The Late, Great Otto Kruger

Which erudite actor, who regularly appeared in episodes of Lux Radio Theatre, was also the grandnephew of a South African President?

The answer is Otto Kruger and it is thirty years ago, to this very day, since he died in his California home. However, not only is it the anniversary of his death it is also the anniversary of his birth, because it is exactly one-hundred-and-nineteen years, to this very day, since he was born. Yes, Otto Kruger was born on the 6th September and died on the 6th September.

He was born in 1885 in Toledo. While studying music at Columbia University he had a change of heart and decided he wanted to pursue a career in acting. After several seasons learning the craft in regional theater the lights of Broadway beckoned and he found himself a major part in The Natural Law in 1915. His first film role was in the same year and over the following years he made several more silent movies, but it wasn't until the talkies appeared that his career really started to blossom. He found himself playing a wide variety of roles from outright villains such as Charles Tobin, the "solid citizen-cum-Nazi ringleader" in Hitchcock's Saboteur (1942) through to parts demanding kindness and compassion, like the true story of Nobel Prize winner Dr. Emil Behring in Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet (1940). Over the coming decades he played in eighty-nine movies and made nearly three dozen notable TV guest appearances in shows such as Perry Mason, Bonanza, Dr. Kildare, Lights Out and Suspense.

Unfortunately, he suffered a stroke whilst appearing in the pre-Broadway tryouts for Advise and Consent. He made three more films, The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm, (1962), Della (1964), and Sex and the Single Girl (1964) before finally retiring at the age of 79. He died ten years later on his 89th birthday.

Between 1955-56 Otto Kruger hosted the TV version of the Lux Radio Theater so I thought it would be fitting to put up a couple of Lux shows. I had a careful hunt through my collection and managed to uncover a couple of shows that he actually appeared in.

The first one is Libel, which I will put up today. The second is called Mary with Love and I'll get that one up for tomorrow (i.e. Tuesday). And then next Monday I'll put one up called Old Acquaintance. I hope you enjoy them. I'm sure Otto will be if he's looking down on us today.

I hope you are all having a wonderful Labor Day holiday and if you're a Florida resident I hope you are safe and well from Hurricane Frances.

Happy listening my friends