1950
Broken Leg Stops Spade
HOLLYWOOD, Oct. 31.—(INS) Howard Duff, the Sam Spade of radio, faced a 3-month layoff from his screen and radio work today as a result of a fractured right leg. The actor fell down the stairs at his home.

FILM RIGHTS TIED UP
Howard Duff is still anxious to play his radio character, Sam Spade, on the screen. But the film rights are tied up by a suit brought by. Warner Brothers. The studio claims prior rights to the character, having introduced him in "The Maltese Falcon."

Neither Howard Duff or any other star will be playing Sam Spade on the screen. Warners claims Sam belongs to them and has tied up the character through litigation. . . .

More to the point, here's Howard Duff's contemporaneous observations--in his own words--about the premature demise of Sam Spade, Radio Detective, from the Tuesday, October 10, 1950 Edition of The Indiana Evening Gazette [Pennsylvania]:

DUFF MOURNS DEMISE OF SLEUTH SAM SPADE

    HOLLYWOOD, Oct. 10. (AP) -- "I'm sorry Sam couldn't show up.  He's not very reliable, you know.  Probably out on a case."
   This was Howard Duff jesting about Sam Spade, the radio sleuth Duff has been playing on the air.  He admitted a little lonely without Sam, from whom he parted company three weeks ago.  The program was yanked off the air.
   "It was very simple," Duff explained.  "The sponsor wanted a cheaper show."
   But what seemed like a simple cancellation of an air show has created something of a furor.  The sponsor has reportedly been flooded with a wave of letters, many of them of a threatening nature.  The NBC offices here have received protest letters executives say total 45,000, with other parts of the network not yet counted.
   NBC, which has no further connection with the show, is reportedly peeved over what to do with the mail.  The network was further upset by zealous members of the Howard Duff Fan Club, which set up a picket protest at the studio after Sam Spade was cancelled.
   All this amazes and no doubt delights Duff, who confesses an affection for his late friend, Spade.
   "I'd hate to see the old boy die off forever," he remarked.  "After all, we've been together four and a half years without a vacation or Summer layoff.  You can grow fond of a person in that time."
   Not to mention the moola which the weekly show brought in.  And Duff can credit Spade for bringing him to film fame.  He was just another free-lance radio actor when he tried out for the show.  Much to his surprise, he landed the role. 
   His radio fame led him to the movies, and the late Mark Hellinger picked him for "Brute Force" and "The Naked City."  He caught on with the bobbysocked crowd and currently leads at least one of the movie magazine popularity polls. 
   Duff said he hoped to return to the air with Spade, but he has his doubts.  Radio is still suffering from the TV jitters and many another top show is languishing without a sponsor.
   "Any sponsor who buys Sam will want the TV rights, too," he said. 
I can't get tied down to a weekly TV show and do pictures.  That would interfere with the deal."
   Also, there is a legal snag.  Warner Brothers has sued to stop the air show.  Sam Spade is the character Humphrey Bogart played in "The Maltese Falcon" and the studio claims it owns all rights.  The case has not yet been settled.
   Sam has been the most popular private eye on the air and Duff offered his theory:  "I think it's because Sam doesn't take himself seriously.  He can always see the humor in a situation.
   "Still, he can be tough when he needs to be.  He's a man of extremes.  When he's in good spirits, he's higher than anyone.  But when he's low, there's nobody lower.
   Ah, I'll miss him," sighed Duff, and I thought I saw a tear drop into his cup of black coffee.

After the cancellation of Sam Spade, Howard Duff, who confessed an affection for his late friend Sam, remarked "I'd hate to see the old boy die off forever."

And so effectively ended one of Radio's most heralded and beloved Golden Age Radio Programs. Dashiell Hammett enjoyed a relatively brief dalliance with Hollywood for just over seventeen years on and off. During that period his Maltese Falcon was brought to the big screen three times:

• 1931's The Maltese Falcon with Ricardo Cortez as Sam Spade, Bebe Daniels as 'Ruth Wonderly' (among other colorful aliases), scary looking Walter Long as the ill-fated Miles Archer, Una Merkel as Effie, and Dudley Digges as Casper Gutman. While briefly renamed 'Dangerous Female' once it came to Television, it has since reverted to its original The Maltese Falcon by its current owners, Turner Classic Movies.
• 1936's Satan Met A Lady, directed by William Dieterle, and starring Warren William as 'Ted Shane' (Sam Spade), Bette Davis as Valerie Purvis (among other colorful aliases), Arthur Treacher as Anthony Travers (Joel Cairo), Allison Skipworth as Madame Barrabas (Kasper Gutman), Maynard Holmes as 'Kenneth' (Wilmer Cook), and Marie Wilson as Miss Murgatroyd (Effie). A rather transparently veiled send up to The Maltese Falcon, it's pretty much a calculatedly out of control farce version of Hammett's classic.
• 1941's classic The Maltese Falcon, directed by John Huston, screenplay by both John Huston and Dashiell Hammett, and starring Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade, Mary Astor as Brigid O'Shaughnessey (among other colorful aliases), Sydney Greenstreet as Kasper Gutman, Peter Lorre as Joel Cairo, Elisha Cook, Jr. as Wilmer Cook and Ward Bond as Detective Polhaus. This is considered the definitive The Maltese Falcon.
  

The Radio version of Sam Spade came to the airwaves in the Summer of 1946 as a Summer replacement for the popular Woody Herman Show. Titled The Adventures of Sam Spade, Detective, Radio's Sam Spade was interpreted by young Howard Duff, a relative newcomer to Network Radio. And although Duff was a relative novice in a featured Network role, he was supported by no less than 'Radio's First Lady', Lurene Tuttle as Effie Perrine and legendary Radio Director William Spier, who'd already made a name for himself with the equally legendary and timeless Suspense series. Gil Doud, Robert Tallman, William Spier, Jason James [as Jo Eisinger], Elliot Lewis, E. Jack Neuman, and Howard Swanton took the writers' credits over the years, fashioning Radio's Sam Spade as a cross between Ricardo Cortez's rogueish Spade and Warren William's wise-cracking, over-the-top Ted Shane from 1936's Satan Met A Lady.

Indeed, although the series had a markedly humorous, tongue-in-cheek slant, most of the mysteries--or 'capers'--presented during the production run were wonderfully twisty, convoluted who-dun-its in their own right. There were several other competing, similarly entertaining detective mysteries on Radio at the time. What set Sam Spade apart from most of them was the wonderful interplay between Howard Duff and Lurene Tuttle, masterfully timed and paced by William Spier. And though not characteristically noted for his comedic timing, Spier's crisp, fast-moving direction never truly allowed the occasional slapstick or Tuttle-Duff exchanges to sidetrack the arc of the script.

The equally entertaining Let George Do It allowed for a great deal of wise-cracking and droll humor between George Valentine and his own 'Effie', Brooksie. George and Brooksie had a more intentionally romantic slant to their relationship, whereas Effie Perrine had always pretty much reconciled herself to Sam Spade's philandering, while still holding a torch for him. Indeed, Effie's endearing loyalty and concern for Sam became an integral element of the underlying humor of the production as she indefatigably attempts to reform her reprobate employer.

Lurene Tuttle is never more of a scene-stealer than in The Adventures of Sam Spade, Detective. And professionally generous to a fault, her on-air self-deprecation, feigned witlessness and blind adoration of Sam Spade, create an unprecedented opportunity for Howard Duff to shine as her drunken, morally and economically challenged scoundrel of a boss. But in yet another perfect marriage of character to actor, Howard Duff manages to pull it all off, despite his character's scurrilous proclivities. By the end of every episode he somehow finds his conscience, solves the mystery at issue, and redeems himself in time to say, "Goodnight, Sweetheart"--and appear to sincerely mean it.

The magic combination of Tuttle, Spier and Duff was virtually guaranteed to gain an unprecedentedly loyal audience. Duff, despite his character's wanton moral abandon, continued to charm his audiences for over 220 episodes. Ever the archetypal bad-boy as Sam Spade, Howard Duff's natural charm and irrepressible Irish humor elevated both his role and his career opportunities with each passing year of Sam Spade's production run. But Tuttle, Duff and Spier didn't work their magic in a vacuum. The program's brilliant writers provided consistently intelligent, wonderfully humorous, and engaging material for their stars and director.

William Spier and Howard Duff in rehearsal for
The Adventures of Sam Spade, Detective

Tt's quite obvious from almost every episode that the production staff loved their work. One can find an audible break of one kind or another in almost every episode. Either the cast didn't have to rehearse that much or the scripts were so funny and well-timed that even after rehearsing they couldn't help but break each other up on air. This is a delicate balance, to be sure. If overdone, it can become a distraction to the listening audience. But Spier seems to have created the perfect environment in which to allow such occasional professional lapses to play themselves out, without interfering with the timing of his scripts. Given both Lurene Tuttle and Howard Duff's inherent personal charm and good humor, their occasional lapses soon became an anticipated feature of most of their episodes together. Somewhat like the 'Easter Eggs' DVD enthusiasts of today have come to demand from their viewing favorites.

Keep in mind that this was, for the most part, live radio. While often transcribed for airing in different time zones, the basic production didn't make allowance for any but the most drastic re-cuts or edits between recording session and broadcast. The program's most avid fans came to expect these charming, spontaneous lapses from their two favorite stars. Over the years, their scripted--and unscripted--interplay only endeared them even further to their rapidly growing audience.

It's also quite apparent that the various supporting casts over the years enjoyed their appearances on Sam Spade with equal zeal. Broadcast from the West Coast for almost the entire run, the predominately West Coast actor pool provided a wealth of talent to the productions. Radio legends Olan Soulé, Bea Benadaret, Hans Conreid, Elliott Lewis, Paul Frees, Junius Matthews, William Conrad, Jack Webb, Frank Lovejoy, Tudor Owen, Wally Maher, Dick Powell, Jerry Hausner, Cathy Lewis, Joseph Kearns, Jeanette Nolan, Mary Jane Croft, Betty Lou Gerson, and Elliott Reid supported the production over the years. Indeed, appearances by William Spier' wives Kay Thompson and June Havoc, Peter Lorre, and Lurene Tuttle's daughter, Barbara Ruick (while still a teenager) were among several fascinating, uncredited contributions to the series over the years. To say a good time was had by all, understates the experience. The on-air staff's pranks extended to even their legendary announcer, Dick Joy, upon whom several attempts were made over the years to flummox one of Radio's most professional announcers--to no avail.

Such was the environment that William Spier created for his cast and crew--and for his listening audience as well. The good humor extended to their sponsor, Wildroot Cream Oil, whose emblematic jingle had become part and parcel of every broadcast they sponsored. As equally associated with Fearless Fosdick as Sam Spade, their advertising campaign featured both fearless sleuths in a series of equally entertaining and engaging comic strips over the years of their sponsorship. Reportedly aired live during each episode, The Wildroot Barbershop Quartet's lively performances of "It's Wildroot Cream Oil, Charlie" remain one of the campier elements of each commercial broadcast.

From the December 9th 1946 John Crosby Radio Review column in the Oakland Tribune:

     The curtain had just risen on the Sam Spade program (CBS 9 p.m. Sundays), when Spade's secretary got a phone call from the boss, who, it appears, was in jail charged with murder.

     "Bring a pencil and $20,000 down to the jail at once" he commanded.

     "Sam," she protested, "where will I find a pencil at this hour?  What are you doing in jail, anyway?"

     "My apartment's being redecorated, toots."

     That is not the sort of bad image you and I would employ in a fairly serious situation but it's hardly surprising to find Spade behaving that way.  Dashiell Hammett, who still writes the Spade series, started this offhand sort of talk back in 1934 when he hit the big time with "The Thin Man."  He is now the most widely imitated detective story writer on earth and the casual attitude toward homicide has become established as good manners among all plain-clothes cops.

     Hammett has always taken a detached and rather cold view of human life.  His great detective stories, "The Thin Man," "The Maltese Falcon" and "The Glass Key," rang with authenticity because of it.  Now, however, the imitators have so crowded the field that Hammett is beginning to sound like one of them.  The great virtue of the Sam Spade series is that it's still written by the old master, and once in a while even sounds like it.

     The effectiveness of his dialogue (and the above is a rather bad sample) is heightened by his trick of playing against one another a widely divergent crew of characters.

GUTMAN REVIVED

Copyright, 1946, for the Tribune

Wildroot Cream Oil's relationship with The Adventures of Sam Spade, Detective was all roses and champagne until one of Sam Spade's scripts made a passing reference to a notoriously corrupt, Right-Wing Republican Congressional Representative from New Jersey. Thomas, famous for scanning the newspapers for any percieved slight to him or his committee, undertook an 'investigation' of members of The Adventures of Sam Spade, Detective production company. An archetypal conflicted right-winger, J. Parnell Thomas employed the tried and true right-wing tactic of diverting attention from one's own corrupt dealings by pointing to imagined, fabricated misdeeds of others. In this case, his targets were 'Sam' Hammett and by implication, Howard Duff himself. At the same time, investigative journalists Drew Pearson and Jack Anderson were undertaking investigations of their own--into Thomas' own corruption problems.

Hammett had already made many very public, deprecatory observations regarding J. Parnell Thomas' right-wing machinations, as well as those of the witch-hunting House Un-American Activities Committee. The HUAC, one of the Right-Wing's more shameful and outlandish 'strawman' witch hunts over the years, was comprised of some of Congress' most sexually conflicted, corrupt, and morally compromised politicians, aides and henchmen who ever gained public office. They exercised their growing power through intimidation, fabricating 'evidence' and outright libel and slander. Duff's efforts in support of labor unions were conflated by the HUAC through their influence over "Red Channels", American History's most cowardly, shameful, and opaque 'blacklist'. Once a performer's name made an appearance in Red Channels, no amount of genuine rebuttal could erase the taint on his or her career.

Even though the damage to Howard Duff and The Adventures of Sam Spade had already been planted by J. Parnell Thomas, The American Legion [Black Shirt Chapter] and the HUAC, it took Wildroot a year to weigh its 'options'. Apparently feeling that their shiny, slicked-back hair demographic was at risk with further sponsorship of The Adventures of Sam Spade, they ruminated over either cancelling Sam Spade outright or undertaking another Detective Drama with which to retain the same audience. They decided to do both. Wildroot, to its shame, ultimately canceled Sam Spade, citing Dashiell Hammett's 'creator' credit and Howard Duff's starring role. Determined to shift their sponsorship to "Charlie Wild, Detective", Wildroot decided to abandon The Adventures of Sam Spade, Detective entirely. Citing layer upon layer of nonsensical reasons for the series' abrupt cancellation, NBC was understandably deluged with a reported 45,000 to 250,000 demands for the show's reinstatement. But by that time, Howard Duff had wisely moved on to a more fulfilling--and financially predictable--Film career.

In an fitting twist, J. Parnell Thomas was brought down at about the same time that Wildroot was approaching NBC about cancelling the program. The House Republican Steering Committee predictably dragged out any sanctions or investigation of Thomas for most of 1949, but a Grand Jury was eventually seated. Thomas was tried and convicted to 18 months in prison for carrying personnel on his Congressional payroll while depositing their pay in his own accounts, and Thomas resigned from Congress in January of 1950, only days before he was to begin his prison sentence at Danbury. In a further, predictable Right-Wing twist, Thomas had taken the Fifth throughout his trial, much the same as Dashiell Hammett had attempted to when he was brought before Thomas's HUAC. In the case of the HUAC, they simply refused to accept a Fifth Ammendment election from Hammett. But the trial of J. Parnell Thomas correctly accepted his Fifth Amendment election, while ultimately convicting him anyway.

Indeed, some Radio historians cite the cancellation of Sam Spade as the beginning of the end of The Golden Age of Radio. When it became obvious that the political machinations of fringe right-wingers could bring down a program as popular as Sam Spade it marked a major sea-change in the rapidly eroding public ownership of the public airwaves. NBC finally bowed to the unprecedented public demand to reinstate Sam Spade and aired The New Adventures of Sam Spade, Detective two months after its cancellation as The Adventures of Sam Spade, Detective--less its sponsor and star. West Coast NBC up-and-comer Steve Dunne was cast as Howard Duff's replacement. But as even the show's most ardent fans would admit, the show could never have been the same again without the Howard Duff/Lurene Tuttle magic. The program limped along for another twenty-four episodes before its ultimate demise.

The Adventures of Sam Spade, Detective remains one of the most popular programs from The Golden Age of Radio. While there are only a fifth of the Sam Spade production programs in circulation, a few previously uncirculated episodes make their way into circulation every few years. One can only hope that all of them will eventually be released by their holders. There's no question that they exist. Consumer recording and transcription equipment was readily available throughout the production run. It's just a matter of time, greed, and conscience before the remainder of the recorded episodes find their way back to the public that popularized them in the first place.

As can be noted in the detailed log below, NBC wasn't quite sure if they'd resurrect The Adventures of Sam Spade as late as July of 1951, but as history has proven, there was no further resurrection of the production.

Well, Howard, you got your wish.  Sam Spade lives on in the hearts and minds of the millions of Golden Age Radio fans who still listen to and treasure this classic Golden Age Radio program even more now than when it first aired.

Series Derivatives:

Notes on Provenances:

All above cited provenances are in error in one form or another. The most helpful provenances were the logs of the RadioGOLDINdex and Audio-Classics and newspaper listings. The least helpful were the Hickerson Guide and Martin Grams' Radio Drama.

There are little more than a fifth of The Adventures of Sam Spade, Detective programs in circulation. Any authoritative representations as to true program titles, preemptions, or sequencing have to be taken at face value for the forseeable future. Beware of anyone claiming to have a complete and accurate log of Sam Spade. The logs below represent our best and latest updates. There are several outstanding anomalies in the record of the production run. Where we have marginal confidence as to their validity we've employed either a 'strikeout' font or a neutral highlight font to indicate them.

As has often occured lately in the preparation of our 'Definitive' series of logs, corrected title revisions are frankly too numerous to individually cite. Indeed, with only about a fifth of the production programs in circulation any more definitive sequencing or title resolution will have to wait until far more espisodes enter circulation.

You're welcome to compare our fully provenanced research with the OTRR and their own Sam Spade log, which they claim to be correct according to their 'OTTER log'. We've therefore provided a screen shot of their current log for comparison, HERE to protect our own ongoing due diligence.

OTRisms:

Here's the reality of collecting an historic vintage Radio program that's little more than a fifth in circulation and was denatured and retranscribed by the Armed Forces Radio Service (or the later Armed Forces Radio and Television Service):

• Every vintage Radio collector is free to decide to delude himself or herself and 'pretend' that denatured AFRS or AFRTS transcriptions are the same as commerical transcriptions or off-air recordings--or not.
• The OTRR has made a corporate decision (and yes the OTRR is an owned, profit making, commercial enterprise) to universally 'pretend' that AFRS and AFRTS transcriptions are the same as original commercial recordings. They then mislead everyone who downloads from their 'certified collections' or other holdings and 'distros.'
• Genuine Golden Age Radio preservationists highly prize their growing collection of entirely unique AFRS and AFRTS transcriptions and recordings, marveling at the dedication, quality, and sacrifice those two Government organizations undertook to preserve this national treasure.

Self-deception and self-delusion can become highly tempting, given the right mix of circumstances. The current state of vintage Radio collecting, as embodied by 'otr' at least, shows that contagion to be a pandemic.

Among the many travesties contained within the OTRR's 'certified accurate' Sam Spade collection are several intentionally deceptive recordings:

• Recordings 'padded out' with as much as seven to nine minutes of dead silence to make the AFRS transcription they were derived from 'appear' to be the expected length of an as-broadcast transcription or recording.
• Recordings intentionally clipped--beginning and end--to disguise their true AFRS-derived source.
• No disclosure whatsoever as to the true derivation of the recordings in their collection, so as to give the appearance of having twelve more circulating as-broadcast recordings than actually exist. Almost 20% of the Adventures of Sam Spade, Detective recordings in circulation are denatured AFRS 'Sam Spade' transcriptions--including the OTRR's.
• No specific disclosures whatsoever, as to the true provenance(s) upon which they base their log.

What you see here, is what you get. Complete transparency. We have no 'credentials' whatsoever--in any way, shape, or form--in the 'otr community'--none. But here's how we did it--for better or worse. Here's how you can build on it yourselves--hopefully for the better. Here's the breadcrumbs--just follow the trail a bit further if you wish. No hobbled downloads. No misdirection. No posturing about our 'credentials.' No misrepresentations. No strings attached. We point you in the right direction and you're free to expand on it, extend it, use it however it best advances your efforts.

We ask one thing and one thing only--if you employ what we publish, attribute it, before we cite you on it.

We continue to provide honest research into these wonderful Golden Age Radio programs simply because we love to do it. If you feel that we've provided you with useful information or saved you some valuable time regarding this log--and you'd like to help us even further--you can help us keep going. Please consider a small donation here:

We don't pronounce our Golden Age Radio research as 'certified' anything. By the very definition, research is imperfect. We simply tell the truth. As is our continuing practice, we provide our fully provenanced research results--to the extent possible--right here on the page, for any of our peers to review--or refute--as the case may be. If you take issue with any of our findings, you're welcome to cite any better verifiable source(s) and we'll immediately review them and update our findings accordingly. As more verifiable provenances surface, we'll continue to update the following series log, as appropriate.

All rights reserved by their respective sources. Article and log copyright 2009 The Digital Deli Online--all rights reserved. Any failure to attribute the results of this copywritten work will be rigorously pursued.

The Adventures of Sam Spade, Detective Radio Program Log

Adventures Of Sam Spade
New Sunday WKPT Series 

The New Adventures of Sam Spade, Detective Radio Program Log

AFRS R-78 Series 'Sam Spade' Program Log

AFRS Mystery Playhouse: Sam Spade Program Log

Suspense: Sam Spade Episodes Log

The Adventures of Sam Spade, Detective: Additional Programs Log

The Abbott and Costello Show: Sam Shovel Episodes Log

The Adventures of Sam Spade, Detective Radio Program Biographies

1940 Big Town
1940 Everyman's Theatre
1941 Latitude Zero
1941 Gulf Screen Guild Theatre
1941 Romance Of the Ranchos
1942 The Pepsodent Show
1943 Major Bowes' Original Amateur Hour
1943 Wings To Victory
1943 The Westinghouse Program
1943 Duffy's Tavern
1943 Spotlight Bands
1943 The Telephone Hour
1943 The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show
1943 The Lone Ranger
1943 The Hour Of Charm
1943 Suspense
1943 Your Hit Parade
1943 The Lifebuoy Show
1943 Chesterfield Time
1943 Waltz Time
1944 Maxwell House Coffee Timie
1944 The Frank Morgan Show
1944 Texaco Star Theatre
1944 The Grand Ole Opry
1944 One Night Stand
1944 The Dinah Shore Program
1944 Sammy Kaye's Sunday Serenade
1944 The Cleveland Symphony
1944 The Raleigh Cigarette Program
1944 The Jack Benny Program
1944 The Carnation Contented Hour
1944 Inner Sanctum
1944 The Xavier Cugat Show
1944 Top Of the Evening
1944 The Raymond Scott Show
1944 The Amos 'n Andy Show
1944 The Westinghouse Program
1944 The Whistler
1944 The Pause That Refreshes...On the Air
1944 Columbia Presents Corwin
1944 Kay Kyser's Kollege Of Musical Knowledge
1944 The Charlie Ruggles Show
1944 The Voice Of Firestone
1944 Your All-Time Hit Parade
1944 Everything For the Boys
1944 The Jack Carson Show
1944 Molle Mystery Theatre
1944 Hollywood Mystery Time
1944 The Camel Comedy Caravan
1944 The Prudential Family Hour
1944 Saturday Night Serenade
1944 Tangee Varieties
1944 The Jackie Gleason-Les Tremayne Show
1944 The Kenny Baker Show
1944 The Charlie McCarthy Show
1944 The Dick Haymes Show
1944 The Adventures Of the Thin Man
1944 It Pays To Be Ignorant
1944 Birds Eye Open House
1944 Command Performance
1945 The Chesterfield Supper Club
1945 The Treasure Hour Of Song
1945 The Fred Waring Show
1945 The Great Gildersleeve
1945 Guy Lombardo and His Musical Autographs
1945 Kraft Music Hall
1945 Words At War
1945 The Jimmy Durante Show
1945 The Fitch Bandwagon
1945 An Evening With Romberg
1945 Arch Oboler's Plays
1945 Theatre Guild On the Air
1945 This Is My Best
1945 Hollywood Preview
1945 The Alan Young Show
1946 Marcus O'Connor, Detective First Class
1946 A Gathering In the Air
1946 Theatre Of Romance
1946 Cavalcade Of America
1946 The Cass Daley Show
1946 Suspense
1946 Lady Esther Screen Guild Theatre
1946 Dark Venture
1946 The Adventures Of Sam Spade
1946 Encore Theatre
1946 The Life Of Riley
1946 Favorite Story
1946 The Rudy Vallee Show
1947 Voyage Of the Scarlet Queen
1947 Mr President
1947 Philco Radio Time
1947 Mail Call
1948 Joan Davis Time
1948 The Amazing Mr Malone
1949 Fibber McGee and Molly
1949 Philip Morris Playhouse
1950 Sara's Private Caper
1950 The Miracle Of America
1950 Hedda Hopper's Hollywood
1951 Hollywood Star Playhouse
1951 The McCoy
1973 Hollywood Radio Theatre
1979 Sears Radio Theatre
Campbell Playhouse
The Chamber Music Society Of Lower Basin Street
Hollywood Calling
Yarns For Yanks
The Fanny Brice-Frank Morgan Show
Mr and Mrs North
Johnny Mercer's Music Shop
Front Line Theatre
This Is the story

After she turned 15, her family relocated to Monrovia, California, where Lurene Tuttle began her performing career in earnest. She obtained her formal dramatic training at the Pasadena Playhouse, appearing in many of their productions with great success. She later joined Murphy's Comedians, a vaudeville troupe, and began performing as a dramatic ingénue in stock productions.

Though Broadway eluded her, Lurene Tuttle performed on Stage regularly until the 1930s.

Known for her fine speaking voice and extraordinary range of dialects, The Depression Years lead her to work in Radio, a natural medium for her extraordinary voice talent. For the next 25 years of the Golden Age of Radio, Lurene Tuttle became one of Radio's most recognized voices in virtually every Radio venue in which she performed.

From the August 1947 issue of Radio Mirror, in Lurene Tuttle's Own words:

By Lurene Tuttle

I WONDER if the first "split-personality" a psychologist ever discovered wasn't an actress?  And if you're a radio actress as well, believe me--my personality isn't just split, it's all in little pieces.
     In the morning I wake up, peer at myself in the mirror and--yes--I can recognize the Ted hair and the grey eyes that belong to Lurene Tuttle; but an hour later I'm standing in front of a microphone, sneering my way through a broadcast as a blackhearted murderess . . . or as an eighty-year-old grandmother . . . or as a brat or as a queen . . or a barmaid.
     And that goes on all day long.

Aptly referred to as "The First Lady of Radio," she was most fondly remembered for her role as Effie, the deliciously endearing "Girl Friday," to Howard Duff's Sam Spade on The Adventures of Sam Spade. Dyed-in-the-wool Sam Spade fans universally refer to the interaction between Duff and Tuttle as pure Radio magic--and deservedly so. Her comedic timing and interplay with Duff was absolutely superb, rivalled only by the Radio chemistry between Frances Robinson and Bob Bailey in Let George Do It.

By the time Film and early Television discovered her acting talent she found second and third careers as a durable, versatile character actress in a wide range of roles characterized primarily by their depiction of archetypal middle-American wisdom and warmth. Later years found her in recurring characterizations as a 'brittle' world-weary matron.

She debuted in Film in Heaven Only Knows (1947), then appeared alongside Cary Grant in Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948) and Room for One More (1952). She performed with Marilyn Monroe in Don't Bother to Knock (1952) and Niagara (1953). She also appeared with Joan Crawford in Goodbye, My Fancy (1951) and Leslie Caron in The Glass Slipper (1955). To Film's everlasting shame, she never got her chance to appear as a lead, not for lack of either versatility or talent. As it was, she continued to develop her talent as a durable, reliable character actor--and occasional scene-stealer.

Indeed her innate ability to steal any scene--on big screen or small--with an impish, knowing grin or world-weary, cynical glance remained two of her signature characterizations throughout her remarkable career. Her only real lead during this period was her portrayal of the crazed Ma Barker, in Ma Barker's Killer Brood (1960), a B-movie that's reached cult status.

Television was more cognizant of Lurene Tuttle's natural warmth and wisdom, which, given the kinder, gentler, family oriented fare of 1950s Television, found her performing regularly in a wonderful array of sitcoms, appearing as a starchy relative, gossipy gadfly, or archetypal down-home townfolk.

Lurene Tuttle married fellow actor and announcer, Mel Ruick a performer she met often while both were performing in Radio. Their daughter, Barbara Ruick, became an actress best known for her portrayal of Carrie Pipperidge in the wonderful musical comedy Carousel (1956). Barbara Ruick later married famed American composer John Williams, but died unexpectedly in 1974, just as John Williams' world-renowned talent was becoming recognized.

Lurene Tuttle became a widely-respected Drama and diction coach for several decades. She taught radio technique in the 1940s and re-trained several prominent actors returning from World War II duty. After her Television career in the 1950s, Lurene Tuttle returned to teaching. Her students included Red Skelton, Orson Welles, Milton Berle, Steve Allen, and Jayne Meadows. She joined the faculty of The University of Southern California, teaching acting technique, and remained in Southern California until she succumbed to cancer at the age of 78.

"I have a full life - radio acting, TV shows, movies, and my daily teaching - all crammed with delight. I find that the best way for me to conduct my life is to run my life - my way." -- Lurene Tuttle

Thankfully, her fame endures as new generations of Golden Age Radio and Television fans continue to discover her anew. Thus she remains to this day--and throughout the forseeable future--as one of the most beloved, most enjoyed and most admired voice and character talents of The 20th Century.

Lurene Tuttle as listed with Wormser, Heldfond & Joseph circa 1986

A Connecticut native, beloved local--and national--Radio announcer Richard 'Dick' Joy got his start in Radio by airing some bit announcements and fill for local Los Angeles, California radio stations while attending Journalism School at the University of Southern California. After graduation from U.S.C. he became a staff announcer for the Hearst radio station, KEHE. Joy later became a staff announcer for L.A.'s CBS flagship station, Radio KNX. When Joy joined the CBS Radio network, at 21, he was their youngest staff announcer in history. Within three years, Joy entered active duty during World War II with the U.S. Naval Reserve.

During the War, Joy wrote and broadcast for the Navy's contingent of the Armed Forces Radio Service, recording the intros for Downbeat and 'Hello, Americans', among several other patriotic War effort productions.

Upon returning from the War he partnered in the construction and operation of Radio KCMJ, the voice of Palm Springs, California. Joy remained in Southern California to become the announcer for such long-running programs as Silver Theatre, The Adventures Of Sam Spade, Vox Pop, The Telephone Hour, and the Danny Kaye, Nat King Cole, and Spike Jones shows.

Not just a 'talking head' but rather a serious, full-time journalist, Dick Joy pioneered the use of a running series of 'voice bites' to punctuate and bring normally dull news narratives to life with fast-paced, succinct snippets illustrating news items. He worked with CBS News Producer Barney Miller, to create CBS Sunday Desk, the first news-capsule program to employ such voice and sound 'bites'.

Joy returned to KNX as a newscaster from 1950 - 1956, overlapping that job with work as News Director of the L.A. classical music station KFAC, a position he held from 1951 - 1967.

Dick had made a successful transition to CBS Television in the late 1940s as a reporter for CBS’ You Are There, and later as the announcer for December Bride, Perry Mason, Have Gun—Will Travel, Daktari, Lost in Space, and Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. The high point of his announcing career was while he worked for CBS Television's legendary Playhouse 90, which brought him in weekly contact with Drama's best, brightest, and most talented for four years.

Throughout those years, he freelanced in Radio and Television, while maintaining his position as News Director at KFAC. Joy spent a total of 35 years in the L.A. area, broadcasting before his retirement in 1969. He ultimately retired to the Medford Oregon area in 1975.

And yet despite this extraordiary career in Commercial and Public Communications, Dick Joy is probably most fondly remembered to this day, as the announcer for the 1940s' The Adventures of Sam Spade . . . Detective. Indeed it was Joy's own punctuation of the word 'Detective' in those weekly broadcasts that so firmly associated Dick Joy with that famous series of Golden Age Radio broadcasts.

One of the most fascinating and enduring anecdotes about Dick Joy's poise and professionalism arouse out of the famous--or infamous--The Indian Caper, or more accurately and authentically titled:

The Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchau-bunagungamaugg Caper

As the story goes, in Massachusetts, there is a town named Webster, located on the shores of Webster Lake. Apparently the actual Nipmuc Indian name of the lake is one of the longest place names in the world. A writer for The Adventures of Sam Spade was determined to work that name into an episode of 'Sam Spade'. The name became the working title for the script that aired September 25, 1949, The Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchau-bunagungamaugg Caper.

Knowing Dick Joy's reputation for being one of Radio's most poised, unflappable, and elecutory professionals, the writers and the crew conspired to play a little practical joke on Joy. Accordingly, when they rehearsed the script, they contrived to keep the title page of the episode out of Dick Joy's copy of the script--until the actual live broadcast was underway.

William Spier directed their first customary commercial break, after which they'd return and announce the 'caper' for the evening. And so as Joy completed his Wildroot Cream Oil plug, the crew handed him the infamous title page to the script, all grinning from ear to ear in anticipation of finally flummoxing the legendary Dick Joy.

He took the page, cleared his throat and seamlessly recited, "And now we return to The Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchau-bunagungamaugg Caper, brought to you by Wildroot Hair Oil."

Letter perfect, no hesitation, no faltering, no flub. Perfect. The crew's joke lay shattered, most of them muttering under their breath, 'How in heck did he manage that!??!"

What none of them could have known, least of all former New Englander William Spier, was that Joy had grown up in none other than Webster, Massachusetts.

Richard W. 'Dick' Joy, 75, veteran Radio and Television announcer died at his home in Talent, Oregon, of complications from liver disease. His legacy lives on through thousands of Radio recordings stamped with Joy's unmistakable, bell-clear, concise baritone narrations. He's remembered--and will continue to be remembered--as one of Radio's most unmistakable voices and one of Radio's most likeable personalities.

1947 Deadline Mystery
1947 Family Theatre
1949 Richard Diamond, Private Detective
1949 Screen Director's Playhouse
1950 Lux Radio Theatre
1950 The Adventures Of Sam Spade
1953 Stars Over Hollywood

Brown-haired, blue-eyed Steve [Francis] Dunne was born and raised in Northampton, Massachusetts. He got his start in his working life as a stenographer for the local General Electric Company, but at the age of 17 determined to increase his knowledge. He entered the University of Alabama, majoring in Drama and Journalism.

To finance school he secured a job as a disc-jockey at the local radio station. He liked it--so much so that he quit school and moved to Chicagoland where he became a top-flight Radio announcer. From there he took the leap of faith to the Big Apple and WOR, New York, and the Mutual Broadcasting System.

New York employment led to a screen test and a movie contract that eventually netted him featured roles in 30 films.  Steve Dunne met Vivian Bellveau in 1940. They married and soon had two children--Stephen and Christina. His Film work took him back to the West Coast, where he hooked up with Southern California Radio and Television stations under the CBS Network.

By the 1950s a locally popular fixture on KTSL, the CBS Flagship Television station, Dunne stayed busy with local origination quiz shows, late-night movie retrospectives, and the occasional Film role. His first real break in Radio came with the premature, short-lived cancellation of the Golden Age Radio classic, The Adventures of Sam Spade, formerly starring Howard Duff as Sam Spade. Clouded in obfuscation, no believable reason was ever cited for the cancellation of the program. Inundated by negative correspondence, NBC frantically resuscitated the program as The New Adventures of Sam Spade while racing around to reassemble what was left of the crew, direction, scripts and actors. The following newspaper clipping pretty much sums up the selection process:

"THE NEW Sam Spade, one of radio's most rewarding acting plums, is Steve Dunne. A veteran actor with 30 film credits and hundreds of West Coast radio and TV performances under his belt, Dunne was selected for the part in Hollywood by Director-Producer William Spier after a score of radio actors were auditioned. He now carries on his San Francisco capers on "The New Adventures of Sam Spade" at 8:30 P.M. Fridays on WSYR, playing opposite Lurene Tuttle, still heard in the
role of Effie, his secretary. Dunne succeeded Howard Duff in the title role. He was called up for the private eye assignment as a result of a five-year-old note scribbled and filed by Spier. In 1945, the producer saw a movie, "Shock," in which Dunne played a small part. Spier never met or interviewed the actor until this year, when he sought the new Sam Spade after checking his file."

Now the newest Sam Spade on the radio, Dunne was wisely hedging his bets with a featured daily appearance on the newly launched Jack Kirkwood Show on radio. He continued to work at CBS Television station KTSL and continued to develop even more ambitious plans to augment his Sam Spade success. But alas, the Sam Spade role was embarassingly short-lived. Running for only 24 'new' installments, the Adventures of Sam Spade--'New' or otherwise--came to an abrupt end at the end of April 1951.

Dunne for his part, continued to announce the commercials on What's the Name of That Song and narrate Stranger Than Fiction, in addition to starting his own program in a disc-jockey setting 'spinning platters' of 'soundie' vignettes for a call-in audience to guess at. The resulting program, Picture Platters, was relatively short-lived as well.

Dunne's career didn't lack for brushes with greatness. In 1949, Dunne starred in Columbia's Kazan (1949), with Lois Maxwell, the leggy secretary of James Bond Film fame. He did get a full six-months of acting lessons from Lurene Tuttle in the short lived New Adventures of Sam Spade. He made an erstwhile connection with famed CBS producer William Spier and his wife, June Havoc. But he later somewhat embarassingly stabbed June Havoc in the professional back by making her the goat over a silly on-screen credit kerfuffle.

The rolling credits for James Mason's 1952 film Lady Possessed said 'Introducing Steve Dunne'. Of course by that time, Dunne had already appeared in some 31 minor and feature films already. He passed it around that the Director's wife and co-star June Havoc was the one raising a ruckus about having to share on-screen credit with Dunne. Understandably, any goodwill Dunne had accrued with famed Director William Spier and his equally famous actress wife, June Havoc vanished in a thrice.

A shameless self-promoter, Dunne had compiled a long record of self-promoting, self-advancing strategies during his long employment with KTSL in Los Angeles. From his various TV disc-jockey programs, to his Love and Kisses (1950) situation comedy, to his nightly sign offs on KTSL to his short-lived Professional Father (1955) series, Dunne was never one to miss any opportunity to paint himself in a better professional light.

Sadly, almost all of these exploits seem to have continually resulted in somewhat short-lived professional showcases of his talent. He continued to compile a longer Film and Television resume, but he never again found that dream shot, like The New Adventures of Sam Spade had promised to be.

Dunne's career was not without its lighter moments. Witness this amusing account of a live 'wardrobe malfunction' during the early years of live Television situation comedy:

"Why actors prefer filmed TV:
Steve Dunne raced off stage for a wardrobe change while emoting in CBS' "My Favorite Husband." The overzealous wardrobe man in his haste not only pulled off Steve's trousers, but his shorts, too. Joan Caulfield and Barry Nelson had to ad lib while Steve recovered his dignity in the wings."

With some 80+ Television appearances to his credit, Dunne certainly proved his durability in the medium. Indeed his Television career pretty much paralleled his Radio career with a dizzying array of 'almosts' over the span of twenty-five years. If there was an Emmy for "picking yourself up, dusting yourself off, and starting all over again," Steve Dunne may very well have been a perennial award recipient. But alas it didn't pan out that way.

Doomed to be remembered as either the local L.A. TV personality that made good, or the actor that finally killed Sam Spade, neither prospect has a great deal to offer in the form of historical import. But that's not being fair, either. In the case of Sam Spade, that was NBC's incompetent bungling and no one else's. That William Spier, Lurene Tuttle, and Steve Dunne even managed to throw together another 24 episodes is a tribute to the three of them, all things considered.

As for the rest of Steve Dunne's ostensibly lackluster career, the 'luster' is clearly in the eyes of the beholder. In a market as huge as Southern California, Dunne could have simply soldiered on-- locally--and done very well for himself, thank you very much. Did his reach exceed his grasp? Possibly. But at least he reached.