Home

When you listen to old radio shows, do you ever hear an actor's voice and think that you know the name?

There are many, many character actors like that.  Frank Lovejoy fits into that category.  As well as a film star, he appeared on many radio shows beginning in the 1930s as a member of the cast or as a guest star as well as starring in several shows such as the Blue Beetle and Night Beat.

The thing that set Lovejoy apart from a lot of other actors is that he was believable as a regular Joe.  He used his voice to convey emotion in a real and convincing way regardless of the type of character he was playing.  That reputation for playing sympathetic characters followed him to movies where he played mostly supporting roles and television where he starred in two series and guest starred in several.

At Old Time Radio, you can find radio shows featuring Lovejoy like Night Beat, Blue Beetle, and This is Your FBI. Listen to a sample then add to your collection.

Film Work

In addition to his work on radio, Lovejoy also appeared in movies and on television.  He starred in the movie version of I Was A Communist for the FBI as Matt Cvetic.  Most of his roles were as supporting characters over many genres including war movies, detective movies, and dramas. Some of the movies he appeared in are:

• Goodbye, My Fancy
• Retreat, Hell
• The Hitch-Hiker
• Cole Younger, Gunfighter

He also appeared in television shows usually as a guest star though he did star in two television shows, Meet McGraw and Man Against Crime.  These shows did not last long and have never been released.

Lovejoy also continued performing on stage during his entire career in various capacities.  He was starring with his wife, Joan Banks, in a production of The Best Man when he died unexpectedly of a heart attack.  He was 50 years old.

Old Time Radio

When a radio actor is really good, you can find his name on the cast list of, sometimes, hundreds of radio episodes across all genres.  Frank Lovejoy was that kind of actor and it carried over into his film career.  If you pay attention, you can hear him on shows like Box 13, Suspense, Escape, Gang Busters and so many more shows. 

He also had his opportunities as starring roles.  He played police officer turned superhero, The Blue Beetle, he was also the narrator on This is Your FBI.  His most famous starring turn, however, was as the never-give-up reporter Randy Stone on Night Beat.

THE BLUE BEETLE

The Blue Beetle radio show started as a comic book in 1939. He was created for the Mystery Men comic books by Charles Nicholas and appeared in the first book in the series. Eventually, Blue Beetle got is own comic book, newspaper comic strip and radio show.  Blue Beetle is actually Dan Garrett, a young policeman who saw a need to put more fear into the criminals he pursued by day.  As Blue Beetle, Garrett wore a strange suit of blue chain mail that was "smooth as silk" and took a super vitamin to give him super powers.

The radio show first aired in 1940 with Lovejoy starring as the Beetle for the first 13 episodes.  The first show debuted in April 1940 and continued twice weekly until July 1940.  After Lovejoy left the role, an uncredited actor completed the series.

NIGHT BEAT

Night Beat is Lovejoy's best known radio show.  Set in downtown Chicago, the main character is newspaperman Randy Stone (sometimes Lucky Stone) who writes for the Chicago Star on the night beat.  The beginning of each show always starts the same way, "Stories start in many ways...." followed by an introduction to the story. 

Stone always starts the night not knowing what he is going to write about or where the night will take him.  During the course of the night he meets someone and gets pulled into a mystery.  One of the best things about Night Beat is sometimes Stone doesn't solve the mystery in time and he is fallible.  He also gets personally involved with the subjects of his stories when reporters are supposed to report the news as a disinterested observer. 

Lovejoy played all of these situations with real emotion. You can hear the anger, the anguish and the amusement in every situation.  That ability is what made Lovejoy a great character actor.

Who Is Frank Lovejoy?

Frank Lovejoy, Jr., was born in Bronx, New York in 1912 to Nora and Frank Lovejoy, Sr.  Though he was mostly raised in New Jersey, Lovejoy had a job as Wall Street page as a teenager.  Unfortunately, the stock market crash of 1929 interrupted his career as a page and started him on the road to show business.

Before heading into radio, Lovejoy started his career on the stage touring in various shows before debuting on Broadway in 1934 in Judgment Day as Jorga.  In addition to his Broadway career, Lovejoy also started working in golden age of radio.  He appeared in all kinds of old radio shows, mysteries, soap operas, comedies, and police shows.  A couple of his regular radio gig's included Gang Busters, a show featuring dramatizations of actual FBI cases and Box 13 where he played several different characters.  He also starred on radio as the Blue Beetle and as Randy Stone in Night Beat.

Like many radio stars, he worked in movies and on television in addition to working in radio.  Lovejoy made his movie debut in 1948 as Mark Lorimer in the movie Black Bart.  During his movie career, he was often cast as one of the main supporting characters and was considered one of the best character actors around because he played his characters as very human. When ordering soldiers into battle to die, you could see the conflict he brought to the character just like you could hear the conflict, anger, or sympathy when he played Randy Stone on Night Beat.

Lovejoy did star in the movie I Was a Communist for the FBI, a title many old-time radio fans will recognize.  The movie and the radio show was based on the book by Matt Cvetic who allegedly was deep undercover in the United States communist party. He also starred in many war movies.  His television career also consisted of mostly supporting roles though he did star in two short-lived shows, Meet McGraw and Man Against Crime.

Throughout his career, Lovejoy worked steadily.  He died of a heart attack while he was working in a play with his wife, Joan Banks, in 1962.