William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901 – November 16, 1960)

Clark Gable for CBS Radio program, Silver Theater, and
the performance of ‘For Richer, For Richer,’ December
1939. The sponsor was the International Silver Company.

Silver Theater  was a radio dramatic anthology series. Originating
in Hollywood, California, carried on CBS and on the Canadian 
Broadcasting Corporation.

First broadcast October 3, 1937, its last broadcast was August 17,
1947.

Rosalind Russell and James Stewart for their performance
on Sunday Afternoon Silver Theater.

The original sitcom television series The Life of Riley aired on NBC
TV from October 4, 1949 to August 22, 1958. Jackie Gleason was
cast in the title role and William Bendix assumed the lead in 1953.

Jackie Gleason and Rosemary DeCamp
in the original 1949 television series.

William Bendix as Chester A. Riley
on The Life of Riley radio show.

(1953) William Bendix (1906 – 1964)

Freeman Gosden (‘Amos’) and Charles Correll (‘Andy’)

On January 12, 1926, the two-man comedy series “Sam ‘n’ Henry”
debuts on Chicago’s WGN radio station. Two years later, after
changing its name to “Amos ‘n’ Andy,” the show becomes one
of the most popular radio programs in American history.

Gosden and Carrell, both vaudeville performers, were doing a
Chicago comedy act in blackface when an employee at the
Chicago Tribune suggested they create a radio show.

“White Christmas,” written by the formidable composer and
lyricist Irving Berlin, receives its world premiere on December
25, 1941 on Bing Crosby’s weekly NBC radio program, The
Kraft Music Hall. It went on to become one of the most
commercially successful singles of all time.

Donald T. McNeill (December 23, 1907 – May 7, 1996)

Don McNeill was born in Galena, Illinois. He graduated from
Milwaukee’s Marquette University in 1928 and joined local
station WISN. In 1933, he drove to Chicago to audition for
a struggling morning program called The Pepper Pot. Don
re-organized the hour show as The Breakfast Club and
Within a decade, The Breakfast Club had become radio’s
first, and most successful morning program. By 1941,
McNeill and his cast were were receiving over 100,000
letters a year.

For 15 years, the show was broadcast live from Chicago’s
Merchandise Mart over WLS/Chicago and the Blue Network
(later ABC). For its last 20 years, the show was broadcast
on ABC from various Chicago hotels, including the Allerton.

The Breakfast Club ended its remarkable 35-year network
run on December 27, 1968. It was inducted into the Radio
Hall of Fame in 1989.