Once again it’s time for another journey back to The Golden Age of Radio. As your announcer said, I’m Mike Alexander your travel guide for the journey. While we are in the Golden Age of Radio we will listen to some of the classic radio shows of that time. Find yourself a comfortable seat on the Time Portal. While I get things ready, I’ll fill you in on where this week’s journey will take us.
This week’s episodes from The Golden Age of Radio will be to honor Humphrey Bogart. We’ll travel to 1943 to listen to a comedy program with Bogart as the guest. Then it’s off to 1946 to listen to Bogart in an episode from a program that presented capsulized versions of hit motion pictures.
Before we begin the journey back, here is the answer to last week’s question. I told you that Cary Grant was chosen by the American Film Institute as the second greatest male star of the Golden Age of Hollywood Cinema. I asked if you could name the number one male star. The answer is the man we honor on this journey, Humphrey Bogart. There were a lot of correct answers. Looks like we have old movie buffs as well as radio buffs listening to the program.
Things are all set to go. Get comfortable as we start back to the Golden Age of Radio.
Sunday, September 12, 1943 will be the first stop to listen to an episode from The Charlie McCarthy Show with Humphrey Bogart as the guest. Humphrey DeForest Bogart’s birthday has been reported a January 23, 1899 and December 25, 1899. It is reported that Warner Bros. Studios created that Christmas day birth to romanticize Bogart’s background. Bogart’s birth certificate has never been found, so who knows. Bogart always celebrated his birthday on December 25th. For our purposes, we are using the January birthday.
Bogart was born in New York City. Bogart’s parents very successful. His father was surgeon and his mother a commercial illustrator. In fact, she used a baby Humphrey drawing in a well-known advertising campaign for Mellins Baby Food.
They lived in a fashionable Upper West Side apartment in NYC and had a cottage in upstate New York. Bogie attended Trinity School in New York City and then the prestigious prep school Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. He was expelled from the academy. The details of the expulsion are disputed. There is also a story that his father pulled him out of the academy due to poor grades. So we’ll never know.
I am turning back the time portal’s radio dial to Sunday, September 12, 1943 to listen to the Charlie McCarthy Show with Humphrey Bogart as the guest.
Bogart joined the Navy in 1918. After leaving the Navy, he joined the Naval Reserves and drifted into acting. He began his acting career on Brooklyn stage in 1921. He never took acting lesson sand had no formal training. After appearing in 21 Broadway Productions, Bogart was cast as Duke Mantee, the gangster, in the play “The Petrified Forest.” He starred opposite Leslie Howard. Howard realized how crucial Bogart was to the play’s success. When Warner Bros. bought the script to the play, they cast Leslie Howard in the role he played on Broadway. Warner Bros. chose Edward G. Robinson to play the Duke Mantee role. When Howard found out, he insisted that Bogie get the part. Realizing Howard would not budge, Warner Bros. relented and gave the part to Bogart. Upon release of the film in 1936, a new movie star was born.
You’re listening to the Unforgettable Radio Theater. Our trip back to The Golden Age of Radio will continue after this.
