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Helen Diller, Cincinnati's first television star

Helen Diller, Cincinnati’s first TV “star”

July 20, 2014

The first “star” of Cincinnati television died recently. I use quotation marks because Helen Diller Hinn would've gotten a big laugh from that opening sentence. Helen was 96 years young when she passed away quietly at her apartment in Lancaster, California on March 24, 2014. Born in Winnipeg in 1917,... Continue Reading »


Ruby Wright, a Cincinnati vocalist who appeared on WLWT, WSAI, WLW and recorded on King and Columbia Records

Ruby Wright, Cincinnati Vocalist

January 11, 2014

It’s hard to believe that popular Cincinnati vocalist Ruby Wright passed away ten years ago this year. It’s perhaps even more difficult that today marks the centennial of her birth. One-hundred years ago, on January 8, 1914, Ruby Wright was born in Anderson, Indiana. Destined for a career in show... Continue Reading »


WIlliam Conrad, a radio and television actor known for playing Matt Dillon on Gunsmoke and many other roles

Quiz 9 – William Conrad

November 29, 2013

If you've just checked our blog, we're playing a game on our Facebook “Media Heritage, Inc.” and “Big Broadcast” pages. If you'd like to play, “like” one or both of those Facebook pages and on Mondays, we'll post a photo of an old radio “second banana”…a secondary or character actor... Continue Reading »


Joan Banks with her husband, Frank Lovejoy

Quiz 8 – Joan Banks

November 22, 2013

Fans of the classic early-1950s radio drama Nightbeat know the lead character, Randy Stone, was played by actor Frank Lovejoy. However, fans might not know that the actress who often played the femme fatale on Nightbeat, Joan Banks, was Lovejoy's real-life wife. Joan Banks was born... Continue Reading »


Frank Nelson a voice actor who was a recurring character on The Jack Benny Show, and also on I Love Lucy, The Flinstones and even Saturday Night Live.

Quiz 7 – Frank Nelson

November 14, 2013

One of the attributes that made The Jack Benny Program such a radio and TV tour de force was the wide range of its talented stock characters and “second bananas.” In addition to the principle cast-members, fans remember Mel Blanc and Artie Auerbach and the unique humor of actor Frank Nelson, among... Continue Reading »


Arthur Q Bryan, a voice actor known as the voice for Elmer Fudd and Dr. Gamble on Fibber McGee and Molly

Quiz 6 – Arthur Q Bryan

November 1, 2013

If you're a fan of classic radio or if you've watched those classic Warner Brothers cartoons, you'll certainly recognize the voice of Arthur Q. Bryan. Bryan was born (in 1899) and raised in New York City where he struggled to find steady work as an actor, so he moved to Hollywood in the early 1930s... Continue Reading »


Tim Ryan and Irene Ryan (Granny on the Beverly Hillbillies)

Quiz 5 – Irene (and Tim) Ryan

October 24, 2013

Long before she achieved fame portraying “Granny” for nine seasons on television's Beverly Hillbillies, Irene Ryan enjoyed a solid career in film and on radio. Born in Texas in 1902, Irene Noblette grew up in San Francisco and performed in local theater there... Continue Reading »


Hans Conried Jr. was the voice of many characters on radio and tv. Notably Snidley Whiplash and Captain Hook.

Quiz 4 – Hans Conreid Jr.

October 17, 2013

Hans Conried, Jr. is our versatile “second banana” this week. Born in 1917 in Baltimore, Conried began his acting career on stage doing mostly classical roles. He did a little movie work in the 1930s before joining Orson Welles’ Mercury Theater Players in 1939. Hans was in... Continue Reading »


Agnes Moorehead, OTR, television and film star known for Suspense, Sorry Wrong Number

Quiz 3 – Agnes Moorehead

October 10, 2013

This week, our celebrity “second banana” is Agnes Moorehead....Agnes was born in 1900 in Massachusetts and she died in 1974 in Minnesota, however she's buried right up the road from Cincinnati in Dayton Memorial Park. She graduated from Muskingum College in Ohio with... Continue Reading »


Teddy Bergman, born Herbert Theodore Bergman, known for roles on The Life of Riley, Baby Snooks and as the voice of Fred Flintstone

Quiz 2 – Teddy Bergman

October 4, 2013

This week, our celebrity “second banana” is Teddy Bergman….born Herbert Theodore Bergman in New York City in 1907. Bergman was a master of dialects, at one time proclaiming he could speak in some 22-different voices. Because of this talent, he was a popular character actor on many... Continue Reading »