Paul Edward Prentiss (September 9, 1908 – March 19, 1992) was an actor in the era of
old-time radio
The Golden Age of Radio, also known as the old-time radio (OTR) era, was an era of radio in the United States where it was the dominant electronic home entertainment medium. It began with the birth of commercial radio broadcasting in the earl ...
.
[DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 219.] He was perhaps best known for portraying the title role on the radio version of ''
Captain Midnight
''Captain Midnight'' (later rebranded on television as ''Jet Jackson, Flying Commando'') is an American adventure franchise first broadcast as a radio serial from 1938 to 1949. The character's popularity throughout the 1940s and into the mid-19 ...
''.
Early years
Prentiss was born in
Chicago, Illinois
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
.
[ He attended the ]University of Iowa
The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...
.
Radio
Radio historian Jim Harmon
James Judson Harmon (21 April 1933 – 16 February 2010), better known as Jim Harmon, was an American short story author and popular culture historian who wrote extensively about the Golden Age of Radio. He sometimes used the pseudonym Judson Gre ...
noted, in his book ''The Great Radio Heroes'', "Ed Prentiss was not the first actor to play Captain Midnight, contrary to some published reports."[
On '']The Guiding Light
''Guiding Light'' (known as ''The Guiding Light'' before 1975) is an American radio and television soap opera. ''Guiding Light'' aired on CBS for 57 years between June 30, 1952, and September 18, 2009, overlapping a 19-year broadcast on radio ...
'' soap opera, Prentiss played Ned (a "neglected youth") and was the program's "omniscient host." Beginning in 1943, Prentiss was narrator for an hour-long block consisting of three soap operas: ''Today's Children
''Today's Children'' was a name shared by two thematically related Radio in the United States, American radio soap operas created and written by Irna Phillips, the earliest of which was her first nationally networked series.
1933–1938 series
Th ...
'', ''The Guiding Light'' and ''Woman in White''. The three programs had interconnecting story lines, with Prentiss's narration "introducing each program segment and linking all three together."
Prentiss's other roles on radio programs included those shown in the table below.
Prentiss had his own syndicated program, ''This Is The Story''. An ad for the 15-minute program described it as follows: "Ed Prentiss, America's greatest story teller ... offers true and unusual tales, each with a surprisingly different ending."
He also was a regular on ''Arnold Grimm's Daughter
''Arnold Grimm's Daughter'' is an American radio soap opera that was broadcast from July 5, 1937, until June 26, 1942, first on CBS and later on NBC.
Premise
After Connie Grimm eloped with Dallas Tremaine (her childhood sweetheart) her tyranni ...
'', ''Painted Dreams'', ''Bud Barton'', '' The Romance of Helen Trent'', ''Springtime and Harvest'' and ''Holland Housewarming''.
Film
Prentiss appeared in '' Westbound'' (1959) and ''The FBI Story
''The FBI Story'' is a 1959 American crime drama film starring James Stewart, and produced and directed by Mervyn LeRoy. The screenplay by Richard L. Breen and John Twist is based on a book by Don Whitehead.
Plot
John Michael ("Chip") Hardes ...
'' (1959).
Television
Prentiss played Dr. Snyder on ''As the World Turns
''As the World Turns'' (often abbreviated as ''ATWT'') is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS for 54 years from April 2, 1956, to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created ''As the World Turns'' as a sister show to her other so ...
''. He was one of the hosts of '' Action Autographs'',[Terrace, Vincent (2011). ''Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 50.] was the host for ''Majority Rules''. and played Edward Elliott on ''Morning Star
Morning Star, morning star, or Morningstar may refer to:
Astronomy
* Morning star, most commonly used as a name for the planet Venus when it appears in the east before sunrise
** See also Venus in culture
* Morning star, a name for the star Siri ...
''. He also was the announcer for ''That's O'Toole''.
He also played roles in various TV Westerns of the late 1950s-early '60s, often as a sheriff. He is easily recognized by his voice, as well as his physical appearance. In 1957 Prentiss appeared as Bob Gentry on the TV western ''Cheyenne
The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o (more commonly spelled as Suhtai or Sutaio) and the (also spelled Tsitsistas, The term for th ...
'' in the episode titled "Top Hand."
Prentiss appeared on ''Perry Mason
Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and four short stories, all of which involve a ...
'', "The Case of the Badgered Brother" (season 7, episode 12) as the recorded voice reading a will in Mason's office.
Personal life
Prentiss married Ivah Davidson on November 21, 1941. They had a son, born September 14, 1943.
Filmography
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prentiss, Ed
1908 births
1992 deaths
American male film actors
American male radio actors
Place of death missing
American male television actors
Male actors from Chicago
20th-century American male actors