Dan Harding's Wife
Dan Harding's Wife was a radio soap opera in the United States. The 15-minute program was broadcast on NBC from January 20, 1936, through February 10, 1939, and was sponsored by Nabisco for the first nine months of 1938.[1] The show was written by Ken Robinson and directed by J. Clinton Stanley.[2]
 The show's main cast in 1938 from left: Merrill Fugit, Isabel Randolph, Loretta Poynton | |
| Genre | Soap Opera |
|---|---|
| Running time | 15 minutes |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| Syndicates | NBC |
| Starring | Isabel Randolph Loretta Poynton |
| Announcer | Les Griffith Norman Berry |
| Written by | Ken Robinson |
| Directed by | J. Clinton Stanley |
| Original release | January 20, 1936 – February 10, 1939 |
Plot
A 1938 article in Radio Guide magazine commented, "The story of Dan Harding's Wife is one that will strike a warmly responsive note in the hearts of all wives and mothers who are, because of economic necessity, separated from their husbands.:[2]
The broadcast was set 19 years after Dan and Rhoda Harding were married in South America. He was a mining engineer there, and she had come there with her father. An initially happy marriage ran into problems when Rhoda became pregnant. Dan felt that a mining camp would not be a good place to raise the twins, so he sent Rhoda and the babies to the United States. In the program, twins Donna and Dean were 18 years old. They had seen their father only once or twice a year at best. The reunions ended, however, when Rhoda received word that Dan had been killed in a mining disaster in Iraq. The article in Radio Guide summarized Rhoda's predicament: "Left almost penniless, Rhoda takes over a rooming house in the poorer section of the town and attempts to eke out a living."[2]
Cast
Buxton and Owen's The Big Broadcast lists the cast of Dan Harding's Wife as follows:[3]
| Character | Actor/Actress |
|---|---|
| Rhoda Harding | Isabel Randolph |
| Donna Harding | Loretta Poynton |
| Dean Harding | Merrill Fugit |
| Mrs. Graham | Judith Lowry |
| Arnie Topper | Carl Hanson |
| Eula Sherman | Margarette Shanna |
| Mr. Tiller | Cliff Soubier |
| Mr. Gorham | Cliff Soubier |
| Margot Gorham | Templeton Fox |
| Mabel Klooner | Templeton Fox |
| Fowler | Robert Griffin |
| Penny Latham | Alice Goodkin |
| Jack Garland | Willard Farnum |
| Stooge Lowe | Hugh Rowlands |
| Ralph Fraser | Herbert Nelson |
| Eva Foster | Tommye Birch |
| Rex Kramer | Herb Butterfield |
| Announcer | Les Griffith |
Other sources list additional cast members as follows: Norman Berry (announcer)[4] and Mercedes McCambridge (role not specified).[5]
See also
- List of radio soaps
References
- Cox, Jim (2005). Historical Dictionary of American Radio Soap Operas. Scarecrow Press, Inc. ISBN 0-8108-5323-X. P. 69.
- "The Radio Playbilll: 'Dan Harding's Wife'" (PDF). Radio Guide. 8 (4): 6. November 12, 1938. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
- Buxton, Frank and Owen, Bill (1972). The Big Broadcast: 1920-1950. The Viking Press. SBN 670-16240-x. Pp. 65-66.
- Dunning, John (1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio (Revised ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. p. 189. ISBN 978-0-19-507678-3. Retrieved 2019-09-17.
Dan Harding's Wife, soap opera.
- Lackmann, Ronald W. (2005). Mercedes McCambridge. McFarland and Company, Inc. ISBN 0-7864-1979-2. P. 26.