Cast members from left: Howard McNear (Dr. Charles
Adams) Parley Baer as Chester, William Conrad
(U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon) and Georgia Ellis as Kitty
Russell.

Gunsmoke is a western radio series, which was developed for radio
by John Meston and Norman Macdonnell. The series ran for nine seasons and was broadcast by CBS. The first episode of the series originally aired on April 26, 1952, and the final first-run episode aired
on June 11, 1961..During the series, a total of 480 original episodes
were broadcast, including shows with re-used or adapted scripts. A television version of the series debuted in 1955.

"Gunsmoke" sound effect artists Ray Kemper &Tom Hanley 
with Director Norm McDonnel.       

  William Conrad
(September 27, 1920 – February 11, 1994)
     
    
   

Conrad continued as Dillon after the TV show had
already started, and played the role until 1961. He
was considered for the role of Dillon on the TV show,
but the creators and producers decided, in the end,
to go for Arness in his place. It’s rumored that his 
weight was a factor behind his not being cast. 
         

Don McNeill’s Breakfast Club was a long-run morning variety show
on NBC Blue Network/ABC radio (and briefly on television) originating
in Chicago, Illinois. Hosted by Don McNeill, the radio program ran
from June 23, 1933, through December 27, 1968. McNeill’s 351/2
year run as host remains the longest tenure for an emcee a
network entertainment program, surpassing Johnny
Carson (29½ years) on The Tonight Show.

Don McNeill’s Breakfast Club with guest Art Linkletter.

John Larkin as Perry Mason and Joan Alexander as Della
Street in 1950.

Perry Mason was a 15-minute radio crime serial based on the novels
of Erle Stanley Gardner. Broadcast weekdays on CBS Radio from
1943 to 1955, the series was adapted into The Edge of Night which
ran on television for an additional 30 years. 

The actors portraying Mason switched frequently over the first three years of the show’s run, starting with Bartlett Robinson, followed by Santos Ortega and Donald Briggs. John Larkin (above) took over the starring role March 31, 1947, and portrayed Mason until the end of
the series in December of 1955. 

I Led 3 Lives (also known as I Led Three Lives) is an drama series
syndicated by Ziv Television Programs from October 1, 1953,
to January 1, 1956. The series stars Richard Carlson. It was a
companion piece to the radio drama I Was a Communist 
for the FBI, which dealt with a similar subject and was
also syndicated by Ziv from 1952 to 1954.

MIKE GRACIA

Brace Beemer, center, with The Lone Ranger cast in the WXYZ radio
studios.

"The Lone Ranger" was aired on radio for the first time on this day in 1933. The show ran for 2,956 episodes and ended in 1955. The title character was played 
by George Seaton, Earle Graser, and Brace Beemer. Tonto was played by,
among others, John Todd and Roland Parker.

Francis Hamilton "Fran" Striker
(August 19, 1903 – September 4, 1962).

Fran Striker was a writer for radio and comics,
best known for creating the Lone Ranger,
Green Hornet, and Sgt. Preston of the Yukon
characters.     

    
Franklin Delano Roosevelt  (January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945)   
(Last photograph of Roosevelt, taken the day before his death)
                                                    

Franklin Roosevelt, often referred to by his initials FDR, served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. A member
of the Democratic Party, he won a record four presidential elections and
became a central figure in world events during the first half of the 20th
century.