"Actor's Blood" is an unusual Suspense episode in that screenwriter Ben Hecht, the "Shakespeare of Hollywood," adapted one of his short stories for radio and then both narrated and performed in the presentation. If you want to read the original text for yourself, you can find it in Hecht's 1936 collection of short stories, which is also titled Actor's Blood. The first part of the 1952 film Actors and Sin was also adapted from this short story.
As the episode opens, Ben Hecht, playing himself, asks the audience if they remember the name "Maurice Tillayou." In Tillayou's heyday, he was a popular Shakespearean stage actor, but as times changed, his hammy style of acting fell out of favor. His career diminished and he was slowly forgotten. However, he remained connected to Broadway through his daughter, the beautiful and popular actress Marcia Tillayou.
In the story that follows, Hecht then tells of the strange dinner party that Maurice held after the mysterious shooting death of his daughter, Marcia. He invited all of the people closest to his daughter to dinner and then promised to reveal her murderer...
"Actor's Blood" was written and adapted for radio by Ben Hecht. William Spier produced and directed. Frederic March starred. Also appearing were Hans Conried, Harry Lang, John McIntire, and Joseph Kearns. The name of the female actress isn't given. This episode aired on August 24, 1944.
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The movie, Actors and Sin (1952), can be found in its entirety on YouTube.com.
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