NO SUPERMAN—BUT GOOD

NO SUPERMAN—BUT GOOD

For a long time, the American Broadcasting Company’s Terry and the Pirates—Monday through Friday from 5 P. M. to 5:15 EST—a show ostensibly for the kids, has been up among the most adult programs on the air. Terry—the leading character—has been carrying on a relentless fight against fascism, a fight started months before the actual war began and now, continuing with sensible warnings against the enemy which has not been completely routed everywhere, nor completely conquered.

Terry is played by Owen Jordan, a medium height young man, with dark, curly hair and grinning brown eyes. And, in a way, Owen is a kind of perfect choice for the part. He’s really interested in children. Last fall, for instance, he appeared at some seventeen high schools in and around New York, lecturing to students of the drama on the possible use of radio in child education. His lectures were based on more than the dramatic aspects of radio, too. He’s been a teacher and made use of his experience.

Owen was born Chicago. His mother was an actress—so he comes by some of his ability naturally. Most of his early boyhood was spent in Denver, where his mother worked in a stock company. He did return to Chicago, however, to complete his elementary schooling and to go through high school.

Later, when he entered the University of Chicago, he was still undecided. He was a member of the University track and football teams, but he also took part in all the school shows. After awhile, the grease paint won and Owen transferred to De Paul for a year and a half as a dramatic instructor.

That didn’t prove entirely satisfactory, however, so in 1938 he came to New York. He hadn’t been in the Big Town long before he landed a part in the radio serial David Harum. Nor was it much longer, before he was a regular on the Arch Oboler’s Plays. Cavalcade of America, Front Page Farrell and the Aldrich Family programs.

No actor is every really satisfied with just working in radio, Owen wasn’t satisfied, either. He hustled around and worked in several Broadway successes—in “Eve of St. Mark ,” with Tyrone Power and Anna-bella in that film couple’s version at “Liliom” and in Saroyan’s “Time of Your Life.”

Now, Owen is kept pretty busy with a heavy radio schedule. Besides playing Terry he’s got fairly regular assignments on the Kate Smith Hour, Real Stories and many other programs.

Owen is married and hi principal summer pastime is sailing. He owns a 28 foot racing sloop, jointly with Johnny Call, a Broadway actor currently appearing in “Bloomer Girl.” Sometimes, Owen says, his adventures on the sloop match the hair raising thrills he goes through on the Terry show.