''Favorite Story'' is an American

old-time radio The Golden Age of Radio, also known as the old-time radio (OTR) era, was an era of radio in the United States where it was the dominant electronic home entertainment medium. It began with the birth of commercial radio broadcasting in the early ...

dramatic anthology. It was nationally syndicated by the

Ziv Company Frederic W. Ziv Company (also given as Frederick W. Ziv Company) produced syndicated radio and television programs in the United States. Horace Newcomb's ''Encyclopedia of Television'' described the company as "by 1948 ... the largest packager and ...

from 1946 to 1949. The program was "advertised as a show that 'stands head and shoulders above the finest programs on the air'". Originating at

KFI KFI (640 AM broadcasting, AM) is a radio station in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, owned and operated by iHeartMedia, Inc. It began operations in 1922 and became one of the first high-powered, clear-channel station, clear-channel List of ...

in Los Angeles, California, ''Favorite Story'' apparently was not related to the similarly named ''My Favorite Story'' that ran on KNX in Los Angeles earlier.

Format

Each episode of ''Favorite Story'' featured an adaptation of a story selected by a celebrity — purportedly his or her favorite story. The celebrities came from various fields: actors, directors, bandleaders, and athletes, to name but a few. Because they did not appear on the air, the Ziv Company saved any salary that their appearances would have incurred. Compensation came in the form of promoting whatever book, film, or other work the guest had coming up. Despite the show's premise, many of the stories presented may not have been the celebrities' actual favorites. Christine Becker wrote in her book, ''It’s the Pictures That Got Small: Hollywood Film Stars on 1950s Television'', "Production documents indicate that celebrities were asked for their favorite stories, but they had to select from a predetermined list and were not always matched up with a story they selected." Stories presented were adaptations of literary classics, including ''Alice in Wonderland'', ''Frankenstein'', ''Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde'', and ''Oliver Twist''. Not only did prestigious titles add an air of quality, but they had the financial advantage of being in the public domain, so that nothing had to be paid for the rights to broadcast them. The half-hour time span was better suited to short stories than to novels, but Tim DeForest wrote in his book, ''Radio by the Book: Adaptations of Literature and Fiction on the Airwaves'', "In many cases, ''Favorite Story'' managed the incredible feat of jamming a classic novel into half an hour and still giving us a rewarding experience."

Personnel

As an anthology, ''Favorite Story'' had no regular characters; the only person who appeared in the same role from one episode to another was host

Ronald Colman Ronald Charles Colman (9 February 1891 – 19 May 1958) was an English-born actor, starting his career in theatre and silent film in his native country, then immigrating to the United States and having a successful Hollywood film career. He wa ...

. His presence enhanced the program's appeal to listeners and to executives and sponsors at local stations — a factor essential to having stations broadcast the show.

Frederick Ziv Frederick William Ziv (August 17, 1905 – October 13, 2001, Cincinnati, Ohio) was an American broadcasting producer and syndicator who was considered as the father of television first-run syndication and once operated the nation's largest indepen ...

, owner of the company that syndicated the program, said that with Colman on board, "Stations were receptive, networks were receptive, sponsors were receptive, audiences were receptive." Becker found that, besides being the host and acting in some episodes, Colman "did indeed have measurable creative input into ''Favorite Story''", such as suggesting how the script writers should adapt the stories for radio. Actors heard regularly in episodes included

Jeff Corey Jeff Corey (born Arthur Zwerling; August 10, 1914 – August 16, 2002) was an American stage and screen actor who became a well-respected acting teacher after being blacklisted in the 1950s. Life and career Corey attended New Utrecht High ...

Edna Best Edna Clara Best (3 March 1900 – 18 September 1974) was a British actress. Early life Born in Hove, Sussex, England, she was educated in Brighton and later studied dramatic acting under Miss Kate Rorke who was the first professor of Drama at ...

Lionel Stander Lionel Jay Stander (January 11, 1908 – November 30, 1994) was an American actor in films, radio, theater and television. He is best remembered for his role as majordomo Max on the 1980s mystery television series ''Hart to Hart''. Early ...

Vincent Price Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor, art historian, art collector and gourmet cook. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price has two stars on the Hollywood Wal ...

, John Beal,

Howard Duff Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...

William Conrad William Conrad (born John William Cann Jr., September 27, 1920 – February 11, 1994) was an American actor, producer, and director whose entertainment career spanned five decades in radio, film, and television, peaking in popularity when he s ...

, and

Janet Waldo Janet Waldo (born Jeanette Marie Waldo; February 4, 1919 – June 12, 2016) was an American radio and voice actress. In animation, she voiced Judy Jetson in various Hanna-Barbera media, Nancy in ''Shazzan'', Penelope Pitstop, Princess from ''Batt ...

. Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee produced, directed, and wrote for the program. Other writers were William Froug and E. Jack Neuman. Announcers were George Barclay and True Boardman. Music was by Claude Sweeten.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Logs

Log of episodes of ''Favorite Story'' from Audio Classics Archive
* ttp://www.otrsite.com/otrsite/logs/logf1010.htm Log of episodes of ''Favorite Story'' from Jerry Haendiges Vintage Radio Logsbr>Log of episodes of ''Favorite Story'' from Old Time Radio Researchers GroupLog of episodes of ''Favorite Story'' from radioGOLDINdex

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