Damon Runyon Theater

Last updated
Damon Runyon Theater
Genre Anthology
Presented by Donald Woods
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes39
Production
ProducersLou Breslow
Michael Kraike
Running time30 minutes
Production companiesNormandie Television Pictures, Inc.
Original release
Network CBS
ReleaseApril 16, 1955 (1955-04-16) 
June 30, 1956 (1956-06-30)

Damon Runyon Theater is an American television program that presented dramatized versions of Damon Runyon's short stories. Hosted by Donald Woods, [1] the program aired for a total of 39 episodes on CBS from April 1955 through February 1956 (repeats continued through June).

Contents

Radio

Damon Runyon Theatre was broadcast on radio in the late 1940s. Actor John Brown had the role of Broadway, the narrator who often participated in the stories. Russell Hughes adapted Runyon's stories, including characters such as Harrigan, the Cop, Harry the Horse, Little Miss Marker, and Milk-Ear Willie. [2] Richard Sanville directed the program, and Vern Carstensen was the producer. Stations that carried the show included WOR in New York [3] and KGO in San Francisco. [4]

Episode list

Season 1

#TitleOriginal Airdate
1-1"Pick the Winner" (pilot)April 16, 1955
1-2"Dancing Dan's Christmas"April 23, 1955
1-3"All Is Not Gold"April 30, 1955
1-4"The Lacework Kid"May 7, 1955
1-5"Numbers and Figures"May 14, 1955
1-6"Tobias the Terrible"May 21, 1955
1-7"Old Em's Kentucky Home"May 28, 1955
1-8"Lonely Heart"June 4, 1955
1-9"It Comes Up Money"June 11, 1955
1-10"The Big Umbrella"June 18, 1955
1-11"Big Shoulders"June 25, 1955
1-12"Teacher's Pet"July 2, 1955
1-13"The Mink Doll"July 9, 1955 [5]
1-14"Bunny On the Beach"July 16, 1955
1-15"The Big Fix"July 23, 1955
1-16"A Light In France"July 30, 1955
1-17"A Nice Price"August 6, 1955
1-18"Small Town Caper"August 13, 1955
1-19"There's No Forever"August 20, 1955
1-20"Earthquake Morgan"August 27, 1955

Season 2

#TitleOriginal Airdate
2-1"Bred For Battle"October 15, 1955
2-2"Miami Moolah"October 22, 1955
2-3"Situation Wanted"October 29, 1955
2-4"A Star Lights Up"November 5, 1955
2-5"Broadway Dateline"November 12, 1955
2-6"A Job For the Macarone"November 26, 1955
2-7"Barbecue"December 3, 1955
2-8"Honorary Degree"December 10, 1955
2-9"Dog About Town"December 17, 1955
2-10"Blonde Mink"December 24, 1955
2-11"Judy the Jinx"December 31, 1955
2-12"The Face of Johnny Dolliver"January 7, 1956
2-13"Cleo"January 14, 1956
2-14"The Good Luck Kid"January 21, 1956
2-15"The Pee Wees Take Over"January 28, 1956
2-16"The Pigeon Gets Plucked"February 4, 1956
2-17"A Tale of Two Citizens"February 11, 1956
2-18"Hot Oil"February 18, 1956
2-19"Miracle Jones"February 25, 1956

Guest Stars

Actors who appeared on the series included:

Production

Lou Breslow was the producer, and the show was a Screen Gems production. [6] Sidney Miller directed the program. [7] It was sponsored by Anheuser-Busch's Budweiser beer, [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Damon Runyon</span> American writer (1880–1946)

Alfred Damon Runyon was an American journalist and short-story writer.

The year 1957 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events during 1957.

The year 1954 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events in 1954.

The year 1949 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events during 1949.

Texaco Star Theater is an American comedy-variety show, broadcast on radio from 1938 to 1949 and telecast from 1948 to 1956. It was one of the first successful examples of American television broadcasting, remembered as the show that gave Milton Berle the nickname "Mr. Television".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorothy Lamour</span> American actress and singer (1914–1996)

Dorothy Lamour was an American actress and singer. She is best remembered for having appeared in the Road to... movies, a series of successful comedies starring Bing Crosby and Bob Hope.

<i>Armstrong Circle Theatre</i> American anthology drama television series

Armstrong Circle Theatre is an American anthology drama television series which ran from June 6, 1950, to June 25, 1957, on NBC, and from October 2, 1957, to August 28, 1963, on CBS. It alternated weekly with The U.S. Steel Hour. It finished in the Nielsen ratings at number 19 for the 1950–1951 season and number 24 for 1951–1952. The principal sponsor was Armstrong World Industries.

<i>The United States Steel Hour</i> Television series

The United States Steel Hour is an anthology series which brought hour-long dramas to television from 1953 to 1963. The television series and the radio program that preceded it were both sponsored by the United States Steel Corporation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eleanor Audley</span> American actress (1905–1991)

Eleanor Audley was an American actress with a distinctive voice and a diverse body of work. She played Oliver Douglas's mother, Eunice Douglas, on the CBS sitcom Green Acres (1965–1969), and provided Disney animated features with the voices of the two iconic villains: Lady Tremaine in Cinderella (1950), and Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty (1959). She had roles in live-action films, but was most active in radio programs such as My Favorite Husband as Liz Cooper's mother-in-law, Mrs. Cooper, and Father Knows Best as the Anderson family's neighbor, Mrs. Smith. Audley's television appearances include those in I Love Lucy, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Mister Ed, Hazel, The Beverly Hillbillies, Pistols 'n' Petticoats, and My Three Sons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lois Collier</span> American actress (1919–1999)

Lois Collier was an American actress born in Salley, South Carolina. She was sometimes credited as Lois Collyer.

<i>Fireside Theatre</i> American anthology TV series (1949–1958)

Fireside Theatre is an American anthology drama series that ran on NBC from 1949 to 1958, and was the first successful filmed series on American television. Early episodes (1949-1955) were low-budget and often based on public domain stories. While the series was dismissed by critics, it remained among the top ten most popular shows for most of this period. For the 8th season (1955–1956) Jane Wyman became the host and producer making it only the second filmed prime time network drama anthology to be hosted by a woman. Later episodes (1955–1958) were written by important freelance television writers such as Rod Serling, Aaron Spelling and Gene Roddenberry. It predates the other major pioneer of filmed television production in America, I Love Lucy, by two years.

<i>Kraft Television Theatre</i> 1947-1958 anthology drama television series

Kraft Television Theatre is an American anthology drama television series running from 1947 to 1958. It began May 7, 1947 on NBC, airing at 7:30pm on Wednesday evenings until December of that year. It first promoted MacLaren's Imperial Cheese, which was advertised nowhere else. In January 1948, it moved to 9pm on Wednesdays, continuing in that timeslot until 1958. Initially produced by the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency, the live hour-long series offered television plays with new stories and new characters each week, in addition to adaptations of such classics as A Christmas Carol and Alice in Wonderland. The program was broadcast live from Studio 8-H at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, currently the home of Saturday Night Live.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthology series</span> Form of broadcast entertainment

An anthology series is a written series, radio, television, film, or video game series that presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a different cast in each episode, but several series in the past, such as Four Star Playhouse, employed a permanent troupe of character actors who would appear in a different drama each week. Some anthology series, such as Studio One, began on radio and then expanded to television.

The Philco Television Playhouse is an American television anthology series that was broadcast live on NBC from 1948 to 1955. Produced by Fred Coe, the series was sponsored by Philco. It was one of the most respected dramatic shows of the Golden Age of Television, winning a 1954 Peabody Award and receiving eight Emmy nominations between 1951 and 1956.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fletcher Markle</span> Canadian entertainer

Fletcher Markle was a Canadian actor, screenwriter, television producer and director. Markle began a radio career in Canada, then worked in radio, film and television in the United States.

<i>Ford Star Jubilee</i> American TV anthology series

Ford Star Jubilee is an American anthology series that originally aired monthly on Saturday nights on CBS at 9:30 P.M., E.S.T. from September 24, 1955, to November 3, 1956,. The series was approximately 90 minutes long, broadcast in black-and-white and color, and was typically telecast live. Ford Star Jubilee was sponsored by the Ford Motor Company.

<i>Ford Theatre</i> Television and radio series

Ford Theatre, spelled Ford Theater for the original radio version and known, in full, as The Ford Television Theatre for the TV version, is a radio and television anthology series broadcast in the United States in the 1940s and 1950s. At various times the television series appeared on all three major television networks, while the radio version was broadcast on two separate networks and on two separate coasts. Ford Theatre was named for its sponsor, the Ford Motor Company, which had an earlier success with its concert music series, The Ford Sunday Evening Hour (1934–42).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elliott Lewis (actor)</span> American actor (1917–1990)

Elliott Lewis was an American actor, writer, producer, and director who worked in radio and television during the 20th century. He was known for his ability to work in these capacities across all genres during the golden age of radio, which earned him the nickname "Mr. Radio". Later in life, he wrote a series of detective novels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Manulis</span> American film, television and theatre producer

Martin Ellyot Manulis was an American television, film, and theatre producer. Manulis was best known for his work in the 1950s producing the CBS Television programs Suspense, Studio One Summer Theatre, Climax!, The Best of Broadway and Playhouse 90. He was the sole producer of the award-winning drama series, Playhouse 90, during its first two seasons from 1956 to 1958.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Ellis (actor, born 1933)</span> American child actor (1933–1973)

Robert Ellis was an American film and television actor in the 1940s and 1950s, who was the last actor to play Henry Aldrich on the radio series The Aldrich Family.

References

  1. Terrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. p. 230. ISBN   978-0-7864-64777.
  2. "Radio and Television". The New York Times. July 26, 1949. p. 48. Retrieved November 26, 2020 via ProQuest.
  3. "The Damon Runyon Theater" (PDF). Billboard. September 3, 1949. p. 12. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  4. "On the dotted line ..." (PDF). Broadcasting. p. 24. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  5. "Lamour, Morris In Runyon Theatre". Daily World. Louisiana, Opelousas. July 3, 1956. p. 15. Retrieved July 14, 2023 via Newspapers.com.
  6. "(untitled brief)". Ross Reports on Television including The Television Index. February 2, 1955. p. 2. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
  7. Scheuer, Steven H. (November 12, 1955). "Real Pro At Helm Of Runyon". The Record. New Jersey, Hackensack. p. 40. Retrieved June 11, 2020 via Newspapers.com.
  8. "'Runyon Theatre' To CBS-TV; 'Tune' Gets Sponsor Axe". Variety. February 16, 1955. p. 22. Retrieved April 4, 2023.