''Myrt and Marge'' is an American

radio serial Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

which aired from November 2, 1931 to March 27, 1942 on CBS Radio and the

Mutual Broadcasting System The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the Golden Age of Radio, ...

. It was created and written by its main star, actress Myrtle Vail.

Characters and story

The soap tracked the doings and undoings of the two close friends, Myrtle Spear (Myrtle Vail) and Marge Minter ( Donna Damerel, later

Helen Mack Helen Mack (born Helen McDougall; November 13, 1913 – August 13, 1986) was an American actress. She started her career as a child actress in silent films, moving to Broadway plays and touring one of the vaudeville circuits. Her greater success ...

) with some of the usual soap opera twists (kidnappings, organized crime, murder) and injected a degree of comedy into a genre not usually known at the time for wit.

Development and production

Myrtle Vail thought of the idea while living in the

Chicago 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 ...

area, after having spent several years as a

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

performer (often with her husband, George Damerel), basing it almost entirely on her own vaudeville experiences. She took the idea to the Wrigley chewing gum makers, who had yet to sponsor a radio show, naming her lead characters Myrtle Spear and Marge Minter (playing on the company's best-known gum), while casting herself as Myrtle and her real-life daughter Donna Damerel as Marge, with Myrt being the elder, experienced chorus girl taking young, inexperienced, and innocent Marge under her wing. (In the pilot, Marge was said to be Myrt's daughter.) Wrigley liked the idea and ''Myrt & Marge'' debuted in late 1931. Originally a prime-time entry, the show proved so popular with women that it was moved to daytime programming. The cast was described in a 1931 trade publication article as being "one of the largest casts in radio. Thirty actors and musicians take part in most of the presentations, and no member of the cast plays a double role." In later years the show was sponsored by

Colgate-Palmolive-Peet The Colgate-Palmolive Company, commonly known as Colgate-Palmolive, is an American multinational consumer products company headquartered on Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The company specializes in the production, distribut ...

, who promoted its Super Suds laundry soap among other products on the show. In 1933, Vail was seriously injured in an automobile accident, forcing her to turn the show's writing over to a colleague named Charles Thomas. Thomas wrote a storyline in which Myrt was kidnapped by gangsters, allowing Vail to recuperate completely. Donna Damerel died on February 15, 1941, aged 28, while giving birth to her third son. She had done a ''Myrt & Marge'' performance hours before going into labor. Vail was quoted (by ''Movie-Radio Guide'') as saying she believed her daughter would not have wanted the show to die. She wrote Damerel's character out of the script for the interim, with the character of Marge hiding in the hills until a murder could be resolved, and set about casting a new Marge. The role finally went to film actress

, who was chosen from more than 200 applicants for the role. After just a few months with Mack playing the role, ''Myrt & Marge'' ended in 1942. Vail attempted to revive the show in 1946, in a syndicated version starring Vail and Mack, which sometimes included updated re-writes of the original scripts, according to radio historian John Dunning. However, the new show was a short-lived ratings failure, and the one-time favorite disappeared quietly in 1947. Approximately 110 episodes of ''Myrt & Marge'' survive, most from the 1946-47 syndication revival. Three — including the show's pilot episode — from its 1930s heyday are known to survive as well.Myrt and Marge
Archive.org; accessed December 14, 2014.

Adaptations

A film released by

Universal Studios Universal Studios may refer to: * Universal Studios, Inc., an American media and entertainment conglomerate ** Universal Pictures, an American film studio ** Universal Studios Lot, a film and television studio complex * Various theme parks operat ...

in 1933, starring Vail and her daughter, Donna Damerel, turned the show into a feature film vehicle for the

Three Stooges The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short-subject films by Columbia Pictures. Their hallmark styles were physical, farce, and slapstick comedy. Six total ...

, as well as their former front man

Ted Healy Ted Healy (born Charles Ernest Lee Nash; October 1, 1896 – December 21, 1937) was an American vaudeville performer, comedian, and actor. Though he is chiefly remembered as the creator of The Three Stooges and the style of slapstick comedy tha ...

. In the film, Myrt Spear's touring vaudeville revue is full of talent and bound for Broadway, but low on funds. Conniving and lecherous producer Mr. Jackson (played by actor Thomas E. Jackson) helps the show so he can romance the young star, Marge Minter. Myrt, and Marge's boyfriend Eddie Hanley (

Eddie Foy Jr. Edwin Fitzgerald Jr. (February 4, 1905 – July 15, 1983), known professionally as Eddie Foy Jr., was an American stage, film and television actor. His career spanned six decades, beginning as part of the vaudeville act Eddie Foy and the Seven ...

), step in to save the revue and Marge. Ted Healy, Moe,

Larry Larry is a masculine given name in English, derived from Lawrence or Laurence. It can be a shortened form of those names. Larry may refer to the following: People Arts and entertainment * Larry D. Alexander, American artist/writer * Larry Boo ...

and Curly are stagehands with hopes to join the show, and deal with the antics of backstage crasher Bonnie Bonnell.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Myrt and Marge (radio) American radio soap operas 1931 radio programme debuts 1942 radio programme endings CBS Radio programs Mutual Broadcasting System programs Don Lee Network programs