| Perry Mason on the
Radio Since his film
experience with Hollywood turned out to be so
embarrassing it may come as a surprise that Gardner
agreed to put his hero on radio. Although his compadres
advised him to aim for a nighttime, prime time slot for
Mason, Gardner sold the radio rights to Procter &
Gamble, the kingpins of soap, who decided to put the
series on during the day. (It was these daytime radio
programs, usually funded by detergent companies, that
gave rise to the name "soap opera.") The Perry
Mason radio series premiered on a few stations in October
1943 and in three months was playing five days a week on
stations all across the country.
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| In the early days of the show, it was blondes
who had more fun. But it was a brunette who
stayed with Perry to the end. Courtesy
of TV Guide/Gene Trindl |
Gardner considered the
show a kind of continuing advertisement for his books, in
the same way that the Ellery Queen radio show promoted
the popular detective books of the same name. But when he
sat down and tried to write scripts for the episodes, he
failed miserably. "As a soaper, I stunk," he
said at the time. He admitted his strengths were in
narrative writing and not scripting.
When the sponsors brought in another
writer to punch up the Mason character, Gardner felt his
control of the show (he had "veto rights")
slipping away. He came to dislike the show's writing, the
plots, the production, even the ads. And he must have
been qualified to judge. He monitored the program every
day, taking notes not many of which were
complimentary.
 |
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| The voice of Perry Mason on the radio, John
Larkin, returned to star in "The Case of the
Greek Goddess." Copyright
© 1944 Courtesy of the New York Public Library |
John Larkin as Perry Mason and Joan Alexander
as Della Street played the famous duo on the CBS
daytime radio program. Courtesy
of the New York Public Library |
Gardner didn't feel
right about the show. This went on for the first three
years. Then a writer named Irving Vendig appeared on the
scene. He was responsible for giving Perry Mason more
character, more color, a taste for gourmet foods, and
even a few friends. Gradually, Perry became more
concrete. Eventually, Gardner came around to like Vendig
and the "new" Mason.
As time went on, the show became more
popular and successful. Many different voices were used
for Perry: Bartlett Robinson, Santos Ortega, Donald
Briggs, and John Larkin among them. (At one time, actor
Walter Pidgeon was close to signing on as the voice of
Perry, but the deal never went through. Years later, he
would do a cameo guest role on the TV show.) Jan Miner
and Joan Alexander were two actresses who provided the
voice for Della. Several actors played Paul Drake and
police lieutenant Arthur Tragg, but Hamilton Burger had
very few lines, the DA being relegated to a minor role on
radio. In all, dozens of actors and more than 3,200
scripts were used during the radio show's twelve-year
life.
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