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24) Kate Smith
Kate Smith was one of radio’s most enduring personalities. Her first radio program Kate Smith Sings begain airing in 1931. Her last program left the air in August 1958. During her time on the radio, she hosted variety programs, singing programs, and a daily talk show. Her show would provide launching pads for such great stars as the Aldrich Family, Abbott and Costello, and Jackie Gleason. Smith’s signature song was her rendention of God Bless America which she first introduced in 1938. Her beautiful voice and a genial manner makes her one of radio’s must listen to stars.
23) Brace Beemer
There are few programs that are more associated with the Golden Age of Radio than that of the Lone Ranger. While officially produced as a children’s show, it had and still has many adult fans and Beemer was the best known voice of the Lone Ranger. Before he became the voice of the Lone Ranger, he handled the Ranger’s personal appearances because the then-star Earle Graser didn’t seem to look the part, and he also apparently did some fill-in parts. However, when Graser died, Beemer became radio’s full time Lone Ranger for thirteen years and the vast majority of surving recordings feature Beamer. He was forbidden from taking other acting roles while playing the Lone Ranger.
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Eddie Cantor was a mainstay over radio for two decades, although favorable reviews of his radio appearance go back to 1922. He hosted many radio programs for a variety of sponsors including Chase and Sanborn, Camel Cigarettes, and Texaco among others. Cantor was one of the premiere comics and singers of the age. His style of entertainment had a decided vaudevillian edge to it, and Cantor’s boisterous showman personality made him a top draw on his program and many others throughout the golden age of radio as he came known as the Apostle Pep and Banjo Eyes. Cantor was remembered for his great characterization of a New York Taxi driver called Maxie the Taxi. He also helped to bring, “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” into the cultural mainstream when he chose to sing the song on his radio program. On a more serious note, Cantor was one of Hollywood’s earliest and most outspoken opponents of Adolf Hitler’s regime in Germany. Once the war started, he was tireless in entertaining allied troops and boosting the war effort.
28 Gordon MacRae
Bud Collyer has more than 20,000 radio credits. Most of these were as announcers or as a game show host. He announced on such a variety of programs as Jungle Jim, Cavalcade of America, the Road of Life, and The Guiding Light. He also spent eleven years as host of TV’s Beat the Clock. 
Frees was a master voice actor and radio was his greatest showcase. His pure talent as a voice actor made him much sought after. He appeared on nearly every major radio drama imaginable. Let George Do It, Columbia Workshop, Suspense, Family Theater, Box 13, The Edgar Bergen Show. The full range of his flexibility was shown in two programs, The Player and Studio X where he played all of the characters. Of course, many of his radio characterizations carried over to cartoons where he would provide the voice of Boris Badenov. In addition to all of his character work, Frees was given several programs of his own including Crime Correspondent, The Green Lama, and The Croupier.
Dick Powell’s career had two phases. He was a song and dance man before taking on a series fo tough dramatic parts beginning with Murder My Sweet and continuing through gritty films such as Johnny O’Clock and Pitfall .Radio captured both of these stages due not only to Powell’s many performances on the Lux Radio Theater but through the radio programs he appeared in. Dick Powell through the 1930s and 40s sang on programs such as Hollywood Hotel.
The comedian best known for creating characters such as The Mean Widdle Kid and Clem Kadiddlehopper began first on radio before he hit television. He was discovered by Rudy Valee and his first major starring role in radio came on Avalon Time in 1939, and then in 1941 he landed his own titular program which he would maintain until 1953 (with the exception of service in World War II before leaving radio for good for the new frontier of television. Skelton’s comedy affected the wider culture as character catch phrases like, “We dood it” entered the popular lexicon. Skelton at times was a challenger to Bob Hope in the ratings numbers, as he remained popular at radio’s zenith. In addition to his legendary style of comedy, Skelton’s program served as a launching pad for the career of two promising younger named Ozzie and Harriet.
On shows ranging from Maxwell’s Good News program in the late 1930s to the Burns and Allen in the late 40s, and the Big Show in the 1950, Willson portrayed an on-air character who was a little stupid and a bit of a bore. This merely shows what a great actor Willson was. Willson remains one of the underappreciated musical masters of the era. As an orchestra leader and composer, his arrangement were often brilliant and thoughtful. In late 1938, he sought opinions from a wide variety of people asking them if all the music in the world were to be destroyed, what one composition might they save and then had his orchestra play the piece. Willson’s arrangement of music for special occassions and his takes on popular songs were often breathtaking. On the Big Show, he introduced, “May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You” as the closing anthem to The Big Show, sung by all of the stars line by line in what would be a classy and often duplicated closure. The song itself became a standard that would be recorded by a wide variety of actors from Tennessee Ernie Ford to Kate Smith and Johnny Mathis. Willson continued to be a standout as a composer and band leader while at the same time possessing solid comic timing as an actor.
42) Frank Lovejoy-Frank Lovejoy enjoyed one great hit starring role in his career as reporter with a heart Randy Stone in Nightbeat. The program a fan favorite for its mixture of suspense, mystery, and true human drama. However, Lovejoy’s contributions go far beyond that. He began as an actor on programs such as Jungle Jim and The Columbia Workshop and was the first announcer on This is Your FBI. Lovejoy continued to provide solid dramatic support for the latter days of radio’s golden age, frequently lending his talents to Suspense from 1957-59. Throughout his career, Lovejoy did well through his ability to create believable characters whether it was a heavy on Box 13, a cop after typical mugs in an episode of The Damon Runyan Theater, or one of Luigi Bosco’s typical comic foils in Life with Luigi. While Lovejoy never had a huge success with his television programs, he remains a beloved figure in the annals of radio.