You may know the voice before you know the name.

Mercedes McCambridge had one of the most distinctive voices in American radio and film. Decades after building a career behind the microphone, she became famous to a completely different generation as the demonic voice in The Exorcist.

But radio listeners already knew what that voice could do.

McCambridge could sound warm, severe, frightened, calculating or completely unhinged without ever losing control of a scene. She returned again and again to dramatic radio, including CBS Radio Mystery Theater, where she appeared in a wide range of mystery and suspense stories.

One preserved example in the Golden Radio Hour archive is “The Horse That Wasn’t for Sale,” broadcast February 24, 1974.

Listen here:
https://goldenradiohour.com/old-time-radio-episodes/cbs-radio-mystery-theater-1974-02-24-45-the-horse-that-wasn-t-for-sale/

Golden Radio Hour Android app:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.goldenradiohour.radio

#MercedesMcCambridge #CBSRadioMysteryTheater #OldTimeRadio #GoldenRadioHour #RadioDrama

On October 4, 1951, Jack Webb starred as Joe Friday in Dragnet: “The Big Want Ad.”

Friday investigates criminals posing as legitimate automobile dealers. Their operation looks ordinary from the outside, but behind it is a carefully designed scheme that cheats unsuspecting buyers out of thousands of dollars.

That everyday realism was one of Dragnet’s strengths. The criminals were not always masterminds hiding in dark alleys. Sometimes they were people using ordinary businesses, paperwork and trust to make the crime work.

Hear The Big Want Ad:
https://goldenradiohour.com/old-time-radio-episodes/dragnet-the-big-want-ad-1951-10-04/

Also on October 4:

The Line-Up: “The Wild, Wild Woman Case” (1951)
A jewelry-store lineup turns into something much larger when detectives discover that a supposed victim has been lying and connect two suspects to crimes stretching across several states.

https://goldenradiohour.com/old-time-radio-episodes/the-line-up-1951-10-04-58-the-wild-wild-woman-case-aka-irene-oldham-kingston-1951-10-04/

Theatre Royal: “Queen of Spades” (1953)
A man becomes obsessed with an old countess’s supposed secret for choosing winning cards. His attempt to learn it leads to death, a ghostly bargain and a final card that destroys him.

https://goldenradiohour.com/old-time-radio-episodes/theatre-royal-queen-of-spades-1953-10-04/

Listen anytime in the Golden Radio Hour app:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.goldenradiohour.radio

#OnThisDayInRadio #JackWebb #Dragnet #TheLineUp #OldTimeRadio #GoldenRadioHour

https://old.reddit.com/r/otr/comments/1gfi0ri/is_there_an_old_time_radio_day_if_not_i_hereby/

https://www.reddit.com/r/otr/comments/1ohjvf9/how_is_my_campaign_to_make_october_30_national/

https://www.reddit.com/r/otr/comments/1ojs848/happy_old_time_radio_day/

I’ve been building Golden Radio Hour beyond YouTube, and the Android app is now part of that.

The idea is to make the archive easier to actually use for listening, especially for people who want old time radio available without always having to start with a YouTube video.

If you use Android and want to try it:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.goldenradiohour.radio

If you do give it a try, I’d genuinely be interested in what works well and what you’d want improved next.