Day: June 10, 2026

Lux Radio Theater: The Pied Piper (AWR0298)

Amazing World of Radio

This week in our summer series featuring old-time radio appearances by actors who later played killers on Columbo, we spotlight Roddy McDowall. McDowall stars as young Ronnie Cavanaugh in a radio adaptation of The Pied Piper, the story of an elderly Englishman who reluctantly becomes the protector of a growing band of refugee children as they struggle to escape Nazi-occupied France and reach safety in England during the darkest days of World War II.

Original Radio Broadcast Date: December 21, 1942

Program: Lux Radio Theatre

Starring Frank Morgan as Mr. Howard, Roddy McDowall as Ronnie Cavanaugh, Anne Baxter as Nicole, and Ralph Morgan.

Also featuring Doris Lloyd, George Sorel, Eric Snowden, Leo Cleary, Norman Field, Hal Gerard, Alec Harford, Claudine Leger, Noreen Gammill, Meryl Roden, Florette Zama, Maurice Tauzin, Mary Raymond, Vernon Steele, and Barbara Jean Wong. Music directed by Louis Silvers. Produced by Cecil B. DeMille. Announcer: John M. Kennedy.

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Broadway’s My Beat: The Lynn Halstead Murder Case (EP4993)

Larry Thor

Today’s Mystery:

When a young woman is pulled from the river and identified by her grieving father, the case appears closed before it begins. But when a second woman claiming to be the victim turns up alive, Danny Clover must untangle a web of secrets surrounding a private secretary who carefully concealed her life from everyone who knew her.

Original Radio Broadcast Date: January 19, 1952

Originated in Hollywood

Stars: Larry Thor as Lieutenant Danny Clover, Charles Calvert as Sergeant Gino Tartaglia, Jack Kruschen as Sergeant Muggavan.

Featured in the cast were William Conrad as John Martin, Herb Butterfield as Dr. Halstead, Hy Averback, Joyce McCluskey, and Bob Bruce. Music composed and conducted by Alexander Courage. Produced and directed by Elliott Lewis.

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Join us again tomorrow for another detective drama from the Golden Age of Radio.