davis, and MC, to name a few. For several years in Hollywood, he was cast in lightweight singing rolls in musicals. Eventually, though, he made the move to "serious" acting, landing the part of Philip Marlow in 1944's "Murder My Sweet", produced by RKO. Throughout the rest of the 1940s to the mid '50s he continued to appear primarily in films noirs. He starred on radio as the wise cracking, singing P.I. Richard Diamond from April 24, 1949 through September 20, 1953. Dick Powell died January 2, 1963 in West Los Angeles, California of lung cancer.

From Quiz Old Time Radio Strikes Back

Answer: Let's Pretend

Nila Mack (1891-1953) created and directed "Let's Pretend" on radio from 1934 to 1954. It was extremely popular with children as well as their parents, winning a Peabody Award among other honors.

From Quiz Old Time Radio - Lum and Abner

Answer: Waters

Heavener is in Oklahoma. Foulkes is where the Boggy Creek monster lives. Willow Springs is a made-up town name.

From Quiz Growing Up With Radio, Part II

Answer: Boston Blackie

Boston Blackie was created by Jack Boyle and appeared in a series of short stories as a safe cracker and jewel thief. In radio, television, and film appearances, Boston Blackie has reformed and become a detective. The radio program ran from 1944 to 1950 with more than 200 episodes.

From Quiz Growing Up With Radio

Answer: Inner Sanctum Mystery

"Inner Sanctum Mystery" was broadcast in 526 episodes between 1941 and 1952. The creaking door was actually a rusty desk chair. The narrator (first "Raymond" and then "Your Host") closed with an extended "Pleasannnt dreeeaamms, hmmmmmm." The show featured such stars as Boris Karloff, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre, Orson Welles, Claude Rains, and Helen Hayes.

From Quiz Old Time Radio - What Show Am I?

Answer: My Favorite Husband

"My Favorite Husband" ran from 1948 to 1951. It starred Lucy Ball and Richard Denning as Liz and George Cougat (Or sometimes Cooper.) Katy was the maid of the house.

From Quiz Who Played the Role on Radio?

Answer: John Dehner

John Dehner was an in-demand character actor who also had the lead role in the 1958 radio Western, "Frontier Gentleman". In addition to Dehner, the radio version featured Ben Wright as Hey Boy and Virginia Gregg in the role of Miss Wong, Hey Boy's girlfriend. When the radio series premiered the weekly episodes mirrored the television episodes but as the radio show became successful original scripts were written. The radio version was written and produced by Roy Winsor. In addition to his work in television John Dehner was in several films including "The Boys from Brazil" (1978), "Slaughterhouse-Five" 1972)and his final movie appearance, "Jagged Edge" (1985). Dick Simmons portrayed Sergeant Preston on "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon" on television from 1955 to 1958. Edgar Buchanan starred as as Judge Roy Bean in 1955 on "The Life And Times Of Judge Roy Bean". Dr. Bill Baxter was played by Rex Allen on the 1958 series, "Frontier Doctor".

From Quiz The Wonderful World of Fibber McGee and Molly

Answer: 79

Wistful Vista was the kind of place everybody wished they lived in during the years of the Great Depression. Friends were always present, no trouble ever lasted too long, and nobody went hungry. Many people today probably wish it were a real place too!

From Quiz Radio Daze

Answer: "Amos and Andy"

Amos Jones and Andy Brown head to Chicago with four ham and cheese sandwiches and 24 dollars. They start the Fresh Air Cab Company, so named as the cab had no roof. Amos evolved into a family man but Andy was a bachelor, giving the story line romantic twists. Later George 'Kingfish' Stevens was added who over time pretty much took over the show. Few radio listeners realized that the voices of the three leads were played by two white men named Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll with Gosden voicing Amos and Kingfish and Correll doing Andy. They had learned their craft by studying minstrel shows. There were some protests among Black intellectuals and Black press in the early 1930s which went unheeded. In the early 1950s when the show was transformed into a television series, serious protests over racial stereotyping caused the TV version to be cancelled

From Quiz On The Mic (Great Moments in Broadcasting)

Answer: Mercury Theater On The Air

Because the program was written as a series of news bulletins that were sandwiched between what sounded like regular music programs, an estimated 1.7 million listeners believed that we were under a Martian invasion. Welles always claimed that it was not his intent to fool listeners.

From Quiz Dragnet: Just the Facts, Ma'am

Answer: Jack Webb

Bob Bailey was one of several actors who played Johnny Dollar in "Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar", another great Old Time Radio drama. Barney Phillips played Ed Jacobs, Friday's second partner. George Fenneman was the announcer on the show known for saying "Ladies and gentlemen: The story you are about to hear is true..." Jack Webb was a veteran of radio drama, focusing primarily on private detective stories such as "Pat Novak for Hire" and "Jeff Regan, Investigator", but also doing some radio comedy and variety. In "Dragnet", he showed a clear penchant for deadpan delivery of very witty barbs and comebacks as he would apprehend a criminal.

From Quiz The Bickersons

Answer: Don Ameche and Frances Langford

You might remember Don Ameche from "Trading Places" with Eddie Murphy.

From Quiz Sorry, Wrong Number

Answer: George

This was when Mrs. Stevenson was connected to the wrong number...the voice said, "yeah, this is George speaking." This phone call is what led her to believe that a murder was going to be committed.

From Quiz Classic Radio Programs

Answer: Bold Venture

Bogart played Slate Shannon and Bacall was Sailor Duvall, his ward, in this series from the '50's.

From Quiz "Gunsmoke" On Radio

Answer: circulars

Circulars today are known as, "junk mail." Jeff Spain from "Escape Pagosa," was the original model for Matt Dillon. William Conrad was a fighter during WWII. He was born in September 1929, and started his radio career in the late 1930's.

From Quiz The Aldrich Family

Answer: 16

Henry was a junior at Central High School.

From Quiz Old Time Radio Drama

Answer: Suspense

'Suspense' was indeed, radio's outstanding theatre of thrills, attracting some of the biggest names from Hollywood as repeat guest stars over a 20 year period (1942-1962).

From Quiz Radio : The Years Before TV

Answer: Auctioneer

The show was on Saturday nights and it saved the top three songs for the end of the show. It was sponsored by Lucky Strikes and more than 50 different singers appeared on the radio version.

From Quiz Old Time Radio Programs

Answer: Lamont Cranston

From Quiz Richard Diamond, Private Detective

Answer: By whistling the show's theme, "Leave It to Love"

"Leave It to Love" was written by Henry Russell. Powell whistled it at the end of every episode as well, under the closing credits.

From Quiz Old Time Radio Strikes Back

Answer: The Baby Snooks Show

Fanny Brice (1891-1951) was a singer, actress, and a star in several Ziegfeld shows on Broadway. The Baby Snooks character was originally done by Brice in a sketch in a "Ziegfeld Follies on the Air" show in 1936. The comedic character was so popular that she portrayed it on the radio in several other shows. In 1944 the show became a regular program, first on CBS and then on NBC. The program ended in 1951 when she suddenly died two days after doing the show live (as many radio programs were done in those days).

From Quiz Growing Up With Radio, Part II

Answer: Grand Central Station

"Grand Central Station" was on the radio from 1937 until 1954, a very long run. Every episode presented a different story, each of which involved a person (or persons) who had some connection to Grand Central Station (in most of the episodes, the steam engine of a train as heard). The tales were quite varied, including comedies of various types, romances, and dramas.

From Quiz Growing Up With Radio

Answer: The Green Hornet

With a couple of hiatuses, "The Green Hornet" aired from 1936-1952. Although the police thought him to be a criminal, the Green Hornet was, in reality, Brett Reid, newspaper publisher, who posed as an outlaw so he could fight crime from the inside, aided by his valet and driver, Kato. The opening narration usually included "The Green Hornet strikes again!"

From Quiz Old Time Radio - What Show Am I?

Answer: Dragnet

"Dragnet" ran from 1949 to 1957. It starred Jack Webb as Joe Friday and Barton Yarborough. Ben Alexander came on as Frank Smith after Barton Yarborough passed away.

From Quiz Who Played the Role on Radio?

Answer: William Conrad

William Conrad was Marshal Matt Dillon on the radio show. After a career in radio Conrad appeared in guest roles on many television shows until landing the role of Cannon on the show of the same name from 1971 to 1976. He went on to star in "Nero Wolfe" (1981) and "Jake and the Fatman" (1987). William Conrad was elected to the Radio Hall of Fame in 1997. The "Gunsmoke" television series began in 1955 as a 30-minute show. It changed to an hour format and aired 635 episodes until 1975. Keith Larsen starred as Major Robert Rogers on "Northwest Passage" from 1968 to 1959. Buddy Ebsen starred as Sergeant Hunk Marriner and Don Burnett had the role of Ensign Langdon Towne on the same show.

From Quiz Radio Daze--Juvenile shows

Answer: Captain Midnight

During the World War II broadcasts Captain Midnight battled such foes as The Shark, Baron von Karp, Admiral Himakito, and von Schrecker. After the war, attention turned to criminal element. The show offered several premiums the most popular being the Captain Midnight Decoder Ring, hyped by codes given out from time-to-time during the broadcast.

From Quiz Radio Daze

Answer: Pine Ridge, Arkansas

The program centered on the activities at the Jot'em Down Store. Lum was played by Chester Lauck and Abner by Norris Goff. The comedy was often about rural life, various get-rich-quick schemes, and what some termed hillbilly humor, perhaps the antithesis of Amos and Andy. The characters went from their 15 minute format to three movies. New producers expanded the program to 30 minutes and added an orchestra which pretty much became its death knell.

From Quiz On The Mic (Great Moments in Broadcasting)

Answer: The Hindenburg Disaster

On May 6, 1937 Herb Morrison was broadcasting a live report on the landing of the German Zeppelin Hindenberg in Lakehurst, New Jersey. Suddenly the massive airship burst into flames, resulting in the deaths of 35 passengers on board and one crewman on the ground. Morrison was obviously very distraught as he described to listeners what he was seeing.

From Quiz It's "Lights Out"!

Answer: People turned inside out.

In the beginning, you hear two police officers in a car while they are driving to the murder site. When they first enter, they find an old lady in a corner laughing like a lunatic. When they enter the next room, they find the living body of a man who had been turned inside out.

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