THE HERMIT'S CAVE

MEL JOHNSON - "THE HERMIT"
JOHN DEHNER - "THE HERMIT"
WILLIAM CONRAD - "THE HERMIT"
JOHN KENT - "THE HERMIT"
CHARLES PENMAN - "THE HERMIT"
TOBY GRIMMER - "THE HERMIT"
KLOCK RYDER - "THE HERMIT"

"The Hermit's Cave" was a hosted horror radio anthology series running from the 1930's until about 1947; with versions airing on the West Coast in Los Angeles and East Coat in Detroit. "The Hermit" was played variously actors: On the West Coast by Mel Johnson, John Dehner and William Conrad; and on the east coast by John Kent, Charles Penman, who also was the host of the the horror radio anthology series "The Devil's Scrapbook", Toby Grimmer and Klock Ryder. "The Hermit" spoke over howling winds, promising "Ghost stories! Weird stories! And murders, too! The hermit knows of them all!" The show developed a reputation for grisly sound effects. The show aired over 800 episodes; with onlu some 30 episodes remaining. CHARLES PENMAN Charles Penman was a busy Detroit-based radio actor, announcer, producer, and director in the 1940s (appearing in scores of soap operas, dramas, thrillers, and anthologies) who would transition to television by the end of the decade. WILLIAM CONRAD From IMDB: William Conrad was born on 27 September 1920 in Louisville, Kentucky, USA and passed away on 11 February 1994 in North Hollywood, LosAngeles, California, USA. Conrad became a television star relatively late in his career. In fact, the former Army Air Corps World War II fighter pilot began his screen career playing heavies. He was Max, one of The Killers (1946) hired to finish off Burt Lancaster in his dingy lodgings. He was the corrupt state inspector Turck working for the syndicate in The Racket (1951). He was a mobster in Sorry, Wrong Number (1948), the murderous gunslinger Tallman in Johnny Concho (1956) and sleazy nightclub owner Louie Castro who claimed to be 60% legitimate in Cry Danger (1951). When not essaying outright villainy, Bill played characters like the tough fight promoter Quinn in Body and Soul (1947) or the doom-laden province commissioner in The Naked Jungle (1954). The portly, balding, crumple-faced, self-confessed gourmand had an ever-present weight problem (at one time 260 lbs.) which proved to be a natural obstacle to progressing to more substantial leading film roles. That, however, didn't hinder a very successful career in radio. In fact, Bill himself estimated that he had played in excess of 7,000 radio parts. Even if that was an exaggeration, his gravelly, resonant voice was certainly heard on countless broadcasts from "Buck Rogers" to "The Bullwinkle Show", from portraying Marshall Matt Dillon in "Gunsmoke" on the radio (before James Arness got the part on screen) to narrating the adventures of Richard Kimball in the television program The Fugitive (1963). In "The Wax Works", an episode of the anthology series "Suspense" (1949) in 1956, he voiced each and every part. Since his corpulence effectively precluded playing strapping characters like Matt Dillon, Bill began to concentrate on directing and producing by the early 1960's. This, ironically, included episodes of Gunsmoke (1955). In 1963, he contributed to saving 77 Sunset Strip (1958) for yet another season. Later in the decade, he produced and directed several films for Warner Brothers, including the thriller Brainstorm (1965) with Jeffrey Hunter and Anne Francis. He returned to acting in 1971 to become the unlikely star of the Quinn Martin production Cannon (1971), for which he is chiefly remembered. Bill imbued the tough-talking, no-nonsense character of Frank Cannon with enough humanity and wit to make the series compelling but, despite the show's popularity, he made his views clear in a 1976 Times interview that he found himself poorly served by the scripts he had been given. A planned sequel, The Return of Frank Cannon (1980) failed to get beyond the movie-length pilot, but the actor's popularity resulted in anothe starring role in Jake and the Fatman (1987) as District Attorney McCabe, co-starring with Joe Penny) and a brief run as eccentric detective Nero Wolfe (1981). Conrad was also the narrator of the horror /science fiction television series "Tales of the Unexpected"; one of the hosts of the horror radio anthology "Escape!"; and the narrator of the horror television anthology series "Escape". A self-effacing man with a good sense of humor and never afraid to speak his mind, Bill Conrad died of heart failure in February 1994. He was elected to the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame and (posthumously) to the Radio Hall of Fame in 1997. JOHN DEHNER From IMDB: John Dehner was born on 23 November 1915 in Richmond, New York City, USA and passed away on 4 February 1992 in Santa Barbara, California, USA. Dehner started out as an animator for Walt Disney Studios, then worked as a disc jockey and a professional pianist. He made his film debut in the 1940's, and has appeared in many of movies. A tall and distinguished looking man with a rich voice and somewhat flamboyant demeanor, Dehner often was cast as an outlaw leader, crooked banker or saloon owner in westerns and adventure films, although he was occasionally cast against type in comedies, and played a crusading newspaper reporter in the television series "The Roaring 20's" (1960). Dehner was also the narrator of the horror / science fiction anthology tele-movie "Dead of Night". KLOCK RYDER From IMDB: Klock Ryder (also credited as Clock Ryder) has been known as a radio announcer / host, as well as appearing on television, including "Kraft Theatre" (1948), "Escape" (1950), "Armstrong Circle Theatre" (1950), "Lights Out" (1951), "The Web" (1951) and "Lux Video Theatre" (1951). Below is an episode ("The Professor's Elixer") from the series:

LINKS

Internet Movie Data Base "William Conrad"	OTR Plot Spot "The Hermit's Cave"	Radio Horror Hosts "The Hermit's Cave"
Internet Movie Data Base "Klock Ryder"	Internet Movie Data Base "John Dehner"	Internet Movie Data Base "Charles Penman"
OTR Network Library "The Hermit's Cave"	Wikipedia "The Hermit's Cave"	The Classic Horror Film Board "The Hermit's Cave"

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