Doc Savage Radio Actor Identified

Chuck Welch — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 14:55:31 +0000

With the recent pulp reprint publications of THE SHADOW and DOC SAVAGE, it seems about the perfect time to explore the medium of radio which dramatized the same stories that appeared in the pulps, on the radio. The origin of the DOC SAVAGE radio program began in December 1932, when the Knox Company of St. Louis approached Street & Smith Publishers seeking broadcast rights for The Shadow, unaware that NBC was airing THE SHADOW along the East Coast under exclusive license to a promising sponsor. Street & Smith replied favorably with a counter-offer to sponsor a series of radio dramas based on another of their successful pulp magazines, DOC SAVAGE, which premiered on news stands earlier that same calendar year. Even thought Street & Smith offered to sponsor the program, to promote the magazine, Knox rejected the offer. A series of 26 scripts, however, was later dramatized from February to August 1934 over KFRC in San Francisco. The productions were also recorded via electrical transcriptions in MacGregor & Sollie’s offices for nation-wide syndication, broadcast on more than 80 stations throughout the United States and Canada (verified in numerous advertisements in the DOC SAVAGE magazine), beginning in October 1934.

For decades, the name of the actor playing the lead of DOC SAVAGE, as well as the radio cast, has remained elusive to historians. Until now. Researcher/author Martin Grams has a new book coming out on March 31, 2011, documenting the entire history of THE SHADOW radio program. Along the way, DOC SAVAGE will receive extensive coverage. “Documentation will also include the recoding dates and master numbers for the recordings, rehearsals and the experimental pilot,” Grams explained. “Very little has been written about the radio program, and when I was handed a private collection of the MacGregor & Sollie papers and ledgers, I was surprised to discover one of the Holy Grails of DOC SAVAGE material was included. Because both THE SHADOW and DOC SAVAGE radio programs originated from Street & Smith, it seemed natural that we document what all is known about the DOC SAVAGE program, including the latest information unearthed from private archives.”

The 820 page book is titled, “THE SHADOW: The History and Mystery of the Radio Program, 1930-1954,” was recently praised by Walter Gibson historian J. Randolph Cox, who reviewed: “For the collector and historians of old-time radio, there are facts here that they may be seeking for the first time. For everyone else, this is a book to treasure.” Most fans of THE SHADOW know that the supernatural sleuth with a sepulchral chuckle began his career in July of 1930 as the narrator of spooky detective mysteries. Seven years later, Orson Welles elevated the series with a change of format: The Shadow was now fighting crime with his female companion, Margot Lane. (Spelled Margo in the pulps, Margot in the radio scripts with a silent ‘t’.) The radio program outlasted the pulps, expiring in December 1954. With rare, never-before-seen photos (including one of the lead actor who played DOC SAVAGE in 1934 and 1935), extensive episode guide with cast and plot summaries, interviews with cast and crew and exclusive research unearthing facts never-before-documented, only an index (which it has) can enhance the book’s appeal.

The book is available for pre-sale on Amazon.com for $34.95

A sneak peak of the book can be found at www.MartinGrams.com. The suggested retail price is $29.95.

(Editor’s Note: Article is a reprinting of a MartinGrams press release.)

Doc Savage Radio Actor Identified is a post from: Doc Savage Organized

Doc Savage on the Radio

Chuck Welch — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 11:26:14 +0000

Doc Savage made it to the radio three times: 1934-35, 1943, and 1985. Below is a list of the episodes culled from numerous sources.

1934-35 episodes were 15 minutes each and were written by Lester Dent.

Episode Date Title
1 02/10/1934 The Red Death
2 02/17/1934 The Golden Legacy
3 02/24/1934 The Red Lake Quest
4 03/03/1934 The Sniper in The Sky
5 03/10/1934 The Evil Extortionists
6 03/17/1934 Black-Light Magic
7 03/24/1934 Radium Scramble
8 03/31/1934 Death Had Blue Hands
9 04/07/1934 The Sinister Sleep
10 04/14/1934 The Southern Star Mystery
11 04/21/1934 The Impossible Bullet
12 04/28/1934 The Too-talkative Parrot
13 05/05/1934 The Blue Angel
14 05/12/1934 The Green Ghost
15 05/19/1934 The Box of Fear
16 05/26/1934 The Phantom Terror
17 06/02/1934 Mantrap Mesa
18 06/09/1934 Fast Workers
19 06/16/1934 Needle in a Chinese Haystack
20 06/23/1934 Monk Called it Justice
21 06/30/1934 The White Haired Devil
22 07/07/1934 The Oilfield Ogres
23 07/14/1934 The Fainting Lady
24 07/21/1934 Poison Cargo
25 07/28/1934 Find Curley Morgan
26 08/04/1934 The Growing Wizard

Episodes 27-52 were repeats of the 1934 episodes.

The 1943 episodes were 30 minutes long.

Episode Date Title
53 01/06/1943 Doc Savage
54 01/13/1943 Return From Death
55 01/20/1943 Note of Death
56 01/27/1943 Murder Charm
57 02/03/1943 Death Stalks The Morgue
58 02/10/1943 I’ll Dance On Your Grave
59 02/17/1943 Murder Is a Business
60 02/24/1943 Living Evil
61 03/03/1943 Journey Into Oblivion
62 03/10/1943 Hour of Murder
63 03/17/1943 Pharaoh’s Wisdom
64 03/24/1943 Society Amazonia
65 03/31/1943 Insect Menace
66 04/07/1943 Subway to Hell
67 04/14/1943 Monster of The Sea
68 04/21/1943 The Voice That Cried ‘Kill!’
69 04/28/1943 Cult of Satan
70 05/05/1943 When Dead Men Walk
71 05/12/1943 The Screeching Ghost
72 05/19/1943 Ransom or Death
73 05/26/1943 Murder Man
74 06/02/1943 Miracle Maniac
75 06/09/1943 Skull Man

Episodes 76-78 were repeats of selected 1943 episodes.

The 1985 National Public Radio episodes were 30 minutes each. They were two series, Fear Cay (Episodes 79-85) and The Thousand-Headed Man (Episodes 86-91)

Fear Cay
79 09/30/1985 Kidnapped
80 10/07/1985 The Hanging Man
81 10/14/1985 The Disappointing Parcel
82 10/21/1985 The Island of Death
83 10/28/1985 Terror Underground
84 11/04/1985 The Mysterious Weeds
85 11/11/1985 The Crawling Terror

The Thousand-Headed Man
86 11/18/1985 The Black Stick
87 11/25/1985 Three Black Sticks
88 12/02/1985 Flight Into Fear
89 12/09/1985 Pagoda of The Hands
90 12/16/1985 The Accursed City
91 12/23/1985 The Deadly Treasure

Originally published on the Hidalgo Trading Company
Last published October 1, 2006 on DocSavage.Info

Doc Savage on the Radio is a post from: Doc Savage Organized

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Doc Savage Radio Actor Identified

Doc Savage on the Radio