Golden Age of Radio

The part of Al was played by John H. Brown, another native English actor, born at Hull, Great Britain, on April 4, 1904. Later, in America, while attempting to break into radio, he derived his principal livelihood as mortician’s clerk in New York City. It seems ironic, since one of the most unforgettable roles he would later play—in dual mediums—was as an undertaker. As a sideline, Brown turned up in a handful of pithy New York stage productions, including Peace on Earth (1933-34 and a reprise in the following spring). The Milky Way (1934) and The Pirate (1942-43). Meanwhile, when the call finally arrived for a radio audition, it didn’t take him long to reach the big time. Brown’s dossier could have given rise to the backyard expression “Well I’ll be John Brown!” The industrious the plan packed a normal lifetime for most audio entertainers into an all-too-brief 52 years, ending with his demise on May 16, 1957, at West Hollywood, California. Brown might not have been stretching t...