Our Gal Sunday
Encyclopedia
Our Gal Sunday was an American soap opera produced by Frank and Anne Hummert
and heard on CBS
from 1937 to 1959.
The origin of this radio series was a 1904 Broadway production, Sunday, which starred Ethel Barrymore
. This play was the source of the catchphrase, "That's all there is, there isn't any more."
Dorothy Lowell had the title role from 1937 to 1944. When she died in childbirth at age 28, she was replaced by Vivian Smolen, who portrayed Sunday from 1944 to 1959. Leading reference sources claim that Lowell continued to star in the radio program until 1946, but those books and websites are obviously incorrect since Lowell died in 1944.
The show opened with this question:
"Red River Valley" was the series theme music. The announcers were Ed Fleming, John Reed King, Art Millett, Bert Parks
, Charles Stark, Warren Sweeney and John A. Wolfe.
Anne Hummert
Anne Hummert was the leading creator of daytime radio serials during the 1930s and 1940s, responsible for more than three dozen drama series....
and heard on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
from 1937 to 1959.
The origin of this radio series was a 1904 Broadway production, Sunday, which starred Ethel Barrymore
Ethel Barrymore
Ethel Barrymore was an American actress and a member of the Barrymore family of actors.-Early life:Ethel Barrymore was born Ethel Mae Blythe in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the second child of the actors Maurice Barrymore and Georgiana Drew...
. This play was the source of the catchphrase, "That's all there is, there isn't any more."
Characters and story
The Hummerts adapted the Broadway play into a long-running melodramatic radio serial about a Colorado orphan who marries a British aristocrat. It began when two grizzled miners, Jackie and Lively, found a child abandoned and left at the door of their mountain cabin. She was given the name Sunday because that was the day she entered their lives. Later, her last name was given as Smithson. As an adult, she was desired by her childhood friend, Bill Jenkins. She fell under the spell of wealthy Englishman Arthur Brinthrope, who came to check his silver mine. Arthur was shot by Jackie, who wanted to prevent him from running away with Sunday. Arthur's brother, Henry, arrived, eventually marrying Sunday. The couple moved to their Black Swan Hall estate in Virginia, where they lived with their adopted son, Lonnie, and their two natural children, Caroline and Little Davy, who was crippled by a hit-and-run driver.Dorothy Lowell had the title role from 1937 to 1944. When she died in childbirth at age 28, she was replaced by Vivian Smolen, who portrayed Sunday from 1944 to 1959. Leading reference sources claim that Lowell continued to star in the radio program until 1946, but those books and websites are obviously incorrect since Lowell died in 1944.
The show opened with this question:
- Once again, we present Our Gal Sunday, the story of an orphan girl named Sunday from the little mining town of Silver Creek, Colorado, who in young womanhood married England's richest, most handsome lord, Lord Henry Brinthrope. The story that asks the question: Can this girl from the little mining town in the West find happiness as the wife of a wealthy and titled Englishman?
"Red River Valley" was the series theme music. The announcers were Ed Fleming, John Reed King, Art Millett, Bert Parks
Bert Parks
Bert Parks, born Bertram Jacobson , was an American actor, singer, and radio and television announcer, best known for hosting the annual Miss America telecast from 1955 to 1979....
, Charles Stark, Warren Sweeney and John A. Wolfe.