10. Harold Peary.
You might not be familiar with his real name, but almost everyone has heard of “The Great Gildersleeve”.
Peary played the role on NBC’s Fibber McGee and Molly show to such great popularity, that he was given broadcasting’s first spin off series. In 1941 Gildersleeve premiered on NBC radio and lasted all the way up through 1957.
Gildy was played by Peary until 1950 when he left NBC and the show in favor of CBS radio. He was replaced by a sound-alike named Willard Waterman. Waterman was good, but Peary was better. He created the role and fleshed out Gildersleeve from a few lines of script. Peary’s laugh and exasperated cries of ‘ooooh Leroy!’ were radio classics that could not be scripted.
Hal Peary first appeared as “Gildy” on the top-rated Fibber McGee and Molly series in the 1930s. His character was so popular that it became the first “Spin-off” in broadcasting history. Gildy was moved to the fictional town of Summerfield where he was water commissioner and guardian of his niece Margery and a clever little boy named Leroy. The show ran into the late 1950s but Hal Peary switched networks in 1950 and the sponsor would not let him take the show to the new network. The producers hired a new actor to play the Gildersleeve part. Ironically, Willard Waterman, sounded almost exactly like Peary. If you ever get a chance to hear programs by both actors, you’ll be amazed at the similarity. The only difference that you will notice is the laugh! Hal Peary had a long, distinct laugh. Waterman said that the laugh belonged to Peary and he was not going to copy it. In the late 1950s, the show moved briefly to television, but it had nowhere near the success that it enjoyed on radio.
9. Brace Beemer.
Another name you may not know: but his air name is among radio’s most famous. He was The Lone Ranger. For 13 years Brace gave voice to the masked man.
He looked the part. He played the part. He lived the part.
Beemer would regularly put on his white hat and outfit - complete with spurs and the 'Great Horse Silver' - and visit nursing homes, orphanages, schools and hospitals. Ron Lackman, in his book ‘Same Time Same Station’ said that Brace Beemer did it all without publicity and without compensation.
The Lone Ranger roamed the Kilocycles from 1933 to 1955. There were a few other actors before Beemer took on the role in 1941, but he put his stamp on it like no one else. He rode the show all the way up to the last live program in 1954. The network ran repeats in 1955 and then gave up on the radio version as the TV show took over. Another great actor, Clayton Moore, became the man behind the mask.
For many years Brace Beemer, at his own expense, made personal appearances at charity events and in hospitals. He truly tried to live up to the wholesome character envisioned by the producers of the program. The series was created in Detroit at WXYZ by George W. Trendle. He also produced two other famous radio shows, The Green Hornet and Sergeant Preston of the Mounties. All three of his programs made it to the last gasp of old time radio. All three also proved successful in their television runs.