Remembering the radio cast of "The Great Gildersleeve" (927)

"The Great Gildersleeve" is one of the first (if not the first) spin-offs in entertainment history.  The Gildersleeve character began in 1939 on radio's "Fibber McGee & Molly" and then received his own radio show on August 31, 1941.

Harold "Hal" Peary (1908-1985) played Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve from 1941 to 1950 and was followed up by Willard Waterman (1914-1995) from 1950 until the show's conclusion in 1957.  

The plot of the show involved Gildersleeve raising his young niece and nephew in the small town of Summerfield.  Eventually he would become water commissioner and a very well respected member of the community.

Walter Tetley (1915-1975) played Leroy Forrester, Gildy's nephew
Lurene Tuttle (1907-1986) and Mary Lee Robb (1926-2006) played Marjorie Forrester Thompson, Gildy's niece
Louise Erickson also played Marjorie for a period of time, at the time of this writing she is still with us at age 85.  

The show also featured:
Lillian Randolph (1898-1980) as Birdie Lee Coggins, Gildersleeve's housekeeper
Earle Ross (1888-1961) as Judge Horace Hooker
Richard LeGrand (1882-1962) and Forrest Lewis (1899-1977) as Richard Peavey, the drug store owner
Arthur Q. Bryan (1899-1959) as Floyd Munson, the barber 
Gale Gordon (1906-1995) as Rumson Bullard, a neighbor
Bea Benaderet (1906-1968) as Eve Goodwin, school principal
Richard Crenna (1926-2003) as Walter "Bronco" Thompson, Marjorie's husband
Martha Scott (1912-2003) as Bullard's sister and other characters
Cathy Lewis (1916-1968) - various
Una Merkel (1903-1986) - various
Barbara Whiting (1931-2004) - various

Shirley Mitchell, who played Gildy's sweetheart Leila Ransom, is still alive at age 93. 

It was a wonderful program and thanks to first cassesttes and later CD's we can still enjoy it today!

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