''Grand Central Station'' was an American anthology radio series that had a long run on the major networks from 1937 to 1954. Produced by

Himan Brown Himan Brown (July 21, 1910 – June 4, 2010Himan Brown obituary.< ...

, Martin Horrell and others, the story content ranged from romantic comedies to lightweight dramas. The program debuted on September 28, 1937, on NBC. Each program opened with an announcer intoning that Grand Central was "the crossroads of a million private lives, a gigantic stage on which are played a thousand dramas daily."Berger, Joseph. (2010, June 7). ''Himan Brown, Developer of Radio Dramas, Dies at 99''. The New York Times, p A-19 Actors included

Jim Ameche Jim Ameche (August 6, 1915 – February 4, 1983)Cox, Jim (2008). ''This Day in Network Radio: A Daily Calendar of Births, Debuts, Cancellations and Other Events in Broadcasting History''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . Page 29. was an American r ...

and

Hume Cronyn Hume Blake Cronyn Jr. OC (July 18, 1911 – June 15, 2003) was a Canadian-American actor and writer. Early life Cronyn, one of five children, was born in London, Ontario, Canada. His father, Hume Blake Cronyn, Sr., was a businessman and ...

. The announcers were George Baxter, Ken Roberts and Tom Shirley. The programs were narrated by Jack Arthur, Stuart Metz and Alexander Scourby. When some listeners noted that steam engines, the sounds of which were heard during the broadcasts, no longer frequented the terminal, Brown responded: "You have your own Grand Central Station." In 1952 a half-hour television

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

was created but was not picked up. The episode starred

Mercedes McCambridge Carlotta Mercedes Agnes McCambridge (March 16, 1916 – March 2, 2004) was an American actress of radio, stage, film, and television. Orson Welles called her "the world's greatest living radio actress." She won an Academy Award for Best Support ...

, with supporting roles by

Kirby Grant Kirby Grant (November 24, 1911 – October 30, 1985), born Kirby Grant Hoon Jr., was a long-time B movie and television actor, mostly remembered for having played the title role in the Western-themed adventure television series ''Sky King''. B ...

and

Parley Baer Parley Edward Baer (August 5, 1914 – November 22, 2002) was an American actor in radio and later in television and film. Despite dozens of appearances in television series and theatrical films, he remains best known as the original "Cheste ...

. It was produced by Don W. Sharpe, who copyrighted the film. It began with a montage of trains chugging into Manhattan and the same words that had opened the radio program. The show's title was factually erroneous; Grand Central is actually a terminal, not a station. Brown claimed that the

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...

would not allow him to use the actual name.

References

{{reflist American radio dramas 1930s American radio programs 1940s American radio programs 1950s American radio programs NBC Blue Network radio programs NBC radio programs CBS Radio programs ABC radio programs Anthology radio series