Books published by BearManor Media

"Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar" graced the airways of America from 1942 until the end of the "Golden Age of Radio" in 1962. Six Actors portrayed Johnny Dollar, supported by the best radio actors available. Volume II contains a detailed synopsis of each of the 30-minute Johnny Dollar stories presented by Bob Bailey as well as the 30-minute Bob Readick and Mandel Kramer stories which aired from 1956-1962.Volume II also contains a series of reports outlining the expenses for each actor and the latest catalog of Johnny Dollar programs.Each volume contains a detailed index of programs, actors and other information about Johnny Dollar.

"Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar" graced the airways of America from 1942 until the end of the "Golden Age of Radio" in 1962. Six Actors portrayed Johnny Dollar, supported by the best radio actors available. Volume II contains a detailed synopsis of each of the 30-minute Johnny Dollar stories presented by Bob Bailey as well as the 30-minute Bob Readick and Mandel Kramer stories which aired from 1956-1962.Volume II also contains a series of reports outlining the expenses for each actor and the latest catalog of Johnny Dollar programs.Each volume contains a detailed index of programs, actors and other information about Johnny Dollar.

"Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar" graced the airways of America from 1942 until the end of the "Golden Age of Radio" in 1962. Six Actors portrayed Johnny Dollar, supported by the best radio actors available.Volume I contains a character profile of "America's fabulous insurance investigator, the man with the action-packed expense account" based on over all available programs and scripts. Also included is an original program, "The Final Chapter Matter", compiled by the author to provide a graceful end to the Johnny Dollar story.Volume I also contains a detailed synopsis of each Johnny Dollar story as presented by Charles Russell, Edmond O'Brien, John Lund and the 5-part Bob Bailey programs between 1949 and 1956.

"Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar" graced the airways of America from 1942 until the end of the "Golden Age of Radio" in 1962. Six Actors portrayed Johnny Dollar, supported by the best radio actors available.Volume I contains a character profile of "America's fabulous insurance investigator, the man with the action-packed expense account" based on over all available programs and scripts. Also included is an original program, "The Final Chapter Matter", compiled by the author to provide a graceful end to the Johnny Dollar story.Volume I also contains a detailed synopsis of each Johnny Dollar story as presented by Charles Russell, Edmond O'Brien, John Lund and the 5-part Bob Bailey programs between 1949 and 1956.

From 1962 to 1986, The Merv Griffin Show flourished as one of television's most popular variety/talk shows, offering thousands of celebrated personalities from all walks of life. The Merv Griffin Show: The Inside Story takes you behind the scenes of this iconic program through exclusive interviews with the producers, writers, talent coordinators, and publicists who helped sustain Merv as a durable presence in millions of American homes. It's all here: the backstage tensions, booking challenges, conversational triumphs and disasters, and the race for ratings that are so much a part of the TV talk show realm. The book includes vivid recaps of several "lost" episodes culled from the show's remarkable history. And there's the story of Mr. Griffin himself, spanning his days as America's Romantic Singing star in the 1940s, to his amazing success as a powerful media mogul and real estate entrepreneur in the 1980s and beyond. Most of the book's nostalgic photographs are published here for the first time.

From 1962 to 1986, The Merv Griffin Show flourished as one of television's most popular variety/talk shows, offering thousands of celebrated personalities from all walks of life. The Merv Griffin Show: The Inside Story takes you behind the scenes of this iconic program through exclusive interviews with the producers, writers, talent coordinators, and publicists who helped sustain Merv as a durable presence in millions of American homes. It's all here: the backstage tensions, booking challenges, conversational triumphs and disasters, and the race for ratings that are so much a part of the TV talk show realm. The book includes vivid recaps of several "lost" episodes culled from the show's remarkable history. And there's the story of Mr. Griffin himself, spanning his days as America's Romantic Singing star in the 1940s, to his amazing success as a powerful media mogul and real estate entrepreneur in the 1980s and beyond. Most of the book's nostalgic photographs are published here for the first time.

"I was fascinated by Gordon Lore's account of UFO history and NICAP's ceaseless struggle to uncover and reveal the truth. Working with highly-charged, up-to-the-minute material, the author invokes military and civilian aviators, police officers, trainmen, abductees, scientists, CIA moles, gold miners, FBI bureaucrats and the everyday people whose sightings are the backbone of the UFO phenomenon. If a book dedicated to evidence-based research can be thrilling, Flying Saucers From Beyond the Earth is it."-David J. Hogan, author of UFO FAQ: All That's Left to KnowAbout Roswell, Aliens, Whirling Discs, and Flying Saucers"Gordon Lore provides us with a marvelous look at the Golden Era of flying saucers and UFOs, giving us an uncommon look at the past from the perspective of one who actually lived it as an official of NICAP in Washington, D.C. This inside look at many classic saucer sightings comes from the time when UFOs made national headlines, were the subject of official Air Force investigations, and were targeted for two Congressional hearings in 1966 and 1968. It is pure nostalgia for those curious about the controversy over life in space."-Barry J. Greenwood, co-author of Clear Intent:The Government Coverup of the UFO Experience"Gordon Lore has given us a careful, comprehensive and honest reportage of the UFO phenomenon based on his many years of investigating the phenomenon. He is neither an alarmist nor a radical in his conclusions. The reader will find this an essential counterweight to distortions that sometimes muddy this ever-timely subject."-Neil Earle, author of The Wonderful Wizard of Ozin American Popular Culture

"I was fascinated by Gordon Lore's account of UFO history and NICAP's ceaseless struggle to uncover and reveal the truth. Working with highly-charged, up-to-the-minute material, the author invokes military and civilian aviators, police officers, trainmen, abductees, scientists, CIA moles, gold miners, FBI bureaucrats and the everyday people whose sightings are the backbone of the UFO phenomenon. If a book dedicated to evidence-based research can be thrilling, Flying Saucers From Beyond the Earth is it."-David J. Hogan, author of UFO FAQ: All That's Left to KnowAbout Roswell, Aliens, Whirling Discs, and Flying Saucers"Gordon Lore provides us with a marvelous look at the Golden Era of flying saucers and UFOs, giving us an uncommon look at the past from the perspective of one who actually lived it as an official of NICAP in Washington, D.C. This inside look at many classic saucer sightings comes from the time when UFOs made national headlines, were the subject of official Air Force investigations, and were targeted for two Congressional hearings in 1966 and 1968. It is pure nostalgia for those curious about the controversy over life in space."-Barry J. Greenwood, co-author of Clear Intent:The Government Coverup of the UFO Experience"Gordon Lore has given us a careful, comprehensive and honest reportage of the UFO phenomenon based on his many years of investigating the phenomenon. He is neither an alarmist nor a radical in his conclusions. The reader will find this an essential counterweight to distortions that sometimes muddy this ever-timely subject."-Neil Earle, author of The Wonderful Wizard of Ozin American Popular Culture

For more than sixty years John Hancock has pursued a remarkable and often tumultuous career as a writer/director/producer. From the hallucinatory horrors of Let's Scare Jessica to Death and the gritty fantasy of Prancer to the unshakable humanity of Bang the Drum Slowly, Weeds and The Looking Glass, he has cultivated a deeply personal yet accessible cinema; one that yields a textured emotionalism and philosophical richness that belies its surface simplicity. Hancock on Hancock draws on a series of in-depth interviews conducted with the filmmaker over the course of five years, providing a candid commentary on one man's life and work filtered through his unceasing desire to create art and tell stories. With chapters devoted to every film he has made - including his Academy Award-nominated short Sticky My Fingers, Fleet My Feet and his anonymous contributions to the troubled Hollywood movies Wolfen and 8 Million Ways to Die - these conversations also throw a spotlight on Hancock's lively experiences directing classic and contemporary plays Off-Broadway, as well as charting his labors on such iconic television shows as The Twilight Zone and Hill Street Blues. Additionally, he offers a harrowing account of his notorious dismissal from the blockbuster sequel Jaws 2 and shares unbuttoned recollections of collaborators like Robert De Niro, Tennessee Williams, Jean Arthur, Nick Nolte, Faye Dunaway and Dorothy Tristan.

For more than sixty years John Hancock has pursued a remarkable and often tumultuous career as a writer/director/producer. From the hallucinatory horrors of Let's Scare Jessica to Death and the gritty fantasy of Prancer to the unshakable humanity of Bang the Drum Slowly, Weeds and The Looking Glass, he has cultivated a deeply personal yet accessible cinema; one that yields a textured emotionalism and philosophical richness that belies its surface simplicity. Hancock on Hancock draws on a series of in-depth interviews conducted with the filmmaker over the course of five years, providing a candid commentary on one man's life and work filtered through his unceasing desire to create art and tell stories. With chapters devoted to every film he has made - including his Academy Award-nominated short Sticky My Fingers, Fleet My Feet and his anonymous contributions to the troubled Hollywood movies Wolfen and 8 Million Ways to Die - these conversations also throw a spotlight on Hancock's lively experiences directing classic and contemporary plays Off-Broadway, as well as charting his labors on such iconic television shows as The Twilight Zone and Hill Street Blues. Additionally, he offers a harrowing account of his notorious dismissal from the blockbuster sequel Jaws 2 and shares unbuttoned recollections of collaborators like Robert De Niro, Tennessee Williams, Jean Arthur, Nick Nolte, Faye Dunaway and Dorothy Tristan.

LIVING AMONG THE GREAT PRETENDERSChuck Lightfoot takes the reader back to the 1990s to Santa Barbara, California when he and his wife Sylvie moved into their new home next door to Jane Russell. The iconic sex symbol of the golden age of Hollywood and Sylvie became fast friends, as did their spouses. Thus became a whirlwind decade of meeting many, and even befriending some, of their Hollywood friends. This cast of bankable movie stars include Robert Mitchum, Stuart Whitman, Jonathan Winters, Arlene Dahl, June Alyson, Debbie Reynolds, Eva Gabor, Ann Miller, Cyd Chareese, Morgan Freeman, Terry Moore, Richard Widmark, and celebs Andy Granatelli of race car and STP fame and Bob Kane, originator of Batman. The Lightfoots' experiences with the stars and celebrities expose never-before-told stories of the rich and famous.Hooray for Hollywood!

The vampire has always had audience appeal. What is amazing is that Hollywood shunned the King of Vampires for years fearing the story was too gruesome of any movie audience's palette. When Universal finally decided to make a screen production of the classic novel and successful Broadway play, they were not originally going to pursue Bela Lugosi for the part even though he had stunned audiences with his performance in the Broadway role for years. This MagicImage Filmbook traces the long trail of the classic 1931 production from legend to screenplay to film. Includes treatments, preliminary scripts even, for the first time anywhere, reproductions of some of Bram Stoker's original handwritten and typed draft manuscript for the novel. Special Introduction by Bela Lugosi and Preface by Carla Laemmle.

In all the vast and unknown depths of Hollywood - how could there be only one? To celebrate the 40th Anniversary of one of the most popular and influential movie sequels, the updated and expanded edition of Jaws 2: The Making of the Hollywood Sequel contains more facts, more interviews and almost 200 new photos, many never seen before, shared by the cast, crew and fans. Just when you thought it was safe to turn the page again...the story continues!

Welcome, gang, to the third edition of Baby Snooks Scripts!Let the applause herald Frank Morgan, Meredith Willson, Hanley Stafford, and Fanny Brice in rompers as the one and only… Baby Snooks!You might notice some strange things in this edition. These scripts are from a variety of times and typewriters, but as a completest myself, I like to keep things as close to how they were originally written as possible, to show you just how the scripts really were back then. That's why you might notice some formatting differences between scripts, non-uniformed spacings, maybe some crossed out lines, and other oddness that I have left in for the sake of preserving history. I hope you enjoy them and don't find it all too distracting.Volume 4 coming right up!

Welcome, gang, to the third edition of Baby Snooks Scripts!Let the applause herald Frank Morgan, Meredith Willson, Hanley Stafford, and Fanny Brice in rompers as the one and only… Baby Snooks!You might notice some strange things in this edition. These scripts are from a variety of times and typewriters, but as a completest myself, I like to keep things as close to how they were originally written as possible, to show you just how the scripts really were back then.

"Jimmy Edwards was a Great British Entertainer"- Ken Dodd"Not merely a peculiarly British comedian but an authentic English character"- The Times

''¿Jimmy Edwards was a Great British Entertainer¿'' Ken Dodd''¿Not merely a peculiarly British comedian but an authentic English character¿¿'' The TimesComedians in 20th Century Britain might well be divided into two categories: those who gained international fame, particularly in the United States, and those whose comedic style was so resolutely British, so insular that recognition beyond the shores of their native land was as incomprehensible as some, or perhaps much, of their humor. In the former category are those whose fame in the United States far outreached anything that might have been accomplished in the United Kingdom - with the obvious examples being Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel, as well, and to a lesser extent, the likes of Terry-Thomas and Norman Wisdom. The resolutely British brigade includes brilliant stand-up comedian Ken Dodd, screwed-up magician Tommy Cooper, the stars of the "Carry On" films, Bud Flanagan, Chesney Allen and the other members of the "Crazy Gang," and those who made an easy transition from British music hall, in its dying days, to radio and/or television, including Tony Hancock, Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise, Harry Worth, Hylda Baker, Bruce Forsyth, Ted Ray, and, of course, the "star" of this volume, Jimmy Edwards.

Collected for the first time are some of the most revealing, amusing, and rare interviews covering Mae West's ten-year career in movies. West's celluloid image was explosive and trendsetting, but her outspoken and progressive thoughts about women and sexuality shocked and seduced the public. Her feminist riffs and screenplays made her a cultural icon for sexuality and social subversion. In the 1930s, she was not only considered scandalous, but positively dangerous. In a male dominated industry, she stood alone. "I don't mind telling you," she told a journalist, "I'm about as fed up on this pseudo-frigidity in women as a lot of men are. It all started a few hundred years ago with some religious fanatics who decided because the religious leaders had been supernaturally conceived, it naturally followed that any expression of sex through the human body must be sinful. Bosh!"

Collected for the first time are some of the most revealing, amusing, and rare interviews covering Mae West's ten-year career in movies. West's celluloid image was explosive and trendsetting, but her outspoken and progressive thoughts about women and sexuality shocked and seduced the public. Her feminist riffs and screenplays made her a cultural icon for sexuality and social subversion. In the 1930s, she was not only considered scandalous, but positively dangerous. In a male dominated industry, she stood alone. "I don't mind telling you," she told a journalist, "I'm about as fed up on this pseudo-frigidity in women as a lot of men are. It all started a few hundred years ago with some religious fanatics who decided because the religious leaders had been supernaturally conceived, it naturally followed that any expression of sex through the human body must be sinful. Bosh!"

Peter Mark Richman is a true Renaissance man: actor, writer, director, prod-ucer, and painter. A star of film (William Wyler's Friendly Persuasion), theatre (A Hatful of Rain, Albee's The Zoo Story) and more than 500 guest star roles on TV including The Twilight Zone, Bonanza, The Love Boat, Mission: Impossible, Three's Company, Dynasty, and many others. He is instantly recognizable to millions, but his legion of fans haven't heard his extraordinary life story… until now. From his childhood in South Philadelphia, to leading roles on Broadway and in Hollywood, Peter Mark has many stories to tell about the luminaries he encountered during his six decades in show business and about the spiritual quest that was the main influence in his life as a father of five, grandfather of six, and as a husband married to the love of his life for 65+ years. I SAW A MOLTEN WHITE LIGHT… is not just another celebrity autobiography but a highly personal work from a very public figure.

Peter Mark Richman is a true Renaissance man: actor, writer, director, prod-ucer, and painter. A star of film (William Wyler's Friendly Persuasion), theatre (A Hatful of Rain, Albee's The Zoo Story) and more than 500 guest star roles on TV including The Twilight Zone, Bonanza, The Love Boat, Mission: Impossible, Three's Company, Dynasty, and many others. He is instantly recognizable to millions, but his legion of fans haven't heard his extraordinary life story… until now. From his childhood in South Philadelphia, to leading roles on Broadway and in Hollywood, Peter Mark has many stories to tell about the luminaries he encountered during his six decades in show business and about the spiritual quest that was the main influence in his life as a father of five, grandfather of six, and as a husband married to the love of his life for 65+ years. I SAW A MOLTEN WHITE LIGHT… is not just another celebrity autobiography but a highly personal work from a very public figure.

"Gary Rhodes and Bill Kaffenberger have added the final chapter to Bela Lugosi's career, combining fascinating unknown details of his film and stage activities with post-WWII film history. Superbly researched and written as an engrossing story of an actor's struggle against professional decline. A must-read!"- Robert Cremer, author of Lugosi: The Man Behind the Cape(Henry Regnery, 1976)."Gary Rhodes represents that elusive Gold Standard in narrative research into the full depth and breadth of Bela Lugosi's complicated career. Rhodes' devotion to the banishment of myth, and to its replacement with frank and humanizing truth, has provided a wealth of historical storytelling that, in turn, renders the actor's known body of work all the more fascinating and comprehensible. Just when I catch myself believing I know all there is to be known about Lugosi - along comes Gary Rhodes and Bill Kaffenberger with a fresh brace of revelations. The process advances immeasurably in No Traveler Returns: The Lost Years of Bela Lugosi."- Michael H. Price, coauthor of the Forgotten Horrors series.In No Traveler Returns, Bela Lugosi scholar extraordinaire Gary D. Rhodes and BillKaffenberger provide a fascinating time travel journey back to the late 1940s/early 1950s, when Lugosi - largely out of favor in Hollywood - embarked on a Gypsy-like existence of vaudeville, summer stock, and magic shows. While many historians have considered this era a limbo in Lugosi's career, with precious few facts unearthed, Rhodes and Kaffenberger take the reader along for a wide-eyed ride as Bela performs in a nightclub so notorious that armed guards keep watch on the roof, dresses as Dracula in a magic show where he and a gorilla (a man in a suit) play football with the guillotined head of a woman (a dummy), and races from one stock engagement to another without ever missing a cue. Never in his American career was Bela so busy, and never did his light shine so brightly as he valiantly troupes to support his family, dominate age and illness, and please his audiences. It's a fastidiously researched education in the show business world of the time - and a stirring tribute to the charm, brilliance and inexhaustible professionalism of the star who was Dracula.- Gregory William Mank, author of Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff: TheExpanded Story of a Haunting Collaboration (McFarland, 2009).

The latest in a series of books by researchers extraordinaire Gary D. Rhodes and Bill Kaffenberger, Bela Lugosi in Person brims with new facts, figures, and never-seen photos documenting the actor's scores of live public performances from 1931 to 1945, the era of his greatest fame. Three-act plays, vaudeville sketches, variety shows, and personal appearances are all chronicled at length, bringing new perspective to Lugosi's life and career. Gary Rhodes and Bill Kaffenberger have once again delivered the goods with their latest work Bela Lugosi in Person. They have combined their gift for scholarly research with an entertaining style to unveil fascinating aspects of Lugosi's stage career and the personal dramas that took place behind stage. Chockfull of surprises and new revelations that will delight every reader, but particularly aficionados who know Lugosi, but not "Lugosi in Person." Simply superb. - Robert Cremer, author of Lugosi: The Man Behind the Cape I've been a fan of Bela Lugosi for some six decades. Ironically I'd never heard of the actor until the day in 1956 that he died, when my Mother informed me of his passing. Now I'm also a fan of Gary D. Rhodes and Bill Kaffenberger, a team who, it seems, know - and care - more about the man best known for his role of Count Dracula, and getting the facts about that man accurately recorded, than anyone else on the planet. Rhodes' previous book, Tod Browning's Dracula,and Rhodes and Kaffenberger's No Traveler Returns, are incredibly well-researched and entertaining studies of the actor's career that I could not put down once I began reading them … and this new tome, written with the same scholarship and style, completes a literary trilogy every Bela Lugosi enthusiast should own and read. Highly recommended! - Donald F. Glut, author of The Dracula Book and The Empire Strikes Back novelization. I witnessed the intensity of my father, Bela Lugosi, firsthand. But I did not at the time realize how unique the experience was. His personal magnetism has survived in people's memories and in our culture. This is evidenced by the desire of so many people wanting to connect to Dad by connecting to me - at conventions, on the street and anywhere they hear the name "Bela Lugosi." It was Dad's elegance and captivating personality that made Count Dracula such an alluring yet horrific figure, so I can imagine the draw my father must have created when he was to appear in person - and the effect he must have had on a live audience.I am grateful that Gary Rhodes and Bill Kaffenberger's new book shines a light on Dad's personal appearances, a previously uncovered facet of his career and legacy.- Bela G. Lugosi

"There is no one on this green earth who could better tell the tales of Hollywood Lights, Nashville Nights than Victoria Hallman and Diana Goodman. And, oh, the tales they can tell! There they were, right in the middle of it all, falling in and out of love with the biggest names in show business. They were given a front row seat to the greatest show on earth, Hollywood, Vegas and Nashville, and were surrounded by some of the most brilliant talent we have ever known. Fasten your seat belts - Hollywood Lights, Nashville Nights will be a bumpy, fun-time ride for all." - Robert HicksNew York Times best-selling author ofThe Widow of the South Editor of A Guitar and a Pen "Hee Haw was all about friends and family having a great time and laughing together - both on the set and with everyone watching at home. One big family! Some of the relationships formed while making that show will last forever. Victoria Hallman is one of those people - my forever friend. I think so much of her because she cares about people. I know she cares about my family and me. I know that she would be there for me if I needed her. As special as she makes me feel, I know she does this for everyone, because she's just that kind of person." - Irlene MandrellCo-star of Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell SistersHee Haw Star "My first crushes were the Hee Haw Girls." - Robert Reynolds, the MavericksGrammy WinnerCountry Music Association Award WinnerAcademy of Country Music Award Winner

"There is no one on this green earth who could better tell the tales of Hollywood Lights, Nashville Nights than Victoria Hallman and Diana Goodman. And, oh, the tales they can tell! There they were, right in the middle of it all, falling in and out of love with the biggest names in show business. They were given a front row seat to the greatest show on earth, Hollywood, Vegas and Nashville, and were surrounded by some of the most brilliant talent we have ever known. Fasten your seat belts - Hollywood Lights, Nashville Nights will be a bumpy, fun-time ride for all." - Robert HicksNew York Times best-selling author ofThe Widow of the South Editor of A Guitar and a Pen "Hee Haw was all about friends and family having a great time and laughing together - both on the set and with everyone watching at home. One big family! Some of the relationships formed while making that show will last forever. Victoria Hallman is one of those people - my forever friend. I think so much of her because she cares about people. I know she cares about my family and me. I know that she would be there for me if I needed her. As special as she makes me feel, I know she does this for everyone, because she's just that kind of person." - Irlene MandrellCo-star of Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell SistersHee Haw Star "My first crushes were the Hee Haw Girls." - Robert Reynolds, the MavericksGrammy WinnerCountry Music Association Award WinnerAcademy of Country Music Award Winner

Old Time Radio fans remember William Conrad from Suspense (1947-1959), Escape (1947-1954), and Gunsmoke (1952-1961). Film Noir devotees recognize him in The Killers (1946), Body and Soul (1947),Sorry, Wrong Number (1948), and One Way Street (1950). Television viewers know him from Cannon (1971-1996) and Jake and the Fatman(1987-1992), and Nero Wolfe (1981). That he was an American World War II fighter pilot in the United States Army Air Corps with the rank of Captain and a producer-director of the Armed Forces Radio Service, as well as a film producer/director at Warner Bros., and later a singer, has never been fully revealed . . . until now. Author Charles Tranberg discloses the facts behind his feats, including Conrad's tremendous radio, film, and television credits, his memorable productions, and those that brought him from sound speakers to sound stages, including Quinn Martin, Lee Horsley, Joe Penny, Andy Griffith, Dean Hargrove, Fred Silverman, Howard McNear, John Wayne, James Arness, and Jack Webb. William Conrad. Conscientious professional. Congenial gentleman. Consumate actor. Discover his full story in the first ever richly researched biography. Illustrated. Index. Bibliography. About the author: Charles Tranberg's other works include I Love the Illusion: The Life and Career of Agnes Moorehead; Not So Dumb: The Life and Career of Marie Wilson; Fred MacMurray: A Biography; The Thin Man Films: Murder Over Cocktails, Robert Taylor: A Biography; Walt Disney & Recollections of the Disney Studios: 1955-1980; Fredric March: A Consummate Actor.

Old Time Radio fans remember William Conrad from Suspense (1947-1959), Escape (1947-1954), and Gunsmoke (1952-1961). Film Noir devotees recognize him in The Killers (1946), Body and Soul (1947),Sorry, Wrong Number (1948), and One Way Street (1950). Television viewers know him from Cannon (1971-1996) and Jake and the Fatman(1987-1992), and Nero Wolfe (1981).That he was an American World War II fighter pilot in the United States Army Air Corps with the rank of Captain and a producer-director of the Armed Forces Radio Service, as well as a film producer/director at Warner Bros., and later a singer, has never been fully revealed . . . until now. Author Charles Tranberg discloses the facts behind his feats, including Conrad's tremendous radio, film, and television credits, his memorable productions, and those that brought him from sound speakers to sound stages, including Quinn Martin, Lee Horsley, Joe Penny, Andy Griffith, Dean Hargrove, Fred Silverman, Howard McNear, John Wayne, James Arness, and Jack Webb. William Conrad. Conscientious professional. Congenial gentleman. Consumate actor. Discover his full story in the first ever richly researched biography. Illustrated. Index. Bibliography. About the author: Charles Tranberg's other works include I Love the Illusion: The Life and Career of Agnes Moorehead; Not So Dumb: The Life and Career of Marie Wilson; Fred MacMurray: A Biography; The Thin Man Films: Murder Over Cocktails, Robert Taylor: A Biography; Walt Disney & Recollections of the Disney Studios: 1955-1980; Fredric March: A Consummate Actor.

From the Vaults of the Ackerman Archives comes This Island Earth!Contains Production Background!Press Book!Biography notes on the Cast and Crew!Complete Shooting Script!Rare Photographs!Behind the Scene Photos!

Paul Rhymer's creation of VIC AND SADE began on radio in 1932 as a two-character play featuring Art Van Harvey and Bernadine Flynn. Bill Idelson was eventually added to the cast, as nine-year-old Rush, and Idelson is the man behind this fascinating book that tells the story of one of radio's most relished programs. Over 1,800 scripts are housed at the University of Wisconsin and thanks to Idelson, we now get an idea of the early "lost" episodes. For old-time radio fans who claim this series was a pre-curser to the SEINFELD TV series (the radio show made fun of nothing), and are forced to enjoy the very few episodes known to exist in recorded form, Idelson has opened the door for you.REVIEWS:"The gold of this book, acknowledged by Idelson, are the complete and excerpted scripts from the mid-1930s episodes of "Vic & Sade," which illustrate the gamut of Rhymer's humor, from trenchant satire to human comedy, all with an uncanny familiarity with the bizarre side of day-to-day familial and small-town politics."- Brent R. Swanson, Crooper, Illinois"Idelson provides background information on Art Van Harvey (whom he calls Van) and Bernadine Flynn (Bern) but especially for Paul Rhymer. The most surprising thing about this book is what Paul Rhymer was really like. One has a certain image of what a man who writes about a small Midwestern town might be like. Paul Phymer is not that man... If you're a man of radio drama, you'll like this book. If you're a VIC AND SADE fan, you'll love this book. I definitely recommend it."- Barbara J. Watkins, Sperdvac's Radiogram, January 2007 issue"One of the few books I have ever written that was an amusing read. I try not to judge books by their cover, but in this case, I did. Thankfully, the book is worth the read and recommended."- Martin Grams Jr., author