Carlton E. Morse
Encyclopedia
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
-born producer/journalist best known for his creation of the radio serial One Man's Family
One Man's Family
One Man's Family, is a long-running American radio soap opera. It was heard for almost three decades, from 1932 to 1959. Created by Carlton E. Morse, it was the longest-running uninterrupted serial in the history of American radio...
, which debuted in 1932 and ran until 1959 as one of the most popular as well as long-running radio soap operas of the time. He also was responsible for the radio serial I Love a Mystery
I Love a Mystery
I Love a Mystery was a radio drama series about three friends who ran a detective agency and traveled the world in search of adventure. Distinguished by the high octane scripting of Carlton E...
. A radio legend, he experimented with television and published three novels. Morse is considered by many to be one of the best radio scriptwriters.
In 1901, Carlton was born in Jennings, Louisiana
Jennings, Louisiana
Jennings is a small city in and the parish seat of Jefferson Davis Parish, Louisiana, United States, near Lake Charles. The population was 10,986 at the 2000 census....
, to George and Ora Morse. In 1906, his family relocated to a fruit ranch at Talent, Oregon
Talent, Oregon
Talent is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. The population was 5,589 at the 2000 census and 6,680 as of July 1, 2009.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land....
, and when Morse was 16, they moved to Sacramento, California
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
. After graduating from high school in Sacramento, Morse went to the University of California
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
from 1919 to 1922 but did not graduate. Instead, he dropped out and returned to Sacramento, beginning a career as a journalist with the Sacramento Union
Sacramento Union
The Sacramento Union was a daily newspaper founded in 1851 in Sacramento, California. It was the oldest daily newspaper west of the Mississippi River before it closed its doors after 143 years in January 1994, no longer able to compete with The Sacramento Bee, which was founded in 1857, just six...
.
Journalism career
From 1922 to 1928, Morse was employed at the Sacramento UnionSacramento Union
The Sacramento Union was a daily newspaper founded in 1851 in Sacramento, California. It was the oldest daily newspaper west of the Mississippi River before it closed its doors after 143 years in January 1994, no longer able to compete with The Sacramento Bee, which was founded in 1857, just six...
, the San Francisco Illustrated Daily Herald, The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times is a newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, US. It is the largest daily newspaper in the state of Washington. It has been, since the demise in 2009 of the printed version of the rival Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle's only major daily print newspaper.-History:The Seattle Times...
, Vancouver Columbian
The Columbian
The Columbian is a daily newspaper for Vancouver, Washington and Clark County in Washington State in the United States. The paper was published for its first decade as a four page daily that was meant as a counterweight to the local Republican newspaper The Independent. Printer Tom Carolan began...
, Portland Oregonian and The San Francisco Bulletin
San Francisco Call
The San Francisco Call was a newspaper that served San Francisco, California. Because of a succession of mergers with other newspapers, the paper variously came to be called The San Francisco Call & Post, the San Francisco Call-Bulletin, San Francisco News-Call Bulletin, and the News-Call Bulletin...
. When the Bulletin was absorbed into the San Francisco Call
San Francisco Call
The San Francisco Call was a newspaper that served San Francisco, California. Because of a succession of mergers with other newspapers, the paper variously came to be called The San Francisco Call & Post, the San Francisco Call-Bulletin, San Francisco News-Call Bulletin, and the News-Call Bulletin...
in 1929, Morse lost his job, soon after marrying his first wife, Patricia DeBall. Though The Seattle Times offered him another job, he declined. This was to mark the beginning of his career in radio.
Radio
After losing his newspaper job, Morse brought several scripts he had written throughout the 1920s to an interview with NBCNBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
. He soon was offered a job at KGO
KGO (AM)
KGO is a news/talk-format radio station radio with offices and studios in San Francisco, California. Unlike most other American news/talk stations, KGO originates nearly all of its own programming locally. Since 1978, KGO radio has received Arbitron's number-one ranking in the Bay Area...
, the San Francisco outlet of NBC's Blue Network
Blue Network
The Blue Network, and its immediate predecessor, the NBC Blue Network, were the on-air names of an American radio production and distribution service from 1927 to 1945...
, and began his radio career scripting House of Myths
House of Myths
House of Myths was an early radio series which aired on NBC in 1926-29.It was unique in that programs broadcast on the East Coast were soon followed by totally different programs in a West Coast series broadcast from San Francisco....
. Morse began work on NBC Mystery Serial, which included such episodes as "Captain Post: Crime Specialist" and "Case of the One-eyed Parrot". Other mysteries scripted by Morse included The Witch of Endor, The City of the Dead, Captain Post: Crime Specialist, The Game Called Murder and Dead Men Prowl.
He also did four programs based on San Francisco Police Department files: Chinatown Squad, Barbary Coast Nights, Killed in Action and To the Best of Their Ability. Morse worked closely with San Francisco Police Chief William J. Quinn, who narrated all four series.
Morse's major successes were One Man's Family
One Man's Family
One Man's Family, is a long-running American radio soap opera. It was heard for almost three decades, from 1932 to 1959. Created by Carlton E. Morse, it was the longest-running uninterrupted serial in the history of American radio...
, and I Love a Mystery
I Love a Mystery
I Love a Mystery was a radio drama series about three friends who ran a detective agency and traveled the world in search of adventure. Distinguished by the high octane scripting of Carlton E...
. One Man's Family began in 1932, with I Love A Mystery following in 1939. The two series were almost polar opposites; "One Man's Family" was a daily soap opera, targeted at housewives, and "I Love a Mystery" was an adventure serial for adolescents and lovers of the macabre. Both are regarded by radio historians as two of the all-time best radio serials.
"I Love a Mystery" was a tremendous hit and many episodes still offer chills to modern listeners. The original series was broadcast from 1939 to 1942 on the NBC Blue Network and then had one more season (1943-44) on CBS. It was later revived on the Mutual Broadcasting System from 1949 through 1953. The original run was broadcast from Hollywood, and the revival originated from New York City.
Additional radio credits
- Chinatown Tales
- Musical Miniatures
- Illustrated Tales
- Split Second Tales
- House of MythsHouse of MythsHouse of Myths was an early radio series which aired on NBC in 1926-29.It was unique in that programs broadcast on the East Coast were soon followed by totally different programs in a West Coast series broadcast from San Francisco....
- Adventures by MorseAdventures by MorseAdventures by Morse was a 52-episode syndicated adventure series produced, written and directed by Carlton E. Morse shortly after NBC canceled his I Love a Mystery series.-Characters and stories:...
- I Love Adventure (adaptations of stories from "I Love a Mystery")
- His Honor the Barber
- The Family Skeleton
Television
Morse was also a pioneer in television as well. He was part of Slices of Life, the first television drama series aired on Los Angeles' television station, KFI. Morse brought One Man's Family to television (1949-52), years before it left the airwaves with the end of the Golden Age of RadioOld-time radio
Old-Time Radio and the Golden Age of Radio refer to a period of radio programming in the United States lasting from the proliferation of radio broadcasting in the early 1920s until television's replacement of radio as the primary home entertainment medium in the 1950s...
.
Later life
Morse eventually retired from radio/TV in order to write novels from his home, named Seven Stones. Three of his books, Killer at the Wheel, A Lavish of Sin and Stuff the Lady's Hatbox were based on I Love a Mystery. In 1984, Morse's first wife Patricia died. Later in life, Morse copyrighted his scripts and novels. He was a member of San Francisco's Bohemian Club, and he attended many conventions held in his honor. Before his death in 1993, Morse founded the Morse Family Trust. He is survived by his second wife, Millie Morse. His star on the Hollywood Walk of FameHollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
is located in front of 6445 Hollywood Boulevard.