The Great Gildersleeve

The Great Gildersleeve  -  Listen to Episodes, Below

The character of Gildersleeve, first introduced on Fibber McGee & Molly the only character windy enough to match McGee's. The character became so popular, an idea was hatched: why not give Gildersleeve his own series?

An audition show recorded in May, 1941 found Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve saying goodbye to all the folks at the Gildersleeve Girdle Works and boarding a train headed to Summerfield. The premise: Gildy was put in charge of the estate of his late younger sister and her husband, and was called upon to care for their children, Marjorie and Leroy.

The Great Gildersleeve was well-received and drew the attention of the Kraft Foods Company who became the show's sponsor - and remained such for the sixteen year run of the show on NBC.

Settling in Summerfield, Gildy soon launched a career as the town’s water commissioner. The heart of the show, however was his relationship to his family: Neice Marjorie (played by Lurene Tuttle, Louise Erickson and Mary Lee Robb, respectively) and nephew Leroy (played by Walter Tetley). The family was joined by their loveable maid, Birdie (Lillian Randolph).

Like Fibber McGee & Molly, The Great Gildersleeve was filled with memorable characters, such as the irascible Judge Horace Hooker (Earle Ross), mild-mannered druggist Richard Peavey (Richard LeGrand) and wisecracking barber Floyd Munson (Arthur Q. Bryan).

Other Gildersleeve regulars included the town police chief Charlie Gates (played by Ken Christy), the snooty next-door neighbor Rumson Bullard (played by Gale Gordon) and Marjorie's boyfriend/fiancee/husband Bronco Thompson (played by Richard Crenna.)

Many of the stories ran on for several weeks and all were great fun. So come along and enjoy one of old time radio's favorite sons: The Great Gildersleeve.