The Shadow Knows... but I Don't. Question About Shadow VA.

[kkhohoho]

So I've started listening to the Shadow Radio dramas recently. The first episode was OK, but the Shadow's voice was... underwhelming to say the least, even more so considering that the late great Orson Wells was voicing him. Just a few episodes later though, (not that I was able to listen to any others up until that point, thanks to them being lost and all,) they got someone else to voice the Shadow, and he was AMAZING. He brought a sense of charisma and affability and dimension to the Shadow that Wells just wasn't able to do, and he made me fall in the love with the character.

Now here's the problem: I have no idea who this guy is. He doesn't appear to be one of the regular actors for the Shadow, and he didn't show up in the next episode either, and while there are a few other actors listed, I've got no clue just which of them he could be. I'll keep listening to the show regardless, but this is the guy who made the Shadow for me, so if nothing else, I'd still like to know who voiced him for that episode, even if I never hear him again. (Though I hope I do.) If anyone has a clue who he is, please let me know. Oh, and it was a 1937 episode, 'Murder by the Dead', in case that helps.

[BentonGrey]

Howdy Kk, it can be pretty hard to keep track of which voice is which, and I'm still not entirely sure which Shadow is my favorite.  Yet, according to the wiki, it seems that, believe or not, the voice you enjoyed so much was the same that didn't do much for you in the first episode, that of Orson Welles.  I don't know if that's true or not and, honestly, listening to the episode, I can't quite tell. 
http://thelivingshadow.wikia.com/wiki/Murder_by_the_Dead_(Radio_Show)

Where are you getting your episodes?  I think that the Old Time Radio Research Library has the best free collection of most things:
http://otrrlibrary.org/index.html

[kkhohoho]

Howdy Kk, it can be pretty hard to keep track of which voice is which, and I'm still not entirely sure which Shadow is my favorite.  Yet, according to the wiki, it seems that, believe or not, the voice you enjoyed so much was the same that didn't do much for you in the first episode, that of Orson Welles.  I don't know if that's true or not and, honestly, listening to the episode, I can't quite tell. 
http://thelivingshadow.wikia.com/wiki/Murder_by_the_Dead_(Radio_Show)

Where are you getting your episodes?  I think that the Old Time Radio Research Library has the best free collection of most things:
http://otrrlibrary.org/index.html

I... probably shouldn't say where I used to get them, (if you know what I mean,) but I guess I can just get them from here from now on. Anyhoo, I think I got figured things out here, at least partially. According to the episode listings on that site you linked me to, that episode was a recreation of the original one; not the actual episode itself, which has probably been lost to the ages. It was likely done years down the line by one of the later Shadows, though seeing as I'm still a Shadow newbie, I'm still not sure who it could be. I guess I can try skimming through a few episodes from later seasons to see if I can find him, but if anyone else can figure it out, they'll have my thanks, because this is the Shadow I'd really like to listen to.

[daglob]

It was probably Bret Morrison. He had the longest run. Bill Johnstone was after Welles.

Welles was 1937-1938, Bill Johnstone 1938-1943 (I think), and Morrison was 1943-1953 (again, not sure). My book on The Great Radio Heroes is in a box...

I hadn't heard that about Death House Rescue. Reconstruction or not, it was a weird episode.

[kkhohoho]

It was probably Bret Morrison. He had the longest run. Bill Johnstone was after Welles.

Welles was 1937-1938, Bill Johnstone 1938-1943 (I think), and Morrison was 1943-1953 (again, not sure). My book on The Great Radio Heroes is in a box...

I hadn't heard that about Death House Rescue. Reconstruction or not, it was a weird episode.

So far, I've skimmed through both a few Morrision and Jonhstone episodes, but none of them sound quite like the guy from that Murder by the Dead reconstruction. (Not Death House Rescue; just a FYI.) I guess I'll just have to keep going through the series and hope he turns up again, because I don't know what else to do.

[daglob]

Years back, a friend of mine went looking on the internet for every one he could find so he could burn them to a set of disks for my Christmas present. I'll look and see what I can find, provided the weather doesn't shut me down again.

[daglob]

Everything I've been able to find says that Welles is in Murder by the Dead, but you're right, it isn't him. I'm not sure who it is. There were a couple of other actors who voiced The Shadow, but I don't know when they were active. The heading of the article on episodes offers some possibilities, also.

Of course, in the early days of the pulps, The Shadow was voiced by... The Shadow.

[GhostMachine]

Murder By The Dead is a remake. But I can't find any information on when it was redone.  Thus no clue on the voice actors. If you can't find a credit, it could be either John Archer or Steve Courtleigh. I have heard some Archer episodes, but not any featuring Courtleigh. I'll listen to the episode later and figure out if it might be Archer.

I find it interesting that, unlike a lot of OTR shows where the early episodes are lost/missing, its the later ones that are missing from The Shadow.

By the way, on the site that Benton linked to, I highly recommend listening to the episode Out Of This World from the Australian version of the show. I used to own The Lost Shows boxed set on cassette tapes, which included that particular episode. And its a pretty interesting and unique adventure, due to the nature of the villain.

(Incidentally, for some reason titles got reused. There are two different episodes called `The Creeper', but they're two entirely different stories.)

[BentonGrey]

Ahh, I thought so.  My favorite is William Johnstone, who played the part from 38-43.  He has a particular quality as both Cranston and The Shadow that is just perfect for both, in my opinion.  He's The Shadow to me!  Of course, that probably just means that he was the one I heard when I was a kid, but nonetheless, I really like the way he plays his parts.  There's a certain liveliness to Cranston and a certain dark confidence to the Shadow.

Weird, GM, I hadn't noticed the title reuses, and I've probably listened to all of these!

Yeah, that site is a fantastic resource for OTR.  They've got most everything.  I highly recommend The Green Hornet (probably my favorite show), The Lone Ranger, Jungle Jim, The Six Shooter (Jimmy Stewart as a gunslinger!), X Minus One (sci-fi/horror), and Escape (a general adventure serial)

[GhostMachine]

I found two Green Hornet episodes that I'd been after for years on that site. Thanks for pointing it out.

Morrison is my favorite Shadow, with Welles second. Johnstone is no slouch, either, but I like those two better. Archer was okay, but not great. I'm glad he didn't last long. Courtleigh was in the role for an even shorter time than Archer, I believe, and as I said before if I've ever heard a show with him I'm unaware of it.

(by the way, the two Green Hornet episodes I was after are Too Hot To Handle, from Nov 11, 1947, and Miss Case Keeps A Secret, from February 17, 1948. I definitely suggest listening to Too Hot To Handle, because it explains an interesting connection to another radio hero I won't say who, in case someone reads this and doesn't know.)

I like a lot of old radio shows. I recommend Box 13 (Alan Ladd),  Bold Venture (Bogart and Bacall), Duffy's Tavern, Fibber McGee & Molly, Lights Out!, and Suspense, besides the ones Benton recommended. The Shadow is my favorite radio show, with Green Hornet a close second. Fibber McGee & Molly is third.

(And in case its not obvious, my avatar's design was partially done as a tribute to The Shadow. When CoH was still around, I actually had a Shadow tribute outfit, with a black smoke aura, on GhostMachine.)

(edited because I forgot to list Bold Venture.)

[daglob]

C'mon, everyone knows about The Green Hornet's great-uncle.

[BentonGrey]

Haha, yes, a great episode indeed, with a great connection!  That was apparently meant to be the case from the beginning.

Great suggetsions, GM!  I LOVE Box 13 and Bold Venture, they're both two of my favorites.  I could listen to Bogart and Bacall all day.  I need to listen to more of the comedy shows, because that's one area where I don't have much experience. 

I see the resemblance in your avatar. 

[GhostMachine]

For comedies, I recommend:

Fibber McGee & Molly, the Great Gildersleeve  (a spinoff, as Gildersleeve started out as a character on Fibber McGee & Molly), Duffy's Tavern (more or less a comedy variety show - that site has the first AND last episodes), Jack Benny, and My Favorite Husband. The Bickersons and Lum & Abner are good shows to check out, also, but I haven't listened to many episodes of either.

Fred Allen and Jack Benny had a rivalry (all an act; they were great friends in real life), so you might want to try The Fred Allen Show, also, if you try Jack Benny. They'd often make cracks about each other when the other wasn't around.

[GhostMachine]

Did some research, and found out that all of the episodes with Steve Courtleigh as the Shadow are lost. But he only performed the role for a couple of months in late 1945.

kkhohoho, I tried to listen to Murder By The Dead, but the sound quality is so bad that I have no clue who is doing the voice. Sadly, there's no information at all about the show online that I can find. I can't even find out when the recreation was done, or why. But I'm definitely sure its NOT Welles.

[kkhohoho]

Did some research, and found out that all of the episodes with Steve Courtleigh as the Shadow are lost. But he only performed the role for a couple of months in late 1945.

kkhohoho, I tried to listen to Murder By The Dead, but the sound quality is so bad that I have no clue who is doing the voice. Sadly, there's no information at all about the show online that I can find. I can't even find out when the recreation was done, or why. But I'm definitely sure its NOT Welles.

Dagnabbit. Thanks for trying though. I guess this will just have to be a mystery that will never be solved. What I still know for sure is that this guy is still my favorite Shadow, whoever he is, and I'm just glad I got to listen to him at least once, because he was just SO good in the role.  But yeah, I guess the Shadow doesn't know after all.

[daglob]

No, no... The Shadow does know; he's just under no obligation to share with anyone.

Honestly, I think it is probably one of the Australian remakes mentioned in the article. Wonder if there is much info on it...