Les Tremayne Collection

Les Tremayne
(1913 – 2003)

The visual component of the entertainment world is so important that we think of most OTR stars as movie or TV actors who happened to do radio at some point in their careers. Les Tremayne had a rather respectable film and television career, but there is no getting around the fact that he first and foremost a radio actor.

During the late 1930s, a survey showed that the three most recognized voices in America were FDR, Bing Crosby, and Les Tremayne. "I've been in more than 30 motion pictures, but it's from radio," Tremain quipped in 1974, "that most people remember me." Little wonder, with more than 30,000 broadcasts to his credit, Tremayne was appearing on as many as 45 radio programs each week during the 1930s.

Tremayne was born in Balham, England, in 1913 and moved to Chicago with his family when he was four years old. His mother, Dolly Tremayne, had been an actress in England, and got Les started in community theater soon after settling in Illinois. Les also learned dialects through the need to hide his British accent to escape the notice of schoolyard bullies. He only had one year of high school when his father forced him to quit and find work. With his mother's theatrical encouragement, he danced in Vaudeville, barked for carnies, and continued in community theater.

When he was 17, his girlfriend spotted an ad in the Chicago Tribune for radio auditions at the Aragon Ballroom. The company holding the event was charging $1.50 to get in, but Les managed to sneak in anyway and stood in line with the other hopefuls. A panel of producers was in the middle of the room, and after the audition several of them started calling Les for work. Beginning in 1931 he played "heavies" on a number of local melodramas, but in 1934 he was allowed to stretch his talents as the leading man in The Romance of Helen Trent ("Can a woman find romance after 35?").

His big break came when Don Ameche wanted to leave The First Nighter Program, turning the show over to Les in 1936. Tremayne would add to the illusion of an opening night gala by showing up at the studio in a top hat, white tie and tails. In 1943, he left Chicago in pursuit of greater opportunities in New York and LA. He starred on The Thin Man and The Falcon, and for a while had a morning talk show with his wife Alice Reinhardt called The Tremaynes on WOR. In Los Angeles, he starred with Bob Crosby on The Old Gold Show and played second banana to a newcomer named Jackie Gleason when Crosby joined the military.

Tremayne's film credits include The War of the Worlds (1953), North By Northwest (1959), and The Angry Red Planet (1959). On TV, he made appearances on Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Andy Griffith Show, Wagon Train and Bonanza. He played Edward Quartermaine on General Hospital in 1987.

In 1995, Les Tremayne was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame. On December 19, 2003, he passed away due to heart failure in Santa Monica. He was 90 years-old.