Jackson Beck (announcer), Joan Alexander (Lois Lane) and Bud Collyer (Superman/Clark Kent).
The Adventures of Superman was a long-running radio serial that originally aired as a syndicated show on New York City’s WOR and ran till March 1, 1951 on ABC radio and the Mutual Broadcasting System.
Terryand the Pirates was a radio serial adapted from the comic strip of the same name created in 1934 by Milton Caniff. When the late afternoon series began, it was heard three times a week, sponsored by Dari-Rich, airing on NBC Red Network from November 1, 1937 to June 1, 1938. It switched to NBC Blue Network on September 26, 1938, continuing until March 22, 1939.
Absent from the airwaves for over two years, it returned shortly before the Attack on Pearl Harbor, heard in the Midwestern United States on the Chicago Tribune‘s WGN. That series, sponsored by Libby’s, aired five days a week from October 16, 1941 to May 29, 1942. Ratings began to drop in the post-WWII period until the final episode on June 30, 1948.
The central character, Terry Lee, was portrayed at various times by Jackie Kelk, Cliff Carpenter, Owen Jordan, and Bill Fein. Terry’s buddy Pat Ryan was played by Bud Collyer, Warner Anderson, Bob Griffin, and Larry Alexander.
Jackie Daly Kelk (August 6, 1923 – September 5, 2002)
William Bennett Kilpack(February 6, 1883 – August 17, 1962)
Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons was one of radio’s longest running shows, airing October 12, 1937 to April 19, 1955, continuing well into the television era. It was produced by Frank and Anne Hummert, who based it upon Robert W. Chambers‘ 1906 novel The Tracer of Lost Persons. The sponsors included Whitehall Pharmacal (makers of Anacin), Dentyne, Aerowax, RCA Victor and Chesterfield cigarettes. It aired on the NBC Blue network until 1947, when it switched to CBS.
Bennett Kilpack (above) began as Mr. Keen in 1937 with Arthur Hughes and then Phil Clarke stepping into the role later in the series.
Howard Green Duff(November 24, 1913 – July 8, 1990)
The radio series The Adventures of Sam Spade, Detective was created by writer Dashiell Hammett for The Maltese Falcon. The show ran for 13 episodes on ABC in 1946, for 157 episodes on CBS in 1946-1949, and finally for 51 episodes on NBC in 1949- 1951. The series starred Howard Duff (and later, Steve Dunne) as Sam Spade and Lurene Tuttle as his secretary Effie, and took a considerably more tongue-in-cheek approach to the character than the novel or movie. The announcer was Dick Joy (below).