WJZ (10/14/34-06/30/35) CBS WABC (07/29/35-05/25/36) CBS (06/01/36-06/28/54) NBC (09/14/54-06/07/55)
TV adaptations
Lux Video Theatre (1950–57)
Hosted by
John Anthony, Albert Hayes, Cecil B. DeMille, William Keighley, Irving Cummings
Written by
George Wells, Sanford Barnett
Directed by
Antony Stanford, Frank Woodruff, Sanford Barnett, Fred MacKaye, Earl Ebi, Norman Macdonnell
Recording studio
1934–1936 New York City 1936–1955 Hollywood
Original release
October 14, 1934 – June 7, 1955
No. of series
21
No. of episodes
927
Audio format
Monaural sound
Podcast
Lux Radio Theater
Lux Radio Theatre, sometimes spelled Lux Radio Theater, a classic radio anthology series, was broadcast on the NBC Blue Network (1934–35) (owned by the National Broadcasting Company, later predecessor of American Broadcasting Company [ABC] in 1943–1945); CBS Radio network (Columbia Broadcasting System) (1935–54), and NBC Radio (1954–55). Initially, the series adapted Broadway plays[1] during its first two seasons before it began adapting films. These hour-long radio programs were performed live before studio audiences. The series became the most popular dramatic anthology series on radio, broadcast for more than 20 years and continued on television as the Lux Video Theatre through most of the 1950s. The primary sponsor of the show was Unilever through its Lux Soap brand.
Broadcasting from New York, the series premiered at 2:30 pm, October 14, 1934, on the NBC Blue Network with a production of Seventh Heaven starring Miriam Hopkins and John Boles in a full-hour adaptation of the 1922–24 Broadway production by Austin Strong. The host was the show's fictional producer, Douglass Garrick (portrayed by John Anthony). Doris Dagmar played another fictional character, Peggy Winthrop, who delivered the Lux commercials. Each show featured a scripted session with Garrick talking to the lead actors. Anthony appeared as Garrick from the premiere 1934 episode until June 30, 1935. Garrick was portrayed by Albert Hayes from July 29, 1935, to May 25, 1936, when the show moved to the West Coast.[2]
Famed studio executive and film producer and director Cecil B. DeMille took over as the host on June 1, 1936, continuing until January 22, 1945. That initial episode with DeMille featured stars Marlene Dietrich and Clark Gable in The Legionnaire and the Lady.[1] On several occasions, usually when he was out of town, he was temporarily replaced by various celebrities, including Leslie Howard and Edward Arnold.
Lux Radio Theatre strove to feature as many of the original stars of the original stage and film productions as possible, usually paying them $5,000 an appearance. In 1936, when sponsor manufacturer Lever Brothers (who made Lux brand soap and detergent) moved the show from New York City to Hollywood, the program began to emphasize adaptations of films rather than plays. The first Lux film adaptation was The Legionnaire and the Lady, with Marlene Dietrich and Clark Gable, based on the film Morocco. That was followed by a Lux adaptation of The Thin Man, featuring the movie's actual stars, Myrna Loy and William Powell.
^ abElliott, Jordan (Summer 2015). "Hooray for Hollywood!". Nostalgia Digest. 41 (3): 24–30.
^Audio Classics Archive Radio Logs: Lux Radio Theater
LuxRadioTheatre, sometimes spelled LuxRadio Theater, a classic radio anthology series, was broadcast on the NBC Blue Network (1934–35) (owned by the...
LuxRadioTheatre was an American radio show that ran on the NBC Blue Network (1934–35), the CBS Radio network (Columbia Broadcasting System) (1935–54)...
2015. "The LuxRadioTheatre". RadioGOLDINdex. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved June 27, 2015. "LuxRadioTheatre 1938". Internet...
(1932). Beginning in the 1930s, Grant appeared in over 20 radio programs, usually LuxRadioTheatre. In 1940, Grant appeared opposite Rosalind Russell in...
Three", LuxRadioTheatre at Internet Archive "The Perfect Specimen" LuxRadioTheatre at Internet Archive "Lives of a Bengal Lancer", LuxRadioTheatre at...
took part in six original radio plays for Family Theater. During those same years, she read parts in four episodes of LuxRadio Theater, sharing the microphone...
Times radio programme guide. Howard was also a guest performer on such shows as The Rudy Vallee Show/Fleischmann's Yeast Hour, LuxRadioTheatre, The Silver...
Broadway Database Bette Davis official website Jerry Haendiges Vintage Radio Logs: LuxRadio Theater Spada, James (1993). More Than a Woman. Little, Brown, and...
206. Leamer 1986, pp. 372–373. "LuxRadioTheatre Log". www.audio-classics.com. Retrieved 26 December 2020. "Radio Today" (PDF). New York Times. 16 January...
Destry." Between films, Stewart had begun a radio career and had become a distinctive voice on the LuxRadio Theater, The Screen Guild Theater, and other...
Palladium. Garland set a record when she appeared for 19 weeks at the Palace Theatre in New York City, also in 1951, and her 1961 concert Judy at Carnegie Hall...
including The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse, Lux Video Theatre, Danger, Suspense and Starlight Theatre. He returned to Hollywood to appear in Here Comes...
an Ernest Hemingway novel. Co-starring Helen Hayes, a leading New York theatre star and Academy Award winner, and Adolphe Menjou, the film presented Cooper...
Were the Days". Nostalgia Digest. Vol. 37, no. 1. Winter 2011. p. 32. "Radio Guide". Altoona Tribune. Altoona, PA. August 16, 1949. p. 19. Retrieved...
original on November 27, 2020. Retrieved November 17, 2020. "LuxRadioTheatre". Old Radio World.com. Retrieved December 5, 2021. "Those Were the Days"...
Playhouse". Jerry Haendiges Vintage Radio Logs. Retrieved 2008-04-12. "Lux Presents Hollywood". Jerry Haendiges Vintage Radio Logs. Archived from the original...
Republican Army. During this period he also became involved with the Abbey Theatre. He fled Ireland with a bounty set on his head by the British government...
the UK, encouraged her to perform at an early age. He built a backyard theatre for Lupino and her sister Rita (1921–2016), who also became an actress...
Lux Video Theatre was a spin-off from the successful LuxRadio Theater series broadcast on the NBC Blue Network (1934–1935) and CBS (1935–1955). Lux Video...
Place, at Paramount –Import at Trans-Lux Annie Get Your Gun, Starring Betty Hutton, Is Presented at Loew's State Theatre". The New York Times. Retrieved April...
Hollywood Music Box Theatre, CA (1933) Three-Cornered Moon, Lobero Theatre, Santa Barbara CA (1933) Flowers of the Forest, Martin Beck Theatre, NY (1935–1936)...
of Adventures in Paradise, The Errol Flynn Theatre, The Joseph Cotten Show, and The Ford Television Theatre. In 1958, Goddard remarried for the final time...
Lux Summer Theatre is a CBS Radio (Columbia Broadcasting System) anthology series which ran during the summer of 1953 in the LuxRadioTheatre's regular...
opening on January 15 at the Shubert Theatre. After moving to Maxine Elliott's Theatre, and then the Casino Theatre, it closed on September 29, 1917. Webb...
Magazine. March 2017. Retrieved March 7, 2024. List of LuxRadioTheatre episodes "Vintage Radio Shows". Vintageradioshows.com. Archived from the original...
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