Born on March 23, 1910, Paula Winslowe became a formidable voice for radio during the 1930s. She was best known as Peg Riley, the long-suffering wife of Chester Riley in the popular radio (and television) show, The Life of Riley.
Winslowe was also cast in radio shows such as Broadway Is My Beat and Big Town. She played Mrs. Martha Conklin in Our Miss Brooks on radio and later on television. Paula was the voice you heard in the hit movie, Bambi, as Bambi’s mother.
In the early days of radio, Winslowe played the part of Miss Foster, Steve Wilson’s secretary in the crime-drama, Big Town, also starring Edward G. Robinson as Steve Wilson.
Big Town debuted in 1937 and the story line centered around a crusading newspaper, The Illustrated Press. Claire Trevor played the part of the paper’s society editor who joined the newspaper’s editor, Wilson, in crime-related adventures.
Winslowe became part of the cast of the radio crime drama, Broadway Is My Beat, along with Larry Thor, Mary Shipp and Ben Wright. Danny Glover was the main character in the show, which was mainly about a policeman’s beat on Broadway in New York.
Crime Classics was another crime-drama radio show that included Paula Winslowe in its cast. Crime Classics was a historical crime drama that reached as far back as the 17thcentury to recreate the facts of true crimes.
Winslowe also landed roles in one of radio’s most successful dramatic and adventure anthologies, Escape. Escape saw many stars of radio, movies and television such as William Conrad, Frank Lovejoy, Gloria Blondell and jack Webb.
Other than dramas, Winslowe was cast in roles in comedy shows such as The Halls of Ivy, which starred Ronald Coleman as William Todhunter Hall, president of Ivy College in “Ivy, U.S.A.”
Paula Winslowe played in some of the most popular radio shows of the past, including Suspense, Lux Radio Theater, Yours Truly Johnny Dollar, A Day In The Life Of Dennis Day, Frontier Gentleman, CBS Radio Workshop and Favorite Story.
In 1946, Winslowe was offered the role of Peg Riley in the highly acclaimed radio situation comedy, The Life of Riley. William Bendix played the part of Chester Riley and their children, Junior and Babs, were originally played by Conrad Binyon and Sharon Douglas.
After a long and illustrious career in radio and television, Paula Winslowe died on March 7, 1996 at the age of 85. She was survived by her husband, John and their four children, Eric, John, Ronald, and Diane.