With scintillating performances in Gilda and more, Rita Hayworth was a box office draw and a pin-up idol of the 1940s and 1950s. But there was more to Hayworth than her gorgeous looks and her status as a Hollywood “love goddess.” She was an accomplished dancer and a terrific actress, and she had the chance to show off in her lone appearance on Suspense. We’ll hear her as a murderess contending with a blackmailer in “Three Times Murder” (originally aired on October 3, 1946). Then we’ll hear her playing for laughs opposite George Burns and Gracie Allen in an episode from March 21, 1944.

We bid adieu to Peter Lorre as the star of Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon, and M makes his final appearances on “radio’s outstanding theater of thrills.” First, he’s a mysterious count who makes a dangerous offer to his niece’s suitor in “The Devil’s Saint” (originally aired on CBS on January 19, 1943). Then, Lorre plays a demented killer recounting his life story to a room full of terrified hostages in “Nobody Loves Me” (originally aired on CBS on August 30, 1945).

When William Bendix visited Suspense, it was anything but a “revoltin’ development.” Best known as bumbling sitcom patriarch Chester A. Riley in The Life of Riley, Bendix could show off the dramatic chops he displayed on the big screen when he appeared on “radio’s outstanding theater of thrills.” We’ll hear him as a job seeker who finds more than he bargained for in “Three Faces at Midnight” (originally aired on CBS on February 27, 1947) and as a safecracker trying to keep his son from a career in crime in “The Gift of Jumbo Brannigan” (originally aired on CBS on March 1, 1951).

Angela Lansbury is a three-time Oscar nominee and a five-time Tony winner, and she’s still going strong. The legend of the stage and screen is known to generations of fans for her memorable film roles in The Manchurian Candidate, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and Beauty and the Beast, her stage turns in Gypsy, Sweeney Todd, and Mame, and her twelve seasons as mystery writer and amateur sleuth Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote. We’ll hear her one and only appearance on Suspense – “A Thing of Beauty” (originally aired on CBS on May 29, 1947) – and we’ll hear her in a dramatic performance from Stars Over Hollywood (“The Experiment,” originally aired on CBS on May 24, 1952).

In a career that spanned five decades, Glenn Ford brought to tough, masculine characters on screen. Ford was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood in the 1950s with memorable performances in film noirs like Gilda and The Big Heat and westerns like 3:10 to Yuma. He continued to make impressions on screen through the 1970s with his turn as Jonathan Kent in Richard Donner’s Superman. We’ll hear Glenn Ford in two episodes of Suspense – “End of the Road” (originally aired on CBS on February 6, 1947) and “Murder and Aunt Delia” (an AFRTS rebroadcast of an episode from February 17, 1957).

Kirk Douglas played heroes, villains, and morally ambiguous characters in between in a career that spanned six decades. He earned three Oscar nominations and turned in intense and memorable performances in Spartacus, Gunfight at the OK Corral, Seven Days in May, and many more. But in 1947, Kirk Douglas was a rising Hollywood star when he made two visits to “radio’s outstanding theater of thrills.” We’ll hear him as a man plotting to keep a newfound fortune out of his wife’s hands in “Community Property” (originally aired on CBS on April 10, 1947) and as a washed-up writer who hopes to pass off a master’s work as his own in “The Story of Markham’s Death” (originally aired on CBS on October 2, 1947).

In an extra-large edition for our 50th podcast episode, we welcome Orson Welles back to the show for three of his visits to Suspense. In the fall of 1943, Welles starred in several episodes of “radio’s outstanding theater of thrills” in a special engagement. He appeared in some of the best thrillers from literature by some of the best authors of the genre, and this week we’ll hear three shows from that run: Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Lost Special” (an AFRS rebroadcast of an episode from September 30, 1943); Agatha Christie’s “Philomel Cottage” (originally aired on CBS on October 7, 1943); and “Lazarus Walks” (an AFRS rebroadcast of an episode from October 19, 1943).

In a special bonus episode of Stars On Suspense, we salute the late, great Jerry Lewis. Though he never made any visits to “radio’s outstanding theatre of thrills,” Lewis was a radio star in a popular comedy series alongside his longtime partner Dean Martin. As a tribute to the legendary comedian, we’ll hear a pair of programs from The Martin and Lewis Show featuring songs from Dean, madcap antics from Jerry, and special guests Boris Karloff and Jeff Chandler.

Fred MacMurray may be best known to generations of movie and TV fans for his family-friendly roles in classic Disney films and the long-running sitcom My Three Sons. But there was a darker side to his performances - a side MacMurray showed in fantastic performances in Double Indemnity, The Caine Mutiny, The Apartment, and more. We'll hear Fred MacMurray in two "tales well calculated to keep you in Suspense." First, he's a drummer in a Prohibition-era jazz band in "The Windy City Six," a tale of tommy guns and the roaring twenties (originally aired on CBS on February 8, 1951). Then he's in a crippled B-29 bomber over Korea in "The Flight of the Bumblebee" (originally aired on CBS on May 19, 1952).

After making a name for himself in the United Kingdom, James Mason came across the pond to Hollywood. With his silvery voice and leading man looks, Mason was a natural for polished character roles as heroes and villains in movies liike Lolita, A Star is Born, North by Northwest, and more. We'll hear him in two visits to Suspense, beginning with Agatha Christie's "Where There's a Will" (originally aired on CBS on February 24, 1949) and as a Scotland Yard man after a crafty killer in "Banquo's Chair" (originally aired on March 9, 1950).

Despite a tragically short career, Laird Cregar made his mark with several memorable big screen performances in films like This Gun for Hire and The Lodger. With his massive frame, Cregar was a natural fit as “heavies,” but he appeared in a variety of roles in comedies, adventures, and historical dramas. But it was frustration with his size that led him to a dangerous crash diet - one that ultimately took his life. We'll hear Cregar in both of his visits to Suspense - "The Last Letter of Dr. Bronson" (originally aired on CBS on July 27, 1943) and "Narrative About Clarence" (originally aired on CBS on March 9, 1944).

Joan Fontaine earned acclaim for her performances in classic films like Rebecca and Suspicion, and she appeared on the stage and the big and small screens for nearly sixty years. Like her sister, fellow actress, and bitter rival Olivia de Havilland, Joan Fontaine won an Academy Award but also picked up two additional nominations for her dynamic screen work throughout the 1940s. She made only one visit to Suspense - "Lovebirds" (originally aired on CBS on March 3, 1949) an engrossing mystery about a wife who plots to help her invalid husband on his way to the great beyond. We'll also hear her recreate her Oscar-nominated role in a radio version of Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca (originally aired on The Lady Esther Screen Guild Theatre on May 31, 1943).

Perennial Suspense favorite Joseph Cotten is back in two more "tales well calculated." The popular star of Shadow of a Doubt appears first as a man tormented by the sight of a corpse that no one else can see in "The Thing in the Window" (originally aired on CBS on December 19, 1946). Then, he's a lawyer who's presumed dead with a scheme to collect his own life insurance in "The Day I Died" (originally aired on CBS on June 30, 1949.

Ray Milland's screen career stretched from the 1930s to the 1970s, earning him an Oscar and leaving a series of memorable performances in The Lost Weekend, Dial 'M' for Murder, and more. A talented director as well as an actor, Milland continued to work on both sides of the camera for movies and television. In two of his five visits to Suspense, we'll hear him as a cop trying to cover up a murder in "Night Cry" (originally aired on CBS on October 7, 1948) and as a man whose empty pockets land him in jail in "Chicken Feed" (originally aired on CBS on September 8, 1949).

A real-life hero in Hollywood, Herbert Marshall lost a leg in World War I before he went on to a long career on the stage and screen. The handsome, debonair actor made a name for himself as a romantic lead and later as a character actor. In addition to twenty appearances on Suspense, Marshall starred on radio as a globetrotting secret agent in The Man Called X and made the rounds on radio comedies. We’ll hear him as a writer out for revenge against his son’s killer in “The Beast Must Die” (originally aired on CBS on July 13, 1944) and in a real-life story of a solider blackmailed into treason in “Betrayal in Vienna” (originally aired on CBS on October 8, 1951).

Olivia de Havilland won two Oscars during her six decade screen career, and she's still making news today. The star of Gone With the Wind and The Adventures of Robin Hood was a true legend of old Hollywood, but she only made one visit to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." We'll hear her in a shipboard thriller in "Voyage Through Darkness" (originally aired on CBS on September 7, 1944) and in a radio creation of one of her award-nominated roles in Hold Back the Dawn from Academy Award (originally aired on CBS on July 31, 1946).

Some of the twentieth century's best singers made visits to "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" during the twenty year run of Suspense. This week, we'll hear two of them in uncharacteristic dark and dramatic roles. First, Frank Sinatra is a deranged madman tormenting Agnes Moorehead in "To Find Help" (an Armed Forces Radio Service rebroadcast of an episode from January 18, 1945). Then, Rosemary Clooney stars and sings in "St. James Infirmary Blues" (originally aired on CBS on February 23, 1953), a tale of crime and love in the Roaring Twenties.

With his leading man looks and his mellifluous voice, Ronald Colman was a star of both the silent and talking eras of Hollywood. His appearances on radio gave the Oscar winner a chance to put that voice to good use, whether he and his wife Benita Hume were clowning around with Jack Benny or whether Colman was making one of his six visits to Suspense. We’ll hear him in “August Heat” (originally aired on May 31, 1945) and “A Vision of Death” (originally aired on March 8, 1951).

A star in front of and behind the camera, Ida Lupino was one of Hollywood’s first female directors and producers. She turned in memorable performances in movies like High Sierra and On Dangerous Ground before she established her own production company and embarked on a long career of directing for the big and small screens. We’ll hear Ida Lupino in “Summer Night” (originally aired on CBS on July 15, 1948) and “The Bullet” (originally aired on CBS on December 29, 1949).

Cary Grant returns to the podcast for one last “tale well calculated to keep you in Suspense.” We’ll hear the legendary leading man in “The Black Path of Fear” (an Armed Forces Radio Service broadcast of an episode originally aired on CBS on March 7, 1946). Then, he recreates his big screen role from Alfred Hitchcock’s Suspicion in The Lady Esther Screen Guild Theatre (originally aired on CBS on January 21, 1946).

Gene Kelly dances his way to “radio’s outstanding theatre of thrills” in two shows that are miles away from his screen persona. The star of An American in Paris and Singin’ in the Rain leaves his dazzling footwork at the door for a pair of tense, well-calculated tails: “Thieves Fall Out” (originally aired on CBS on November 16, 1943) and “Death Went Along for the Ride” (originally aired on CBS on April 27, 1944).

Gregory Peck returns to “Stars On Suspense” in two old time radio thrillers – a pair of tales about the dangers that can lurk on the highway. First, Peck thumbs a ride with the wrong man in “Hitch-Hike Poker” (originally aired on CBS on September 16, 1948). Then, he’s a grieving father looking for revenge on a drunk driver in “Nightmare” (originally aired on CBS on September 1, 1949).

Glamorous leading lady Lana Turner had a career that spanned five decades from her discovery at a Hollywood café all the way up to her final television appearances. But the Oscar-nominated actress had a tumultuous personal life – including a murder scandal – that could overshadow her screen work. In her two appearances on Suspense, Turner showed off her versatility in a pair of very different roles. We’ll hear her as a woman terrorized by a painting in “Fear Paints a Picture” (originally aired on CBS on May 3, 1945). Then, she’s a detective investigating her own husband in “The Flame Blue Glove” (originally aired on CBS on December 15, 1949).

One of the great gangster stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood, Edward G. Robinson excelled at playing all types of characters over his fifty year career. From Nazi hunters to cagey sleuths to desperate criminals, Robinson delivered memorable performances with a signature style that is still imitated today. We'll hear him in an unusual double role as himself and as "The Man Who Wanted to Be Edward G. Robinson" (originally aired on CBS on September 30, 1948). Then, he's a man out to profit from his alleged demise in "You Can't Die Twice" (originally aired on CBS on March 31, 1949).

Known as "the queen of film noir," Claire Trevor was amazing on screen as tough dames and gun molls (including Murder, My Sweet and her Oscar-winning turn in Key Largo). But the actress could play more than noir as she demonstrated over long career in movies like Stagecoach and The High and the Mighty. We'll hear two of her visits to Suspense - a series where she got to put her talent at playing tough women to good use: "The Plan" (originally aired on CBS on May 16, 1946) and "The Blue Hour" (originally aired on CBS on September 25, 1947).

Before she was a TV star, and even before she kept audiences smiling with her radio comedy series, Lucille Ball delivered tough noir performances in episodes of Suspense. She was as talented in the world of drama and thrills as she was with slapstick and a punchline. The red-headed legend returns for two more “tales well calculated” – “The Ten Grand” (originally aired on CBS on June 22, 1944) and “A Shroud for Sarah” (originally aired on CBS on October 25, 1945).

Two comedy legends trade jokes and laughs for thrills and chills when they visit “radio’s outstanding theater of thrills.” First, Bob Hope plays a man who has an appointment with a murderer in “Death Has a Shadow” (originally aired on CBS on May 5, 1949). Then, Milton Berle is an actor whose greatest role could keep him out of the electric chair in “Rave Notice” (originally aired on CBS on October 12, 1950).

Whether he was singing and dancing, breaking the law, or wielding a grapefruit, James Cagney never failed to deliver energetic, compelling performances on the big screen. The Oscar-winner gave audiences a series of memorable roles that are still admired – and imitated – today. For his first appearance on Suspense, Cagney returned to the world of gangster drama in an hour-long radio adaptation of James M. Cain’s “Love’s Lovely Counterfeit” (originally aired on CBS on January 17, 1948).

Bette Davis made only one appearance on Suspense, but it was a doozy. The two-time Oscar winner and ten-time nominee stands as one of the biggest legends of old Hollywood with a career and tumultuous personal life that continues to fascinate fans today. We’ll hear her in “Goodnight Mrs. Russell,” originally aired on CBS on October 20, 1949. Plus, she reprises her award-winning role from Jezebel in a production from Academy Award (originally aired on CBS on March 30, 1946).

Jack Benny sets down his violin and climbs out of his Maxwell for his final appearances on Suspense. Radio’s most popular comedian returns to “radio’s outstanding theater of thrills” as a Martian on a mission in “Plan X” (originally aired on CBS on February 2, 1953) and a reluctant bank robber in “The Face is Familiar” (originally aired on CBS on January 18, 1954).

Ozzie Nelson and Harriet Hilliard were the stars of their own long-running radio and television sitcoms, but before they took their adventures to TV they made a pair of memorable appearances on Suspense. Playing effectively against type, the Nelsons showed listeners a different side of themselves in these tense, dramatic stories. We’ll hear them in “Too Little to Live On” (originally aired on December 26, 1947) and “Going, Going, Gone” (originally aired on November 23, 1950).

Long before he wore the white coat of Marcus Welby, MD and even before Father Knows Best, Robert Young was a big screen star making visits to Suspense. Those only familiar with him from those kindly, classic TV characters may be surprised at the performances he gives on “radio’s outstanding theater of thrills.” We’ll hear him in “The Night Reveals” (originally aired on CBS on December 9, 1943) and “You’ll Never See Me Again” (originally aired on CBS on September 5, 1946).

In two appearances on Suspense, Danny Kaye traded singing, dancing, and his trademark silliness for thrills and chills. The star of White Christmas and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty plays very effectively against type as a man plotting a murder and another framed for a killing. We'll hear "The Too-Perfect Alibi" (originally aired on CBS on January 13, 1949) and "I Never Met the Dead Man" (originally aired on CBS on January 5, 1950).

Academy Award-winning actress Anne Baxter was a mainstay on stage and the big and small screens over her long career- from her first films at age 17 to her Oscar win for The Razor's Edge and her nomination for the title role in All About Eve. We'll hear two of her appearances on Suspense: a story of jealousy and murder on Madison Avenue in "Always Room at the Top" (originally aired on CBS on February 20, 1947; and in the dramatization of a legendary folk song in "The Death of Barbara Allen" (originally aired on CBS on October 20, 1952).

Vincent Price returns to “Stars On Suspense” for two more installments from “radio’s outstanding theater of thrills.” The big screen master of horror lends his voice to these chilling mysteries that deliver surprising twists before the final curtain. We’ll hear him in “Fugue in C Minor” (originally aired on CBS on June 1, 1944) and “The Hands of Mr. Ottermole” (originally aired on CBS on December 2, 1948).

Though his performances could be overshadowed by his turbulent personal life, Mickey Rooney was one of Hollywood’s most celebrated and enduring performers with a career that spanned nine decades. He had matured past boyish roles when he made his first appearances on Suspense in 1949, but he turned in memorable performances as darker, more complex characters. We’ll hear him in “The Lie” (originally aired on CBS on April 28, 1949) and “For Love or Murder” (originally aired on December 8, 1949).

“Stars On Suspense” celebrates Valentine’s Day with two radio thrillers starring real-life spouses. First, we’ll hear Jim and Marian Jordan – better known to radio fans as “Fibber McGee and Molly.” The two are miles away from 79 Wistful Vista in “Backseat Driver” (originally aired on CBS on February 3, 1949). Then, Phil Harris and Alice Faye trade music and comedy for a tense tale of a small town lynch mob in “Death On My Hands” (originally aired on CBS on May 10, 1951).

On the big screen, Charles Laughton earned acclaim and awards for playing larger than life characters – figures like the tyrannical Captain Bligh, King Henry VIII, and the cagey legal eagle Sir Wilfrid Robarts. He brought that stature to ten appearances on Suspense. We’ll hear Laughton in the dry, dark comedy “Wet Saturday” (originally aired on CBS on December 16, 1943) and “The Man Who Knew How” (originally aired on CBS on August 10, 1944).

The “first lady of Suspense” returns as Agnes Moorehead stars in two more well-calculated tales. First, we’ll hear her in a production of the most famous play Suspense produced – and one of radio’s all-time best dramas – “Sorry, Wrong Number.” This version of the classic chiller first aired on CBS on February 24, 1944. Then, Agnes Moorehead plays a woman fighting a mysterious intruder in her house in “The Trap” (originally aired on CBS on June 16, 1949).

Before he was an Academy Award nominated actor, Richard Widmark was a busy radio performer. Even after his big screen career took off, he remained active in radio and he made over a dozen appearances on Suspense. With his intense performances, he was equally effective as tormented heroes and demented villains. We'll hear him in "Too Hot to Live" (originally aired on CBS on October 26, 1950) and in "A Murderous Revision" (originally aired on CBS on December 3, 1951).

In her appearances on Suspense, Rosalind Russell traded the fast-paced banter of His Girl Friday for tense psychological drama. The five-time Golden Globe winner was a talented comedienne, but she was no slouch in the drama department as these radio plays demonstrate. We’ll hear her in “The Sisters” (originally aired on CBS on December 9, 1948) and as a wife who suspects her husband is plotting her murder in “Consideration” (originally aired on CBS on February 2, 1950).

Best known as the titular gunfighter in Shane, Alan Ladd broke into stardom with his turn as a cold-blooded killer in the film noir classic This Gun for Hire. He made four appearances on Suspense, usually as tough, terse, hard-boiled characters. We’ll hear Ladd as an ex-con framed for murder in “The Defense Rests” (originally aired on CBS on March 9, 1944) and as a man out to avenge his brother’s murder in the western drama “A Killing in Abilene” (originally aired on CBS on December 14, 1950).

Peter Lorre returns in two more “tales well calculated to keep you in Suspense.” First, Lorre plays a down-on-his-luck boxing manager who concocts a murder scheme in “Of Maestro and Man” (originally aired on CBS on July 20, 1944). Then, just in time for the holidays, he stars as a henpecked husband with a deadly present for his wife in “Back for Christmas” (originally aired on CBS on December 23, 1943).

Burt Lancaster – the circus acrobat turned Oscar-winning actor – played a variety of complex characters in a screen career that spanned five decades. After early work in action and adventure films, he expanded into meatier roles and worked with some of Hollywood’s best directors. Lancaster made two appearances on Suspense, and we’ll hear them both: “The Big Shot” (originally aired on CBS on September 9, 1948) and “The Long Wait” (originally aired on CBS on November 24, 1949).

Oscar-winner Joan Crawford was one of Hollywood’s all-time greatest stars, from her early days in the silent era to her award-winning turn in Mildred Pierce, all the way up to Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? in the 1960s. She made two visits to the Suspense microphone where she starred in a pair of tense psychological thrillers. We’ll hear both, beginning with “The Ten Years” (originally aired on CBS on June 2, 1949) followed by “Three Lethal Words” (originally aired on CBS on March 22, 1951).

Tall, lanky, and with that unmistakable drawl, Jimmy Stewart made memorable impressions in classic films from It’s a Wonderful Life to Mr. Smith Goes to Washington to Vertigo. Stewart was a polished radio performer, whether he was starring in his own western drama The Six Shooter or making visits to appear on Suspense. Though some of his best known screen roles are as upstanding, honest heroes, Suspense gave Jimmy Stewart the opportunity to play desperate men in dangerous situations. We’ll hear him in “Consequence” (originally aired on CBS on February 21, 1946) and “Mission Completed” (originally aired on CBS on December 1, 1949).

The man himself – Orson Welles – is back at the microphone in two “tales well calculated to keep you in Suspense.” First, he’s the dastardly General Zaroff, the master hunter who has his eye set on “The Most Dangerous Game” (originally aired on CBS on September 23, 1943). Then we’ll hear Welles as an actor (imagine that!) in a tale of the stage, extortion, and revenge from beyond the grave in “The Dark Tower” (originally aired on CBS on May 4, 1944).

One of Hollywood’s top stars of the 1940s, Joseph Cotten was practically a member of the family on Suspense, making 18 appearances between 1944 and 1959. The star of Shadow of a Doubt and The Third Man excelled at playing both noble heroes and charming villains, and he got to do both frequently on “radio’s outstanding theater of thrills.” We’ll hear him in “Crime Without Passion” (originally aired on CBS on May 2, 1946) and “Fly By Night” (originally aired on CBS on September 28, 1950).