Golden Age Radio's Power Couples:
Love Stories Behind the Microphone
This article is an excerpt
from RUSC Member's Area
You may not have realized, but some of Hollywood's most famous couples were brought together during the golden age of radio, and starred in radio shows together.
Probably the most famous is, of course, Fibber McGee and Molly, played by Jim and Marian Jordan. They married on the 31st of August 1918 and remained blissfully happy until Marian's death in 1961.
Here are a few more that you may know of:
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Ozzie & Harriet Nelson, who were married for 40 years
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George Burns and Gracie Allen, who were married for 38 years
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Jack Benny and Mary Livingstone (nee Sadie Marks), who were married for 47 years
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Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart, who were married for 12 years
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Fred Allen and Portland Hoffa, who were married for 29 years
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Phil Harris and Alice Faye, who were married for 54 years
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Ronald Colman and Benita Hume Coleman, who were married for 20 years
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Goodman and Jane Ace, who were married for 52 years
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Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, who were married for 51 years
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Elliott and Cathy Lewis, who were married for 15 years. Elliott later married Mary Jane Croft, who he was married to for 30 years)
Although they weren't married in real life, my absolute favorite old-time radio couple is Mr & Mrs Piper in The Couple Next Door. Every single show we listen to has Joy and I doubled over with laughter, as their situations are just so true to real-life marriage, it's uncanny. Sometimes it's so on-the-money, that it's like Peg Lynch had a live feed into our home, and was writing about our marriage from when we were first hitched! Does this happen to you too?
Another interesting, albeit a little odd, series was called Bride and Groom, broadcast in 1947 on ABC Radio, in which couples would tie the knot live on the air, and then be interviewed afterward by John Nelson, who would present them with wedding gifts and a free honeymoon. I know I've listened to at least eight of those shows before, but I can't seem to lay my hands on them today. I certainly will add them to RUSC over the coming weeks though.
As I have mentioned new series, have you seen the latest I've added? It's a comedy called The Johnson Family. It's a one-man show, but don't let that put you off - this guy was the ultimate opposite of an on-the-air couple! Jimmy Scribner wrote, directed, created the sound effects, played the music, and acted in every single character in the show's fictional southern town of Chickazola. This sometimes stretched to a tremendous 22 characters in one episode! I'd really recommend you give it a listen. I simply couldn't believe that just one man could do it all - it's incredible!
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