Stars on Suspense (Old Time Radio)

In these two tales from "Suspense," Oscar winner William Holden is a trumpet player trapped in a love triangle in "Blood on the Trumpet" (originally aired on CBS on November 9, 1950) and a cop on the trail of some hot rods from hell in "Report on the Jolly Death Riders" (originally aired on CBS on August 27, 1951).

We love Lucy, especially when she’s starring on Suspense! Lucille Ball is joined by then-husband Desi Arnaz in “The Red-Headed Woman” (originally aired on CBS on November 17, 1949). Then, she stars in an episode of My Favorite Husband from January 28, 1949.

Best known for crooning and comedy, Dennis Day shows off his dramatic side in Suspense. First he plays a beatnik in "Like, Man, Somebody Dig Me" (an Armed Forces Radio Service rebroadcast of an episode from August 16, 1959). Then, he's a desperate man who turns to crime in "Christmas for Carol" (originally aired on CBS on December 21, 1950). And as a special holiday bonus, we'll hear a Christmas episode of A Day in the Life of Dennis Day (originally aired on NBC on December 25, 1946).

Generations of viewers knew Lloyd Nolan from B-movies of the 1940s and later in television appearances through the 1980s. The Emmy winning star worked steadily in a fifty-six year career, always elevating material with his performances, whether he was playing heroes or heavies. We'll hear Nolan in "Heart's Desire" (originally aired on CBS on March 22, 1945) and "Murder for Myra" (originally aired on CBS on August 9, 1945).

Horror icon Vincent Price is back on Suspense in two more old time radio thrillers - including one of the scariest the medium ever produced. We'll hear Price as an artist with a dangerous muse in "The Name of the Beast" (originally aired on CBS on April 11, 1946). Then, you'll want to leave the lights on for "Three Skeleton Key" (originally aired on CBS on November 11, 1956). In this classic chiller, Price narrates the story of a lighthouse under siege from thousands of ravenous rats.

You'd never guess J. Carrol Naish hailed from New York. Celebrated as "Hollywood's one-man U.N.", Naish could convincingly play characters from all around the world. In his appearances on Suspense, Naish put his talents for accents and dialects to good use. We'll hear him in "Footfalls" (originally aired on July 12, 1945) and "Commuter's Ticket" (originally aired on CBS on August 1, 1946).

Tough big screen leading man Dana Andrews made four visits to “radio’s outstanding theater of thrills,” and the star of Laura, Where the Sidewalk Ends, and The Best Years of Our Lives made memorable impressions as both heroes and villains. We’ll hear him as a writer plotting the perfect murder in “Two Birds With One Stone” (originally aired on CBS on May 17, 1945) and as a cop pursuing a psychotic killer in an adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s “The Crowd” (originally aired on CBS on September 2

With her glamorous looks and her mellifluous accent, Marlene Dietrich kept audiences captivated on stage and screen in her native Germany and later in Hollywood. We'll hear Marlene Dietrich in her only Suspense appearance: "Murder Strikes Three Times" (originally aired on CBS on February 16, 1950). Then, she stars as a singer and spy in an episode of the international adventure drama Time for Love.

The "first lady of Suspense" returns to the podcast as Agnes Moorehead stars in two more old time radio thrillers. In these two shows - one a blend of comedy and crime and the other a tense psychological drama - Ms. Moorehead demonstrates why she made more appearances on the program than any other guest star. We'll hear "Post Mortem" (originally aired on CBS on April 4, 1946) and "The Thirteenth Sound" (originally aired on CBS on February 13, 1947).

Oscar winner Van Heflin made memorable appearances in Johnny Eager, 3:10 to Yuma and Shane, and he lent his powerful presence to the radio role of Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe. In nine visits to Suspense, he played complex heroes and despicable heels, and sometimes his characters were blends of both. We'll hear him in "Three Blind Mice" (originally aired on CBS on January 30, 1947) and "The Lady in the Red Hat" (originally aired on CBS on November 30, 1950).

For Halloween, “Stars On Suspense” presents two of the biggest names in horror cinema – Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff starring in “radio’s outstanding theater of thrills.” Lugosi plays a psychologist with a murderous theory he plans to test in “The Doctor Prescribed Death” (originally aired on CBS on February 2, 1943). Then, Karloff is a Scotland Yard man who’s new case has strange ties to his own past in “Drury’s Bones” (originally aired on CBS on January 25, 1945).

Fredric March was one of the most celebrated stars of stage and screen, a man whose performances earned him a pair of Oscars and two Tony Awards. We’ll hear him in two appearances on Suspense: first as a thespian out to find his daughter’s killer in “Actor’s Blood” (originally aired on CBS on August 24, 1944) and then as a fire inspector whose latest case hits close to home in “The Night Reveals” (originally aired on CBS on May 26, 1949).

With scintillating performances in Gilda and more, Rita Hayworth was a box office draw and a pin-up idol of the 1940s and 1950s. But there was more to Hayworth than her gorgeous looks and her status as a Hollywood “love goddess.” We’ll hear her as a murderess contending with a blackmailer in “Three Times Murder” (originally aired on October 3, 1946). Then we’ll hear her playing for laughs opposite George Burns and Gracie Allen in an episode from March 21, 1944.

We bid adieu to Peter Lorre as the star of Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon, and M makes his final appearances on “radio’s outstanding theater of thrills.” First, he’s a mysterious count who makes a dangerous offer to his niece’s suitor in “The Devil’s Saint” (originally aired on CBS on January 19, 1943). Then, Lorre plays a demented killer recounting his life story to a room full of terrified hostages in “Nobody Loves Me” (originally aired on CBS on August 30, 1945).

When William Bendix visited Suspense, it was anything but a “revoltin’ development.” Best known as bumbling sitcom patriarch Chester A. Riley, Bendix could show off the dramatic chops he displayed on the big screen when he appeared on “radio’s outstanding theater of thrills.” We’ll hear him in “Three Faces at Midnight” (originally aired on CBS on February 27, 1947) and “The Gift of Jumbo Brannigan” (originally aired on CBS on March 1, 1951).