''The Greatest Story Ever Told'' is an 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 ...

religious drama. It was broadcast on ABC from January 26, 1947, until December 30, 1956. Beginning July 25, 1948, the program was also broadcast via

shortwave radio Shortwave radio is radio transmission using radio frequencies in the shortwave bands (SW). There is no official definition of the band range, but it always includes all of the High frequency, high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30& ...

to 58 other countries by the World Wide Broadcasting Foundation. ''The Greatest Story Ever Told'', the title of which was used for Fulton Oursler's 1949 book, used dramatized sketches to depict events in the life of Jesus Christ. As in the book, the words spoken by Jesus in the radio program came directly from the Bible. The premiere episode was "

Parable of the Good Samaritan The parable of the Good Samaritan is told by Jesus in the Gospel of Luke. It is about a traveler (implicitly understood to be Jewish) who is stripped of clothing, beaten, and left half dead alongside the road. A Jewish priest and then a Levite ...

". The program was sponsored by

Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is an American multinational tire manufacturer headquartered in Akron, Ohio. Goodyear manufactures tires for passenger vehicles, aviation, commercial trucks, military and police vehicles, motorcycles, recreati ...

, but it lacked commercials, having the sponsorship announced only at the end of each episode. When the broadcast run ended, the affiliation between the program and Goodyear was described as "one of helongest institutional broadcast advertising campaigns". An interdenominational advisory board provided guidance for the show.

Personnel

Actors on ''The Greatest Story Ever Told'' performed in anonymity, with no cast credit given. Therefore, few people knew that Warren Parker portrayed Jesus in the program's only continuing role. Norman Rose was the announcer. William Stoess composed the music and initially conducted the 35-piece orchestra, with Jacques Belasco and Willard Young following him as conductors. Young also directed the show's 16-member chorus. Wadill Catchings was the producer; Marx Loeb was the director, and Leonard Blair was Loeb's assistant. With Oursler as consultant, Henry Denker wrote the scripts, which received "screenwriting credit over and above the Oursler book" for the film ''

The Greatest Story Ever Told ''The Greatest Story Ever Told'' is a 1965 American epic film, epic List of religious films, religious film that retells the Biblical account of Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, from the Nativity of Jesus, Nativity through to the Ascension of J ...

'' (1965).

Recordings

In 1950, ABC produced more than 5,000 albums of recordings of selected episodes of ''The Greatest Story Ever Told'', with half going to the Protestant Radio Commission and half to the National Council of Catholic Men. The Catholic group's albums were distributed to Catholic orphanages, hospitals, and schools. The Protestant group distributed its recording among ministerial groups and councils of churches.

Recognition and critical reception

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a Public university, public research university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York ...

honored ''The Greatest Story Ever Told'' as the best radio program created and broadcast in 1947. The recognition noted that the show presented its episodes "with superior good taste and effective listener appeal". In 1949, ''

'' won a special George Foster Peabody Citation. The citation noted, "... the program has maintained such a high degree of religious integrity, and has been so free of denominational bias or prejudice, that it has won the acclaim of newspapers, magazines, trade journals, and religious leaders alike. ... ''The Greatest Story Ever Told'' has occupied a peculiar niche, carved by both quality and popularity..." Also in 1949, the

Freedoms Foundation Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge (now Founding Forward) is an American non-profit, non-partisan, non-sectarian educational organization, founded in 1949. The foundation is located adjacent to the Valley Forge National Historical Park, near Val ...

named the show Best Radio Program. On February 9, 1947, Jack Gould wrote in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', "''The Greatest Story Ever Told'' is a program of extraordinary beauty and reverence, which without reservation may be listed as one of the most significant ethereal achievements in recent years." He went on to call the show "a rare and successful fusion of religion, art and commerce ..."

Television

On December 2 and 23, 1951, ABC-TV broadcast episodes of ''The Greatest Story Ever Told''. The first was "The Story of Lazarus", and the second was "No Room at the Inn". In 1952, CBS obtained the rights to broadcast a televised version of ''The Greatest Story Ever Told'', to be sponsored by Goodyear. An article in the trade publication ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' reported that the half-hour program would be broadcast one Sunday afternoon in each of April, May and June 1952, and "it will be shown weekly next season". It never came to fruition.

References

External links

Logs

Log of episodes of ''The Greatest Story Ever Told'' from Jerry Haendiges Vintage Radio LogsLog of episodes of ''The Greatest Story Ever Told'' from radioGOLDINdex

Streaming

Episodes of ''The Greatest Story Ever Told'' from Old Time Radio Researchers Group Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greatest Story Ever Told 1947 radio programme debuts 1956 radio programme endings ABC radio programs American radio dramas Religious radio programs