Canadians In Old-Time Radio

This time, we feature a double dose of Canadians Abroad.

First

up to bat, from June 18, 1945,  is a baseball comedy from Screen Guild

Theater called Alibi Ike , starring Jack Carson who was from Carman,

Manitoba.

Next, we hear an episode from The Alan Young Show from November 6 of that same year entitled Alan Wills Five Dollars. Young was born in North Shields, Northumberland, England.  The family moved to West Vancouver, British Columbia when he was six.  He lived there until he moved to the States to pursue his career.

This time, we devote the whole episode to Canadian quiz shows.  Included are excerpts from The International Quiz, The Goodwill Quiz, Hide and Seek from 1954, Now I Ask You from 1955, and finally, from November of 1976, Yes, You’re Wrong.

Our Made-in-Canada segment features a profile of

Canada’s King of The Fiddle, King Ganam, as well as the only example

still in existence, as far as we know, of the King Ganam Show.

In our Canadians Abroad segment, Mary Pickford, who was born in Toronto is featured in the April 18, 1954 episode of Stage Struck.

We hear two shows in our Made-in-Canada segment. 

First, we listen to a re-creation of Small Types Club, a program from

the 1950’s.

Next, we hear an episode of Just Mary from 1945.

Moving

to our Canadians Abroad segment, the featured Canadian this time is

Toronto-born writer Joe Shuster, co-creator of the Superman comic books,

precursors of both the radio and television series.  In case you’re

wondering, he was a cousin of Frank Shuster of Wayne and Shuster fame. 

This episode, from January 23 of 1950 is entitled Dead Men Tell No

Tales.

This time, we present an hour-long Canadians Abroad segment.  Mary Pickford may well have been called “America’s sweetheart of the silent screen,” but she was actually born in Toronto, Ontario.  She appears, along with Bob Hope, in a salute to President Roosevelt’s 61st birthday on January 30, 1943.

This time, we present an hour-long Made-in-Canada segment. Prior to losing his battle to cancer in 1975 at age 59, longtime Toronto newscaster and sportscaster Jack Dennett narrated this documentary called Great Moments in Hockey.

For our Made in Canada segment, we listen to English and French Folk Songs of Canada, co-hosted by folk singers Alan Mills and Hélène Baillargeon. This program originally aired on CBC’s International Service.

For our Canadians Abroad segment, we hear an episode of the Alan Young Show from November 15th, 1946. Born in Vancouver, Young worked for the CBC, but moved to the States when a raise in pay wasn’t forthcoming. The episode is entitled Dinner at Duffy’s Tavern.

This time, we’re featuring a double Canadians Abroad segment.  First, we hear an episode of Matinee Theater, starring Victor Jory, who was born in Montreal.

Next, Hank Snow, who was born In Liverpool, Nova Scotia hosts an episode of the Grand Ole Opery.

Our Made in Canada segment features an episode of The Carl Tapscott Singers who performed on CBC Radio from just after World War 2 to 1967.

In Our Canadians Abroad segment, we listen to Screen Directors Playhouse from April 7 1950, featuring a radio adaptation of the movie “The Fighting O’Flynn”. The star was Douglas Fairbanks, but the Canadian was Raymond Burr, originally from Westminster, B.C.

In our ‘Made in Canada’ segment, we listen to a lively episode of The Happy Gang from Friday April 13th 1956.

In our ‘Canadians Abroad’ segment, we hear an episode of Pat Novak For Hire featuring Raymond Burr who was born in New Westminster, B.C. The episode from March 20, 1949, is simply called “Rory Malone”.