Golden Age of Radio

Biography of Marvin Miller He Announces, Acts, Writes, Direct and Has Spare Time Announcer Marvin Miller, who began public appearances at the age of nine, had acquired such a repertoire by the time he applied for his first job that he was able to perform 42 parts in a single show which he wrote himself. That was back in 1931 in St. Louis. The following year he became a junior announcer and actor and, in 1919, he added continuity writing and dramatic directing to his assignments. Miller, now announcer-actor on NBC’s “ Father Knows Best .” “ TheRailroad Hour ” and “ Aunt Mary ,” moved to Chicago soon after and in 1944 to Hollywood, where he has been so busy that he has had only one two-weeks vacation . Featured roles in movies have been helped build that full schedule as well as many recordings in which Miller has been both narrator and actor for all the parts. He was born in St. Louis as Marvin Elliott Mueller and was graduated from Washington University there.

SAY HELLO TO . . . PAT MURPHY – Girl Alone’s Scoop Curtis on NBC. Pat is a genial, friendly Irishman who has been in radio since 1930, just after he left college. He’d been trained to be a concert pianist, but radio seemed to offer a better living. Since 1935, when he came to Chicago, he’s been in demand as a leading man on the air. Pat married Lucille Edwards, formerly of station KSTP, St. Paul, in 1936.

CHARLES O’CONNOR . . .  is the youngest of the young at NBC. Was born in Cambridge, Mass., only 23 years ago. Attended Boston College for a year, acted in stock companies and in a theatrical colony and started announcing over WBZ in Boston. He’s very much unmarried (girls, address him in care of RADIO STARS ), stands five feet eleven and is real good-looking.

Herbert Marshall - The Man Called X , who returns each summer to Columbia in a popularity leader among warm weather shows. This distinguished British actor came to America after he had recovered from a World War I wound and has long been popular for his work on stage, screen and radio. He has been seen recently in “Duel in the Sun” and “The Razor’s Edge” and brings the romantic and mysterious Mr. X to listeners on Thursday at 10:30 P.M., EDT.

Say Hello To- JAN PEERCE—tenor star of the CBS Golden Treasury of Song this afternoon. You’ve also heard him frequently singing on the Radio City Music Hall program, Sundays over NBC. Jan came up to fame the hard way. He was born on the lower East Side to a poor immigrant family, and began studying violin when he was nine years old, using an instrument that cost four dollars and was almost too expensive for his mother to buy, at that. He began singing when he was 15, and grew up to play and sing in a hotel orchestra. Roxy, the show man, hired him for the Radio City Music Hall —and he’s still there.

VITOR PERRIN—featured as Clay Brown on The Story of Holly Sloan, NBC, weekdays at 2:30, EST. Vick worked his way through the University of Wisconsin by being announcer, actor and producer on a local radio station; went to Hollywood, where his first job with NBC was attendant on their parking lot. He was soon made a staff announcer. In 1945 he freelanced as actor and announcer, lectured in radio at USC.

Say Hello To- BILL PERRY—the tenor star of CBS’ Saturday Night Serenade, who started his career in Vanderbilt University by singing and playing the trombone in a band to earn money for tuition fees. After singing on a local station in Tennessee, he came to New York and made his network debut in 1933. Now he’s in his sixth year as star of the Saturday Night Serenade, and has missed only one broadcast. Bill is athletic, nearly six feet tall. His list of favorite recreations includes almost every type of rugged sport, and he attends every prizefight he can. His ambition is to be a concert singer like JohnCharles Thomas , but he dreads the thought of singing a season or two in the Metropolitan Opera , which would be necessary to reach that goal.