ABOUT THE SHOW: The story of The Shadow, perhaps radio's most famous fictitious crimefighter, has been thoroughly documented by its creator, Walter B. Gibson, and radio historian Anthony Tollin in The Shadow Scrapbook. It was the epitome of radio crime drama. Today it remains one of the three or four shows cited by people as a synonym for "oldtime radio." The medium is routinely defined as "The Shadow, Fibber McGee, and The Lone Ranger." Sometimes Inner Sanctum or some other famous title is plugged into the mix, but The Shadow is a given. It makes everybody's list.

The character combined the strongest elements of rank melodrama and delivered them as truth. There may not have been a believable story in the entire 25-year run, but The Shadow thrived, claiming at various times audiences of more than 15 million a week. It opened a new era of pulp magazine superheroes, its print format barkening back to the days of the dime novel.(1)

FIRST BROADCAST: July 31, 1930

LAST BROADCAST: Dec. 26, 1954

SPONSORS: Blue Coal

CAST: James La Curto as the Shadow, a mystery man who served only to narrate an anthology of crime stories. Frank Readick as the Shadow after La Curto's departure, a few weeks into the run, to do a Broadway play. Orson Welles, Bill Johnstone, Framk Readick, Agnes Moorehead, James LaCurto, Ray Collins, many, many others.  (1)

ANNOUNCERS: Ken Roberts, 1931-32 and 1935-44; David Ross, 1931-32; Arthur Whiteside, ca. 1937-38. Don Hancock, 1944-47; Andre Ba-ruch, 1947-49; Carl Caruso, 1949-51; Sandy Becker, 1951-53; Ted Mallie, 1953-54.

PRODUCERS/DIRECTORS: Walter B. Gibson: Harry Ingram, Dana Noyes, Chick Vincent, Bob Steel, John W. Loveton, John Cole, Wilson Tuttle, etc. "John Barclay, Blue Coal's distinguished heating expert" for the show's most consistent sponsor (the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Coal Company, which paid the bills until the coal market collapsed in 1949), was impersonated by Tim Frawley and Paul Huber.

WRITERS-ADAPTORS: Edith Meiser, script editor. Harry Engman Chariot, Edward Hale Bierstadt, Jerry Devine, Sidney Slon, George Lowther, Peter Barry, Alonzo Deen Cole, Max Ehrlich, Robert Arthur and David Kogan, Stedman Coles, Frank Kane, Gail Ingram, Jerry McGill, Alfred Bester, Judith and David Bublick.

SOUND EFFECTS: Al April, Barney Beck, Walt Gustaf-son, Al Schaffer, Fritz Street.

ORCHESTRA AND ORGANIST: Elsie Thompson, Rosa Rio, Charles Paul.

THEME: Omphale's Spinning Wheel, by Saint-Saens, played spookily on organ.