Dick Tracy had a long run on radio, from 1934 weekdays
on NBC's New England stations to the ABC network in 1948. Bob Burlen
was the first radio Tracy in 1934, and others heard in the role
during the 1930s and 1940s were Barry Thompson, Ned Wever and Matt
Crowley. The early shows all had 15-minute episodes.
On CBS, with Sterling Products as sponsor, the serial aired four
times a week from February 4, 1935 to July 11, 1935, moving to Mutual
from September 30, 1935 to March 24, 1937 with Bill McClintock doing
the sound effects. NBC's weekday afternoon run from January 3, 1938
to April 28, 1939 had sound effects by Keene Crockett and was sponsored
by Quaker Oats, which brought Dick Tracy into primetime (Saturdays
at 7pm and, briefly, Mondays at 8pm) with 30-minute episodes from
April 29, 1939 to September 30, 1939. The series returned to 15-minute
episodes on the ABC Blue Network from March 15, 1943 to July 16,
1948, sponsored by Tootsie Rolls, which used the music theme of
"Toot Toot, Tootsie" for its 30-minute Saturday ABC series
from October 6, 1945 to June 1, 1946. Sound effects on ABC were
supplied by Walt McDonough and Al Finelli.
Directors of the series included Mitchell Grayson, Charles Powers
and Bob White. Cast members at various times included Walter Kinsella
as Pat Patton, Helen Lewis as Tess Trueheart and Andy Donnelly and
Jackie Kelk as Junior Tracy. Announcers were Ed Herlihy and Dan
Seymour.
On July 8, 1945, during a New York newspaper deliverers' strike,
New York Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia read a complete Dick Tracy
strip over the radio.
This collection of Dick Tracy Greats includes 70 different
shows and appearances for a total of 17+ hours of listening enjoyment.
This product is a DVD collection of Old Time Radio mp3s. It is
designed to be played on your computer DVD drive with standard mp3
software - like Windows media player or its equivalent on Macintosh
computers. The mp3 files on the DVDs can be copied onto CDs for
play in your car stereo, home entertainment center, etc so you can
take your favorite shows with you anywhere you go.
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