Jean Thurston Vander Pyl

Jean Thurston Vander Pyl was born on October 11, 1919 and was an American voice actress. She is best known as the voice of Wilma Flintstone for the Hanna-Barbera cartoon The Flintstones. In addition to Wilma Flintstone, she also provided the voices of Pebbles Flintstone; Rosie the robot maid from The Jetsons; Goldie, Lola Glamour, Nurse LaRue, and other characters in Top Cat; Winsome Witch on The Secret Squirrel Show; and Ogee on The Magilla Gorilla Show.

On radio, she participated in such programs as The Halls of Ivy (1950–52) and on Father Knows Best during the early 1950s, where she portrayed Margaret Anderson; the role was played on television by Jane Wyatt. Her husband, Carroll G. O'Meara, was a graduate of Stanford University who worked as a copywriter at KHJ radio in the mid-1930s and later became an advertising executive.

Vander Pyl was born in Philadelphia to John Howard and Kathleen Hale Vander Pyl. Her grandfather had come from the Netherlands. Her father was the district manager for Knit Underwear; her mother was from Tennessee. The two died within six months of each other in the early 1950s. By 1939, she was already working as a radio actress.

Vander Pyl made numerous TV appearances as an actress in programs such as Leave It to Beaver, The Donna Reed Show, Father Knows Best, The Beverly Hillbillies, That Girl, and Petticoat Junction. She did the voices of Maw Rugg and her daughter Floral Rugg on a rural cartoon, The Hillbilly Bears and Winsome Witch; both shows were part of The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show (1965–1967). Jean Vander Pyl was also the voice of Little Ogee on The Magilla Gorilla Show. In 1969, Vander Pyl guest-starred on the Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! episode "Foul Play in Funland", playing Sarah Jenkins.

In the 1970s, she was the voice of Marge Huddles, the main character's wife on Where's Huddles?, in which she played a role similar to that of Wilma Flintstone and was reunited with her Flintstones cast members Alan Reed and Mel Blanc. She went on to voice Mrs. Finkerton on Inch High, Private Eye, and several female characters on Hong Kong Phooey, The Tom and Jerry Show, and Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels.

In the 1980s and 1990s, she did voices on Mister T, Snorks, and Yogi's Treasure Hunt, and also on The Flintstone Kids as Mrs. Slaghoople. She mostly reprised Wilma Flintstone on spin-off series and films such as The Flintstone Comedy Hour, The New Fred and Barney Show, The Flintstone Comedy Show, The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones, I Yabba-Dabba Do!, Hollyrock-a-Bye Baby, and A Flintstones Christmas Carol.

She married Carroll G. O'Meara on March 9, 1939; together they had three children. O'Meara died on February 18, 1962, at the age of 53. She then married her second husband Roger Wells DeWitt in 1963; the couple had one son. They remained married until DeWitt's death in 1992.

Vander Pyl died of lung cancer at her home in Dana Point, California, at the age of 79. Vander Pyl was buried in Ascension Cemetery in Lake Forest, California.

ABC Mystery Time

 

The ABC Mystery Radio Show, also known simply as Mystery Theater, was an American radio anthology series that aired on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) during the Golden Age of Radio, specifically at 8:30 pm in the later years of the 1940s and 1950s.

The show was a weekly mystery/thriller program, often featuring classic literature and starring A-list movie talent like Sir Laurence Olivier, Jon Gielgud, Ralph Richardson, Orson Welles, and Michael Redgrave.

Don Dowd of "The Breakfast Club" hosted ABC Mystery Time. ABC Mystery Time, along with other radio programs like Suspense, Inner Sanctum, The Shadow, and Gang Busters, offered listeners a variety of mystery and thriller programs that helped define the genre during the Golden Age of Radio.

It provided listeners with a sense of escape and adventure, allowing them to experience thrilling stories without leaving their homes.

 

starring A-list movie talent like Sir Laurence Olivier, Jon Gielgud, Ralph Richardson, Orson Welles, and Michael Redgrave. 

 

 It featured a variety of stories that often centered around Inspector Mark Saber, a British detective from the Homicide Squad, and his assistant, Sergeant Tim Maloney. The show's format allowed for a diverse range of murder mysteries, each week presenting a new case for the sharp-witted inspector to solve.

The show's appeal lay not only in its thrilling narratives but also in the rich, atmospheric soundscapes that accompanied them. The creak of a door, the ticking of a clock, or the distant sound of footsteps all served to draw listeners deeper into the story, proving that sound could be just as evocative as any visual cue.
 
The ABC Mystery Radio Show reminds us of a time when storytelling was an auditory art, where the imagination was the canvas, and sound was the brush. It stands as a testament to the enduring power of narrative and the timeless appeal of a good mystery.

 

 

Gunsmoke

Gunsmoke​ is an American television and radio series, first broadcast in 1955 and starring James Arness. It was the series broadcast in primetime with the most episodes in the history of American television for 43 years, until 2018, when it was surpassed by The Simpsons.

In the late 1940s, CBS president William S. Paley, a fan of the Philip Marlowe radio series, asked his head of programming, Hubell Robinson, to develop a hardcore Western series about a Philip Marlowe of the Old West. Robinson delegated this task to his West Coast vice president at CBS, Harry Ackerman, who had developed the Philip Marlowe series.

Ackerman and his writers, Mort Fine and David Friedkin, created an audition script titled "Mark Dillon Goes to Gouge Eye" based on one of their Michael Shayne radio scripts, "The Case of the Crooked Wheel," from mid-1948. Two versions were recorded. The first, recorded in June 1949, closely resembled a hard-boiled detective series and starred Michael Rye (credited as Rye Billsbury) as Dillon; The second, recorded in July 1949, starred Straight Arrow actor Howard Culver in a lighter, more Western version of the same script. CBS liked Culver's version better, and told Ackerman to move forward.

A complication arose when Culver's contract as the star of Straight Arrow prevented him from making another Western series. The project was put on hold for three years when producer Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston discovered him while developing his own Western series for adults.

Macdonnell and Meston wanted to create an adult radio Western, in contrast to the prevailing youth series such as The Lone Ranger and The Cisco Kid. Gunsmoke was set in Dodge City, Kansas, during the booming cattle era of the 1870s. Dunning notes, "The series was critically acclaimed for its unprecedented realism."

Gunsmoke is often a grim show, especially in its early years. Dunning writes that Dillon "played his hand and often lost. He arrived too late to prevent a lynching. He amputated a dying man's leg and lost the patient anyway. He saved a girl from brutal rapists, then found himself unable to provide what she needed to keep her from turning to prostitution." Some listeners, like Dunning, argue that the radio version was more realistic. The episodes were aimed at adults with some of the most explicit content of its time, including violent crimes, scalping, massacres, and opium addicts. Many episodes end on a grim note, and the villains often get away with their crimes.

The show is set after the arrival of the railroad to Dodge City (1872), and Kansas had been a state since 1861. In reality, a U.S. A marshal (actually a deputy marshal, because only the highest-ranking officer in the district holds the title of "marshal") would not be based in Dodge City and would not be involved in local law enforcement.

Aside from its gloomy tone, Gunsmoke is distinguished from other radio westerns in that the dialogue is often slow and staccato, and the extraordinary sound effects give a palpable sense of the prairie setting. The effects are subtle yet multi-layered, giving the show a sense of spaciousness. John Dunning wrote, "The listener heard strange dialogue in the background, just above the muffled cries of children playing in an alley. He also heard noises from the next block, where the inevitable dog was barking."

Gunsmoke differs from other westerns in that it was not sponsored during the first years of production. The show was financed by CBS for the first two years. The producers of the series said that if the show were to be sponsored, they would have to "clean up the show." The producers wanted to find a sponsor who would allow them to keep the show as it was.

Shortly after the radio show began, talk of adapting it for television began. Privately, Macdonnell had a reserved interest in bringing the show to television, but publicly declared, "Our show is perfect for radio," and feared, as Dunning writes, "Gunsmoke, confined by an image, couldn't be as authentic or attentive to detail. In the end, CBS simply took it away from Macdonnell and began preparing the television version."

Conrad and the others were auditioned, but they were little more than token efforts—especially in Conrad's case, due to his obesity. However, Meston was retained as the primary writer. In the early years, most television episodes were adapted from radio scripts, often using identical scenes and dialogue. Dunning wrote: "That radio fans considered the television show a farce and its actors impostors should surprise no one. That the television show was not a farce is due in large part to the continuing strength of Meston's scripts."

Macdonnell and Meston continued the radio version of Gunsmoke until 1961, making it one of the longest-running period radio dramas.

Conrad directed two television episodes, in 1963 and 1971, and McNear appeared in six, playing characters other than Doc, including three times as grocer Howard Rudd.

In 1955, CBS executives attempted to cast John Wayne to play the lead character, Matt Dillon, but ultimately settled on James Arness. The series first aired that same year.

Between 1955 and 1961, each episode of the series was 30 minutes long, and later grew to an hour. Between 1955 and 1975, 635 episodes aired. Stars such as John Wayne (host of the pilot), Bette Davis, Harrison Ford, Jon Voight, Kurt Russell, Jodie Foster, and many more appeared on the show. In 1987, Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge was filmed, with Arness again in the role of Dillon. The film was followed by Gunsmoke: The Last Apache (1990), Gunsmoke: To the Last Man (1992), Gunsmoke: The Long Ride (1993), and Gunsmoke: One Man's Justice (1994).

Norma Jean Nilsson

Norma Jean Nilsson was born on January 1, 1938 in Hollywood, California, United States. She is an actress, known for The Actress (1953), The Green-Eyed Blonde (1957) and Lux ​​Video Theatre (1950).

Nilsson was the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Arthur V. Nilsson. Her father was a professor of anatomy at the Los Angeles College of Chiropractic. Acting on radio from the age of three, she had become the highest paid radio child actress in America by 1947. From the mid-50s, she acted in juvenile roles on television. She has an older brother, Arthur Jr. She began performing when she was 3 years old and was active during World War II, entertaining troops at Army camps across the United States.

Nilsson attended Victory Garden School and Bancroft Junior High School. Newspaper columnist Louella Parsons wrote in 1946 that Nilsson had an IQ of 162.

When Nilsson was 4 years old, she won a talent contest on Tune-Out Time on KECA. At 5, she made her "first big-time radio appearance", portraying a dying girl on Free World Theatre. At 8, her picture was featured on the cover of the July 21, 1946, issue of Radio Life magazine.

Nilsson was reading a commercial on an Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy episode when guest Cecil B. DeMille recognized her talent, and she performed on many Lux Radio Theatre episodes. In 1947, Nilsson was the highest paid child actor.

An article published in Radio and Television Mirror in 1951 reported that she was "a charter member of the Five Hundred Club, an organization of children who have appeared on five hundred or more radio broadcasts."

Nilsson played Cookie (the Bumsteads' daughter) in the radio version of Blondie, Kathy (the Andersons' younger daughter) on the radio version of Father Knows Best, Glory Mae (the "little girl who lives next door") on The Jack Carson Show.,and as the lead actress Lois to Raymond Burr's antagonist in the "Murder on Mike" (1957) episode of Suspense.

Nilsson’s other OTR credits include Cavalcade of America, Luke Slaughter of Tombstone, Have Gun, Will Travel, Stars Over Hollywood, The Doctor Fights, This My Best.

She was also heard on Luke Slaughter of Tombstone, Cavalcade of America and the radio version of Have Gun, Will Travel.

Nilsson passed away at age 87.

Rhoda Williams

Rhoda Elaine Williams (born on July 19, 1930) was an American actress who provided the voice of Drizella Tremaine in Walt Disney's Cinderella.

Williams learned to read at age three, and radio acting came natural to her. She soon had her own weekly program on KMPC, We Who Are Young.

Williams graduated from Hollywood Preparatory School at 14, after which she earned a bachelor's degree in theater arts from the University of California.

In 1949, Williams began playing Robert Young's eldest daughter, Betty, on the NBC radio show Father Knows Best for five years.

She also appeared in films such as National Velvet, Meet John Doe, and That Hagen Girl.

In Walt Disney's Cinderella, she voiced the evil stepsister, Drizella. She attended Hollywood Preparatory School and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from UCLA at age 18.

With the advent of television, Williams entered the new medium on early live programs such as Lights, Camera, Action! and Slice of Life, and with the advent of film television, on Date With Judy, Chrysler Theatre, Laredo, The Big Valley, Run for Your Life, Dragnet, Ironside, Project UFO, Marcus Welby, M.D., Policewoman, and Barnaby Jones. She appeared on Superior Court and General Hospital and voiced aliens in Star Trek IV and Star Trek V.

She also specialized in voices and dialects and was the "voice" of Brigitte Bardot in the American version of The Night Heaven Fell, as well as voicing a 9-year-old French boy in The Jayhawkers!. She returned to Walt Disney Studios as the voice and model for the AudioAnimatronic mother and teenage daughter in General Electric's "Carousel of Progress" at Disneyland. She also did uncredited voice work for an episode of The Twilight Zone, "Little Girl Lost".

In 1968, she began her master's degree at California State University, Northridge. While there, she began a second career as a teacher of dialects and speech, first at the CSUN Summer Theatre Workshop for Teenagers, and later during regular sessions. She also created a film about "Medieval Theatre," which Oleson Films distributed to colleges and universities nationwide. In 1972, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Drama and continued to teach at CSUN intermittently. She also taught voice and speech at Estelle Harman's Actor's Workshop in Hollywood.

She began a long association with various civic and professional organizations in 1959, when she served as PTA President of the Alexandria Avenue School in Los Angeles. Since then, however, most of her activities have been linked to her unions, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) since 1938 and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) since 1937. While a member of the Los Angeles Local, she served on the Local and National Board, as Chair of the Local Education Committee, Co-Chair of the Los Angeles Women's Caucus, as Chair of the Western Region of the National Women's Caucus, and as a member of the AFTRA-SAG Merger Study Committee. She also served as editor of the local Los Angeles publication, DIALLOG, from 1974 to 1987.

From 1978 to 1981, she served as the West Coast Coordinator for a CETA project to increase employment for performing arts professionals. From 1981 to 1982, she served as Deputy Executive Director of the Los Angeles Local of AFTRA. In January 1993, after moving to Oregon, Williams was elected to the AFTRA Portland Local Board, where she served as Treasurer and Alternate to the AFTRA National Board. She and her husband also served as editors of the SAG/AFTRA Portland newsletter for AFTRA and SAG.

In Los Angeles, she served as Vice President and Secretary of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Coalition of Trade Union Women (CLUW). She also served for several years as a member of the State Broadcasting Industry Wage Board and as an AFTRA delegate to the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor (AFL-CIO). For the California State Federation of Labor, she coordinated and led the communication skills workshop at the Federation's "Women in the Workforce" conferences from 1977 to 1989. She also taught communication skills at the AFL-CIO Western Section's Summer School for Trade Union Women.

From 1984 to 1992, she served as Secretary-Treasurer of the UCLA Theater, Film, and Television Alumni Association and was one of the organization's founding members. She also served as Secretary of the InterGuild Women's Caucus, an organization of women from guilds and unions in the entertainment industry, which awarded her its Distinguished Service Award. She was a founding member of the Los Angeles Music Center Education Board, with a special interest in the Music Center on Tour program; a former member of the Glendale Arts Council; a founding member of Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters; and an honorary member of REPS (Radio Enthusiasts of Puget Sound) and SPERDVAC (The Society for the Preservation of Radio Drama, Variety, and Comedy).

Williams performed at local theaters in Eugene, Oregon. She starred in "Pirates" at the Lord Leebrick Theater (now Oregon Contemporary Theatre), and "70 Girls 70" at the Very Little Theater.

On March 8, 2006, Williams died of heart attack at his home in Eugene, Oregon at the age of 75.

Sam Edwards

Sam George Edwards was born on May 26, 1915. He was an American actor. 

Born into an artistic family. He appeared on radio in the 1930s in the Adventures of Sonny and Buddy one of the first radio serials ever syndicated, and later in The Edwards Family, a series based on the life of Sam, brother Jack, who was also an actor, sister Florida, and his parents, Edna Park and Jack Edwards Sr. Sam was also an early cast member of one of the first radio soap operas, One Man's Family.

Edwards worked on a variety of radio programs. He co-starred in the comedy The First Hundred Years on ABC in 1949 and landed a starring role playing Dexter Franklin opposite Janet Waldo in the long-running Meet Corliss Archer series. Also he participated in Crime Classics, Dr. Paul; Father Knows Best, Guiding Light,Fort Laramie; Gunsmoke; Dragnet; Suspense; Escape; This Is Your FBI; The Six Shooter; and Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar. 

Edwards appeared on many television series starting in the mid-1950s: Dragnet and Gunsmoke throughout their long runs, series likeThe George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, Straightaway, The Andy Griffith Show, Petticoat Junction, Green Acres, Mannix, Mission: Impossible, The Streets of San Francisco, Adam-12, The Red Skelton Show, Happy Days, The Dukes of Hazzard, and even Days of Our Lives. 

Edwards died of a heart attack in Durango, Colorado on July 28, 2004.

Herb Vigran

His full name was Herbert Vigran, and he was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, although his family moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana, when he was 16. He got his Bachelor of Laws degree from Indiana University, but later chose to pursue acting.

Herb Vigran (Cincinnati, United States; June 5, 1910 - Los Angeles, United States, November 29, 1986) was an American character actor, active in Hollywood from the 1930s to the 1980s. Throughout a career of more than 50 years, he acted in more than 350 television and film productions.

Under the name Herbert Vigran, he was a Broadway stage actor in three plays between 1935 and 1938.

After starting out on Broadway, Vigran soon moved to Hollywood with no money and only the Broadway acting experience. 

In 1939, Vigran's agent secured him a lead role in the radio drama Silver Theatre. The actor had a $5 recording made of the radio show and used it as a demo to get other jobs with his unique voice. He later appeared in similar radio shows with Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Lucille Ball, and Jimmy Durante.

He later made several hundred appearances on television shows such as The Adventures of Superman (six episodes), Dragnet 1951(eleven episodes), I Love Lucy (four episodes), The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (seven), The Dick Van Dyke Show (three), Perry Mason (two episodes), Dragnet 1967 (seven), Petticoat Junction (one episode in 1969), and The Brady Bunch (two episodes). One of Vigran's recurring roles was as Judge Brooker in Gunsmoke between 1970 and 1975. Among Vigran's many roles were police officers, judges, jurors, waiters, neighbors, shopkeepers and others.

Vigran had a small but significant role in Charlie Chaplin's film Monsieur Verdoux (1947), as a reporter interviewing Chaplin as the main character awaits execution. The 1954 film White Christmas, starring Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye, featured Vigran in the role of Novello, a nightclub owner.

In the rock and roll film Go, Johnny, Go (1959), Vigran played promoter Alan Freed's assistant, engaging in dialogue with rock legend Chuck Berry.

In 1952, Vigran married Belle Pasternack, with whom he had two children.

Active until his death, Herb Vigran died of complications from cancer on November 29, 1986, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. His remains were cremated.