30 minute comedy
Born as José Pereira de Faria in San Leandro, California to Portuguese parents,[1] Peary (pronounced Perry) began working in local radio as early as 1923, according to his own memory, and had his own show as a singer, The Spanish Serenader, in San Francisco, but moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1937.
In Chicago his radio work came to a peak when he became a regular on Fibber McGee and Molly, where he originated the Gildersleeve character as a McGee neighbor and nemesis in 1938. ("You're a haaa-aa-aard man, McGee" was a famous catch-phrase.) The character actually went through several first names and occupations before settling on Throckmorton Philaharmonic Gildersleeve and his stewardship of a lingerie factory. He also worked on the horror series Lights Out and other radio programs, but his success and popularity as Gildersleeve set the stage for the character's own program.
The Great Gildersleeve premiered August 31, 1941 and became a steady hit for the rest of the decade, Peary's sonorous voice and flustered catchphrases ("You're a brii-iii-iight boy, Leroy!" was a modification of his famous McGee catchphrase) among radio's most familiar sounds. Lurene Tuttle played Marjorie; Walter Tetley, a veteran of Fred Allen's Town Hall Tonight cast and other shows, played Leroy; and, Lillian Randolph played Gildersleeve's ego-puncturing maid and housekeeper, Birdie.
By 1950, however, Peary's run as Gildersleeve was over. With CBS in the middle of a talent raid that had already lured Jack Benny and other NBC stars, Peary was offered a CBS deal of his own, after he chafed over NBC's and Kraft's reluctance to let him use his singing voice more often on Gildersleeve and to give him more part in the show's ownership than he already had.
The problem was that Kraft wasn't willing to make the move with him. And they had a successor ready---Willard Waterman, whose voice resembled Peary's and who had known Peary since their early Chicago days. Waterman refused to appropriate the famous Gildersleeve laugh, believing Peary alone should have title to that trademark, but otherwise slipped easily into the role. Without Peary, however, Gildersleeve struggled on a few more radio years and bombed on television.
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All of our Old Time Radio Programs are in MP3 format. You can play them on your computer, you can transfer them to MP3 players (like the IPod), but, by and large, you cannot play them on stereos, walkmen, or car radios.
The sound quality of Old Time Radio Programs can vary greatly. Some episodes are excellent, others you have to turn up the volume a little and ignore the static. All of the episodes can be listened to and enjoyed. You can listen to our free samples to get a feel for how the programs sound.
You may also like: Great Gildersleeve
Episode List
harold-peary_500917 Harold Loses His Job.mp3
harold-peary_500924 Plan to Rename Boome.mp3
harold-peary_501004 Advertising Shark Re.mp3
harold-peary_501011 Harold Falls for a C.mp3
harold-peary_501018 The Runaway Boy.mp3
harold-peary_501025 Harold's Campaign Sp.mp3
harold-peary_501101 Harold Decides He Wa.mp3
harold-peary_501108 Cousin Raymond Visti.mp3
harold-peary_501115 Getting a Job for Ra.mp3
harold-peary_501122 Thanksgiving Play.mp3
harold-peary_501206 Harold Meets the 'Hu.mp3
harold-peary_501213 Harold Helps Rayond .mp3
harold-peary_501220 Santa at the Childre.mp3
harold-peary_501227 New Years Barn Dance.mp3
harold-peary_510103 Mrs O'Day's Warblewa.mp3
harold-peary_510110 Harold Loses Sponsor.mp3
harold-peary_510117 Harold Thinks of Goi.mp3
harold-peary_510124 Harold Gets Engaged .mp3
harold-peary_510131 Civic Achievement Aw.mp3
harold-peary_510207 Harold's Mother Has .mp3
harold-peary_510214 Mistaken Valentines.mp3
harold-peary_510221 Florabelle Returns.mp3
harold-peary_510228 Willis Can't Pass th.mp3
harold-peary_510307 Red Cross Drive.mp3
harold-peary_510314 Income Tax.mp3
harold-peary_510321 Cousin Marvin Comes .mp3
harold-peary_510328 Cousin Marvin's Firs.mp3
harold-peary_510404 Modernizing Doc's Of.mp3
harold-peary_510418 Harold Decides to Cl.mp3
harold-peary_510425 Circus Day.mp3
harold-peary_510502 Marvin's Gang.mp3
harold-peary_510509 Harold and Mr Walker.mp3
harold-peary_510516 Does Florabelle Have.mp3
harold-peary_510523 Marvin is Invited to.mp3
harold-peary_510530 Harold is Marshall f.mp3
harold-peary_510606 Peabody's Sister Tak.mp3
harold-peary_510613 Marvin Decides to St.mp3
