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51) Jeanette Nolan
Jeanette Nolan was a remarkable character actress over radio. Her friend True Boardman said Nolan was a remarkable actress who could play any female role from the Queen, to a widow, to a seductress. Her first major role was on Tarzan in the 1930s Nolan was best known for her old lady roles. Ironically enough, Nolan was in her 20s and 30s while playing most of these dowager roles. She helped to hold some of radio’s great shows together. Producer Norm Macdonnell used her as part of a stock company that appeared often on Gunsmoke, Fort Laramie,and the Adventures of Philip Marlowe. She also made frequent appearances on Yours Truly Johnny Dollar, Suspense, and the Cavalcade of America.
50) Howard Duff
Prior to 1946, Duff’s most memorable radio work may have been as an announcer for the Armed Forces Radio Service. To millions of American soldiers, he was Sergeant X, who hosted the AFRS Mystery Playhouse featuring some of the most notable detectives on radio. Little did Duff know he’d become one of the most famous radio detectives after the war. Duff remains radio’s definitive Sam Spade. During his four years on the program, the show was a radio hit and his sardonic, wise-cracking portrayal of Spade remains one of radio’s most iconic performances. His status as Spade led to an appearance on the Burns and Allen show in which he played himself, but Gracie believed him to be Sam Spade, and hilarity ensued. In addition, a program featuring a fan of the program was launched and entitled Sara’s Private Capers. A combination of high cost, unjustified accusations of Communist activity against Duff, and justified accusations of Communist activists against Dashiell Hammett led to the end of Duff’s run. Duff struggled to find radio work after this. He was given a pilot for another detective show called The McCoy that went nowhere. Still, Duff’s role as Spade endures as does his othe radio work.
49) Eve Arden-Eve Arden was not the first choice to play the title role in Our Miss Brooks. The first attempt at the series featured Shirley Booth in the title role. Luckily the role went to Arden, whose main claim to fame over radio had been a season spent co-starring on the Danny Kaye Show, though Arden had enjoyed a successful film career. However in Connie Brooks, a wise-cracking, occasionally clumsy, but very competent and beloved English teacher, Brooks found a defining character. When Our Miss Brooks hit the air in 1948, it was the beginning of a radio megahit. To be certain, Arden wasn’t the only contributor. It’s hard to imagine the show succeeding without Gale Gordon as Osgood Conklin and other parts including Dick Crenna as Walter Denton and Jane Morgan as Mrs. Davis. However, Arden was the key. She made Miss Brooks likable. She was assertive without being pushy. She was wise-cracking without being mean. Arden had plenty of help but she was the key to the whole enterprise.
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Herbert Marshall was best remembered as The Man Called X. This iconic role was perhaps the best known of Pre-Bond spies. So much so that when the Man Called X was evoked when the Flintstones made a 1966 Musical Comedy spy caper and called it, The Man Called Flintstone. The show began in 1944 and journeyed from CBS to the Blue Network to NBC back to CBS and then back NBC, with Ken Thurston (Marshall) as the debonair and daring international man of mystery who battled America’s foes with the help (and often the hindrance) of international con man Pagan Veldschmidt. He was also on a variety of other programs from hosting the Globe Theater for American GIs to guest starring on The Bob Hope Show and Burns and Allen. His most famous appearance outside of The Man Called X was appearing in an episode of Forecast which would become the first radio airing of the long-running anthology.Suspense.
Orson Welles called her “‘the world’s greatest living radio actress.” McCambridge certainly was a rare talent. Her big starring role came as radio was in decline. Starring in 1951, She starred as a tough and smart female attorney who solved crimes and got justice for her clients. In 1952, she was recognized as radio’s favorite dramatic by Radio TV Mirror Magazine. McCambridge frequently appeared on Lights Out and also had many appearances on The Mercury Summer Theater, the Great Gildersleeve, and Inner Sanctum.