When I began compiling my list of radio’s most essential people, I wanted to honor  the people who’d made the greatest impact on radio. I also wanted to represent every type of person who contributed to great radio.  It’d be easy to make a list full of leading actors and actresses. But that wasn’t the stuff of old time radio. It was comedy, drama, and music. I wanted to be sure that the character actor and actresses who made radio truly great got their due, as did the creative minds who made programs like Yours Truly Johnny Dollar  and Boston Blackie as good as they weren’t without appearing behind the mike.

So after eight months, the list is done.

We had 100 names and they included lead actors, comedians, singers, band leaders, character actors, writers, and announcers. Of course, along the way, I’ve had questions and even as I look at the list there are  a few calls I struggled with.

The biggest regret were all the people who couldn’t quite fit into the top 100, so I’ll offer some honorable mentions:

Character Actors/Actresses:
Parley Baer
Herb Vigran
Barney Philips
Betty Lou Gerson
Stacy Harris
J. Carrol Naish

Lead Actor:

Alan Ladd

Comedy Teams:
The Easy Aces
Vic and Sade

Announcers:
Carlton Kadell
Don Willson

Band Leaders:
Paul Whiteman
Benny Goodman

Of course, our own biases play into our picks. Some fans may feel I overrated some choices such as Meredith Willson (#37) and Gordon Macrae (#28). Maybe, but I feel they’ve been underrated for far too long.

The toughest choice was #1.  To be honest, throughout the eight months, I went back and forth between Welles and Benny. In the end, my conviction settled around Welles, though I definitely understand the case for Mr. Benny.

My hope with this list is not that this be the last word in greats of radio, but that’ll inspire others to honor and write about the folks who made radio.

I want to acknowledge the valuable information provided by the Digital Deli, Radio Goldindex, and John Dunning’s On the Air  for the invaluable help they provided in making this list.

Below is list with links to each article. Please note that all items between links are covered at the top link.  So the link on the #100 list will contains ranks for #96-100, and the link on #95 will contain information on #91-95, and so on.

100) Vic Perrin-Character Actor.
99) Jock Macgregor-Writer, Producer, Director.
98) Humphrey Bogart, Actor, star of Bold Venture.
97) Dennis Day-Singer, star of A Day in the Life of Dennis Day.
96) Barton Yarborough, Character Actor.
95) Lon Clark, Actor, Star of Nick Carter.
94) Shirley Mitchell, Character Actress.
93) William Bendix, Star of The Life of Riley.
92) Edward Arnold, Actor, Star of Mr. President.
91) Frances Langford, Singer, Star of The Bickersons.
90) Frank Nelson, Character Actor.
89) Bill Goodwin, Announcer and Actor.
88) David Friedkin and Morton Fine, Writing Team-Broadway’s My Beat. 
87) Raymond Burr, Character Actor and Star of Fort Laramie.
86) Frank Sinatra, Singer, Actor, Star of Rocky Fortune.
85) Himan Brown, Producer/Director-Flash Gordon, Inner Sanctum, Barrie Craig, Confidential Investigator, CBS Mystery Theater.
84) William Gargan, Actor/Announcer, Star of I Deal in Crime, Martin Kane, and Barrie Craig.
83) Damon Runyan, Writer.
82) Mandell Kramer, Character Actor, Star of It’s a Crime, Mr. Collins and Yours Truly Johnny Dollar(1961-62).
81) Lucille Ball, Comedienne, Actress, Star of My Favorite Husband.
80) Arthur Godfrey, Singer, Talk Show Host.
79) Les Damon, Actor, star of The Thin Man, the Adventures of the Abbotts, The Adventures of the Falcon, ABC Mystery Theater.
78) John Dehner, Character Actor, Star of Have Gun, Will Travel.
77) Robert Ripley, Host of Ripley’s Believe it Or Not.
76) Robert Young, Actor, Star of Father Knows Best.
75) Fanny Brice, Comedienne, “Baby Snooks.”
74) Lionel Barrymore, Actor, Star of “Mayor of the Town, “Scrooge” in annual live performances of The Christmas Carol.
73) Gene Autry-Western Singer.
72) William Johnstone, Character Actor, Star of The Shadow and The Line Up.
71) Anne and Frank Hummert-Radio Writers and Producer Team.
70) Groucho Marx, Comedian, Host of You Bet Your Life.
69) Martha Wilkerson-GI Jill, host of The GI Jive during World War II.
68) Basil Rathbone-Actor, star of The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Scotland Yard, and Tales of Fatima.
67) Ozzie and Harriet-Actor/Actress, Band Leader and Singer, Stars of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.
66) Fredrick Ziv-Producer of Syndicated radio programs including Boston Blackie, I Was a Communist for the FBI, and The Cisco Kid.
65) Harry Bartell, Announcer, Character Actor.
64) Cathy Lewis, Actress, Star of On Stage.
63) Abbott and Costello, Comedy Team.
62) Rudy Vallee, Singer, Variety Show Host.
61) Don Ameche, Announcer, Actor, Star of The Bickersons.
60) Harold Peary, Comedian, Singer, Star of The Great Gildersleeve and The Harold Peary Show.
59) Art Linkletter, Announcer, Host of People Are Funny and House Party.
58) Arch Oboler, Radio Writer for Light’s Out and Arch Oboler’s Plays.
57) Mercedes McCambridge, Actress, Star of Defense Attorney.
56) William N. Robson-Producer/Director/Write-Escape, Suspense, Man Behind the Gun.
55) Ben Wright, Character actor, Star of Sherlock Holmes and Pursuit.
54) Hans Conreid, Character Actor.
53) Hebert Marshall, Actor, Star of The Man Called X.
52) Phil Harris, Singer, Comedian, Star of The Phil Harris and Alice Faye Show
51) Jeanette Nolan, Character Actress.
50) Howard Duff, Actor/Announcer, Star of Sam Spade.
49) Eve Arden, Actress, Star of Our Miss Brooks.
48) Claudia Morgan, Actress, Star of The Thin Man and The Adventures of the Abbotts.
47) Eddie “Rochester” Anderson, Comedian.
46) Jean Hersholt, Actor, Star of Dr. Christian.
45) Agnes Moorhead, Character Actress.
44) Jackson Beck-Actor, Announcer on Adventures of Superman.
43) Jack Moyle, Character Actor, Star of Rocky Jordan.
42) Frank Lovejoy, Character Actor, Announcer, Star of Night Beat.
41) Gertrude Berg, Writer/Actress, Star of The Goldbergs.
40) Gerald Mohr, Character Actor, Star of The Adventures of Philip Marlowe.
39) Edgar Bergen, Comedian, Ventriloquist.
38) Alan Reed, Character Actor.
37) Meredith Willson, Actor, Song Writer, Band Leader.
36) Red Skelton , Comedian.
35) Glenn Miller, Band leader.
34) Norman Corwin, Writer.
33) Jimmy Durante, Comedian.
32) Carlton Morse, Writer and Producer of One Man’s Family and I Love a Mystery.
31) Dick Powell, Singer, Actor, Star of Rogue’s Gallery and Richard Diamond Private Investigator.
30) William Spier, Producer/Director-Suspense, Duffy’s Tavern, The Adventure’s of Sam Spade.
29) Paul Frees, Character Actor.
28) Gordon McRae, Singer, Star of The Railroad Hour.
27) Bud Collyer, Announcer, Star of The Adventures of Superman.
26) Eddie Cantor, Comedian and Singer.
25) Norm McDonnell, Producer/Director of Adventures of Philip Marlowe and Gunsmoke.
24) Kate Smith, Singer, Talk Show Host/Variety Show Host.
23) Bruce Beamer, Actor, star of The Lone Ranger.
22) Fred Allen, Comedian.
21) Mel Blanc, Character Actor.
20) Lum ‘n Abner, Comedy team (Norris Goff and Chester Lauck.)
19) Lurene Tuttle, Character Actress.
18) Jack Johnstone, Writer, Director, Producer, Adventures of Superman, The Man Called X, and Yours Truly Johnny Dollar.
17) Dinah Shore, Singer.
16) Amos’n Andy, Comedy Team (Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll.)
15) Lawrence Dobkin, Character Actor, star of The Adventures of Ellery Queen.
14) George Burns and Gracie Allen, Comedy Team.
13) Bob Bailey, Actor, Star of Let George Do It and Yours Truly Johnny Dollar(1955-60).
12) Al Jolson, Singer, Variety Show Host.
11) Jack Webb, Actor/Director, Creator and Star of Dragnet, Star of Pat Novak for Hire and Jeff Regan.
10) Joseph Kearns, Character Actor.
9) Elliot Lewis, Actor, Producer, Director, star of Voyage of the Scarlet Queen, Casebook of Gregory Hood, Producer of Broadway’s My Beat and Suspense.
8) Fibber McGee and Molly, Comedy Team (Jim and Marion Jordan).
7) William Conrad, Character, Star of Gunsmoke.
6) Gale Gordon, Character Actor, star of Flash Gordon and Casebook of Gregory Hood.
5) Virginia Gregg, Character Actress.
4) Bing Crosby, Singer.
3) Bob Hope, Comedian.
2) Jack Benny, Comedian.
1) Orson Welles, Actor, Director, Producer, Writer. Director and Star of <i>The Mercury Theater</i> programs. Star of <i>The Shadow</i> and <i>The Lives of Harry Lime</i>.

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Previous Posts:2,  3, 4, 5, 6,7, 8,9, 10, 12-11, 14-13, 16-15, 18-17, 20-19,22-21, 24-23, 26-25, 28-27, 30-29, 33-31, 36-34,

39-37,42-40, 45-43, 48-46, 51-49, 54-52, 57-55, 60-58, 65-61, 70-66,  71-75, 76-80,

81-85, 86-90, 91-95, 96-100

1) Orson Welles

Consider the following accomplishments:

• Star, director, and producer of the Mercury Theatre on the Air and notoriously set off a panic with his adaptation of War of the Worlds. 
• Portrayed The Shadow over radio in one of radio’s most iconic performances.
• Guest host for an ailing Jack Benny in the 1940s
• Host of Radio Almanac and Hello Americans.
• Star of The Lives of Harry Lime.
• Narrator of The Black Museum.

Two of these would merit some consideration for appearance on our list, but all six added together indicates that Welles belongs at the very top.

While most people would best remember him for the 1939 War of the Worlds fright, Welles had many claims to fame both before and after the infamous performance. His `1937 performance of Les Miserables shines as he adapted the story, directed the play, and played the lead role of Jean Valjean as the age 22.

His role as The Shadow in 1937 was a precursor to superheroes like Batman with his performance at the disappearing Shadow.  Then came the Mercury Theater, with War of the Worlds being just one of many well-done one hour adaptations he and his talented team of performers turned out season after season of radio dramas, most being one hour in length.

Even when not on his own programs, there was a certain majesty about Welles and anything he did. His performances on Suspense were legendary including such classics as “The Hitch-hiker, ” “The Lost Special,” and “Donovan’s Brain.”  In addition to this, he also brought Shakespeare to radio, playing Hamlet at age 19 for the Columbia Workshop.

Welles was not without his flaws. His ego led to the end of his brief time hosting Cresta Blanca’s This is My Best and his various problems led him to leave for England and Americans could only hear him by transcription in the 1940s.  He was also a notorious ham. Yet, it must be said he could pay tribute to others like no other man alive possessed the ability.

However, warts and all, Welles remains radio’s most essential person. He came along when radio was still young and audio drama, the youngest of all arts. He showed those who would follow what radio could be.  He stretched its limits and left a legacy that both entertains and amazes after all these years.  And while his film legacy has some highlights, it is radio where Welles did his most consistently great work.

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