''Michael Shayne'' is a generic title that can refer to any of three American

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 ...

detective programs that were broadcast from 1944 to 1953. Specific titles varied with different versions of the show. They included ''Michael Shayne, Private Detective'', ''The New Adventures of Michael Shayne'', and ''The Adventures of Michael Shayne.'' Shayne was the main character in each version of the program, Phyllis Knight, a combination of secretary, sidekick, and girlfriend for Shayne, was also featured in the first and third versions, but the character did not appear in ''The New Adventures of Michael Shayne.''

''Michael Shayne, Private Detective''

The first radio version had

Wally Maher Wally Maher (August 4, 1908 – December 26, 1951) was an American actor, primarily on old-time radio; he was also known as the original voice of Tex Avery's cartoon character Screwy Squirrel. Early years Maher was born in Cincinnati on August 4 ...

in the title role. Louise Arthur initially portrayed Knight, and Joe Forte played the police inspector.

Cathy Lewis Catherine Lee Lewis (December 27, 1916 – November 20, 1968) was an American actress on radio, film, and television. She is remembered best for numerous radio appearances but also noted for making a number of film and television appearances in ...

replaced Arthur in the spring of 1945. For two years, this version was broadcast only in the western United States, debuting on the

Don Lee Network The Don Lee Network, sometimes called the Don Lee Broadcasting System was an American regional network of radio stations in the old-time radio era. Origin Don Lee made a fortune as the exclusive West Coast distributor of Cadillac automobiles. He ...

on October 16, 1944. It was on Mondays at 8:30 Pacific Time initially and then moved to Wednesdays at 7 p.m. P.T., sponsored by

Union Oil Company Union Oil Company of California, and its holding company Unocal Corporation, together known as Unocal was a major petroleum explorer and marketer in the late 19th century, through the 20th century, and into the early 21st century. It was headqu ...

. On October 15, 1946, it moved to the nationwide Mutual network on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. Eastern Time with Hastings Piston Rings as sponsor.

''The New Adventures of Michael Shayne''

The second version was a transcribed program with

Jeff Chandler Jeff Chandler (born Ira Grossel; yi, יראַ גראָססעל; December 15, 1918 – June 17, 1961) was an American actor, film producer, and singer, best remembered for playing Cochise in '' Broken Arrow'' (1950), for which he was nom ...

in the title role. Don W. Sharpe was the producer. Knight was not a character in this version, which was set in New Orleans. The program was produced by Searles & Parks Inc. Bill Rousseau was the director.

''The Adventures of Michael Shayne''

ABC radio carried ''The Adventures of Michael Shayne'' from October 14, 1952, until July 10, 1953.

Donald Curtis Donald Curtis (born Curtis D. Rudolf; February 27, 1915 – May 22, 1997) was an American actor who had roles in dozens of films and television series. Biography Curtis was born in Spokane, Washington, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Carl W. Rudol ...

had the title role until November 1952. He was succeeded by

Robert Sterling Robert Sterling (born William Sterling Hart; November 13, 1917 – May 30, 2006) was an American actor. He was best known for starring in the television series '' Topper'' (1953–1955). In 1960, Sterling was honored with a star on the Hollywo ...

and

Vinton Hayworth Vinton Hayworth (June 4, 1906 – May 21, 1970), also known as Jack Arnold and Vincent Haworth,Although some sources cite Vinton Hayworth's real surname as Haworthwhich clearly shows the surname as Hayworth. The genealogy site indicates that his ...

. Judith Parrish portrayed Knight, and Rousseau was the director.

John Duffy John Duffy may refer to: Sportspeople * John Duffy (footballer, born 1886) (1886–?), English football centre half for Bradford City * John Duffy (footballer, born 1922) (1922–1996), Scottish football right back for Clyde and Norwich * John Duf ...

provided the music. In November 1952, the program's time slot changed from Tuesdays at 8 p.m. to Thursdays at 9:30. In February 1953, it moved to Fridays at 8 p.m.

Background

Michael Shayne Michael "Mike" Shayne is a fictional private detective character created during the late 1930s by writer Brett Halliday, a pseudonym of Davis Dresser. The character appeared in a series of seven films starring Lloyd Nolan for Twentieth Century Fo ...

was created by author

Brett Halliday Brett Halliday (July 31, 1904 – February 4, 1977) is the primary pen name of Davis Dresser, an American mystery and western writer. Halliday is best known for the long-lived series of Michael Shayne mysteries he wrote, and later commissione ...

, and the radio programs were based on Halliday's books that featured that character, particularly ''

Dividend on Death ''Dividend on Death'' is a 1939 detective novel by the American writer Brett Halliday. It was the first novel in Halliday's Michael Shayne Michael "Mike" Shayne is a fictional private detective character created during the late 1930s by write ...

'' (1939).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Michael Shayne 1940s American radio programs 1950s American radio programs ABC radio programs Detective radio shows Don Lee Network programs Mutual Broadcasting System programs Radio programmes based on novels