Actor Dale Robertson is best known for his starring roles on television. He played
the role of Jim Hardie in the NBC- TV series, Tales of Wells Fargo (1957-1962)
and the owner of a railroad line in ABC’s The Iron Horse (1966-1968) After a
long career that included 63 films, Robertson retired and now lives in Yukon,
Oklahoma.
Blondie was a radio situation comedy adapted from the long-run comic strip by
Chic Young. The radio program also had a long run on several networks from
July 3, 1939 to 1950. It was a summer replacement for The Eddie Cantor Show,
but Cantor did not return in the fall, so the shows sponsor, R.J. Reynolds’ Camel Cigarettes chose to keep Blondie on the air Mondays at 7:30pm. The program
starred Arthur Lake and Penny Singleton (above).
Archie Andrews, based on the comic book series, was also a long-running radio
show that began on the NBC Blue Network on May 31, 1943, switched to Mutual
in 1944, and then continued on NBC from 1945 until September 5, 1953. The
program’s original announcer was Kenneth Banghart, later succeeded by Bob
Shepard (during the 1947-48 season, when Swift and Company sponsored the
program) and Dick Dudley. Archie was first played by Charles Mullen, Jack
Grimes and Burt Boyar, with Bob Hastings (below) as the title character during
the NBC years. Jughead was portrayed by Hal Stone and Cameron Andrews. For
the NBC run, Betty was portrayed by Rosemary Rice (below), and Veronica by
Gloria Mann.
Bob Hastings Rosemary Rice
Little orphan Annie debuted on WGN radio in Chicago and eventually aired
coast to coast on NBC’s Blue Network until 1942. For most of the shows run,
Chicago actress Shirley Bell (below) played Annie. The initial sponsor of
the show was chocolate flavored Ovaltine. Little Orphan Annie was one
of the first comic strips adapted to radio. It was inducted into the Radio
Hall of Fame in 1990.
Shirley Bell played Annie
The announcer for show was Pierre Andre
The Little Orphan Annie secret decoder ring
