That is episode #480 “Letter Of The Law” and it was, indeed, The End. And even so, it was a rebroadcast of the episode of 07-15-56. The last real episode was the week before, #479 06-11-61 “Doc’s Visitor”. If you listen to it, you can tell it’s over.
This is really good Patrick. There has been so much debate about when the old-time radio era actually ended, but it is still a very interesting issue. The final radio soap operas were aired on November 25, 1960. But if both YTJD and Suspense left the air after September 30, 1962 that seems as good a time as any. I guess Gunsmoke must have been gone by then also.
Larry
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From: "Patrick Andre"
To: "main@OldTimeRadioResearchers.groups.io"
Cc:
Sent: Friday April 3 2020 3:19:44PM
Subject: Re: [OldTimeRadioResearchers] favorite shows
Favorites for me:
Philip Marlowe
Broadway Is My Beat
Pretty much everything Jack Webb did (Pat Novak, Johnny Madaro, Jeff Regan, Pat Novak again, then Dragnet)
May other detective type (Frank Race, Barry Craig, Peter Chambers...)
And..
Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar – which brings me to this:
Actually there were 6 Johnny Dollars in two eras, plus two others who did demo recordings. The pre-Bob Bailey era had a different theme, and different feeling to the episodes.
Dick Powell did an audition in December 1948, but the role went to Charles Russell from 1949-1950.
Edmond O’Brien had the role from 1950-1952, followed by John Lund (52-54).
Personal opinion: O’Brien did the best work.
Then the show took the 54-55 season off. At that point, it was reworked, and Gerald Mohr did an audition tape.
However the role went to Bob Bailey (I can’t imagine how the show would have been with Mohr in the role).
Bailey kept he role from 55-60. However in 1960, it was decided to move production to New York, and Bailey didn’t want to go.
So Bob Readick had the role from 60-61, and finally Mandel Kramer from 61-62.
Suspense and YTJD both aired September 30, 1962 for the last time. “The Tip-Off Matter” is stated as the final show of the that era. It is eerily sad to listen to.
I have the three volume set (yes, 3!) by John C. Abbott of The “Who Is Johnny Dollar” Matter. It is amazing piece of work, including synopsis for every episode, and an attempt to write a closing script if Jack Johnstone would have written one. He put a great deal of work into this, including expense totals for all episodes by actor – total for all episodes? $315,228.68.
I digress. Thanks for listening... or rather reading.
The one I remember is Bob Bailey, and I thought there was a special quality in his voice that brought an immediacy to every line he spoke. It was kind of like listening to Harry Caray broadcast the St. Louis Cardinals games at about that same time. His voice crackled with energy and enthusiasm. But you are right. I just took a quick look at John Dunning's "On the Air" because I couldn't remember Bob's last name, and it's amazing how many actors participated in that program during its run and how many Johnny Dollars there were.
Larry
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From: "BrianWest2 via groups.io"
To: main@OldTimeRadioResearchers.groups.io
Cc:
Sent: Friday April 3 2020 12:41:51PM
Subject: Re: [OldTimeRadioResearchers] favorite shows
Thanks larry, one of the things that I like about it is that there were 4 or 5 different johnnies and they all sound the same!
-----Original Message-----
From: Larry Maupin <lmaupin@...>
To: 'main@OldTimeRadioResearchers.groups.io' <main@OldTimeRadioResearchers.groups.io>
Sent: Fri, Apr 3, 2020 12:37 pm
Subject: Re: [OldTimeRadioResearchers] favorite shows
Hello Brian, and thank you for posting such an interesting message. I have probably listened to every episode of "Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar". When I was a teenager in Oak Ridge, Tennessee an episode of the show was played every evening on one of the local radio stations. I loved the theme music, and used to listen in the dark so nothing would distract me from the experience.
Larry
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From: "BrianWest2 via groups.io"
To: Main@OldTimeRadioResearchers.groups.io
Cc:
Sent: Friday April 3 2020 12:26:52PM
Subject: [OldTimeRadioResearchers] favorite shows
Hi, I am 62 yrs (at least I will be next week), from Connecticut and I became a fan of OTR about 20 yrs ago. Too many good shows but Jack Benny is on top but there is also Bob Hope, Fred Allen and Burns and Allen. I love six-shooter (wish it lasted longer than a year), gunsmoke, and fort Laramie. I like many detective shows like Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar(the fact that it is centered around the insurance industry of Hartford, CT helps), Sherlock Holmes, The Saint Dragnet and many others. Suspense is fantastic.
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Larry Maupin
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Larry Maupin
