Cliff Carpenter: 1915 to 2014
Alas, another personality from those bygone days has ceased broadcasting in this dimension and move onto the big broadcaster in the sky.
Cliff Carpenter was a World War II veteran. After he was wounded during the Battle of the Bulge, he returned to show business and continued to perform on radio until he was blacklisted during the McCarthy era.
Fans of old time radio will best remember Cliff Carpenter as the voice of the Terry, on the 1937 radio show, Terry and the Pirates.
Terry and the Pirates was a juvenile adventure series that originated from the comic strip by Milton Caniff. The radio version pretty much followed the plots of the comic strip with Terry and his pals chasing villains all over the world.
The show - which also starred Clayton Bud Collyer, Jackie Kelk and Agnes Moorhead - became part of the war effort in 1943. Each show ended with such victory-grams as:
“Paper is a mighty weapon: Haul it in, keep smartly steppin’. Turn in every scrap you can, to lick the Nazis and Japan.”
But Cliff Carpenter wasn’t a one hit wonder. He also starred in numerous other shows, particularly soap operas and dramas including County Seat, Now Hear This, Theater Five and We Love and Learn.
County Seat was a serial drama that was first broadcast in 1938 and stared Ray Collins as Doc Will Hackett, a drugstore owner in Northbury. Cliff Carpenter played the role of Hackett’s high school age nephew, Jerry Whipple, who wise-cracks his way through romances and school.
Now Hear This, a drama about Navy traditions and stories, starred Larry Baines as Boats, Don Griggs, Richard Newton and Carpenter as a supporting radio actor. The stories were set during World War II and included experiences that soldiers told of marine landings and demolition duties.
Radio suspense drama Theater Five was also an acting forum for Carpenter. It often had a scientific plot and also starred Paul Mc Grath, Guy Sorel, Bryna Raeburn. The announcer was Fred Foy.
We Love and Learn began broadcasting in 1941 and was a soap opera that began from the radio show, As the Twig is Bent. Barbara Terrell played the part of Andrea Reynolds and Henry M. Neely played the part of the janitor at the fictional, Beechmont School. Cliff Carpenter played Jim Carlton and Sybil Trent was his wife, Thelma.
Carpenter also played in another soap opera, We, the Abbotts with John McIntire and Betty Garde as the Abbotts. Cliff played the part of one of their children. It was a typical soap opera that became extremely popular during the early 1940s and into the ‘50s.
Later in life Cliff Carpenter made many appearances on TV including The Patty Duke Show, The Defenders, Hawk, Coronet Blue and Great Performances, as well as a small role in Synecdoche, New York, directed by Charlie Kaufman and starring Philip Seymour Hoffman. He also made many appearances on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, playing a 22-year-old man who aged prematurely as a consequence of watching Sean Hannity nightly on Fox News.
He was also one of the few stars of old time radio to provide the voiceover for videos games when he provided the voice of Odin Andersson in the video games Alan Wake (2010) and Alan Wake's American Nightmare (2012).
Cliff Carpenter was born in 1915 and died in Connecticut on 9th January of natural causes at the grand old age of 98.
If you'd like to remember Cliff Carpenter by listening to one of the shows he starred in I can highly recommend Terry and The Pirates. If you were born in the late 1920s or the 30s I'm sure it will take you straight back to your childhood.
Click here to go to Terry and The Pirates
Happy listening,
