William Bendix (January 14, 1906 – December 14, 1964)

Bendix was a film, radio, and television actor, best remembered for the
title role in the movie The Babe Ruth Story (1948) and for his portrayal
of Chester A. Riley in radio and television’s The Life of Riley. He also
received an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for 
Wake Island (1942).

 

William Bendix in a scene from “Lifeboat” (1944)

William Bendix and Claire Trevor in The Babe Ruth Story (1948)

1958

The Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre opened as the Royale Theatre on January 11, 
1927 on West 45th Street in New York City. It became the home of several CBS  
radio programs including “CBS Radio Playhouse”.

My Friend Irma, starring Marie Wilson, was created by writer/producer Cy Howard
and was a top-rated, long-run CBS radio situation comedy from 1947 to 1954. It
became so successful that it evolved to films and a comic book series. My Friend
Irma, with Wilson in the lead role, became a television show on CBS premiering on Tuesday, January 8, 1952 and ran until June 1954. It was the first series telecast
from the CBS Television City facility in Hollywood.

1953 Variety Magazine Ad

The singing cowboy Gene Autry was heard each Sunday evening on his CBS
radio show “Melody Ranch”. The show debuted on January 7, 1940 and ran an unprecedented 16 years, ending in 1956. It featured songs,comedy and action 
drama. The sponsor for the show was Wrigley’s Doublement Gum.

Inner Sanctum Mysteries, was a popular radio program that aired from Tuesday,
January 7, 1941 to October 5, 1952 for a total of 526 episodes.The program
was created by producer Himan Brown. The anthology series featured stories
of mystery, terror an suspense. The first episode was  “The Amazing Death
Of Mrs. Putnam”.

Guest stars Peter Lorre and Elspeth Eric on Inner Sanctum

Himan Brown