Joseph Bell

Joseph Bell was a voice actor and director for old time radio who participated in at least five shows. From 1933-1937, Bell directed the show Twenty Thousand Years in Sing Sing.

Joseph Bell was a voice actor and director for old time radio who participated in at least five shows. From 1933-1937, Bell directed the show Twenty Thousand Years in Sing Sing. 

This was one of the first crime shows to air on old time radio. It started as a book that was translated to film in 1932. A year later, it made it to the radio waves. Lewis E. Lawes, who was a criminologist and the warden of Sing Sing, wrote the book.  He was a fierce opponent of the death penalty and worked to help people see criminals as humans. The show actually took place inside the prison and worked to expose the people who were part of the prison system. All of their stories were different and compelling. 

Joseph Bell also directed The Bishop and the Gargoyle aired from 1936-1937 on the Blue Network. It aired weekly for 30 minutes. It was a crime drama about a bishop who was interested in the crime world and held a position on the parole board of Sing Sing prison and a former prisoner known as the Gargoyle. The two get together as crime fighters. Unfortunately there are no shows extant of either of these two dramas.

Joseph Bell first worked as a director in the 1930's for the famous show Sherlock Holmes and then later he also worked as the announcer inviting you to enjoy a cup of Washington Coffee. This was, of course, a mystery show that had Sherlock Holmes solving cases each week on the NBC radio network. 

From May 7 to October 29, 1950 he acted on The Big Guy. This was a 30-minute detective show that aired on NBC. Listeners tuned in weekly for the detective drama of Joshua Sharp and his children who took part in the adventures. Joseph Bell played in the supporting cast of this show. I believe there may be one or two of theses shows out there. If you have any you can share please email me.

From 1955-1958, Bell was one of the cast members of X-Minus One, a science fiction show. This was an anthology show that featured different stories for each episode. It was a space soap opera in a sense, and was one of the most critically acclaimed shows, though it never gained a huge audience. 

What made this show different was that it didn’t always end well.  In fact, there were several shows where the aliens actually won the battles with the human race. X-Minus One is a show that many people will still enjoy listening to today, and it can be heard in its entirety. The recordings that were made have been well preserved and the stories are timeless. 

Happy listening my friends,