Great Women in Old Time Radio

Some of our favorite and most prominent women at the radio microphone as actors include:

• Agnes Moorehead - the first lady of SUSPENSE!
• Mercedes McCambridge
• Lurene Tuttle 
• Arlene Francis 
• Mary Jane Higby 
• Natalie Park 
• Virginia Gregg
• Anne Elstner 
• Virginia Payne 
• Mary Margaret McBride: The "Oprah" of her time with the largest radio audience 
• Ora Nichols: The mother of sound effects. She founded the craft of radio sound effects, although it would eventually become a male-dominated portion of radio 
• Peg Lynch: The best comedy writer in radio who also starred in her own shows 
• (Mary) Kathleen Hite: The first woman writer on the CBS westerns who would go on to write nearly all of the "Ft. Laramie" scripts and later, many TV westerns 
• Betty Mandeville: Directed "The FBI in Peace and War" thus becoming the first woman to direct a crime show in prime time 
• Ruth Woodman: Creator and writer of "Death Valley Days" on radio and TV for over four decades, the longest western in broadcast history 
• Bernardine Flynn, the voice of Sade Gook on "Vic and Sade" and a WMAQ news announcer
• during World War II. She also filled in on many other shows. 
• Miriam Wolfe (a stalwart on "Let's Pretend") 
• Shirley Mitchell (Leila Ransom on "Gildersleeve" and Alice Darling on "Fibber McGee") 
• Janet Waldo 
• Bea Benaderet 
• Mary Jane Croft 
• Cathy Lewis
• Edith Mesider is the actress-producer-director-scriptwriter who first brought Sherlock Holmes to the airwaves 
• June Foray - In June 2012 Foray became the oldest person ever awarded an Emmy Award ... at age 95! 
• Janet Waldo 
• Lucille Ball
• Eve Arden
• Gracie Allen