Bill Johnstone

Bill Johnstone was an actor who enjoyed a long career in radio and later in television. His distinctive voice made him well known as Lamont Cranston – The Shadow – on that radio mystery series. The series ran for five seasons and Johnstone was The Shadow from 1939 - 1943. He was also an actor on the show when Orson Welles’ was the star in many of The Shadow episodes, including the first one, Deathhouse Rescue, where Johnstone played the role of an innocent man on his way to die in the electric chair when the Shadow rescued him.

 

Johnstone also played a role in the 1946 situation comedy, The Amazing Mrs. Danberry, starring Agnes Moorehead. She played a widow of a department store owner who tried to turn over the reins to her son, but couldn’t resist remaining a part of its operation.

The Bill Goodwin Show was a situation comedy also named, Leave It to Bill that cast Johnstone in the role of Groggins, the president of the Chamber of Commerce in a town where Bill Goodwin was an insurance salesman and Peggy Knudsen played the part of his girlfriend, Phillipa. Jim Backus was Mr. Hendricks, the boss. The show ran during the year, 1947 but unfortunately there are no episodes extant.

From 1950 - 1953 Bill Johnstone played the leading role of Lieutenant Ben Guthrie in the police drama series The Lineup.

Nightbeat cast Johnstone as a supporting actor in this adventure and drama stories of a newspaper reporter, Randy Stone (played by Frank Lovejoy). Stone had the “nightbeat” for the fictitious Chicago Star and is considered one of the best series on radio during its run from 1950 to 1952.

Bill Johnstone was also part of the supporting cast in The Mysterious Traveler, stories that were suspenseful and scary. This radio dramatic anthology was on every night of the week during its runs from 1943 until 1952. The show also starred Maurice Tarplin (the mysterious traveler), who was supported by various actors, including Johnstone.

The Whistler, a crime melodrama, starred Johnstone as the title name during 1947. The show began and ended with several notes of whistling performed by Dorothy Roberts and was directed by George Allen. The show was one of the best-known of the crime series at the time.

Johnstone was also a regular actor on Cavalcade of America and Suspense and Dragnet besides playing the part of Inspector Cramer on The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe of which Sydney Greenstreet was the star. Bill also had a run on Wilderness Road, a frontier serial adventure that ran from 1936 until 1937. It was a show that highlighted the Westons, a frontier family that knew Daniel Boone and George Washington and had frequent encounters with Indians.

In fact Bill Johnson can be heard over 190 times in episodes of old time radio series on RUSC including Mercury Theater On The Air, This Is Your FBI, Lux Radio Theater, Richard Diamond Private Detective, Family Theater, Tales of the Texas Ranger, The Railroad Hour, FBI In Peace and War, The Silent Men, Crime Classics, ABC Mystery Time, The Story of Dr Kildare, Let George Do It, Gangbusters, Romance, Theater Guild On The Air, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, Favorite Story, Arch Oboler's Plays and Escape.

Bill Johnstone was born in New York City on February 7, 1908 and died on November 1, 1996.

Happy listening my friends,