Running time | 15 minutes |
---|---|
Country of origin | United States |
Language(s) | English |
Syndicates | NBC Radio |
Starring | Anne Elstner Leo McCabe Michael Fitzmaurice |
Announcer | Ford Bond Frank Gallop Howard Claney Jimmy Wallington Jack Costello Roger Krupp |
Created by | Olive Higgins Prouty (original novel) |
Written by | Frank and Anne Hummert |
Directed by | Ernest Ricca Richard Leonard Norman Sweetser |
Produced by | Frank and Anne Hummert |
Original release | October 25, 1937 – December 23, 1955 |
Opening theme | "How Can I Leave Thee?" |
Sponsored by | Bayer Double Dandrine shampoo |
Podcast | The Egyptian Mummy Stream episode from archive.org |
Stella Dallas was an American radio soap opera that ran from October 25, 1937, to December 23, 1955. [1] The New York Times described the title character as "the beautiful daughter of an impoverished farmhand who had married above her station in life." [2]
The series was created and produced by the husband and wife team of Frank and Anne Hummert, based on the 1923 novel Stella Dallas by Olive Higgins Prouty. The 15-minute drama began on October 25, 1937, as a local show on WEAF in New York City, [1] in the wake of the successful movie version starring Barbara Stanwyck, and it was picked up by the NBC Radio network beginning June 6, 1938, running weekday afternoons. [3]
Stella was played for the entire run of the series by Anne Elstner. Her husband Stephen Dallas was portrayed at various times by Leo McCabe, Arthur Hughes and Frederick Tazere. Initially, Joy Hathaway played Stella's daughter Laurel with Vivian Smolen later taking over the role. Laurel's husband was Dick Grosvenor (played by Carleton Young, Macdonald Carey, Spencer Bentley, George Lambert and Michael Fitzmaurice).
The program's opening told the premise of the drama:
The radio play inspired the name of the home furnishing store Stella Dallas in Dallas, Texas.[ citation needed ]
Announcers for Stella Dallas were Ford Bond, Frank Gallop, Howard Claney, Jimmy Wallington, Jack Costello, and Roger Krupp. Directors included Ernest Ricca, Richard Leonard, and Norman Sweetser. [1]
Stella Dallas is a 1923 novel by Olive Higgins Prouty and published by Houghton Mifflin, written in response to the death of her three-year-old daughter from encephalitis. It tells the story of the eponymous protagonist, a working-class woman who marries a rich businessman but struggles to adapt to her new life. After the marriage fails, she sacrifices her own happiness for the sake of her daughter.
Ma Perkins is an American radio soap opera that was heard on NBC from 1933 to 1949 and on CBS from 1942 to 1960. It was also broadcast in Canada, and Radio Luxembourg carried it in Europe.
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Stella Dallas is a 1937 American drama film based on Olive Higgins Prouty's 1923 novel of the same name. It was directed by King Vidor and stars Barbara Stanwyck, John Boles, and Anne Shirley. At the 10th Academy Awards, Stanwyck and Shirley were nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role and Best Actress in a Supporting Role, respectively.
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Edward Frank Hummert, Jr., professionally known as Frank Hummert and sometimes credited as E. Frank Hummert, was an American advertising agent originally but was best known for writing/producing episodes of nearly 100 daytime/primetime radio dramas and soap opera serials between the 1930s and the 1950s.
Anne Elstner Matthews was an American actress best known for her role in the radio soap opera Stella Dallas during its entire run from 1937 to 1955. For 18 years, Elstner voiced the serial's title character, described by The New York Times as "the beautiful daughter of an impoverished farmhand who had married above her station in life."
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