Crime Classics
Crime Classics
Elliott Lewis was born 28 th November 1917 in New York. As a young adult he left New York for Los Angeles and although he planned to study Law it was there that he began his prolific radio career.
As you will discover he led a fulfilling career over the years but his first acting role was that of Mr Preston the magician in the wonderful Thanksgiving-through-to-Christmas children's story Cinnamon Bear in 1937.
But without a doubt one of his greatest achievements is Crime Classics, which Lewis not only created but also produced and directed. The audition show aired on the 3rd of December 1952 but the series actually began its broadcast on CBS fifty-two years ago on 15th June 1953 and the final episode aired a year later on 30th June 1954.
Lewis had long been interested in famous true crimes and it was from his extensive collection of material from original source newspaper articles that his idea for this show began. He recreated not only the facts of the crimes but through the clever use of sound effects, accents and dialect he could transport your mind to the time and place of the occurrence. For example when you listen to The Shrapnelled Body Of Charles Drew Senior you will really get a feel of the atmosphere of London in 1739 enhanced further by the carefully planned music of Bernard Herrmann.
All this coupled with the very talented array of stars including Mary Jane Croft, who five years later would become his second wife, made for a show which has lived up to its name in becoming an old time radio crime classic !
Happy listening my friends,