In paulfrees@yahoogroups.com, “chris armand” wrote: what other radio shows was paul on?
Ahem. Easier said than answered!
Well, I’ll try to at least get a start on this, beginning with “Escape.”
“Escape” (1947-1954) I’m sure many would probably consider this the pinnacle of Paul’s radio career. This series was a dramatic anthology of “high adventure,” a mix of classics, recent adventure, thriller, or sci-fi tales, and original scripts. Paul was practically a regular, as part of a repertory company of talented West Coast radio actors (many of whom also worked in animation.) He was heard as the opening “voice” of “Escape,” reading a spiel which in the beginning would describe the situation in the second person (“You are trapped on an island while a homicidal maniac hunts you down, and there is no…. escape!”), but which later would ask “Tired of the everyday grind? Want to get away from it all? We offer you… Escape!” or a similar question. Paul alternated with his future “Bullwinkle” co- star William Conrad in this capacity (though Lou Krugman and other radio actors filled in on occasion.) He also, along with Conrad, was one of the most frequent “leads” on the series, though he also played supporting roles. I have two such broadcasts, with Paul in leading roles, uploaded:
“The Most Dangerous Game.” Paul co-stars with Hans Conried, as pursued and pursuer respectively, in this classic tale.
“Back for Christmas.” Paul as a henpecked British professor who does away with his shrewish wife (Eleanor Audley, the stepmother in Disney’s “Cinderella,” Maleficent in “Sleeping Beauty,” and Madame Leota to Paul’s Ghost Host in the Haunted Mansion.)
Getting tired, so I’ll just rattle off a few more of Paul’s many radio credits, maybe offer further details later: “The Player” (1948, a hard to find quarter hour one-man mystery show, with Paul narrating as The Player [an omniscient weird tale teller along the lines of The Whistler, Raymond on “Inner Sanctum,” or television’s Cryptkeeper], and more notably, playing all the roles in each play with distinct voices); “The Green Lama” (1949, a radio adaptation of a comic book, with Paul starring as Jethro Dumont/The Green Lama, and Ben Wright [Roger Radcliffe in 101 Dalmatians] as his Tibetan sidekick Tulku); “Suspense” (from ca.1946-1950s, as opening announcer, sometimes even at the end to say “Thank you” to the stars, but never did commercials or closing credits; also played a wide range of character supporting roles, from policeman to doctors to strange eccentrics to thugs to employers; first dramatic role that I could suss out was a small bit as Dr. Meyers in “House on Cypress Canyon,” 1946, starring Robert Young and also featuring Hans Conried and Jim Backus); “Lux Radio Theater” (at least 8 or so appearances beginning in 1985, usually as narrator, often reprising his film roles, on such broadcasts as “Day the Earth Stood Still,” “War of the Worlds,” “Viva Zapata,” and more, with occasional non-narrating bits like Coceauphile [sp?] in “Les Miserables” starring Ronald Colman); “A Man Named Jordon” (serial, 1945-1947; a recurring role, it seems, but have yet to find any broadcasts to listen to); “Rogue’s Gallery” (1946; Mr. Pollard and a clerk in “The Stark McVey Case”; probably other appearances as well); “California Caravan” (1947- 1952); “Croupier” (1948); “First Nighter Porgram” (Gus Norton in “Writer in the Family”, 1948); “NBC University Theater” (1948- 1951); “Dangerous Assignment” (1949); “Dr. Kildarea” (1949; semi- regular, it seems, have yet to acquire any tapes to tell); “Screen Director’s Playhouse” (ca. 1949; like “Lux,” offered radio adaptations of films; Paul can be heard in supporting roles or bits several, notably as the prosecutor in “Miracle on 34th Street”); “Nightbeat” (1950-1952); “Mr. Aladdin” (1951; detective series with Paul in title role, as Robert Aladdin, a sleuth who could perform “miracles” as he fought crime!!); “NBC Presents: Short Story” (1951-1952); “The Silent Men” (1951-1952); “Wild Bill Hickock” (1951- 1954); “Crime Classics” (1953-1954, several shows, notably as Charlie Ford, one of Jesse James’ assasins in “Death of a Picture Hanger”); “Confession” (1953); “On Stage” (1953-1954); “CBS Radio Workshop” (Captain Vesey and Ogden the Messenger in “Sweet Cherries in Charleston,” Aug. 25, 1057); and appearances (too tired to hunt up even approximate dates) on “Tales from the Texas Rangers,” “Broadway Is My Beat,” and more.