Pepper Young's Family
Encyclopedia
Elaine Sterne Carrington
Elaine Sterne Carrington was an American screenwriter, playwright, novelist and short story author who found her greatest success writing for radio. The woman who originated radio soap opera in 1932, Carrington wrote more than 12,000 daily dramas during her long career...
.
With Burgess Meredith
Burgess Meredith
Oliver Burgess Meredith , known professionally as Burgess Meredith, was an American actor in theatre, film, and television, who also worked as a director...
in the title role, the program began as Red Adams, about high school athlete Red Adams, his family and friends. The 30-minute series was broadcast on the 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...
, airing on Sunday nights at 10:30pm. When Beech-Nut Gum
Beech-Nut
Beech-Nut Nutrition Corporation is a baby food company that is currently owned by the Swiss branded consumer-goods firm Hero Group.- History :...
signed as a sponsor, they wanted no mention of their competition, Adams gum, so the title changed to Red Davis, a 15-minute series heard three times a week from 1933 to 1935. The series was again retitled, and the 15-minute Forever Young was heard on NBC weekdays at 3pm from January 13 to June 26, 1936. Three days later, on June 29, it became Pepper Young's Family, continuing on NBC for the next 23 years with Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble is a Fortune 500 American multinational corporation headquartered in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio and manufactures a wide range of consumer goods....
's Camay
Camay
Camay is the name of a scented hand and body soap, made by Procter & Gamble. It was first introduced in 1926 and marketed as a "white, pure soap for women," as many soaps of the time were colored to mask impurities...
as the sponsor.
In the storyline, high school athlete Larry "Pepper" Young (Curtis Arnall, Lawson Zerbe, Mason Adams) and his sister Peggy (Elizabeth Wragge) lived in the small town of Elmwood where their father, Sam Young (Jack Roseleigh, Bill Adams, Thomas Chalmers) ran a manufacturing company. Pepper's girl friend was Linda Benton (Eunice Howard), and his buddy was Nick Havens (John Kane). Leaving school, Pepper took a job as a reporter with the local Free Press. When Pepper and Linda (played by Margaret Draper
Margaret Draper
Margaret Ruth Draper was an American actress and international service worker. She was born in 1916, the third of six children born to Delbert Morley Draper and Frances Mary Rogers...
) married, they had a child, Button. Sam Young became Elmwood's mayor. Oil was discovered on the farm where Pepper and Linda lived, but a fire at the oil well spread, burning down much of the town.
Others in the cast were Grace Albert, Marion Barney (as Pepper's mother), Alan Bunce, Michael Fitzmaurice
Michael Fitzmaurice
Michael Fitzmaurice was a radio actor, best known for his portrayal of Superman.Born in Chicago, the baritone-voiced Fitzmaurice was heard often on radio dramas during the 1940s as both announcer and actor. From 1944 to 1947, he was the host of Mutual's Quiz of Two Cities...
, Stacy Harris, Claire Howard, Madge Kennedy
Madge Kennedy
Madge Kennedy was a movie and stage actress of the silent film era....
, Greta Kvalden, Cecil Roy
Cecil Roy
Cecil H. Roy was a radio actress who was well known in broadcasting of the 1930s and 1940s as The Girl of a Thousand Voices.Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, she grew up in Oklahoma...
, Laddie Seaman, Jean Sothern, Arthur Vinton, Edwin Wolfe (who also directed some shows).
Announcers included Martin Block
Martin Block
Martin Block born in Los Angeles, California, was an American disc jockey. Walter Winchell is said to have invented the term "disk jockey" as a means of describing Block's radio work.-Early years:...
, Alan Kent and Richard Stark. The opening piano theme was Au Matin.
Carrington continued to script the program until her death in 1958. She also wrote scripts for two other daytime dramas, When a Girl Marries
When a Girl Marries
When a Girl Marries was a daytime radio drama which was broadcast on three major radio networks from 1939 to 1957. Created by Elaine Sterne Carrington , it was the highest rated soap opera during the mid-1940s.The series premiered May 29, 1939 on CBS, moving to NBC on September 29, 1941 and then to...
and Rosemary
Rosemary (radio)
Rosemary is an American radio soap opera broadcast on NBC Radio from October 2, 1944 to March 23, 1945, and on CBS Radio from March 26, 1945 to July 1, 1955. Starring Betty Winkler as Rosemary Dawson Roberts, the program's only sponsor was Procter & Gamble, primarily for Ivory Snow dishwashing...
.
In 1964, NANA Radio began production of newly written episodes of "Pepper Young's Family". At least 88 of these revival episodes are in circulation today.
Sources
- Cox, JimJim Cox (radio)Jim Cox, a retired college professor living in Louisville, Kentucky, is a leading historian on the subject of radio programming in the 20th century...
. Historical Dictionary of American Radio Soap Operas, Scarecrow Press, 2005.