Barry Gray was an American radio personality, often referred to as "the father of talk radio." His late-night New York City radio talk show was carried by WOR radio and then later by WMCA.
This episode was divided into two segments. The first deals with Congress and its interest in creating a bill to ban professional boxing in the wake of many boxers having died in the ring...nine since 1953.
Guest is John F. X. Condon, publicity director of boxing at Madison Square Garden, and congressman Simon who is behind the bill to forever abolish boxing.
The last 8 minutes of this archived tape provides a rare personal glimpse of Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre. Karloff discusses the origins of his Frankenstein role and how he got the part, his early acting experiences going all the way back to 1910, his English accent, and leading parts in plays such as Charlie's Aunt.
Peter Lorre discusses his screen persona as one who has been typecast playing villains, but which has provided him a good living as an actor. His latest release, The Raven is mentioned as well as his friendship with Vincent Price. Lorre discusses his association with the world of Art Paintings and today’s challenges finding good works of art to purchase, and speculations.
Barry Gray returned to WMCA in 1950, and stayed there for 39 years, refining the talk show format still utilized today. During the 1960s, he was in the odd position of having an 11 p.m.-1 a.m. late-night talk show on a station otherwise dominated by Top 40 music and the youth-targeted "Good Guys" disc jockey campaign. But for teenagers who kept their radios on into the night, Gray's show was a window into the high-brow New York culture of the 1940s and 1950s.
Topic: A discussion on the outlawing of professional boxing.
Barry Gray also speaks with Peter Lorre and Boris Karloff.
